To my shame, I never managed to see a good few films that have been critically acclaimed as some of the best of 2012. To name but a few, Rust and Bone, Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook and Sightseers likely belong on this list, but as it stands this is my personal opinion of what were the best films of the year. It has been a pretty spectacular year for films, with even the majority of the over-hyped blockbusters managing to deliver. There were the inevitable waves of dross and disappointments (I'll get to those) but here are my favourites. Feel free to tell me I'm wrong.
Avengers Assemble
Joss Whedon, would you believe, knows how to make a comic book movie. While his ability to handle ensemble casts was never in doubt (having already proven his worth with Buffy, Angel and Firefly), his being chosen to solely handle an event film with five years of anticipation and expectation possibly was. Lo and behold, the director expertly handled his inhereted super-divas and gave us an unexpected show-stealer in Mark Ruffalo's Hulk. Far and away the most fun action-adventure film in years. The future of Marvel Studios is a promising one.
The Dark Knight Rises
Chris Nolan's Bat-trilogy closer has been met with some criticism (mostly regarding the film's length, myriad plot-holes and Tom Hardy's near-inaudible Bane voice), but TDKR wonderfully rounds off the greatest trilogy of the century with a sprawling, unrelenting tale of class war, mob rule and the most brutal Bat-foe yet. Furthermore, Anne Hathaway's welcome turn as Catwoman gave an essential light-heartedness that the bulk of the series had yet to see.
Looper
The adequately covered (to say the least) time-travel genre gets the indie touch as Bruce Willis is sent back in time to be disposed of by young Bruce Willis (A prosthetic-nosed Joseph Gordon-Levitt, fresh from his star turn in TDKR). There is a genuinely fresh touch to the familiar paradox material with inevitable nods toward genre classics The Terminator and Twelve Monkeys, but what really elevates Looper are its central performances, whether it be Levitt's startlingly convincing impression of Willis, or the refreshing second-act arrival of Emily Blunt in one of her best and most fun roles to date. Riann Johnson's sci fi thriller is not without its shock factor, either.
Dredd
Sylvester who? 2000AD fans finally get the Judge Dredd movie they deserve. The Alex Garland-scripted, dystopian crime thriller may be narratively similar to this year's The Raid, but as a genre movie it really excels in eschewing the first-installment archetypes. This is not 'Judge Dredd Begins', we are not given the pleasure of witnessing the titular cop's origins, this is simply a day in the life of Dredd (and not even a particularly significant one, as the closing moments reveal). The skull-smashing, uncompromising Dredd does not develop as a character; the human stuff is left to newbie Judge Anderson, and the Slo-Mo sequences are the signature of the film's spectacular visual style. A box-office flop, one can only hope that Dredd is a DVD hit, because few comic book worlds are more deserving of further exploration than Mega City One.
The Hunger Games
Critics were unable to overcome The Hunger Games' undeniable similarity to cult classic Battle Royale, but some of the best-loved works of fiction share narratives with older works (Jaws and Moby Dick, anyone?). Either way, the familiar premise is merely a device to explore Suzanne Collins' horrific future. Class-divide ensures that while empoverished townships live in fear of being selected for the annual death match, the more privelaged societies wish for it. The decadent, detached high end of society is beautifully realised and draws you into a startlingly convincing world, before revealing the true horror of the situation; as teenage corpses begin to pile up within minutes of the Games beginning. Ignore its praise as being 'The New Twilight', Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss is a female lead that readers/viewers can be proud of. She doesn't cry herself to sleep over a man (nor is that the point of the story), she takes matters into her own hands and is rewarded for it.
Argo
Director/Star Ben Affleck's period biopic of a government rescue operation disguised as a Star Wars-esque film production may take the odd Hollywood style liberty in its final act, but nonetheless Argo is a consistently tense, often hilarious and wonderfully understated spy thriller filmed in an almost documentary style. Alan Arkin and John Goodman supply the comic relief, while Affleck delivers a reined-in, Pearl Harbour-forgetting performance as the agent entrusted with the operation. Simultaneously a celebration and critique of American Cinema, Argo triumphs in its convincing realisation of the period and the uneasy political backdrop in which it exists. If Affleck continues to produce films like this one, his former reputation will quickly be forgotten, and deservedly so.
Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson continues to demonstrate his inability to make a bad film with this sweet love letter to childhood. Anderson regulars Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman fail to disappoint as ever, while newcomers Edward Norton and Bruce Willis are expertly played against type as childlike loners bordering on pathetic. The central narrative of two childhood sweethearts on the run from their disconcerted parents and carers may be age-old, but the innocence and discovery piles on the joy as their adult neighbours' parallel relationships gradually spiral into despair. As expected of an Anderson film, the soundtrack is killer, the comedy deliciously deadpan and beneath the surface of War of the Buttons style kid-slapstick and misanthropic one liners, there's a joyous message that you can take with you long after the credits roll. His best since The Royal Tenenbaums.
21 Jump Street
The surprise comedy triumph of 2012, destined to become a repeat-viewing classic in years to come. The pairing of Jonah Hill (who has been in every comedy film made this century) with hunk-of-the-moment Channing Tatum is unlikely but pays off, particularly for Tatum who gets to showcase his comic skills as a former cool kid having to adjust to the changing heirarchical social groups of highschool; the nerds he used to pick on are now the cool kids in post-High School Musical/Glee America, while being a meatheaded, chauvanistic jock is no longer something to be admired. The comedy isn't tired and the necesseties of the genres (buddy cop/teen comedy) mean that the film becomes wonderfully self-referential just as it looks in danger of firing off a cliche. Then there is that cameo, surely the funniest appearance of a Hollywood A-lister since Bill Murray in Zombieland (I won't mention who it is, although I will say that 21 Jump Street is the big-screen sequel to an '80s TV series starring Johnny Depp...).
The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists
The best Pirate-based film of the decade (and no, I'm not overlooking anything). The perpetually typecast Hugh Grant takes a refreshing turn as the arrogant and air-headed Pirate Captain alongside David Tennant (that bloke who used to play some alien on TV) as the brilliantly self-deprecating antagonist Charles Darwin. Possibly Aardman's best since their TV golden years, The Pirates is full of cheeky British humour that adults should enjoy as much as children and is the perfect antidote for anyone rightfully jaded with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
The Cabin in the Woods
The other Joss Whedon triumph of 2012; just when you think you know exactly where The Cabin in the Woods is going, it completely changes direction. Just when you think you know where it's going this time, it flies completely off the rails, in the best way possible. The Cabin in the Woods utilises and subverts as many horror cliches as it can get its bonkers hands on and does so with spellbinding and often hilarious results. Think The Evil Dead meets Lost with some surprisingly non-superfluous God lore thrown in for good measure, add Whedon's trademark razor-sharp dialogue and you've got the most original and inventive horror film in years.
And how about the worst films I saw this year? Or rather the ones I wasn't smart enough to avoid?
Ice Age: Continental Drift
The ever dwindling Ice Age series delivers its weakest entry yet, and foregoes narrative structure and character development for bizzare pop culture references, forgettable musical numbers and the addition of an annoying gang of younger generation tweens aping the mission of their tragically sidelined parents.
Total Recall
The latest in the long tradition of pointless and inferior remakes; leads Colin Farrel and Kate Beckinsale do the best with what they're given, but their decent performances are drowned in what may be the blandest sci-fi in a long while. Nods to the brilliant original feel misplaced rather than nostalgic as Total Recall achieves the impossible; longing for Arnie.
Wrath of the Titans
I've covered this elsewhere. Let's move on.
The Devil Inside
See above.
The Raven
It seems The Raven's sole purpose is to cash in on the success of Guy Ritchie's recent Sherlock Holmes films, as we have a beloved (this time non fictional) literary figure reimagined as an absent minded but brilliant buffoon. The film sees John Cusack's Edgar Allen Poe playing detective against a killer using his own macabre tales as inspiration for his crimes, but the reveal is so out of left field it feels less like a twist and more a 'what the fuck?' moment.
The Campaign
I walked out of this film around the moment when Will Ferrel punched a baby. I don't feel I should comment but it does hold the record of being the first movie I've ever been unable to complete.
Dark Shadows
Tim Burton once again assembles his wife-and-best-mate duo for this big screen adaptation of shonky 60s soap opera Dark Shadows. The result is an unfunny Addams Family that looks promising in its opening scenes but quickly falls apart as it becomes clear that everyone involved other than Johnny Depp really doesn't want to be there. The first Burton film where it really shows that his heart just isn't in it.
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