I was going to call this something like “anyone else disappointed?” but upon reflection (been doing a lot of that on my blog this year) it really wasn’t a bad year for movies, but there definitely aren’t many that stand out as being uniquely excellent—kind of like last year, but for different reasons. One of the biggest reasons, I think, is due to the actor’s strike and the writer’s strike. For the first time since 1960, two major Hollywood labour unions went on strike at the same time, and it impacted not only some future releases, but movies that were released during the strike.
I was hoping to include Dune: Part Two as one of the best movies of the year, but it was delayed (again) until 2024. The Marvels became the lowest grossing MCU movie to date, which is significant for a number of reasons (not the least of which being the first Iron Man came out in 2008, which started the MCU, when mainstream audiences had never seen a live-action Iron Man before and most didn’t even know the character, and it still made more than The Marvels, which starred multiple characters introduced in previous movies/shows), but one of the reasons blamed for this is because the actors couldn’t promote it leading up to its release. Actors had to walk out of the premiere of Oppenheimer when the actor’s strike was first declared. Kraven the Hunter was delayed until next year, perhaps the most tragic outcome of all (BIG SARCASM). So, it seems to me this year will be remembered more for the double strike and the beginning of the end of the superhero movie fad than for any particular Hollywood movies released.
Compared to last year, though, I saw a few more new movies, though most were in the first half of the year. I’ve only been to three new movies at the movie theater in the past four months, but some of the new movies I saw in the second half of 2023 were on streaming, which steadily continues to build with more big new releases every passing year. I’m going to go through everything I saw, give the briefest summaries I can, and specify whether or not I would recommend any.
Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania – meh
I almost didn’t see this one. My expectations were rock bottom, and it wasn’t as bad as I expected, but it was still a sporadically entertaining MCU movie at best. The visuals were inconsistent, the writing was quite poor, and the villain who was supposed to be the new Thanos was easily defeated by a C-tier hero. This came out so early in the year, and after all the turmoil Marvel faced in 2023, the pointless third Ant-Man movie feels even more inconsequential and forgettable now.
Cocaine Bear – better than expected but still just OK
A lot of people really didn’t like this movie, and I get why. It was a B-movie very loosely based on a real story of a bear that consumed a massive amount of cocaine, but it swung wildly from super gory and sort of trying to be scary to purposefully goofy and funny. It had some pretty fun moments and a couple memorable characters, but even though I enjoyed it, I don’t think it’s something I’ll revisit anytime soon. It seems like the kind of movie that might be better if I leave it in my memory as something I enjoyed once but it might be best if I don’t watch it again and ruin that memory.
65 – fun but forgettable
Adam Driver stars in a glorified remake of Planet of Dinosaurs? Obviously I was intrigued from the start. This was yet another B-movie that didn’t seem to know how to be a good B-movie. There were too few memorable dinosaur action/horror scenes and too many scenes of Adam Driver and a dull child actor just hiking through a prehistoric landscape. It was entertaining enough, with a reasonably cool finale, but unlike Cocaine Bear, I would check it out again. Still, it’s not something unique enough or skillfully crafted enough to recommend.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – unexpectedly fun and entertaining
This one is up there as one of the biggest surprises of the year. Not only do you not require any understanding of the role-playing game it’s based on to get into this movie and enjoy it, you actually come to care about the characters and the story they are in, even amid all the fun creatures, decent special effects, and surprising amount of genuinely funny jokes and gags. Chris Pine’s warped face during the spell break when he’s playing the mandolin was one of the hardest laughs I had during any movie in 2023.
Recommended!
The Super Mario Bros. Movie – remember Mario?
When I was watching Mario and Luigi traverse the Mushroom Kingdom, I kept thinking “oh cool, yeah, I remember that from the games” but it got to the point where it seemed like that was the primary intention of the movie, and everything else was secondary. Of course it was fun to see Mario fight Donkey Kong, or a bunch of Nintendo characters speeding along the rainbow road a la Mario Kart, or Mario actually platforming and trying levels over and over again like a real video game, but it all rang so hollow because of the paper thin story and the surplus of characters. Bowser was a great villain, and the movie set up the universe in terms of potential future movies, but as its own movie, I found it to be light entertainment that I don’t feel I need to see ever again. I don’t care if it’s supposed to be for kids—I’d argue it’s more for adults who remember growing up on Nintendo games, anyway, and all its issues made it come off as a lesser animated feature, though still one of the better video game movies in recent memory, I guess.
