We held off on publishing this list in the initial span of Year in Review, because we thought that the back to back releases of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Aquaman might change our results at the last minute, and we were right.
3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sixteen years after Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man revolutionized super-hero movies for a generation of movie-goers, Sony Pictures Animation turns to the property once again to usher in the next generation. I’ll get this out of the way now; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is not only the definitive “Spider-Man” film, it’s quite possibly the greatest and purest comic book adaptation of all time.
Among “serious” circles, live-action is king. While we as a culture have come to accept grown-ass men and women running around in brightly colored spandex and questionably designed cowls as “high-minded cinema,” there’s still a bit of stigma surrounding animation. The popularity of anime is skyrocketing and Pixar has been cranking out critical darlings for decades, but there still seems to be a bit of a stigma surrounding animated super hero films. Well, let it be known that the future is here, and it is animated.
Into the Spider-Verse feels like a comic brought to life. Not in the way of the hokey motion-comics of the late aughts, but in honest to Aunt May evolution of cartoon sequential story-telling. The film feels unlike any other animated film I’ve ever seen. The film’s animators play fast and loose with perspective, color, focus, and motion. At times it evokes the claymation works of Wes Anderson, with deadpan deliveries and long close-up shots. There are hints of Edgar Wright’s “Scott Pilgrim” adaptation. The music direction is fantastic, building on the strong work of Black Panther earlier this year. Many scenes lean hard into comic tropes, employing narration caption boxes, thought bubbles, and Benday dots.
Not only does the film pay tribute to the medium that spawned it, it’s a veritable love letter to Spider-Man’s long and storied history; comics, film, and animation included. While it skews heavily towards the rather recent “Spider-Verse” event, there are heavy nods to the Raimi trilogy, “Ultimate Spider-Man,” and a few others that I’ll avoid for spoiler reasons. Suffice it to say, this one is for the fans. And yet, it’s refreshingly approachable film for new comers as well, thanks to the stellar cast of diverse characters.
There’s not enough space in this year-in-review piece to fully delve into how important a sea-change this film could (and should) mark for the future of super-hero films. I’ll leave that to other, smarter people. But, take my advice, don’t sleep on this one. It’s the funniest, most well developed and lovingly crafted super hero film in recent years. I even liked it better that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and if you don’t follow me on Twitter, just know that means something. – Zach Wilkerson
2. Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Infinity War is, in many ways, the film that the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building toward since, in the very least, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers. Where Infinity War excels is not merely in the scope of its story or its breadth, but in the fact that despite its long runtime, nothing is wasted at all. After roughly ten years of development across eighteen films before that point, rather than wallow overlong in introductions or random unrelated action, every single piece of the story leads toward the culmination of all that had come. In part, this ability to focus is due to how, in spite of having such a large roster of characters, everyone had a reason to be present and a purpose in the plot, having had their backstories and interactions on some level in previous installments of the franchise. Every action, no matter how stupid (looking at you, Quill) is in line with how the characters have always been and how they have developed as people, without feeling forced. While knowing those elements helped with the stakes, the writing of the movie makes that knowledge not too necessary, even with the massive crossovers. Everything you need to know is told up front in the shortest amount of time needed.
Continued belowThe other reason why this movie is so capable of integrating such an enormous cast is something else entirely, which makes the name of the film somewhat disingenuous: neither the Avengers, nor the Guardians of the Galaxy, nor Wakanda, nor any other element of the heroes are actually the protagonists. Instead, a fairly decent argument can be made that Thanos, the villain, is the protagonist of the film, with this being much more of a Thanos film than an Avengers one, only called the latter for sake of viewer recognition. Keeping with the tight focus, every single scene in the film leads toward or involves Thanos or his loyal “children” that act as his lieutenants. Every scene is geared toward learning about his plan or stopping him in some way, rather than, as with the other films before, having him be but one part of a larger story about the heroes. By having Thanos front and center for the first time, as opposed to one or two scenes per film with minimal exposure, the sympathetic, deranged, calm villain he is can be thoroughly explored to make him into far more than a generic evil overlord he appeared to be in earlier iterations.
