2017 Retrospective

This goal for this retrospective is to reflect on all the entries observed this past year on Screening Spectacles. Throughout 2017, a lot of great films arrived that either stayed within their own genre or took risks to stand out by bringing something unique for the audiences. However, there was also a number of bland or terrible ones that either didn't try any effort or went into a direction that negatively affected the experience. Everything that has been analyzed in 2017 will contain the overall consensus section from their reviews along with my pros and cons to accompany them.

Paterson (2016): Paterson embraces the enjoyment of ordinary lifestyle routines through the likable charm of the main actors and mellow comedy through observant details. ⭑⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿

Pros: The beautiful simplicity of the movie. Adam Driver's performance. The chemistry of the main leads.
Cons: N/A.

Hidden Figures (2016): Hidden Figures brings in an inspiring true story that's strengthened even further through the performances of the three main leads. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Pros: The performances of the three main leads and their standout moments. Kevin Costner and Kirsten Dunst doing well with their roles. The conditions of the segregation era, especially with the bathrooms.
Cons: Jim Parsons sticking with his Sheldon Cooper archetype. Some of the backstory of each character could have been fleshed out a little more.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter ends Paul W.S. Anderson's turn helming the film series with over-the-top terribly edited action, silly convoluted stories, and main actors having with charismatic hammy performances. ⭑⭑⭑

Pros: The over the top action. Milla Jovovich doing her own stunts. The hammy cartoon villain Iain Glenn.
Cons: The terrible editing of the action scenes aka the jump cuts. Ruby Rose.

Split: Split can only go so far on James McAvoys performance as it slugs through predictable repetitive Shyamalan storytelling, bland dialog, and bad performances from the supporting cast. ⭑⭑

Pros: James McAvoys performance. Some nice creepy shots.
Cons: Pretentious writing. Bad execution. Confusing story that gets worse. The performance of the supporting cast. The twist ending.

The Lego Batman Movie: The Lego Batman Movie comedically celebrates Batman by embracing its lore mixed with fast paced action and nice emotional moments worthy for a great family flick. ⭑⭑⭑⭑1/2

Pros: The performances of the 5 main leads. Saying "Pew pew! Pew pew!" while firing guns. A story that understands Batman and his relationships.
Cons: Not much screen time for the Joker. Some jokes were hit or miss.

John Wick: Chapter 2: John Wick: Chapter 2 is a solid action sequel that improves upon the qualities of its predecessor with great casting, an intriguing expanding environment, and an action adrenaline rush. ⭑⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿

Pros: The action choreography. The pencil scene. The ending. The Matrix reunion. Well executed humor.
Cons: The motivation isn't as effect as that of the first movie.

The Red Turtle (2016): The Red Turtle captures the charm of the past Studio Ghibli films while telling an engaging simple story with gorgeous animation and beautiful music. ⭑⭑⭑⭑1/2

Pros: Beautiful animation. Wonderful music. Simplicity through silence. Sweet story.
Cons: N/A

Get Out: Get Out creates excitement for the horror genre through its satirical approach along with a great cast of actors providing wonderful performances that makes the creative story worth watching. ⭑⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿

Pros: The performances of the cast. The comic relief best friend. The TSA!! The ending! The uncomfortable suspense.
Cons: Not really scary.

Logan: Logan is an excellent farewell story for Hugh Jackman's character that's strengthened by great performances, bloody brutal action, an engaging story with a dark tone, and a satisfying conclusion that's worth sinking your claws into (pun intended). ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Pros: The performances of the three main leads. Brutal action. The Las Vegas scene. The ending. Wonderful farewell to the titular character.
Cons: All of the kid mutants could have used their power while running in the forest.

Kong: Skull Island: Kong Skull Island is a fun but flawed monster movie with enormous monsters, awesome action, cliched characters, and a great expansion of the MonsterVerse that rewards the enjoyable experience after the end credits. ⭑⭑⭑1/2

Pros: King Kong himself. Kong-squid encounter. The monsters. The action. Ripping out the alphas stomach with one hand. The spider monster encounter. John C Reilly's character development and story.
Cons: Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson characters as well as wasting the actors. Hiddleston mask sword action sequence. Generic human stereotypes.

