I know what your think, I’m a bit late to the party for top 10 movies of 2019 list, but this is a blog I really want to share. This blog may contain spoilers, so read this blog at your own risk.
Any way now the mentions are out the way, now with my top 10 to 5 of my top 10 list. I thought it would be better doing it this way as it would be far too long doing it as one blog, please enjoy.
10 – Midsommar
I don’t even know where to start with this Movie. It’s Ari Aster’s second Movie and he had to top his crazy, strange, tense and controversial first horror flick Hereditary and somehow he did. This film is about a Couple and friends that travel to a mid-Summer festival in Sweden. What first starts out as a nice trip away to get away from troubles at home suddenly descends into chaos, violence as they become trapped by the cult that have this Mid-Summer festival.
I’m going to say this right now this film is weird and isn’t for the faint of heart, it is full to the brim with gore, explicit scenes and a lot of cult singing and shouting. It’s fair to say your going to be scratching your head and even laughing a lot during this movie but that is part of the fun I thought, wondering why this cult have these certain practices and why they do what they do.
As a film stand point the movie is so well shot and every moment is filled with a certain intensity and uncertainty, as horror movies should be. Something I find that is very impressive is that it’s a horror movie set completely in the day most of the time, every scene is so bright and full of colours yet doesn’t loose that terrifying feeling. The gore in this film is so good and really carries the movie at times. The acting is good for the most part but some of the things the cult actors do, really pull you out of the movie.
9 – Us
Another Horror/Thriller movie at number 9. Jordan Peele really blew everyone away with his first movie Get Out and had a tough job topping it. For me he didn’t, Us is a very good film and is definitely worthy of its place on this list however Get Out was on another level for me.
But this is about Us, this movie again is worthy of its spot. It’s has all the things a horror should, a terrifying and mysterious antagonist or in this case antagonists, a scary setting that has gives the audience a sense of uncertainty, likeable protagonists that the audience roots for and a interesting and unpredictable plot that keeps everyone guessing.
Jordan Peele really provides the audience with all of theses aspects and that is why this movie is on the list.
8 – Avengers: End Game
I have a on-off relationship with the movie as it has some aspects I’m not keen on, however it does have far more positives than negatives for me. Overall it does have a satisfying ending for the MCU’s phase 3.
What the movie does do is provide MCU fans with a fantastic and and climatic ending to the Avengers saga as we know it. The Russo brothers really play it hard with the fan service and for me it totally worked and hit the spot. I think the majority of the characters were used correctly and the ones that did die, died for a purpose.
The fight scenes in this movie are just brilliant too, well choreographed and CGI’d, you can really feel ever single punch and blow and every fight has a purpose and tense feeling that it should have. The plot for me is a little iffy, I don’t really like the use of time travel in order to fix a previous movie but to be honest this film uses it well for the most part. The plot also slows down a hell of a lot during the middle act which does make the movie a little bit of a grind.
Overall this film is great it has all the humour, action and emotion a marvel movie should have as well as providing MCU Avengers a satisfying ending.
7 – Doctor sleep
I’m starting to see a real trend in terms of thrillers and horrors in this list.
Mike Flanagan knows how to make a Thriller/Horror movie and he does such a great job here continuing the shining story.
I love the casting in this Movie, Ewan McGregor provides a great performance as he usually does as a grown up Danny Torrance that has found himself at rock bottom, hiding his trauma of his troubled past with alcoholism and stealing money from one night stands as a mean to survive. He finds himself in New Hampshire where he wants to rectify his mistakes and join AA as well as landing a job in a hospice where he using his power of the shining to help patients on the edge of death to pass with no pain, hence the name Doctor sleep.
Rebecca Ferguson who plays Rose the hat provides a eerily amazing performance as she hunts everyone that has the shining power in them with her rag tag crew of powerful shining creatures.
These performances as well as the nostalgia of the return of the overlook hotel really provide fans of the shining with a great sequel that you don’t want to miss.
6 – Jojo Rabbit
Taika Waititi is becoming one of my favourite Directors at the moment, everything he touches turns to gold. From his work on The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok, What we do in the shadows and now Jojo Rabbit.
This film has everything, brilliant craftsmanship of cinematography, the music works and hit every story beat, acting from Scarlett Johansson and Roman Griffin Davis is just unbelievable and so full of heart and soul. But what I think the most impressive thing about this movie is the sense of humour it’s brings to a story set in Nazi Germany. Every joke, every comedic trope is used correctly in this movie and I had such a good time watching it.
Emotionally this movie left me drained, it has sad moments, happy moments and tense moments and all work within the plot brilliantly. This film could easily be higher on my list but it’s hard to shift the movies I have above it.
5 – John Wick 3: Parabellum
I just love this movie franchise, Keanu Reeves once again gives us an captivating performance as gritty, stylish hitman John Wick.
It would be a sin if I didn’t first mention the fight scenes. These fight scenes are honestly nothing I’ve ever seen in a film before they are just the best ever fight scenes I’ve ever scene in a movie. The way they are choreographed with so little cuts between each move really give the sense of realism and provides the immersive experience no action movie has ever provided for me. Every gun shot, knife throw, punch, kick has a weight and you can feel every single one. This film provides the best action scenes to date in this franchise.
In terms of story this is the weakest of the 3, continuing on from the previous film John finds himself on the run with a bounty on his head with endless amounts of hitmen and assassins after him.
During this movie we meet characters I find have a lack of depth or character compare to others we he met previously in the franchise. I especially found the leader of the assassins guilt extremely under whelming. However as I’ve said previously despite those small niggles with the characters, I have enjoyed my time with this movie because I find the character of John Wick so fascinating and those fight scenes alone boost this film right up, you just need to see this film.
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