My Top 5 Best Films of 2017

For my original reviews, click on the film’s title. I’ve only included 2017 films I’ve seen in the theater, but I will give an honorable mention to “Get Out.” I watched it at home on a laptop, but I think it could’ve been enhanced enough by seeing in on the big screen to have taken the number 5 spot.

5. War for the Planet of the Apes–Strong action and characters. The CGI and score are great. There are some nice nods to the original film. But, nothing too memorable happens.

4. It–Suspenseful, but rarely scary. Fantastic chemistry with the leads. CGI was lacking at times. Pennywise didn’t really stand out. Finale was a touch anticlimactic.

3. Spider-Man: Homecoming–A fun superhero movie. Tom Holland nails the role. Michael Keaton is a fleshed out villain. The CGI is weak in a lot of scenes. They overdo the references to the other Marvel Studio films.

2. Wonder Woman– Great performance by Gail Gadot. She embodies Wonder Woman. Strong chemistry between Gadot and Chris Pine. Fantastic action sequence and inspiring character moments are able to offset a weak villain and so-so final battle.

1. Logan–Emotional story with terrific chemistry between Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman. Bloody and violent action. Mediocre villains slowly drag the movie down till the end.

My Top 5 Worst Films of 2017

Once again, I didn’t see movies that looked like crap. So, “Transformers,” “The Emoji Movie,” and “50 Shades Darker” won’t be on this list because I didn’t see any of them. It makes it a lot harder to fill out a “Worst films” list when you avoid garbage. To see my original reviews, click on the link the film’s title.

5. Kong: Skull Island– Action-packed, but filled with underdeveloped characters, while the normally sympathetic Kong is now just a giant action hero.

4. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter–A decent story that can’t get past wooden characters, bad acting, mediocre special effects and silly action sequences.

3. Ghost in the Shell– Strong visuals can’t cover the uninteresting characters and plodding pace. Action is scarce and disappointingly executed.

2. Atomic Blonde– Just drab and boring. None of what makes spy movies good. Nothing intriguing happens. No sexy locales. Characters aren’t interesting. There’s much less action and quirkiness than advertised.

1. The Mummy (2017)– Just a bit of a mess. The film wants to be a horror movie, action movie, and the first piece in a monster movie universe. It fails at all. Tom Cruise’s star power elevates the film, but him playing the same character he always plays saps even more originality out of the movie.

Movie Review: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

A fun movie that shows potential at times to be great, but never rises to the occasion. The premise/plot is solid and a nice modern twist on the first “Jumanji” film. The execution falters pretty early on as it doesn’t really feel like the characters are advancing through a video game. It’s more like they wander from point A to point B and stuff just kind of happens. There are a few intense action sequences, but not much that feels truly perilous for the characters. The characters themselves are what invest you in the story, even with the fact that the four main characters are each played by two different actors. Dwayne Johnson and Karen Gillan do adequate jobs are conveying their nerdier characters that find themselves in amazing new bodies, but it’s Jack Black that steals the show as the stuck-up, pretty girl trapped in an overweight man’s body. While Kevin Hart is entertaining, he ends up playing the same character he usually plays, which is a contradiction to the soft spoken jock that he is supposed to be. The villain really added nothing to the story and the film would not be hurt if he was cut out altogether. The effects were okay, and while there were some cool visuals, but a lot of it just looked too CG. There were some good comedy moments throughout, and most of it worked pretty well. There is a surprising amount of heart in this film that was genuinely moving at times, thanks to the chemistry of the lead characters.

*** out of *****