Beauty and the Beast: Beauty and the Beast carries the Disney magic fans would expect from it while telling the original animated movie story beat by beat, using gorgeous visuals, some enjoyable songs, and some great casting choices to entertain the whole family. ⭑⭑

Pros: The performances of Kevin Kline, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, and Dan Stevens. "Be Our Guest" and "Gaston". Some of visuals. Cogsworth. The climax.
Cons: Chip almost dying. Emma Watson as Belle, her autotune singing, and her lack of emotion. The Book of teleportation. Too much padding. Underutilizing Audra McDonald. The enchantress.

Power Rangers: Power Rangers does a great job in rebooting the movie franchise with a great cast of characters, a balance of grit with cheesy silliness, and not only honoring the source material but also setting the stage for what's to come. ⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿

Pros: The chemistry of the Power Rangers team. RJ Cyler's performance as an autistic Blue Ranger. Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa. The campfire scene. The climatic battle against Rita and Goldar. The transformers joke.
Cons: Krispy Kreme. The misfits yelling out to each other in a restricted area and nobody hearing but an explosion being . The cow penis joke at the beginning (but give it credit for getting their obligatory crude joke out of the way). The terrible dialog.

Ghost in the Shell: Ghost in the Shell provides a good start for increased quality in live action anime adaptations with gorgeous visuals, nice action, and some good lead performances while still showing needs for improvement on writing issues and expanding ideas. ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Pros: The performances of Scarlett Johansson and Pilou Asbaek. The visuals and the score. The action. The nice slow pace of the story at hand.
Cons: The writing of the third act. The lack of exploration of concepts introduced (but to the writers credit, they probably wouldn't have been able to pull off). Addressing little bits of the white washing controversy (though it didn't bother me that much).

Train to Busan (Netflix Request 2016): Train to Busan is a brilliant horror film complete with wonderfully executed zombie, well developed character archetypes, and social commentary. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Pros: The performance of the main cast. The zombies. The intensity of the situation. Great emotional moments. Fighting against the zombies without any guns.
Cons: N/A.

Fate of the Furious: The Fate of the Furious expands on the possibilities of the franchise with its principles intact along with new ridiculous action set pieces, cheesy one-liners, familiar super powered heroes, and new developments in the storyline. ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Pros: Hellen Mirren and Kurt Russel. The third act action sequence. Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson's back and forth dialogue with each other in the prison. Dwayne Johnson channeling his leftover Moana. Charlize Theron as Cipher and the threatening nature she possessed.
Cons: Not enough dumb fun action stuff. Vin Diesel's dramatic performance.

Colossal: Colossal is an original classic with a strange premise that's strengthened by the metaphor it portrays and a great Anne Hathaway performance. ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Pros: Anne Hathaway's performance and character. The strange bizarre concept involving kaiju.
Cons: Jason Sudeikis's character. Some of writing could have been improved, most notably around the third act.

Your Name (2016): Your Name is simple but effective anime film that uses a familiar concept with a surprise twist, which is strengthened by well-developed main characters, gorgeous visuals, great emotional moments, and some fun anime quirky tropes. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Pros: The very well-developed main leads. The comedy involved with body swapping. The beautiful visuals. The creative story with a s surprise twist. The chemistry between Taki and Mitsuha.
Cons: N/A.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2: While not as good as its predecessor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 proves itself as a good sequel that allows emotional character growth, gorgeous visuals, an amazing soundtrack, over-the-top action, and fun quirky humor. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Pros: "Do you have any Scotch tape?" The character development for Star Lord, Gamora, Rocket, and Yondu. Drax's interactions with Peter and Mantis. Anything involving Mantis. Gamora given better material to work with. Ego. The gorgeous visuals. The soundtrack. "I'm Mary Frickin Poppins!" The sweet moments in looking at each characters family issues. Being restrictive on Baby Groot. The action scenes. The system behind the Sovereign drones. The five post credit scenes. The funeral scene. Ego and his plans for Star Lord.
Cons: The Sovereign lacking. The first half was a little disjointed with a lot of moving pieces. The Taserface joke not really effective. A little bit exhausting to watch (but still fun).

Alien: Covenant: A strong Michael Fassbender dual performance and some nice Xenomorph scenes aren't enough to save Alien Covenant from a predictable plot jumbled with two separate story struggling to blend well together. ⭑⭑1/2💻

Pros: Michael Fassbenders dual performance. The interaction between the androids (for the most part). The performances of Billy Crudup, Katherine Waterston, and Danny McBride. The first Xenomorph scene.
Cons: The exposition dump involving the Prometheus part. The incredible lack of common sense from most of the scientists. The reveal of the Xenomorphs creation being pretty pretentious. The lack of quality with the Xenomoprh scenes in the second half.

