Tag: Bumblebee

Top 10 Movies of 2018 Ranked

With 2018 now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to reflect on and rank the movies that came out last year. 2018 was arguably the best year for movies since 2014 and it was especially hard to make my Top 10 list because there were a ton of movies I liked/loved that sadly didn’t make the Top 10 cut. Before I give my Top 10 list, I want to issue a caveat. I have (yet) to see movies like Green Book, If Beale Street could talk, Roma etc. that are getting Oscar Buzz. So if you don’t see those movies on this list, chances are I haven’t seen it yet or I simply didn’t think it was Top 10 worthy. That being said, here is my honorable mentions list, followed by my top 10 list!

Honorable mentions – Vice, Spiderman: Into the spider-verse, Hereditary, Unsane, A star is born, Black Panther, Eighth Grade, Won’t you be my neighbor, Love Simon, Bumblebee.

#10. Searching – Searching is a really good suspenseful thriller. Great performances, cool twists and a much better version of the ‘Unfriended’ series.

#9. Incredibles 2 –  While not as good as the first one, it’s still a dam great movie. Having Mr. Incredible stay home with the kids while Elastigirl is out doing superhero stuff really worked and made for great comedy. Jack-jack vs the poor raccoon fight is one of my favorite scenes of the year and I still contend, had Jack-Jack been in Infinity War, even Thanos with all 6 Infinity Stones would have been defeated.

#8. Mission impossible: fallout – Tom Cruise does what Tom Cruise does best – run (a lot), do insane death-defying stunts etc. While this entry in the franchise is not as good as MI4 and MI5, it’s still a great action movie with solid character interaction moments. Also, how great is Henry Cavill? From his now iconic “reloading his arms” scene to his sick multi-million dollar moustache that ruined Justice League, Cavill was a great foil to Cruise’ Ethan Hunt.

#7. Blindspotting – Blindspotting is a movie I just recently watched and man, it’s such a powerful, thought-provoking movie. Like Blackkklansman, it is a very relevant movie that is also extremely funny. This movie is fueled by stellar performances from Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, and explores the issues of gentrification, police violence against unarmed black people etc. A must-watch.

#6. Bohemian Rhapsody – Just like the Queen band themselves, 20th Century Fox rocked our world with a Queen biopic movie starring Rami Malek as the band’s lead singer Freddy Mercury. What could easily have been just a 2 hour long music video featuring all the iconic Queen songs, the filmmakers crafted a compelling story with well-developed characters and an Oscar-worthy performance from Malek. Lastly, the Live-aid concert left me wishing this was my real life rather than being a fantasy.

#5. Blackkklansman – A movie like this could have easily been a dark, serious movie but Spike Lee chose to add a comedic angle to it, making it a more palatable, powerful yet entertaining film. This is a very relevant movie and Lee had the chutzpah to take a firm stand against the current political administration and its tendency to attract white nationalists.

#4. A Quiet Place – You make a noise, you die. Definitely an interesting premise that makes you wonder how you would fare in a situation like this. However, the tension is palpable, the characters are so well-realized with terrific performances from John Krasinsky, his wife (both real life and on-screen) Emily Blunt, and the two kids. Like Get Out last year, here’s hoping the Academy ignores the fact that this is a genre movie and actually recognizes this movie to be worthy of a few accolades, because it is deserving of it.

#3. Game Night – Game night is one of the most original films of 2018 and is such a rollicking fun time at the theatres. The movie has a great ensemble cast coupled with a genuinely interesting story and most importantly, jokes that actually land and are funny.

#2. Avengers: Infinity War – What can I say that hasn’t already been said. I absolutely loved this movie. It had everything I could ever have hoped for – great action, wonderful character interaction moments, humor, a commanding villain in Thanos etc. With that epic cliffhanger, I am salivating over the next installment in the Avengers franchise, Avengers: Endgame.

#1. Creed 2 – Being a massive fan of the Rocky movies and Creed, I was a little nervous when they announced that Ryan Coogler won’t be returning for the Creed sequel and the movie would have Adonis go toe-to-toe with Ivan Drago’s son, Victor. However, this movie packed a number of punches, making it an emotional, exciting ride. Not only are the boxing scenes super hardcore and awesome to watch, there are a number of poignant, heartfelt moments between Adonis and his family.

 

Bumblebee Review (No Spoilers)

Transformers used to be a critic-proof franchise that was guaranteed to make a ton of money, regardless of the quality. Now, I am going to mention something controversial – I like this franchise. Yes, it has a ton of issues, one-dimensional characters, messy action sequences. But, this is my guilty-pleasure franchise. I actually enjoyed the first 4 Transformers movies! However, even I hated the fifth one (the Last Knight) and that was the first movie in the franchise that had a big drop in the global box office. Meaning, the audiences were catching on and were no longer interested in being disappointed again and again by the franchise. Bumblebee, directed by Travis Knight (director of the great Kubo and the Two Strings), is the first non-Michael Bay Transformers film, and he had a very difficult job – making a Transformers movie that can bring back the people that abandoned the franchise. I am very happy to say, I loved this movie but more importantly, the critics and the general moviegoing audience also seem to share my appreciation for Bumblebee.

Positives – At its core, this is a story about the relationships between Charlie (played by the beautiful Hailee Steinfeld) and Bumblebee, and Charlie and her family. First of all, the scenes with Charlie and Bee are extremely cute to watch, especially the beach scene. It never felt like Steinfeld was acting opposite of a CG creation (unlike the obviously CG creations in the other films) and Bumblebee very much felt like a real character. Another major emotional aspect of the movie is the relationship between Charlie and her family. Unlike the other members of her family, Charlie is still not over her father’s death and there are some really poignant moments in the film. Aside from the character moments, the action is great! You can actually tell what is happening on screen, unlike the other Transformers films where the action is quite unclear and just feels like a bloated mess. We also learn how Bee lost his voice in the first 15 minutes of the movie, thus, him essentially trying to “regain” his voice is powerful. The movie also gives us our best Cybertron scene of any Transformers movie and it’s cool to see the G1 designs for the Transformers.

Negatives – Unlike the Rock who has quickly cemented his place as the leading Hollywood star, John Cena isn’t there (yet). While he is great in comedies like Blockers, Trainwreck, he hasn’t demonstrated his acting prowess in the more serious dramatic moments. Outside of the genuinely funny Charlie-Bee comedic scenes, the comedy felt pretty cringe-worthy at times and, as is the case with every Transformers movie, the military plots felt shoehorned in.

Overall, Bumblebee is a movie that anyone can watch and enjoy. It has great characters with some good action sequences and a likeable main lead in Steinfeld. I can finally breath a sigh of relief knowing I am no longer that one person that enjoys this franchise as I know, you all now will too!

Rating – 4/5