The 30 best movies of 2017
25 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
There was a complaint that all Marvel movies looked the same. That there was no personality to any of the MCU roster. That changed (if it even existed in the first place) in 2014 with Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn somehow brought comic-book C-listers to the big screen and made a fortune. The sequel promised to deliver big.
It didn’t disappoint. But even if it took Star Lord, Rocket, Baby Groot, Drax and Gamera to new corners of the Galaxy, it delved deeper into the characters. We discovered that Ego (Kurt Russell) was Peter Quill’s dad, yet his relationships with Rocket and Yondu were more important.
It is a very successful sequel, Pom Klementieff as Mantis is a highlight, and the humor is as well done as the original.
24 – Alien: Covenant
Alien: Covenant is weird, odd, strange, and unsettling. It also cost $97m. Ridley Scott somehow managed to make a sequel to Prometheus and really is only Alien in name. The film is pretty much just “The Michael Fassbender” show with him playing two Androids, Walter and David. This film is a warning about Artificial Intelligence, and with a kicker of an ending.
There are some great character moments, and a shower scene which could have come out of the Friday the 13th films. This is probably the film on the list that I think deserves a second look, to look past its reputation, and for audiences to look past their first impressions.
23 – Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
This film is a box-office failure. From a $180 million budget from 9 different production companies, Luc Besson’s return to big budget sci-fi (The Fifth Element) only took in $225 million worldwide, meaning a sequel is very very unlikely.
Based on the french sci-fi comic series, Valérian and Laureline, the film is ambitious in scale, and wonderfully beautiful. I will agree that the plot is quite simplistic and if you don’t buy Dane DeHaan as a lead (I do) then you will have a hard time with this. But this film is just pure sci-fi, and the opening is the most hopeful of any blockbuster I have ever seen.
22 – Wonder Woman
There is no sequence in 2017 that came close to the impact of the No Mans Land scene in Wonder Woman. A storm through the trenches, onto No Mans Land, taking out German soldiers, and saving the helpless. The scene is so overwhelmingly powerful, everything comes together so perfectly. It also makes up for what comes later in it’s very DC-like CGI third act.
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Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot have made something truly special, so much so that the DC movie universe changed in retrospect. Wonder Woman is hopeful, optimistic and touching. It is the third highest grossing film of 2017, and after multiple watches it isn’t hard to see why.
21 – John Wick: Chapter Two
Taking place moments after the first one, Chapter Two expands the universe in a way which confirms that bigger can be better. The fight scenes are more intense, are more visceral and yet the character of John Wick is never made to seem like an indestructible killing machine.
Keanu Reeves facing off against Common in the subway is one my favourite action scenes of the year; and having Laurence Fishbourne and Keanu on the screen again is one of the most welcome pleasures of the year.
The ending sets of Chapter Three in a mouth-watering way.