Wonder Woman: While Wonder Woman isn't breaking new ground, it's a wonderful entertaining experience through a simple but effective story supported by strong lead performances, great action set pieces, and a balance of humor with beautiful quiet moments. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Pros: The performances of the main leads and their chemistry. The No Man's Land sequence. The action scenes. The evolution of Wonder Woman. The soundtrack. The lasso of truth. Doing elements of the fish out of water story better than Thor. Colorful environment. Treating WWI with respect and not sugarcoating the material.
Cons: The pieces of information regarding the gods. The third act losing its momentum. The acting of the younger Diana Prince and the Native American side character. Ares

Captain Underpants: Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is an underrated comedic gem that does a great job adapting the source material with visually creative animation, likable characters, and a great deal of effort put into the zany comedic style for all ages to enjoy. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Pros: The performances of the lead actors and the chemistry between Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch. The goofy zany silliness. The Captain Underpants theme song by Weird Al. The different animation narrative styles from 2-D animated to sock puppets.
Cons: A little excess of toilet humor.

Baby Driver: Baby Driver is a great action movie experience strengthened by Edgar Wright's witty dialog, the interactions between charismatic actors, awesome car chase sequences, and unique musical style with the storytelling at hand. ⭑⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿

Pros: The performances of the main cast. The unique musical style with the soundtrack. The action scenes and car chase sequences. The dark portrayal of the criminal world. The interactions between Baby and the heist group. The contrast between Baby's innocence and Doc's crews darkness.
Cons: The romance element could have been improved.

The Big Sick: The Big Sick is a delightful heartfelt romantic comedy blended with great performances, likable characters in the true story, relatable drama, believable well-handled family focused storylines, and wonderful lighthearted comedy. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Pros: The performances of the main leads. The honest moments in the family focused storylines. The awkward moments between Kumail and Emily's father. Kumail's family.
Cons: N/A.

Spider-Man Homecoming: Spider-Man: Homecoming is a pleasant lighthearted Marvel film that brings the titular character into a fresh new setting, though as a Spider-Man movie its focus on its main storyline ignores potential bond building moments important to the hero. ⭑⭑⭑💻

Pros: Tom Holland and Michael Keaton's performances. Peter's coming of age story arc. The funny moments of humor from Karen. The fascinating concept Adrian introduces to Peter. The last post credits scenes. Not killing Keaton.
Cons: Plays it too safe. Most of Ned's stereotypical behavior highlighting the Marvel fatigue. The marketing spoiled too many surprises. Most of the action scenes being too tame and not at all threatening to Spider-Man who's basically on his way to becoming a god. The lack of screen time for the Aunt May-Peter Parker family bond. Bland romantic interest. Too much setting seeds in for future. Hot Aunt May Jokes. Too much immature humor. Lack of emotional connection. Spider sense neutered. Homecoming dance has less than two minutes of screen time despite the title of the movie being Spider-Man: Homecoming.

War for the Planet of the Apes: War for the Planet of the Apes concludes a successful prequel trilogy on a high note via its dramatic nature of portraying a compelling character arc, which is strengthened by strong performances, a great story narrative, and mature emotional respect. ⭑⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿🎟

Pros: The performances of the main cast. The exposition scene between Caesar and The Colonel. The bond between Maurice and Nova. Anything Bad Ape. The interesting concept in The Colonel's character. The cinematography and the score created by Michael Giacchino. The escape concept the apes managed to work together on. "APES TOGETHER STRONG!!". "Is there anything left of you to save."
Cons: Woody Harrelson need to be a bit more intimidating as a villain.

Dunkirk: Dunkirk is one of the most visually impressive action movies of Christopher Nolan's career in telling the true events of this WWII retreat via a unique narrative structure for three different perspectives, a gorgeous Hans Zimmer score, and the director's utilization of practical effects for breathtaking crafted action scenes. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🎟

Pros: The action scenes and how they were shot. The cinematography. Hans Zimmer score!!!
Cons: The actors thick accents affecting the dialog!

Atomic Blonde: While Atomic Blonde struggles a little with a convoluted story, it makes up for it with good leading performances, awesome action sequences, and a stylized 80s motif accompanying the entertaining experience ⭑⭑⭑⭑🎟

Pros: The staircase fight scene. James McAvoy's over the top performance. The action scenes. The chemistry between Charlize and Sofia.
Cons: The twist at the end. The convoluted storyline.