Together, the various parts of the story, from the comedic to the serious, from the horrific to the praiseworthy, show not only how strong Thanos is as a villain (literally and metaphorically) after so long in the background (to the point of having been a running joke for years in how he loses so much) but also how strong the characters are in the same ways, helping to culminate in a phenomenal rising action to lead into 2019’s upcoming Avengers: Endgame. – Greg Ellner
1. Black Panther
There’s a joke going around the internet about how 2018 was a year at such a breakneck pace that people seem to have forgotten the Olympics even happened, and that was back in February. One can probably make the same joke about comics and comic properties. With so much stuff going on – – Avengers trailer date speculation (and then the actual trailer itself), Aquaman as the possible next savior of the DCEU, the Elseworlds crossover for the CW DC shows, the status of various Netflix Marvel series – – it’s almost easy to forget that a movie like Black Panther happened all the way back in February (like those Olympics).
But it did. And you shouldn’t.
This entire movie was a risk for Marvel. No star from a previous MCU film as part of the supporting cast. A character not many fans may have known (admittedly, I had never heard of Black Panther before his appearance in Captain America: Civil War). A release date in the depths of winter, months before the summer blockbuster season and when other events – – like the aforementioned Olympics – – or cold winter weather (if you live in most of the US) – – compete for time, attention, and money.
The risk led to immense rewards, with Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for the film, and box office record after box office record smashed, including a place in the top 10 highest grossing films of all time. What Marvel gave us was so unlike any other previous Marvel film, it opened the door for a whole new set of fans.
How did T’Challa and Wakanda do it? A cocktail mix of success. A lead character who doesn’t seem to have a bad bone in his body, but without the Boy Scout sickly sweet goodness of Steve Rogers. Co-stars that became stars in their own right – – there would be no “Shuri” ongoing series if it wasn’t for Letitia Wright’s deft comedic timing and charm. An organic exploration of the different facets of the African-American experience. An unintentional yet universal politically-charged thesis that makes sense more than ever in 2018. And of course, the glorious feminist and Afro-centric representation at the heart of this film, giving young African and African-American men and women a chance to see heroes that look like them front and center of a film as successful leaders and scholars. The movie also spurred social change, as activists used screenings for voter registration drives in the #WakandaTheVote movement.
Continued belowWakanda opened itself up to the world this year, and for that, this world is a much better place.
Long Live T’Challa. Long Live Wakanda. – Kate Kosturski
Editors’ Notes:
Brian: Due to holiday madness, I still haven’t seen Into the Spider-Verse, but I can’t wait to check it out. I’m very hyped for it, and I’m glad an animated, super fun flick made our top 3. I really loved Black Panther, as it had far more life than many of the other MCU films.
While I didn’t hate Infinity War by any stretch, it was so packed full of story that it didn’t allow for too much style or any real substance beneath the surface, as I said both in my review and in our Slackers conversation. Like I said then, I love that we are at a place where both the good and the bad of comics can be on the screen at the same time. Infinity War is an event comics on screen. That doesn’t make it a great movie, though.
Also, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies was robbed.
Matt: Me, on the other hand, I hated Infinity War. And the further removed I am from it, the more I hate it. It’s overlong, soulless, contradictory to its own mythos, cynical, cheap, and stupid in the worst ways. And I disagree with you about the spectacle of it because watching a bunch of badly animated, weightless objects flying around actors who couldn’t care less about being there for two-and-a-half hours does not make for engaging viewing.
The fact that it’s sandwiched between two of the best superhero films of all time is also something. Now, Into the Spider-Verse has spectacle. Black Panther has pizzazz. Both of them are indicative of what the superhero genre can offer. Both of the ooze cool. Those are what cape movies should be aspiring toward.
I also agree with you that Teen Titans Go! to the Movies was robbed. I wanted to pull rank and replace Infinity War with it but you told me that was “unfair” and “not in the spirit of the system.”
