Top Five Films of 2018

Throughout 2018, myself and the co-owner, Benson, have watched over 40 films, including long-awaited movies such as The Incredibles 2, The Avengers Infinity War, Deadpool 2, Solo: A Star Wars Movie, as well as many more. See the link for how we evaluate films -> https://cbcinematicuniverse.com/how-we-rate-movies/

Below are Cory’s top 5 films of 2018. (SPOILER Warning)

5. Overlord

This horror-action-sci-fi suspenseful filled movie starts off as your typical World War II movie. A group of American soldiers are sent on a mission to destroy a German radio tower in France (which is now occupied by Germany) – sounds like a pretty straight forward mission, right? Wrong. Under this radio tower is a twisted experimental laboratory where the Germans are doing experiments on captured soldiers and civilians, which to be fair…did happen, just not to the extreme level of the movie.

Now, the basic premise of the movie is pretty straight forward, but the level of gore and action in-between is phenomenal, and the movie goes from very typical war movie to Nazi Zombie fest extremely fast. Once the action starts, it doesn’t stop. Bodies are flying, heads are blown off, and blood is everywhere. Truly a spectacle if you’re into the gore, and the movie owes a lot to the great special effects team.

In terms of the plot and actors involved in the film, it is simply mediocre as it’s a B-level movie. The main actor Private Boyce (Jovan Adepo) puts on a strong performance, but the real MVP of the film is Wyatt Russel who plays Corporal Ford. Wyatt brings the entire movie together with his incredible performance and puts this movie in a top tier category as one of my top 5 for the year.

Final Thoughts and Rating

If traditional war movies aren’t your thing, no need to worry because the historical part of this film isn’t what draws you in. This is a B-List movie with A+ action and gore.

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4. Blackkklansman

The Blackkklansman starring John David Washington (Ron Stallworth) and Adam Driver (Flip Zimmerman) is a biographical film based on a memoir written by Ron Stallworth. The premise of the film is Stallworth is a black Colorado springs police officer who successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. Now personally, that’s sounds like an insane plot and instantly drew me in from the moment I saw the trailer.

Now, this film may be tough for some to watch as there is a ton of racism and prejudiced actions portrayed in the film, but it truly is a magnificent story and entertaining to watch the whole way through. I’m glad they did not censor the racism as it helps show the truth of the Ku Klux Klan and how the individuals acted towards black individuals. Throughout the film you almost forget this is based on a true story with how absurd some of the initiatives Stallworth participates in. Before even infiltrating the KKK, Stallworth became Colorado Springs first black police officer, which is an incredible feat itself, or in the movie they describe it as “the Jackie Robinson of the Colorado Springs police department.”

Although the premise of the film is about racism, director Spike Lee does a fantastic job of incorporating plenty of comedic relief to the film. John David Washington and Adam Driver were a fantastic duo and had a really great connection in the film.

Final Thoughts and Rating

This is one of the top movies of the year without a doubt. One of Spike Lee’s best films as well. Several Oscar worthy performances put on in this film, as well as a fantastic biographical story to go along with it.

3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

This movie is the only animated movie to make it into my top 10 movies of the year, and deservingly so. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an animated superhero film based on everyone’s favorite (debatable) super-hero Spider-Man. This is a new iteration on super hero movies as they take a step away from the live action films.

The story follows new Spider-Man Miles Morales on his journey to take down Kingpin. But there’s a new twist (and possibly a groundbreaking discovery in the MCU), as there’s alternative realities where there are other Spider-Men. Miles is introduced to various versions of himself including Peter Parker, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, Spider-Man 2099, and my personal favorite Spider-Ham (Peter Porker).

There’s certainly a lot going on in this film but it is controlled extremely well and doesn’t overwhelm the viewer. Each Spider-Man is introduced and each have their unique quirks and personality traits that set them apart. This movie is also a goldmine of meta-level humor with each spider-man having their own genre of humor and jokes throughout the film.