Girls Trip: Girls Trip is an R Rated comedy with a great cast of characters demonstrating their comedic range and charming chemistry in their raunchy reunion abundant of hilarious gags and cliched stereotypes. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Pros: The performances of the main leads and their chemistry. The grapefruit scene. The bar fight. Anything involving Dina (Tiffany Haddish). The rope slider scene with Lisa and Dina. The message at the end. Lisa being awkwardly adorable.
Cons: Queen Latifah's character. The storylines with Ryan and Sasha.

Detroit: Detroit gives an intimidating but honest reflection on racism in our modern reality via powerful leading performances, faithful respect to the horrifying incident it focused on in the time period, and a realistic truth on the limits of the justice system at hand. ⭑⭑⭑⭑1/2🎟

Pros: The performances of the main leads. The horror movie aspect of the second act involving the Algiers Motel incident. The opening first act involving the riots
Cons: The weird animation in the intro. Third act not as strong as the first two.

Ingrid Goes West: Ingrid Goes West treats its topic with realistic respect, which is bolstered by strong lead performances, relatable characters, and hilarious dark comedy. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Pros: The performances of the mains leads. The ending. Dan's Batman monologue. The interactions between Ingrid with Taylor and Dan. The hidden layers. The cat woman sex scene.
Cons: N/A.

Good Time: Good Time gives the crime drama genre a unique take through Robert Pattinson strong lead performance, realistic characters, uncomfortable tensions bolstered by great music score, interesting visuals, and dramatic up-close face shots. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Pros: Robert Pattinson's performance. The dark tone and camera work. The performances of the supporting cast. Suspense and uncomfortable . The comedic death scene.
Cons: N/A.

IT: IT carries good potential via a great cast/character interactions, creepy moments, and well crafted horror environment but struggles with clunky formation pushing the runtime, scarce horror, and typical Stephen King cliches. ⭑⭑⭑💻

Pros: The performances of Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Bill Skarsgard, and Sophia Lillis. A couple of legit creepy scenes.
Cons: Not scary at all. Bev's abusive father arc. The characters Eddie, Richie, and Stan. Making Pennywise unwittingly funny with the use of the CGI. Too many story pieces getting in the way of the overall plot.

Wind River: Wind River drives its character focused mystery thriller to great success via strong cast performances, snowy terrain testing survivability, and wonderful character interactions. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Pros: The performances of the mains leads. The chemistry and interactions between Jeremy Renner and Gil Birmingham. The action scenes. Graham Greene providing some levity and reminding us how harsh things are in their local area. The entire flashback scene. The chemistry between Jon Bernthal and Kelsey Chow. Some nice cinematography shots.
Cons: The cartoony nature of the villains. Cory reprimanding the Native American guy about his ancestry.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle: Kingsman: The Golden Circle is an entertaining sequel that magnifies the ridiculous creative nature of its predecessor, allows nice character interaction, and awesome physics defying action, despite the long runtime and minor characters. ⭑⭑⭑💻

Pros: The creativity of the action scenes. Egsy and his character arcs. Taron Egerton's performance. Poppy Adams. The interaction between Egsy, Merlin, and Harry. The romance between Egsy and Tilme.
Cons: Halle Berry's acting and her character. Action scene editing not tight enough to speed up. The long runtime. Killing Mark Strong and Pedro Pascals characters.

The Lego Ninjago Movie: The Lego Ninjago Movies success with the father son dynamic and trademark comedic style finds itself sharing the screen with generic action, stereotypical stock characters, and repetitive cliches from its predecessors. ⭑⭑⭑💻

Pros: Justin Theroux and Dave Franco. The father-son dynamic and the emotional development. Lord Garmadon being very funny.
Cons: The weak first act with the generic action. The sappy ending. Generic side characters.

Blade Runner 2049: Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel that honors its predecessor with powerful visuals, great characters, expanded technology, and an exploration of new angles with previously established lore. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Pros: The visuals and cinematography. Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas chemistry together. The female enforcers. The technology. The sex scene.
Cons: Jared Leto's overacting. Hans Zimmer's loud bram noises. The plot needing to be more cohesive.

Happy Death Day: Happy Death Day relies of the strength of its main lead, clever writing around its familiar Groundhog Day premise, and light-hearted tone to provide great entertainment to the slasher sub-genre. ⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿🎟

Pros: Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard's performances. The ending twist. The death montage. Quirky comedy. The concept of deaths piling onto the main character.
Cons: The intention of the culprit. A few of the typical stereotypes (such as having an affair with a professor).

