So it turns out 2023 was not an anomaly in terms of movies - even though I thought 68 was a lot for 2023, in 2024 I watched 67. 2024 saw a new entrant to my top 5 movies of all time in Dune: Part Two. The year also saw my eldest child become old enough to really enjoy cinema trips for appropriate movies so movies like the third installments of both Paddington and Sonic were cinema trips instead of on the TV.
Let’s get a few of the movies I disliked out of the way early. Trigger Warning - awful. The Union - mostly awful. In a surprise to me Leave the World Behind was way worse than I thought it would be. I liked the trailer, but it seemed like they had these good ideas for set pieces and then nothing that tied it together.
In terms of good movies last year… Alien: Romulus was near the bottom. It started off pretty well, but then got worse and worse. I hated the last section so much that this one almost went in the bad movie pile. I will say, though, that the last jump scare startled me so much my back hurt for days afterwards. I watched the original Jumanji for the first time, and that was good. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was an enjoyable movie to watch on a plane. I watched a number of Christmas movies too: Red One, That Christmas, and The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland were all good. Rebel Ridge really surprised me in how good it was. And of course Deadpool & Wolverine was a really fun cinema trip. Until the hand/face scene.
A scene still from Netflix’s The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die. Photo courtesy of Netflix. © 2023 Netflix. All Rights Reserved.
Some other standout good movies
- I might have let the The Fall Guy pass me by except I was on a plane and it happened to be there. Turned out to be way better than I expected.
- As a fan of the series I actually held off watching The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die for a bit after it was released. Maybe I didn’t want it to end? Either way, it was a very fitting end to the story and the series in general.
- Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End - a very enjoyable spanish Zombie movie, but I think it suffered from the same issue that World War Z did in that its final act didn’t quite land as well as the rest of the movie.
- I’m not sure why I quite love these Eric Bana movies as much as I do but Force of Nature: The Dry 2 was very good. Excellent first movie and this follow-up is very good too.
- The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - a fun movie with Henry Caville and Alan Ritchson - what’s not to like?
- While it wasn’t the movie I was expecting Civil War certainly entertained. Another very good movie in a year of decent movies.
Then amongst my usual rewatches of some my favourite films - Miami Vice, LOTR, etc - I also watched a few great movies last year. In particular - Godzilla Minus One, Oppenheimer, and LA 92. LA 92 is a documentary about Los Angeles and the aftermath of the verdict in the Rodney King trial. Really engrossing watch. Godzilla Minus One was a surprise to me, I went to see it on my own on a whim and it turned out to be really excellent. Oppenheimer was amazing, an engrossing watch and that cast was worth the price of admission alone.
A scene still from Warner Brothers’ Dune: Part Two. Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers. © 2024 Warner Brothers. All Rights Reserved.
My standout movie of the year, however, was Dune: Part Two. I really loved it. I went to the cinema twice to see this - which is crazy because I have two young children, I shouldn’t be using my free time this way. But I entirely bought into the movie. Caught it the second time on IMAX which was absolutely worth it. I loved the Hans Zimmer soundtrack, loved the visuals, loved the story, loved everything! I bought Dune merch, I even bought Dune Lego! I listen to songs from the soundtrack daily. I would not stop talking about the movie to everyone I met for months afterwards. It is now one of my top five movies, just missing out on a spot on my Letterbox favourite four. Maybe once I’ve watched it a couple more times it will manage to knock one of the current top four out.