Superhero movies are dead; long live superhero movies.
They will be back – and soon – but for this brief moment in history, we had a real spicy year for varied cinema.
For reasons that may have made themselves apparent in yesterday’s list, I didn’t quite have as much 2024 free time to devote to spontaneous cinema adventures as I had in previous years. This meant at several points throughout the year I was more sensitive to early movie reviews than usual, and ended up completely missing the likes of Moana 2, Alien: Romulus, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Joker: Folie à Deux, and all three of the new Sony Spider-Man spin-offs. If a sharply positive or at least mildly interesting review did not come across my feed for a new movie and/or a friend didn’t reach out to see it, more often than not I just moved on.
I still reached bang-on 30 new-release films watched in 2024; these are my ten favourites.
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VR BEST OF 2024 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. Nobody ever agrees with me 100%. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.
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10. The Fall Guy
A supremely silly yet triumphant time at the movies, ascended stuntman David Leitch and his team of action veterans bring abundant life to one of the most underrated – and unlucky – films of the year. The Fall Guy features plenty of real-life spectacle with a wink or two at the camera, elevated by a Sydney setting that allows for much more than novelty: all the tourist-y hallmarks of the city, as well as some of its lesser-known quirks, are used to their fullest to stage pretty crazy sequences. But the best thing about this well-made gem is its cast; Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, and Winston Duke are all fabulous, but every scene shared by Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt is electrifying. Hilarious, adrenaline-charged fun.
9. Deadpool & Wolverine
Speaking of winks at the camera, the single comic book movie to make it on here does so because everything maligned about the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe movies works incredibly well in the context of a seasoned fourth-wall obliterator. It’s kinda hard to stick the well-worn “too many jokes, weird stakes, unimaginative villains” MCU tags on a movie starring Ryan Reynolds’ already-iconic interpretation of Deadpool, especially when Hugh Jackman plays his even more iconic Wolverine mostly straight as a foil. That pitch makes for a solid core, but the inventive – and pretty impressive – action scenes add plenty of gravy, and the myriad extended cameos not only land on multiple meta-levels, but give us some of the most memorably camp MCU performances in years.
8. Inside Out 2
Want to feel old? Get this: Pixar started to release feature films in 1995; Toy Story 3 came out in 2010. That means next year, the era of “underwhelming/inconsistent Pixar” will have been going just as long as the era of “brilliant/trailblazing Pixar”. Inside Out 2 was a bit of a hard sell on paper given the first movie was arguably the best of that inconsistent era, the Pixar sequel record has been spotty if we’re being kind, two of the main voice actors weren’t returning, the director was a newbie, and the pitch seemed to want to stretch the brilliant credits scene of the original into an entire feature-length narrative. And yet, despite everything, this one does have that Pixar magic: it’s just as universally relatable as the first one, barely wastes time with its story structure, and might just feature the most effective accidental movie villain of the year.
7. The Three Musketeers: Milady
What I’m really doing here is shouting out the second half of a story that is near-pointless to watch without the first, the aptly-named The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan. Both Martin Bourboulon French-language swashbucklers are absolutely worth watching, but a) that first half came out earlier in most worldwide markets and is much more difficult to classify as a 2024 movie; b) I can’t put two movies on here as one entry; and c) I think The Three Musketeers: Milady might genuinely be just a little better anyway. Like any film containing a finale, Milady gets more action, more twists, higher stakes, and just generally has more fun than D’Artagnan, all while changing the source material just enough that its Eva Green-powered titular protagonist has a lot more to do – which is no bad thing.
6. Challengers
This tennis movie from a director famous for filming steamy relationship drama isn’t really about tennis or steamy relationship drama; although there is plenty of both on screen throughout Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, this is a story about wounded egos, weary souls, and ultimately fruitless obsession. Which of the three main characters best exhibits which of those three themes depends on how far into the film you are, and whether you’re watching a kinetic CGI-enhanced set point, a quiet conversation in a dim room, or a distant stare-off in a hotel lobby, it’s all just so tense. The thumping Reznor/Ross score lends the action and chatter alike a restless edge that tires you out as the film progresses in the best possible way – much like a great rally – thus setting you up for that incredible final scene. Challengers might not be the best tennis movie ever made, but it takes Match Point to a tiebreaker as the best movie to feature tennis heavily I’ve yet seen.
