2018 In Review - Films (Part 1)

Yes, you’re quite right, everyone else did their whole “looking back over the year” thing at the end of the last year. I would have done it too but I was too busy engaged in that traditional English pastime of treating the run up to Christmas as if it were some sort of alcohol-based impending apocalypse necessitating meeting up with everyone you’ve ever met in booze-related surroundings over a two week period in order to heartily punish your liver for ever existing. Or Christmas, if you prefer.

So, given that “wallowing in nostalgia” could effectively be the subtitle to this blog, let’s take a little look back over the year that was known as 2018, largely because it was 2018 (if you follow the Gregorian calendar, that is which I do - big fan).

Films
No surprise there - films have always been a big part of this here blog but it feels like this year was definitely one in which I fully rekindled a love of film. I watched 42 films that were released this year (and that doesn’t include films that I watched that were released in previous years) so I think it’s safe to say it was a filmy year. Watching 12 films at the London Film Festival certainly helped too.

Let’s start at the bottom and work our way upwards, shall we? Today, here are the films that were the most disappointing for me and I’ll clarify that - by “disappointing”, I mean not necessarily actually bad but a film that I had a level of expectation for that it didn't meet.

The Cloverfield Paradox
I really enjoyed the first two Cloverfield films but this one, surprise released on Netflix after being dropped by the distributor, was a real mess. It just didn't hang together and the ending felt like a vain attempt to create the feeling of a universe for the two previous films.

Early Man
A rare misfire from Aardman. It’s still good as I don’t think they could make a truly bad film but it doesn’t reach the heights of their previous efforts.

Solo
It’s a reasonably entertaining film but it just feels like a superfluous exercise in box-ticking.

Mirai
Solid amime that suffers from being in the same vein as those produced by Studio Ghibli but not quite reaching their quality level.

Lady Bird
It’s a strong cast but ultimately I just didn't care about the lead character and found myself clock-watching. Eighth Grade and Leave No Trace both had far more compelling teenage female characters.

The Shape Of Water
The first genre film to win Best Director at the Oscars - it looks great and the cast all deliver but it’s narratively dull. Every beat of the film unfolded exactly as I knew it would. Very disappointing.

The Incredibles 2
In much the same way as Aardman, Pixar don’t make bad films as such but this one was certainly underwhelming. I really enjoyed the first one but there was something lacking from this follow-up. I suspect it’s the fact that the original was pre-superhero film ubiquity and this is post-ubiquity - and doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself as something new.

The Predator
There are the seeds of an interesting film in here but a completely reshot third act makes this film messy and dissatisfying, giving us yet another sci-fi film whose ending serves only as a set-up for the next film. Could have been much more from the man who gave us Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Dishonorable Mention
Venom
Not sure this qualifies as a disappointment as I had zero hopes going in but it’s a weird, uneven mess of a film, unsure if wants to be a superhero film, a horror film, a buddy cop comedy or a romantic comedy. It ultimately ends up being none of those things, all topped off with a massive CGI to wrap things up. Don’t bother.

OK, so we’ve got the stuff that wasn’t as great as it could have been out of the way. What did I actually like? Well, you’ll have to come back next time to find that out, won't you? (Or not, if you’re not that fussed. Up to you really.)