The top half of the list. Rules reposted below.
As the title says, this is the list of the movies I saw in 2019 (that came out in 2019) that I enjoyed the most. This is no indication of quality – that equally subjective list happens next.
As the title says, this is the list of the movies I saw in 2019 (that came out in 2019) that I enjoyed the most. This is no indication of quality – that equally subjective list happens next.
Don’t take the numbering in this list as a straight top-bottom list of enjoyment. Instead, I’d probably group them into tiers as such:
1-5: My absolute favourites. I had so much fun with these, and realistically there’s not the much of a gap between the movies in this tier.
6-13: Also very enjoyable, but not as outright enjoyable to me as the top tier were. Still not much of a gap within this tier, and I’m glad I saw every one of these.
14-19: Also enjoyed the movies in this tier, but quality concerns started to creep in the moment the credits rolled that slightly soured the experience in ways that, say, the top tier managed to avoid. Essentially, they weren’t so much fun I let the quality concerns bugger off to the “Best Of” list, with one exception.
20-23: These had their moments, but ultimately weren’t enough to overwhelm just how bad or underwhelming the whole package was.
24-28: I left the cinema or the couch (Avengement and Cold Pursuit were direct to DVD) either disappointed, wishing I hadn’t seen them, or actively wishing the writers can never find work again.
Expect this list to be wildly different when I move to the quality side…
A solid, reasonably enjoyable post-Endgame outing the both solidified my liking of Tom Holland as the best Spiderman so far, but ultimately didn’t quite pop as much as I would have liked.
Kudos for throwing Mysterio in the trailers, rolling with the “It’s Mysterio, of course he’s lying about everything” predictions, and then playing it dead straight. Gyllenhall really sold that well.
12) Godzilla: The Planet Eater
The final movie in a weird Netflix trilogy of animated movies, about a time where Godzilla blasted humanity off Earth, and the survivors team up with two alien species to do something about it. Being the final movie, we got the tensions between all three races coming to a glorious head as the not-space-elves revealed themselves as cultists of a Ghidorah that comes from a dimension outside Euclidean space. The death cry of his cultists is one of my favourite things in Godzilla media.
Pity the animation is kind of janky and the rest of the movie is overall merely ok. Could have had something special here.
11) Avengers: EndGame
A solid end to the original Avengers Saga, with pretty good performances all round. I even got Cap wielding Mjolnir, which was basically the one major thing I wanted out of this movie. So why middle of the pack?
Well, it’s the Infinity War. If you get to The Snap, then there is exactly one way the War ends. For all the good in the movie, it’s 100% predictable at every turn. Plus, I’m still annoyed at how Cap and Widow’s stories ended. So losing a few points there. Still, good fun overall and a hell of a cinematic achievement.
10) John Wick 3
An excellently crafted action movie, just like the first two in the franchise. Pretty much why this is in the middle of the pack – it’s a very well done movie, but we’ve had two of them already, and honestly, they need to finish it on a high with John Wick 4 if they don’t want the series to burnout completely.
Always good to see Mark Dacascos though, that guy is fun. Seeing Halle Berry tear it up just like Keanu was amazing. And for added casting bonus, Cecep Arif Rahman and Yayan Ruhian turned up as two min-bosses who lived. So cool.
Fuck me, I just realised the joke in Jerome Flynn’s character. How did that take me nearly a year?!
9) Detective Pikachu
How do you make a film about a talking electric mouse made of adorable fun and entertaining? Get Ryan Reynolds to voice the mouse! Saracstic Pikapool is best Pikachu.
Unfortunately the rest of the cast weren’t quite as fun, which I do have to blame a little on the writing. They really went all in on Reynolds as Pikachu. Plus, massive final act dropoff. Still, it was good fun and absolutely great to see at the cinema.
8) Triple Threat
Iko Uwais, Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Jeeja Yanin and Michael Bisping all in the same gloriously violent movie? Honestly, there was no way this movie was ever going to live up to the glory that was in my head when this was announced.
And overall, that sort of panned out – every moment not spent in hand to hand combat was a moment wasted. But good god the fights were glorious when they happened. Just think about this – Scott Adkins can go 1 v 2 with Iko Uwais and Tony Jaa, and not need trick choreography or obvious jobbing to look good doing it. The talent in this film is nuts.
7) Hobbes and Shaw
A buddy-comedy where The Rock and Jason Statham fight Cyborg-Idris Elba in a plot that practically walked out of the Deus Ex universe? Fuck yes! Fast and the what? Who gives a shit! Vanessa Kirby was great fun as well, and the cameos were hilarious.
Only real knock against the movie is a problem with the genre – once the mismatched heroes agree to band together for the third act, the movie loses some of the pop it began with. And trust me, Johnson and Statham sassing each other for 2/3 of a movie is great fun.
Also, Idris Elba managed to sneak in and win my “Most Gloriously Ridiculous One-Liner of 2019” award. See if you can figure out which line that was.
6) Captain Marvel
Another solid showing from the MCU. Solid performances all round, loved the 90’s vibe, loved the twist, and Goose was great. Honestly, the only reason Captain Marvel ends up topping this tier instead of joining my top tier is that it’s a Marvel film. For all their technical competence and general fun, the plot beats are so predictable you don’t need to be paying attention to predict when they’ll kick off.
5) Knives Out
An expertly done, tightly crafted mystery movie with impeccable attention to detail and fine performances all round. Plus, seeing Captain America playing a trust fund wanker is just hilarious on its own.
Added bonus, it was nice to see a movie where the core conceit was “good things can happen to good people”. Feels like that’s getting less and less common outside of sappy family movies.
4) Us
An absolutely brilliant original horror movie (good lord those are rare these days). Excellent performances all round, a really creepy concept and extremely unsettling in all the right places.
And I’ll take every opportunity to say this: Lupita Nyong’o not even getting a nomination for Best Actress at the Oscars for this is an absolute fucking travesty. Given the list we’ve got, I’d have honestly had her as a very serious contender.
3) Cats
Fuck all of you, this movie is amazing. It’s impending financial implosion is naught but a sign of sheer cowardice on the part of moviegoers everywhere. Slowed down a bit in the second act, but picked up again for a gloriously bonkers finish. I was still laughing when I left the cinema and bought the soundtrack straight away.
2) JoJo Rabbit
An absolutely amazing dark comedy from Taiki Waititi. Equal parts hilarious and depressing, it’s an absolutely fascinating look at how deep extremist ideology can put it hooks into people. Word of warning – it is an extremely funny film, but it is by no means a happy one. Every time Nazis are the butt of a joke, Taika reminds you just how unfunny it is when they’re in charge.
1) Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Essentially, I went in wanting only one thing: King Ghidorah done with Western CGI and goddamn, I got exactly that. It’s something I’ve been wanting for two decades at least. Beefy alpha-Godzilla, weird Mothra and Starscream-Rodan were just the cherry on the three headed dragon cake.
When I get round to jumping on the 4k TV bandwagon, this is the very first 4k blu-ray I’m going to get.
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