Film Review Archives 2014

Best film of 2014:
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (d. Matt Reeves USA 2014) – Review

2014 has seen some interesting moments. Science Fiction and Superhero films are still in. In fact, many franchise connections came out this year. We saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier (d. Anthony Russo, Joe Russo USA 2014) as a part of Marvel‘sThe Avengers (d. Joss Whedon  USA 2012), whilst The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (d. Marc Webb USA 2014) looked to continue Sony‘s Spider-Man films. The Amazing Spider-Man 2, however, didn’t get the reaction it wanted and plans may be lost for this franchise (maybe). X-Men Days of Future Past (d. Bryan Singer USA/Canada/UK 2014) fared better and only seems to solidify the new X-Men films. Marking the 60th Year of Gojira, the Kaiju titan has its second and more successful American run, kickstarting a new beginning for the King of the Monsters. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes continues a brilliant reboot for the series with a good use of CGI and Motion Capture technology as a support for its characters. For new films we have Grand Budapest Hotel (d. Wes Anderson USA/Germany 2014), Interstellar (d. Christopher Nolan USA/UK 2014), Gone Girl (d. David Fincher USA 2014) and The Theory of Everything (d. James Marsh UK/Japan 2014) being some of the more successful examples (though some are based on books). Interstellar, Grand Budapest Hotel and Gone Girl being very much films of their directors, which show their current popularity. Interesting that these other films are like critics favourites. This almost follows a troupe that seemed to begin with The King’s Speech  (d. Tom Hooper UK/USA/Australia 2010) and The Artist (d. Michel Hazanavicius France/ISA/Belgium 2011) and recalls the Oscar Bait argument.

These all seem to follow on from some themes of the day, a lot of these are franchises, banking on being easily marketable and even the Director’s films use a similar idea. Whilst there’s also a sense of nostalgia with the reboots of X-Men (d. Bryan Singer USA 2000, Planet of the Apes (d. Franklin J. Schaffner USA 1968) and Gojira (d. Ishiro Honda Japan 1954). These all show some stunning visuals in line with the spectacle that you get with Sci-Fi and Superhero films. Focusing on other times, worlds, beings and the sheer power of things; we still want to be grandiose, larger than life heroes. Whilst the dramas are more complex, this does follow the ‘oscar bait’ idea but also shows a confused and dark look at today’s reality. We want to be superheroes because we’re disillusioned with the unfulfilling now – though we’re starting to face it.

Further Reading

2014 Gross

Films of 2014

Archived Reviews

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Guardians of the Galaxy

Blended

Godzilla / Gojira (2014)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Grand Budapest Hotel

300: Rise of an Empire