2017 did give us some great Comic Book Movies though as well as some great reading material! So for my returning post, I'm going to go over the best of 2017 in comics and movies!
2017 was a year of surprises for me at the theater. So let's start by naming all of the comic book movies and then I will rank them.
We had: Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Transformers: The Last Knight, Thor: Ragnorak, Justice League, and of course; Star Wars: Episode 8 The Last Jedi. Holy guacamole what a line up! So how did they all turn out? Here is my (shortened) analysis.
From Worst to Best of 2017: *Right away I want to make note that I did not see Transformers: The Last Knight (at least, not yet) and therefore will be disqualifying it from the ranking.*
7. Justice League - JL was the biggest disappointment of the year, and maybe the biggest disappointment of every comic book movie ever! Due to family problems, the original director had to leave the project more than halfway through production and a new director took over. Who then proceeded to re-shoot most of the movie, brighten it up with actual color, and return our favorite DC heroes to the daylight. All points that I agree with, but the execution was not great. After Marvel's The Avengers, The Justice League had HUGE shoes to fill and they didn't even come close. This movie should have been enormous and heralded as the GREATEST EVER, but it was severely lacking in many areas. I'm not blaming anyone involved with the project and I'm not happy about the outcome, but I do hope that Warner Brothers and DC Studios have learned from their mistakes and the movies going forward will better. Cause so far, DC, yo' shit is boring...
6. Spider-Man: Homecoming - I really enjoyed Spider-Man! I really did! Saw it twice in the theater and own it on Blu-Ray and watch it fairly often as well. So why is it second to worst on my list? Only because everything else that came out was better, in my opinion. It was great to see Spidey return home to Marvel and you can absolutely see the difference in the character between studios. That is, Sony's choices vs. Marvel's choices. I loved the Tobey McGuire movies, and also Andrew Garfield in Amazing Spider-Man 1 was terrific, but Tom Holland IS Peter Parker! He captured the innocence and sense of responsibility Spider-Man has perfectly. I loved that Marvel took him back to High School, avoided another origin movie, and also blended Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe seamlessly. I am very excited for the future of Marvel movies, and most specifically for Spidey's future film appearances.
5. Stars Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi - I'm still on the fence about how I absolutely feel about this movie. I thought I'd see it 2 or 3 times before the new year, but after the first viewing (plus the run time) I haven't done it yet. I'll put it this way; I loved the 3rd act of the movie. Loved, loved, loved it. The first 2/3 though... I'm not so sure. There were some bold choices made, and while I might not agree with the execution, I'm not upset with them. This was not a bad movie, at all. It was fun and quite enjoyable, but as a huge Star Wars fan and a someone with deep knowledge of most of the main characters, I felt like I was punched in the face and told that this wasn't for me anymore. I think I'm going to give this movie it's own post after I see it again, so stay tuned for that...
4. Wonder Woman - I absolutely loved this movie! Wonder Woman broke the mold (pun intended!) of the DC movie curse! She was one of the best parts of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and even better in her own feature length movie! After the disappointment of Justice League however, there might be some casting changes in the works. I just pray to the gods that they keep Gal Gadot. She is wonderful! Patty Jenkins is a kick ass director as well! So why isn't it any higher on the list? Well only because it's the same exact plot as Captain America: The First Avenger. It wasn't the same exact movie and I actually like WW more than the first Cap movie, but it felt too similar. What I loved most about this movie was how it made me feel afterward. I was excited and felt great, like I could take on anything. And then I saw how the movie affected little girls and it made me love the movie even more. I'm so glad girls have such a strong and good role model in a super hero movie now. It makes me excited for future female led Comic Book Movies like Captain Marvel.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - If you loved the first Guardians, then you'll most likely love this one too. It's a solid sequel that develops the characters a bit further, introduces new ones, deepens and evolves the emotional side of the main characters, has some kick ass action scenes, awesome soundtrack that is arguably better than the first one, and makes you laugh out loud throughout the entire movie! I saw so many parallels to The Empire Strikes Back that I plan on watching both movies back to back and writing a comparison post on it. No complaints about the similarities though, I mean, if you're gonna model your sequel off of a movie than you can't get much better than The Empire Strikes Back!