Although an animated film, they were able to make Miles Morales a surprisingly relatable character, as well as Peter and Gwen. You almost forget you’re watching an animated film at times with how well represented each character is.

Whoever worked on the visual effects team deserves a raise, seriously. The visuals and style utilized in this film is incredible and adds a surreal experience. You feel like you’re watching a comic book on the screen (literally). Not to mention the fantastic sound track (Sunflower – one of my favorite songs currently). Such an incredible film.

Final Thoughts and Rating

The successful spider-man movies takes a twist, and the film makers and animation crew did an amazing job on putting this movie together. An overall exciting plot, coupled with a great soundtrack puts this movie into my top 3 of the year. Highly recommend going to see this no matter what genre of movies you’re a fan of.

2. Robin Hood

Robinhood… (starring Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx), yes the movie most critics did not enjoy made it into my top 5. A new iteration on Robin Hood – the man who robs from the rich and gives to the poor.

I’ve always loved the story of Robin Hood, so maybe I’m just a bit nostalgic with this film, but I love the story and plot of this iteration of Robin Hood. The plot of the film isn’t anything out of the ordinary for a Robin Hood film. Egerton who plays Lord Robin of Loxley is a bow master who is drafted to fight in the Third Crusade. When returning, he learns that the Sheriff is exploiting his people to continue funding the war.

Now, the plot itself isn’t what makes this film one of my favorite. I think Egerton puts on an absolute acting masterclass and plays Robin Hood so well, with a strong performance by Jamie Foxx who plays “John”, who’s essentially his partner in crime. Together, they put together some phenomenal action scenes and carry out the duties of “The Hood” extremely well. This adaptation is my favorite Robin Hood one so far.

Final Thoughts and Rating

Although some may question why this film is so high, I believe the interesting take on the traditional Robin Hood, along with the outstanding acting by Robin (played by Taron Egerton), puts this film up with the rest of them. The movie is a great beginning to what seems to be a sequel looming, stay tuned.

1. Black Panther

An absolute masterclass of a movie by Marvel. Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther) and Michael B Jordan (Killmonger) put on a show for the ages.

The “Black Panther” is a superhero with superhuman strength and abilities who gets his powers from ingesting an ancient herb. This came to fruition thousands of years ago when there were five African Tribes fighting over the metal we now know as vibranium. They united under the Black Panther to form Wakanda.

Wakanda is an entirely black civilization in Africa, and little known to the rest of the world – the most technologically advanced places on earth, hidden by their special invisibility shield. Wakanda is a visual masterpiece to the viewers and is the most stunning civilization Marvel has come out with to date. I won’t go into much detail into the plot as it’s very detailed, but it is a fantastic story.

The cinematography in this film also is absolutely amazing and the plot and character development in the movie is fantastic. Not only do the two main characters, T’Challa and Killmonger (Chadwick Boseman and Michael B Jordan, respectively) put on a show, several of the supporting cast members do a fantastic job as well (notably Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, and Daniel Kaluuya).

Black Panther, despite being one of the best superhero movies to date, has a strong underlying theme of black representation. It delves into the depth of black culture in the United States and Africa. It also brings together black individuals as a collaborative unit (being able to sustain a futuristic technologically advanced civilization AND hide it from outsiders). The movie also brings out women empowerment as the most valuable characters in the film were all women; as opposed to side characters in some of the previous Marvel films.

Final Thoughts and Rating

When this movie debuted back in February, I was doubtful that a better movie would come along in 2018, and I was correct. A fantastic plot, cinematography, and acting (specifically by Chadwick Boseman – King T’Challa, Michael B Jordan – Erik Killmonger, and Lupita Nyong’o – Nakia), puts this movie as the undisputed best film of 2018. It certainly lived up to the hype. One of Marvels best movies to date.

Just missed the top five – Creed II, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Ant-man and the Wasp.