Best and Worst Movies of 2012

I am once again compiling the best and worst movies I've seen in 2012. Now that we're in a new year, hopefully I continue to watch a slew of great and a ton of horrible movies as well. Granted, I've seen lots of movies that aren't on this list... but I wanted to mention the ones that stuck out most of all.

I also have individual movie reviews, if you want more in-depth opinions.

I'll best keep these as concise as possible! 

Best:

Chronicle

Basically a modern day Akira. Very convincing special effects, good (and timeless) concept, with a fresh cast. 

The Cabin in the Woods

Joss Whedon does horror? Funny, exciting, unconventional, and unexpected. 

The Avengers

Joss Whedon does superheroes? How could I avoid this movie? Great dialogue, excellent direction, great cast, using an old and traditional story line but executed well.

Prometheus

The dork in me loves this, and the original Alien film. Noomi is one badass chick. She can put up with so much.

The Dark Knight Rises

Batman. Need I say more? Oh, Bane. Oh, Catwoman. Oh, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.


Worst:

Underworld: Awakening

I like vampires. But I like Anne Rice vampires, not the new age of weakling love-triangle vampires. This just felt unnecessary and excessive. Lots of violence, not much payoff. Good brainless fun I suppose. But I expected more action. 

The Man with the Iron Fists

I feel like they're making these films just to show off. Yes, it looks cool. Yes, there's lots of violence and action and blood. But there is absolutely NO content or story.

Battleship

Remember that string of movies that came out all about alien invaders? Battle LA? Skyline? Yes, this follows around the same premise. Except there's terrible acting, and if possible I was waiting for the movie to end by around the halfway point. No one should want the action to STOP during an action film, right?

Total Recall

They don't go to Mars. That's a major plot point! It's an alright movie if you took it as a stand alone piece. But I must compare it to the original Total Recall, and it doesn't do the original justice at all. 

Resident Evil: Retribution

How many of these do they have to make? I get it. There will always be an enemy, and evil. I get it, as long as video game sales are up, they'll capitalize on these movies. But I feel like these are done to death. There's almost too much CGI and too many special effects. None of this movie looks real.

Movie Review: Battleship (2012)

Rating: PG-13

IMDB Rating: 6.2/10

The plot according to IMDB:

A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada of unknown origins in order to discover and thwart their destructive goals.

This is probably one of the worst ‘action films’ I’ve seen in ages. I usually wish action movies would last longer to get more fight scenes, etc… but in this case it was quite the opposite. I couldn’t wait to skip forward and see the conclusion. And no, the ending wasn’t that epic.

Highlights:

• There were some decent alien scenes
• Ships. In battle
• Decently good looking cast

Lowlights:

• Rihanna’s acting skills
• Poor dialogue
• Weak conclusion

My Verdict:

I wish I could get those hours of my life back. It was predictable, average, and extremely mediocre. It was almost as if there was too much forced action… that the director was just trying to stuff in as much action to compensate for the poor dialogue as possible. Rihanna can sing, and she makes extremely catchy music… but she shouldn’t break into acting. Not if this is the type of role she’ll be playing.

4.8/10