The Yearly Countdown: Fantastic Films of 2019

Tired reference to how the previous year was garbage, at least on a macro level, much like recent years before. Familiarly sarcastic observation that the coming year likely won't prove that much better, tinged with hope that we can make some kind of substantive change this time around. Obvious segue into how trying times leads us to take solace in the potent art of our times, which - in this case - includes a lot of movies.

Half-deprecating and half-heartfelt praise of the number of very good-to-great movies that released last year in spite of the festering problems of late capitalism on the film industry. Disclaimer that I've not seen all the movies I "ought to have" because of lack of time (sorry, The Farewell) or uncooperative release rollouts (see you in a couple weeks, 1917), but I don't feel like waiting until mid-spring to take stock.

All caught up? Cool. Let's talk about the movies of 2019 that kicked serious booty. Because there really were a lot of them.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER - Stumbling At the Finish

Endings are hard. Ask anyone who's invested in a long-running TV show or book series or, yes, film franchise. Stories like The Lord of the Rings or even the Harry Potter series are usually the exception to the rule, especially when you're dealing with a franchise spread across four decades being helmed by a half-a-dozen directors and a small army of writers, script doctors, and editors who had major hands in shaping the story.

Unfortunately, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker lands closer to The Dark Knight Rises than to even the original trilogy's Return of the Jedi. It's not bad, but it's over-stuffed and unfocused and winds up selling some of the dramatic turns of the previous two films short. It's rousing and exciting in the moment, but leaves little of substance after it departs.

Like I said, endings are hard.

FROZEN II and Letting Go of the Disney Princess

In 2013, Walt Disney Animation's Frozen, a long-in-development loose adaptation of "The Snow Queen," directed by Chris Buck (Disney's Tarzan) and Jennifer Lee (one of the lead writers on Wreck-It Ralph) debuted in theaters and hit its target audience like a nuclear bomb. The film became the House of Mouse's highest-grossing animated film of all time, grossing over 1.2 billion dollars (supplanting titans like The Lion King and Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3) and catapulting Queen Elsa of Arendelle to the status of "Most Beloved Disney Princess" of the modern age.

So, obviously, a sequel was not only inevitable, but it was sure to be the safest possible bet for the Walt Disney company. Right?

Well, yes.

. . . But also, not really.

KNIVES OUT - In Deep

There's something delightfully pure about a good old-fashioned locked room mystery. Take a lot of people, a little murder and a signature location, then watch them bounce off of each other as one person tries to solve the crime and another tries to get away with it. Merely executing that concept masterfully is admirable, but what makes the new "Whodunnit" from writer/director Rian Johnson (Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) a genuinely great film is how it chooses find its best narrative footholds beyond what we expect.

As all great mysteries must.

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE - The Last Cyborg

Well, it took nearly 30 years, but they finally went and made a third good Terminator movie.

IT CHAPTER 2 - Back Home in Derry

Short version: Yes, the movie really is nearly 3 hours long. No, It Chapter 2 is not as good as 2017's It. Yes, it's still worth seeing if you liked that film at all.

Longer version? Well, for one, I'm kinda shocked this works at all...

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME - Out of the Multiverse

When I was a much younger film enthusiast, one of my fondest wishes was to see a big-screen adaptation of my beloved Spider-Man comics, complete with wacky powers and silly suits and go-for-broke pulp world-building, and now. . .we're on our 7th live-action web-head outing in 17 years.

And if they keep being as good as Far From Home, I say keep 'em coming.