Renfield – gorier and funnier than expected
I don’t have a lot else to say about this one, other than my favourite part was early in the movie when shots from the 1931 Dracula were recreated in black-and-white using Nic Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as Renfield. Because it was so clearly intentioned as a comedy, I can’t really fault the movie for its standard plot and generic human villains, but aside from some clever humour and shocking violence, it didn’t have a whole lot going for it to make it significant. That being said, it was still decidedly good, and I would check it out again as a gory-but-not-scary Halloween watch.
Recommended!
Evil Dead Rise – solid reboot
I won’t reiterate everything I packed into my review. Instead, I’ll add the link to the review below and say it ranks as one of my least-favourite Evil Dead entries so far, but is a bit above the 2013 remake, and that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it or I don’t think it’s good.
Review: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2023/10/evil-dead-rise-2023-review.html
Recommended!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – satisfying end to the MCU
I sort of mean this as a joke, but I also don’t. Guardians 3 came off as more of an epilogue to Endgame than Spider-Man: Far From Home did, because it was the first MCU movie I genuinely loved since Spider-Man: No Way Home, and I think story-wise it’s the best one since Endgame. It was an actual ending to the only MCU trilogy that spanned the entire Infinity Saga and made it into the Multiverse saga that feels like a proper trilogy and has three good entries in it (sorry, Ant-Man). It has great effects, great humour, great action, emotional resonance, and classic James Gunn creativity and weirdness. Now that Gunn is done with Marvel and the original team of Guardians is no more, I don’t see much else in Marvel’s future that will live up to these movies. I also enjoyed Vol. 3 more than Vol. 2.
Recommended!
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – best Spidey sequel since Spider-Man 2
I really, really liked Into the Spider-Verse, but I loved Across the Spider-Verse, and after seeing it a second time, I decided I like it more than the first movie. Even though there are more Spider-characters to keep up with this time and it’s unresolved at the end (which didn’t surprise me, I remember when the title previously carried “Part One” so I was ready for the cliff hanger), the animation, music, action, and story were all so fresh and popping and unique I was thrilled the entire time, and I cannot wait for the epic conclusion.
Recommended!
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – another good one
Kind of like with Renfield, I don’t really know what else to say about the seventh Mission: Impossible. I was worried it would feel too long with a nearly three-hour runtime, but it didn’t, I wondered if it might be unsatisfying with only being part one, but it wasn’t, and I was unsure if the action could outdo anything from the previous three, but it did. If you haven’t liked these movies up to this one, it might not change your mind, but you could probably still watch it and enjoy it even if you have never seen a Mission: Impossible movie before, and if you have…
Recommended!
Oppenheimer – awesome action-movie-style biopic
Christopher Nolan brought his action-movie-making sensibilities to a story about the man who invented the atomic bomb, and I really dug it. Despite being three hours and subverting expectations in some typical Nolan ways, I found it an immensely engrossing film, and one of the few this year that felt truly worth seeing on the big screen. It’s hard not to talk about Oppenheimer without also mentioning Barbie, so here is what I wrote about the Barbenheimer phenomenon back in July, which includes mini reviews of both movies. https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2023/07/barbenheimer-cinematic-phenomenon.html
Recommended!
Barbie – funny but familiar
Again, refer back to my Barbenheimer explanation/review for more, but in short I found the Barbie movie to be a fun enough movie, though not really something I can see myself going back to watch anytime soon. It reminded me of several other comedies and had a few jokes that didn’t hit, but for a movie based on a toy line originally meant for little girls, the creators did a pretty decent job making something with plenty of access points for people of all ages and genders and crafting some memorable comedic moments.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – style over substance
I felt like I missed something with this one, but I think I just like a specific take on the turtles, and this was quite different than some of the previous versions, but never before have they lived up to the teenage part of their name so strongly, which I found both good and bad. I loved the animation style and was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn’t just aping off the look/success of Spider-Verse, but the rejigging of some of the characters felt unnecessary and annoying at times, and the story was just OK. I loved the kaiju-sized final battle, but it didn’t leave things off in a way that made me want to see a sequel. I think there was a lot of influence from the more recent TV iterations, and maybe that’s why I didn’t love it. I don’t think I’ll recommend it, but I wouldn’t say it’s worth avoiding. It has enough merits that if you wanted to check it out, you probably should, but if you were merely curious about it, I don’t think it’s necessary.
