2023 - The Highlights (lionsroar)

Each year the reviewers at Trophy Unlocked decide which films are the highlights of the past year and which are the biggest disappointments. We started to see more films in theaters, but there are still some that we watched on various streaming services, and in some cases, that is the only way some of these can be seen.

The choice of films to include are the ones that we decided to watch during the year and to pay for, so this is not drawn from a complete list of all movies released but from the ones we chose to watch.

Highlights of 2023 (in no particular order):

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The end of the MCU as we knew it, James Gunn's farewell to Guardians, was one of the few comic book film highlights of 2023. You have to give him credit for making you care about a foulmouthed CGI character's backstory. And you have to wonder, as the MCU grapples for change, if they battled the new central villain of the franchise going forward, the High Evolutionary. I'm not sure I really care anymore. With a few exceptions, this might be my jumping off point from the MCU. All good things come to an end.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Not having played DnD more than a couple of times, I might have been unsure about this movie going in, which is partially why we didn't catch it in theaters. However, this film is a lot of fun and really doesn't require any knowledge of the game in the title. The strong ensemble cast develops some really great characters and it was a lot of fun to watch. Too bad, I don't think there will be any sequels coming.

Oppenheimer

For me, Christopher Nolan is a little hit and miss as a director, but Oppenheimer was one of his better outings and perhaps the best picture I saw in a theater, though it very well might be my last at the once great Chinese theater in Hollywood. Nolan manages to make a three-hour movie that doesn't seem like three hours and Cillian Murphy does a great job as the brilliant but flawed man. The Academy has disappointed me before, but I hope they see their way to give this film the praise it deserves.

Gran Turismo

Not a film based on the video game of the same name, but rather a slightly fictionalized biography of  real life racecar driver, Jann Mardenborough. Mardenborough, who gets a chance to really drive a racecar rather than a virtual, succeeds in an against all-odds sort of story, building on some of the skills he learned playing the video game. I went in never having heard of Mardenborough, but I left moved by his story.

Merry Little Batman

From Amazon/MGM comes one of the best new holiday films, Merry Little Batman, which provides a new twist on a DC character. Single parent Bruce Wayne has a son, Damian, who wants to follow in his father's footsteps. We get the usual roster of Batman villains, Mr. Freeze, The Penguin, Bane, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and The Joker, but in a more family friendly way, sinister without being other the top. The movie has good voice work, animation and story to please any fan of the Caped Crusader.

Rohan at the Louvre

A spin-off of sorts from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Rohan got a live-action series, which culminated in the feature Rohan at the Louvre, which is about a mysterious all-black Japanese painting in storage at the famed museum. One of the real reasons to watch is Issei Takahashi in the title role. Takahashi inhabits the character in a way few actors can. Even if you're not a huge JoJo fan, this should be a film to see.

Disappointments of 2023

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

You might see a trend here, but it seems sometimes that superhero films seem to be resting on their laurels. The original Shazam! (2019) was one of the better DCEU titles to come out, but the sequel seems to have lost some of the magic. The film was disappointing and a flop at the box office, so what started off with promise four years ago, along with the current DCEU, ends badly. Are fans tired of superheroes or tired of being counted on to come no matter the film?

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Talk about a colossal waste of time. The main point of the film wasn't to see more of Ant-Man, but a hamfisted way to introduce the MCU to Kang (Jonathan Majors), who was supposed to carry the next phase of films for the now beleaguered franchise. Post conviction, Majors has been dropped and the MCU will look elsewhere for a Thanos replacement. It was a disappointing Ant-Man film and as it turns out, unnecessary. There's two hours I won't get back.

 

The Flash

While the MCU maybe floundering post-Avengers, the DCEU never really seemed to get off the ground. Ballyhooed as the greatest superhero film ever, The Flash was pretty much a flop and deservedly so. There are some bright moments, like Michael Keaton's return as Batman and Sasha Calle as Supergirl, they seem to be wasted in this overly long, too dependent on bad special effects dud. While we all wish James Gunn success at revitalizing the franchise, you wonder if it might be too late.

Elemental

Remember when Pixar could do no wrong and you couldn't wait to see their new one in a theater upon release? Sadly those days are over. We waited until the film hit streaming and while it is better than advertised, it makes it look like Pixar is running out of new ideas. Having gone through their initial book of ideas, they're left with Fire and Water for their animated Rom Com. Opposites attract, right? Many of the plot points are too obvious and the film gets a little preachy at the expense of experimental and fun.

Barbie

I know that you wouldn't expect the biggest film of the year to be on a list of disappointments, but here it is. Being male and not having played with Barbies before, my reason to go to see the film was to see what all the fuss was about. While Margot Robbie nails the title character's look and the pink sets looked great, I can't say that the film was really all that enjoyable. More political than entertaining, having seen it once, I can't imagine going to see it again.