2. Thor: Ragnorak - simply awesome. Clearly the best of the 3 Thor movies and a fantastic side story to the overarching storyline of the MCU. Basically it's like a buddy movie with Thor and the Hulk and it's absolutely hilarious. Quite possibly the funniest Marvel movie to date. I'm disappointed that I only saw it once in the theater, but it came out around the time that 2017 was hitting peak shittiness for me, and so I couldn't make it more than once. No matter, Blu-Ray comes out pretty soon I think!!!
1. Logan - Not only is Logan the number 1 Comic Book Movie of 2017 for me, it's my new favorite Comic Book Movie of All-Time! This was a total surprise for me. If you know me at all, or have read any of my other Wolverine posts, you know that he is my favorite character ever and I know him down to his core. You would also know that before this movie, I had given up on the idea that Fox Studios could make a good Wolverine solo movie. I didn't even like him in the X-Men films (except for the first and second ones, especially X2)! This movie completely changed my mind at the same time as it redefined the entire CBM genre. Finally we got a CBM that wasn't just a straight up spectacle, but a heartfelt, visionary, and genre bending film. We still got the spectacle, but we also saw that a CBM doesn't just have to be super heroes fighting super villains. They can also be about a super hero in a different time period, or situation. For example, a few years back a movie called Cowboys and Aliens came out that could have been awesome. Instead it bombed and was awful. What I liked about the concept was that it introduced the idea that super powers (or science/alien gadgets) could be used in a genre movie like a Western. Logan was Shane or Unforgiven with adamantium claws. I absolutely LOVED this movie. It's taken a spot in my Top 5 Favorite Movies of All-Time.
Other movies not comic related that are worth seeing: Baby Driver - possibly the best movie I saw last year; The Big Sick - adorable and hilarious love story that everyone should see; Get Out - fantastic horror/thriller that made me very excited for future projects by Jordan Peele!
2017 brought us some really awesome Comic Books too! I won't get into these much though. Marvel introduced the beginning of the end of their All-New, All-Different titles with Marvel Legacy #1 which saw the return of one of their most beloved characters while keeping 2 alternate versions of him in their monthly rotation. We'll have to see how that works out. 2017 also pushed me over the edge with regards to buying comics. After my sever disappointment with Civil War 2, I swore off buying comics for awhile and specifically Marvel comics. I missed the Secret Empire event, even though I read/heard it was quite good, and avoided everything else until Legacy #1 was released.
But it was DC comics that got me back into buying monthlies. Specifically the Dark Knights Metal storyline and Doomsday Clock! Dark Knights Metal has been nothing short of fantastic. It introduces us to the Dark Multiverse, where everything terrible that could possibly happen, happens. A team of alternate-universe and "evil" Batmen are assembled and the real Batman of Earth Prime is their doorway to the "good" multiverse! There have only been 4 issues of the main story plus some side stories that have been a ton of fun too. Next issue is due out next month and I can't wait to see what happens.
DC also gave us Doomsday Clock. Part of my disappointment with Marvel Comics was in regards to a personal choice that I made. I chose to follow Civil War 2 rather than the crossover even DC was running and my decision came back to haunt me a whole bunch of times. I missed out on the Countdown to Doomsday Clock AND The OZ Effect. Both of which helped build toward the story that Doomsday Clock would tell. For those who aren't familiar with current comic story lines, Doomsday Clock is the story that introduces The Watchmen (a superhero team from, arguably, the greatest graphic novel ever written) to the DC Comics Universe. So characters like Batman and Superman will soon be interacting with Watchmen characters Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, and Ozymandias. If you haven't read Watchmen, I highly recommend it. Doomsday Clock #1 was released in November and is only 2 issues into a 12 issue run, so there is time to catch up.
Other reading recommendations: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline was a book that I read in about 3 days. It's so much fun and will be a movie directed by Steven Spielberg this year. Definitely my #1 recommendation. Also check out Unworthy Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy (the short runs like Emperor Quill or the story where Agent Venom is introduced to the team (sorry can't remember the title right now), and also Marvel's Infinity. I LOVED Infinity! It's also what this year's Infinity War movie seems to be based on, so if you want a great read and a possibly glimpse at what Marvel is giving us for the big screen this year, be sure to check it out).
That's it for today. Lots of great stuff to check out from last year, and this year looks just as good! See ya next time!