Meg 2: The Trench – the best 90’s action movie of the year
I can’t recommend this giant shark sequel from a place of sincerity, but I can honestly say I was very entertained by it. The opening scene was straight out of one of the books, which was surprising, considering the first movie strayed pretty far from the source material, but everything that followed the opening was even further from anything in the novels. I did not expect the number of Megs to be increased plus have amphibious lizards and the freaking kraken thrown in, as well, but I wasn’t mad about it. The whole thing was completely ridiculous. Some of the characters were pretty fun, the action was abundant, and I will absolutely watch Meg 3 when/if it comes out.
You Are So Not Invited to my Bat Mitzvah – biggest surprise of the year (in a good way)
This movie should not have even been good. A new Adam Sandler movie on Netflix? That combination of words normally turns me off instantly, but I heard strangely positive reviews for this Sandler-centric coming-of-age-dramedy (starring his real-life daughters and wife), so I gave it a chance. It is one of the funniest and most wholesome movies I saw in 2023. It was a nice surprise to have Adam Sandler as a secondary character, too, and being funny but not annoyingly so, while his talented daughter Sunny Sandler took the spotlight. Y.A.S.N.I.T.M.B.M is seriously one of the best coming-of-age movies since Booksmart.
Recommended!
The Creator – great visuals, completely forgettable
Director Gareth Edwards did a pretty good job when he directed 2014’s Godzilla, but his next movie, Rogue One, was not so great, depending on which Star Wars fans you ask. For me, his first new movie in seven years (and first movie not based on an IP in thirteen years) was just like Rogue One in a lot of ways, but mainly in terms of being great to look at and not great in most other regards. It wasn’t the Terminator rip-off that I was expecting it to be, but it didn’t have the narrative thrust needed to make it something that felt truly unique and worth the time. My eyes were dazzled, but it didn’t get to my heart or stay in my head for very long.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour – three-hour Swiftie Extravaganza
I didn’t think I would be seeing this in a movie theater in 2023, let alone actually enjoy it. I’m not a Taylor Swift fan, but I appreciated how well directed and produced this concert film was, and of all the places to see it, the movie theater felt most fitting, with people dancing down in the front row and the sound absolutely cranked up to 11. It went on too long (even for the Swiftie I saw it with) and the crowd noise got a little hard on the ears after a while (both from the speakers and the real audience) but this was another big surprise, for me, in how much I enjoyed it.
Believe it or not, recommended!
The Killer – simplistic thriller
I really don’t have much to say about director David Fincher’s new movie. I mean, I liked it more than his last one, Mank, but they aren’t comparable at all, and there isn’t much to The Killer, so I guess the generic, simplistic title is fitting. We don’t ever really get to know the main character—who, as you can guess by the title, is not exactly all that sympathetic, but Michael Fassbender does a great job in the role, and the direction by Fincher is typically calculated and perfected. I liked it well enough, but it’s a far cry from his best work.
Godzilla Minus One – best movie of the year?
I’m not saying this just because it’s the most recent new movie I’ve seen. It’s not just because I’m a huge Godzilla fan, either. I don’t normally care all that much about what other people think of movies, especially monster movies, but in this case, I have to point out that the majority of audiences agree: Godzilla Minus One is one of the best movies of the entire year. Here’s my full review: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2023/12/godzilla-minus-one-review.html
Recommended!
As usual, I have to get ahead of the inevitable pointer-outers. You don’t have to point out that I didn’t talk about Killers of the Flower Moon or Napoleon, or how could I have not seen Creed III or Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny yet, or I didn’t mention if I hated the new Exorcist or Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, or how could I have left out so many other movies that were on my 2023 movies preview back in January? I know I’m behind on quite a few, as I always seem to be, but I will catch up. That’s another factor in my layered reasoning for no longer doing a top 10 movies of the year list anymore. By the time I see all the greatest ones the year had to offer, that year has already passed me by. Like Steve Miller, I find time keeps on slipping into the future.
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