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: Prometheus (2012)

Rating: R

IMDB Rating: 7.7/10

The plot according to IMDB:

A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

I saw this last night with my other half, and had a jolly fun date night. I got excited for this movie when the first trailer came out. That was when Michael Fassbender was getting all the great feedback and gaining popularity. Now, I haven’t seen the original Alien movie since I was around 8 years old. I will go back and rewatch it, because I feel like Prometheus and Alien should be chunked together.

However, Prometheus is NOT a direct prequel to Alien. It’s the same universe, same-ish timeline, and similar enemies and technology… but the plots are NOT intertwined. So I approached this as a brand new movie in a brand new franchise.

Noomi Rapace stars in this, and she goes through a lot. Poor girl. Michael Fassbender does a spectacular job portraying a robot, and Charlize Theron plays an enigmatic power-hungry woman very well. Idris Elba is also in this and convinced me to love him. He’s just an adorable character and does a lot with the small role he was given.

There were a ton of themes in this movie, and I’m not going to go through all of them. The one that struck me most was how sometimes bad things happen for no real reason. Sometimes people who never smoke get lung cancer. And in the same way, sometimes a terrifying SOMETHING can get you without you doing anything to provoke it.

Another main theme was how people will do anything to answer the questions they seek. Now, as a Christian myself, I understand that desire. To know where we came from. What happens to us when we die? Who is in charge? People have this inherent curiosity about our origins, and sometimes we’ll make dumb choices to find out. That is, after all, why they named this Prometheus. It’s all about learning the origins of our species and seeking knowledge from our creators.

I enjoyed this movie. It was filled with suspense. It wasn’t disgusting, it wasn’t filled with action… but it had enough violence and great facial-acting to keep me interested.

Highlights:

• Seamless CGI
• A-list cast of talented actors
• Robots
• Timeless story told in a pretty refreshing way
• Ridley Scott!
• Those you’d think would die, didn’t right away. 

Lowlights:

• Some people thought there were a lot of unanswered questions
• A lot of deleted scenes that may have helped clarify some points
• Not much ‘alien,’ more ‘space beings’

My Verdict:

8/10