American Made: American Made provides an entertaining watch as Tom Cruise's charismatic charm leads through the real-life story with a delightful tone throughout risky entanglements. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🎟

Pros: Tom Cruises performance. The performances of the main cast. The light hearted tone.
Cons: Needed more darkness.

Thor: Ragnarok: Thor: Ragnarok is a fun but frustrating experience via its style over substance approach with solid interactions, good visuals, and nice action moments, even though its comical aspect ruins emotional development and stakes for the characters and plot. ⭑⭑⭑💻

Pros: The Hulk Thor arena fight. Tessa Thompson and Cate Blanchett's performances. The visuals of the Valkyrie flashback. The interactions between Thor and Hulk.
Cons: Anti-climatic Odin death. Underutilizing Hela. COMEDY PUSHED TOO FAR. Asgaard being destroyed felt lackluster. Loki's predictable prankster attitude growing stale. Underwhelming action. The orgy joke.

The Florida Project: The Florida Project struggles to maintain a balance between a repetitive plot pattern and compelling dramatic stakes while boasting mostly solid performances from its cast. ⭑⭑⭑💻

Pros: Willem Dafoe and Brooklyn Price's performances. Bobby taking down the child molester.
Cons: The ending. A few mistranslations of the Brazilian tourist. Bria Viniate's lackluster acting. The run time. Weird editing choices at times.

Justice League: Justice League provides iconic heroes an optimistic opportunity with an abundance of great interactions, solid acting, and a simple story, despite its flaws created by the production problems. ⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿🎟

Pros: The interactions. The dilemmas of Bruce, Diana, and Victor. Superman. Most of the comic relief from Barry Allen.
Cons: Steppenwolf's demise. Close up shots on Wonder Woman's ass. The cuts mandated by the studio that weakened character development. The hit or miss comedy of Joss Whedon.

Coco: Coco provides a great experience through its relatable characters, solid acting, predictable Disney cliches, respect towards Mexican culture, gorgeous visuals, complex heartfelt story, and fascinating lessons for it audiences. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Pros: The performances of the three main leads. Hector's backstory. The gorgeous visuals. The songs. The twist involving Hector and Ernesto. "Remember Me". The dynamic between Miguel and Hector.
Cons: Overdoing the family angle in the first act a little. Borrowing a handful plot concepts from previous Pixar movies.

Lady Bird: Lady Bird is a well-balanced comedy-drama bolstered by solid performances, realistic environment, complex families issues, and adolescent cliches. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Pros: Saiorse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf's performances. The complex nature of the mother-daughter relationship.
Cons: Falling into the cliche of ditching the best friend. The abrupt ending cliche.

The Disaster Artist: The Disaster Artist impresses with an inspiring yet bizarre true story that's strengthened by James Franco's strong portrayal, realistic showcase of Hollywood hardships, and complex bond between the two leads. ⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿🎟

Pros: "Continuity is in your forehead". James Franco performance. The supporting cast. The realism of struggling to make it in Hollywood.
Cons: Dave Franco's performance. A few placement of scenes.

The Shape of Water: The Shape of Water manages a perfect balance of suspense and magical glee with strong lead performances, a great soundtrack, gorgeous visuals, and familiar social commentary. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Pros: The "What is she saying?" interrogation scene. The solid performances. The beautiful score. Michael Shannon's abusive ferocity. The bond between Elisa and the Amphibian creature. The design of the Amphibian Man along with Doug Jones performance. The concept of outcasts teaming up together.
Cons: N/A

Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Star Wars: The Last Jedi attempts to be meaningful as it takes risks, however, its execution leaves much to be desired due to unorganized structure, long runtime, tonal inconsistencies, numerous subplots, and lack of stakes for an emotional impact. ⭑⭑1/2💻

Pros: The story arc and dynamic involving Rey, Kylo, and Luke. The fourth act involving Luke. The Resistance cruiser crashing into Snokes ship at light speed. The decent opening space fight scene.
Cons: The runtime. The story arcs and dynamics with Po, Finn, and Rose. Admiral Ackbar death. The lack of stakes. Boring comedy. Too many subplots. Leia using the Force. Too many CGI animals. The casino scene. Rian Johnson's terrible writing. Wasted villains. The death of Phasma. Luke drinking the blue milk scene. Holdo not telling Poe the whole plan and not teaching him leadership.

Top 10 Summer Movies of 2017