By Dustin Cabeal
Welcome to my Best Movies of 2017 list! You can check out the anime and comic lists later today so keep an eye out for that. You can also see the Worst Movies of 2017 by clicking here. Now, these movies are my picks based on what I've seen this year, but it was a pretty run of the mill year for movies. If you've got picks leave in the comics and I'll look at them and make comments of my own!
5. The LEGO Batman Movie
I have seen this movie too many times not to put it on my list. Seriously though the first time, I saw it I didn’t fully appreciate it. It's not the best Batman movie ever which some insane people think, but it is a movie that can be fully appreciated by adults and children. It is 100% all-ages. The self-aware humor is why DC will eventually catch up with Marvel on the movies, because like in the comics, they’re willing to take strange chances with their characters. LEGO Batman on paper sounds like a bad idea because it would diminish the brand of Batman, but instead, it did the opposite and made a ton of money for both parties involved. That and it’s funny and entertaining and I can say that with a straight face after seeing it a couple of dozen times. That last part isn’t a joke either, I have seen this movie a lot!
4. Wonder Woman
Again, I’m not in love with this movie, but it was a breath of fresh air in that A) DC/WB finally got something Wonder Woman right and B) I didn’t have to see a dude in a leather suit support an entire movie. There were some problems, the story was predictable, it didn’t utilize the war setting very well, and the “I love you” bit at the end was cliché. Wonder Woman was a bad ass though. She was never not a bad ass and didn’t have to make the typical hero journey of failing to rise then. Instead, he downfall was just learning about the world the hard way. What prevents it from being higher on the list is that it's not that different from the first Captain America, just better acting and cooler characters.
3. Spiderman: Homecoming
This barely made my list. There were a lot of parts that could have been better, and the reliance on Tony Stark and Happy were at times gag-inducing, but overall it was nice to enjoy something Spider-Man related. The previous two films were such crap baskets, and the comics are un-readable shit, that finding something enjoyable with web-head has become a chore. This film was entertaining but managed to perfectly capture the cycle of Peter’s life in that when he gets a little good; he also gets a lot of bad. No idea what was up with MJ in the film though, she was the King of random one-liners and was constantly set up for them. It’s not a perfect film, but then it wasn’t the great of a year for movies either.
2. John Wick: Chapter Two
There is one reason and only one reason why John Wick 2 is on my list… the fucking lore! I love the world of John Wick more than anything. The action is okay. I’ve seen a ton of Hong Kong films and frankly put we’re a few decades behind on some shit. I don’t care about John’s vengeance either, I just like this underground world that runs the world. Everyone seems to be a part of it, but no one talks about it. The sequel was satisfying in that it told a complete story without piggybacking on the first film too much and without doing the annoying “we’re doing part of the third film at the same time” bullshit that has ruined so many sequels since the Matrix. Reeves plays the role well, he doesn’t have to overact, but instead just have a presence. The movie does make you believe he’ll kill everyone and I can’t wait to see the conclusion in two fucking years.
1. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
Full disclosure I didn’t see enough movies this year to definitively say these are the best. I know none of them are going to win the Oscar or some crap, but they’re my picks, and I enjoyed the hell out of Guardians of the Galaxy 2. I felt I would, but it surprised me how many themes ran through the movie and were completed with satisfaction. Friendship, family, a surrogate family, parental relationships, sisterhood, and all of that mixed with comedy and action. I have strangely watched this movie by choice almost five times this year alone and that that is fucking rare for me. I can’t even remember the last movie I wanted to watch more than twice, but Guardians 2 did it for me. Of all the movies I saw, this one resonated the most with me and cracked me up a lot. Humor is underappreciated in movies, and brilliant humor like this should be acknowledged. That and it was the most un-Marvel movie they’ve ever made and likely the only series of theirs I will follow in the future. Also, bonus points for Kurt Russell.