5. Civil War
Another year, another film that probably would have been received better if the marketing team and trailer editors hadn’t completely sold the wrong movie to the public. To be fair, Civil War is easily A24’s most expensive movie to date, so I understand the desire to focus on showing off the bombastic action shots that comprise about 10% of the runtime – and if we’re being hyper-critical, the mislead probably starts with the title. What actually makes Alex Garland’s upsetting possible-future road movie such a compelling watch is its heavy rolling momentum, unique detached-anxiety performances, isolated moments of unreal tension, and utterly stunning faux-IMAX framing. That haunting, tragically-foreshadowed final shot is going on my all-time list.
4. The Wild Robot
Oh my stars, a genuinely great animated movie that isn’t a sequel! If you make me tear up, you’re probably going to get a mention on this list, but if you make me tear up twice, apparently you go straight into the top five. I went into The Wild Robot – admittedly way later than I should have – expecting a good-looking film, but what I got not only exceeded my visual expectations but shattered my plot ones. This is a story that is unpredictable in its own way, treading familiar – and very effective – emotional ground while moving through multiple arcs in unconventional orders and record time. It’s also funny and refreshingly direct about subjects like mortality for an ostensibly all-ages story. If a movie features a character that howls unprovoked and you want to cheer instead of cringe, that movie is a stone-cold winner.
3. The Substance
Trailers for The Substance show the likes of Civil War – and most of Hollywood – what it’s all about: you get a sense of the look and vibe of the film, who’s in it and why you might want to care, but plot details are minimal and almost none of the most memorable sequences are spoiled. Now you might say there’s a good reason for that: Coralie Fargeat’s Revenge follow-up is an extravaganza of grotesque practical prosthetics like nothing else since the 1980s body horror boom, but there are plenty of other great moments that also remain surprises – like phenomenal opening and closing shots, manic showcases from Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid and especially Demi Moore, and the occasion emotional gut punch to ram home the film’s incredibly obvious but ruthlessly effective themes. The Substance is a special movie and a unique achievement dripping in brightly-coloured style, but you absolutely should not watch it if anyone in the room is eating, squeamish, overly cynical, or unprepared with a basic pitch.
2. Dune Part II
The second straight piece of February 29th media to take the runner-up spot on a list, Dune Part II is spellbinding, gorgeous, thematically troubling, sounds like no other modern blockbuster, and stands at the summit of a depressingly tiny mountain of 2024 films that make IMAX worthwhile. There was no better movie for me – or anyone – to break in the new local 1.43 aspect ratio screen with friends; I still find myself daydreaming about that day sometimes. Denis Villeneuve’s vision for the unfilmable classic science fiction tome takes just enough curious detours to ensure a third movie is not only possible, but required, which leaves what was originally a definitive end chapter dangling on a cliffhanger; this does not dull the impact of the film one iota. Cast expansions Butler, Pugh, Seydoux and Walken raise the stakes as Ferguson, Bardem and Chalamet raise the roof. What a movie.
1. Wicked Part I
I would love to say my favourite film of the year was a surprising indie with deeply thought-provoking themes, but the unavoidable fact is that I’ve been stubbornly waiting for a film adaptation of Wicked for about fifteen years despite having never caught the Wizard of Oz prequel stage musical. That’s a lot of expectation to build up over a long time, and yet John M. Chu’s expensive Wicked Part 1 not only made me understand the hype immediately, it also left me weirdly satisfied on a story level even though I know there’s a second movie coming. Proper practical sets, scaled-up musical numbers, expanded breathing room for character dynamics, and a pair of ridiculously good – not to mention multi-faceted – lead performances all make for a production that failed to let me down in a single way. That so many fans of the original show seem satisfied with the adaptation doesn’t hurt, either. Chu is now three from three with me since 2018, and I see no reason he won’t make that four from four next year.
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Honorable Mentions
–Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
This and The Fall Guy fought it out for the tenth spot on the main list. Ultimately Furiosa cannot escape a direct comparison with the magnificent Fury Road that inspired it, especially when it comes to its slower pace and the comparative lack of practical effects. Yet the movie still gripped me the whole way through, because George Miller is still a crazy genius and Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth and co. are all great fun to watch.
–Woman of the Hour
There are much more interesting things to discuss about this one than just “Can you believe this event really happened in real life?”, like how good Anna Kendrick turns out to be at directing insanely tense dialogue scenes, or how well the fictional secondary story weaves into the primary one. But yeah, it is pretty insane that this event happened in real life.
–Monkey Man
No movie can be as brutal, grimy or compelling as the story of how Dev Patel got Monkey Man made, but luckily on the screen the movie plays out pretty well too. The John Wick comparisons are obvious and natural, but if anything Monkey Man is even more bloody and focused; it certainly treats its protagonist’s body just as poorly.
Vagrant Rant 