And I Say...

I just watched one of what I assume are hundreds of "best superhero movies of 2018" videos on YouTube.  All in all I can't say he got much wrong.  Since searching that list is likely to produce a bunch of results and you may not get the one I watched...

And since you're here on my blog...

And since I've seen all but 2 of the 9 of these in the theater this year...

My list goes thus:

9.  Teen Titans Go to the Movies.

If you know me, you know that I ALWAYS make a point of watching even the worst of Marvel and DC's movie and television offerings, at least once.  Teen Titans Go is a show that I absolutely hate but watch because of the characters.  Once in a while it makes me laugh but mostly it makes me wish it would get cancelled so I don't have to sit through it every week.  The movie was no different.  A long episode, nothing special and not nearly as good as their one good episode, When The Night Begins To Shine.  I'd pass if I could.

8. Venom.

I reviewed it here and I stand by my "meh".  It did huge box office but I still found it tedious and underwhelming.  If I didn't hate Teen Titans Go so much, it'd be 9.

Before we get to 7 through 9, a qualifier.  Every movie from here on was really good.  Nothing less than a B+ from here up.  Pretty much any order from here up could be arguable and easily defendable.  Seven fine films from here on, if I don't rank them in the same order you do, that's not really surprising.

7. Ant-Man and Wasp.

A great follow up to the first Ant-Man film and a terrific, light palate cleanser of a movie following the dark-fest that was Avengers - Infinity War.  A bigger fan of the character or the actors could easily rank this one a top 3 film this year.  I enjoyed it, but it didn't wow me like...

6. Incredibles 2.

Again, if you are a bigger Pixar fan than a superhero fan, this one is easily a top 3 film this year.  A wonderfully creative and inventive follow up to the best Fantastic Four film ever made, The Incredibles, this one was super entertaining and more fun than any of the other films on the list, except...

5. Deadpool 2.

Ok, so it was predictable, but damn it was FUN.  Ryan Reynolds and an amazing cast managed to keep this sequel tight and small and still deliver a ton of action.  Deadpool works best on that smaller scale and it was entirely jaw dropping when they did the BIG villain reveal after the car chase.  Reynolds doing double duty by voicing that villain was stunning.  I truly hope that Disney finds a way to keep Reynolds in the suit and in the R Rated section after the Fox merger finalizes.

4. Spider-Man - Into the Spider-Verse.

First, it was AWESOME to see a "serious" animated superhero film in the theater.  More of this please.  Sure Pixar does The Incredibles, DC did Teen Titans Go and LEGO Batman is a thing but I want to see something like Batman - Gotham By Gaslight in theaters.  My love of superheroes began with animation and I suspect I'm not remotely alone in being thrilled to hand over my money to see a feature length animated Batman, Superman, etc on the big screen.

3.  Avengers - Infinity War.

If this one had a been a squidge shorter with a few fewer characters, it'd be my #1.  As it stands it's a fantastic film that suffers from about 20 minutes of bloat thanks to too many characters jammed into an overlong film.  Great, but it almost needed an intermission.

2.  Aquaman.

My non-sexual man-crush on Jason Momoa is still in full force and I fuckin' loved this movie.  I was SO happy to see a DC film with a non-Batman lead that could hold its own with that other star of the DC-Verse, Wonder Woman.  These two films really set the standard and have elevated the brand.  While the internet bickers over Justice League and Batman V Superman and their merits and failings, Aquaman is raking in the bucks and generally winning over audiences and critics.  If Warner Bros. can follow this up with a great Shazam movie next year, it might be time to consider the ship righted and the course corrected.

1.  Black Panther.

Seriously.  This movie deserves to be the first superhero movie to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.  My bias for the genre aside, this is a fucking GREAT film and the nomination would be a lock if there were no comic book roots to it.  If you really dig down, Black Panther (in this film, at least) isn't technically a super hero.  He's a king with super powers, more like Gilgamesh, King Arthur, Samson or even David.  Think of the super-suit as Excalibur or a sling and you'll see what I'm saying. 

With all that said, this film is entirely fantastic from top to bottom with probably the best villain in any film from the genre, ever.  I'd vote for another nomination for Michael B. Jordan as Best Supporting Actor for his turn as Killmonger.  As I've said a million times, a superhero film is EXACTLY as strong as the villain and Black Panther has the best of the best there.

I would agree with the reviewer I saw earlier in saying that 2018 was one of the most amazing years for genre cinema.  It truly is the golden age for us geeks.  May 2019 be even better!

Happy New Year Y'All!