My fave five films of 2024
Including friendly robots, Chinese lesbians, big worms, and a vengeful penguin.
I didn’t get to the cinema as often as I’d have liked to in 2024, but I did the best I could despite life’s many distractions. I enjoyed what the Berlinale Film Festival had to offer, as well as some innovative adventures at the Fantasy Film Festival.
I was blown away by a rip-roaring third installment in the Sonic franchise, spooked by Cuckoo, and tickled by the mind-boggling bureaucracy of Problemista. Also, Dìdi (弟弟) took me back to being 14, Longlegs made me uncomfortable, whereas Deadpool and Wolverine came as a relief.
These, however, are my favourite five films from the year gone by…
5. All Shall Be Well
We’re forced to sit in the dark.
It is not often that a film without a musical score makes it into my top 10. Not least one as measured or as sober as this. But Ray Yeung’s directing mantra must be “less is more”, because with very little, he manages to bring significant emotional resonance. I felt a disastrous pang in the quiet pain suffered by its lead character.
All Shall Be Well opens the door on Pat and Angie’s life (Maggie Li Lin-Lin and Patra Au Ga-Man respectively), who in turn open their doors to their extended family, welcoming them for dinner and helping them out financially. They are comfortable. They have a stable home, a close network of friends, and they’re deeply in love.
But after 30 years, when one of them dies, the other is left without the paperwork required to secure their home as her own. And, despite our great hope that everyone will work together, this close-knit family sever ties to obtain the material goods caught in the balance.
It’s hard not to relate to the disqualifying and disrespectful statements made: they were never a “real” couple, their love doesn’t count — not legally, not emotionally. This is devastating, of course, but without music to accompany the despair, like Angie, we’re forced to sit in the dark, doubting ourselves.
4. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Clearly lovingly crafted by caring humans.
Many 90’s kids in the UK will fondly remember this double act in A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave. Eventually, we were gifted a full feature in the form of The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which I saw at least three times in cinemas. Then came A Matter of Loaf and Death, another 30-minute adventure, but nothing since 2008!
Vengeance Most Fowl brings the vital ingredients of those earliest shorts — cosiness, cheer, a real sense of jeopardy — to meet the cinematic scale of Were-rabbit. This is clearly lovingly crafted by caring humans who’ve an emotional message to convey. In this case: the perils of AI and how it could be used, let’s say, unwisely. Timely! A vintage look fused with new ideas.
There’s a “big budget” climax that layers stop-motion with CGI and gives an air of claymation-Mission: Impossible. But the characters always come first. Many of whom don’t even speak. Gromit is as expressive as ever. And Feathers McGraw, a fan-favourite villain, is back to cause trouble. Peter Kay’s hilarious Chief Inspector Mackintosh gets many of this film’s best lines. And Wallace is this time voiced by Ben Whitehead, who expertly honours the spirit of his predecessor, Peter Sallis.
Give this multiple rewatches (and the whole back catalog) keeping your eyes peeled for puns on signs, books, and shopfronts. Nick Park pays close attention to detail.
3. The Wild Robot
We can be more than our programming.
I thought: surely it can’t be that good! But — it is actually that good. I was chuckling right off the bat. This starts strong with a bunch of incredible cartoonish slapstick — the timing’s bang on. But later, The Wild Robot transforms into an emotional odyssey pouring out heart-aching music that swells way above legal levels.
If you’ve ever had a mother, or been a mother, here’s your warning: this really delves into themes of motherhood. That opening sequence full of silly, physical comedy gives the latter scenes much more emotional gravitas simply by contrast.
Lupita Nyong’o’s Roz — “she thinks kindness is a survival skill” — is a robot designed to help humankind, but unintentionally lands in a forest full of aggressive, selfish wildlife. She teams up with a reluctant fox — voiced by Pedro Pascal, whose performance is reminiscent of Jason Bateman’s in Zootopia — to raise an orphaned baby goose (Kit Connor). It’s difficult for everyone, especially when geese must migrate for winter.
Overall, the movie’s message amounts to: we can be more than our programming as many of the animals — who are natural enemies — must work together. Tearjerker alert!
2. Dune: Part Two
Heyday Game of Thrones… in space!
With ambition as massive as Peter Jackson’s original The Lord of The Rings trilogy, Part Two is not the step down some had feared — rather, it cements itself as a true classic.
In my Wonka review earlier in the year, I said I’d had enough of twinky Timothy to last me a lifetime, and here he is again, as worm-riding boy wonder Paul Atreides — your friendly neighborhood false prophet. His all singing all dancing, chirpy as fuck, happy-go-lucky Wonka persona didn’t once enter my mind while watching this. Now, he’s playing a more active role in misleading his “people” and, opposite his black, white, and bald nemesis, Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), it’s easy to root for him.
Chani (Zendaya) stays wary, however, and has clearly been instructed to frown a lot by Villeneuve. But she does it well. And with good reason, as we’re teased with brief flashes of a disastrous, apocalyptic future. Despite this, Hans Zimmer’s score isn’t as overwhelmingly dark and brooding as in Part One; there are some magical, uplifting tracks too — they’re worth enjoying in your own time.
We have been starved of this kind of sci-fi movie. It takes itself seriously, feeling like heyday Game of Thrones… in space! The visuals, vibe, and music sit together so smoothly. It’s utterly absorbing.
1. Escape From The 21st Century
I was left with the sense I’d seen three movies at once.
Mad. Energetic. Overwhelming. Director Li Yang practically forces you into having a good time. Take Everything Everywhere All At Once and times it by ten. But even that can’t compete with this. It’s like what might happen if you threw a stack of comics at a ceiling fan. I was left with the sense I’d seen three movies at once.
Somehow, Escape From The 21st Century’s closest competition is the dizzying animation styles of the Spider-Verse, despite being live action. The story sees three school boys sneezing to propel their minds forward in time. They’ve thrown everything at this; it’s a bright, cheerful, striking romp — and without losing any of its pace — it’s also dark, moody, action-packed.
I didn’t expect it to pull at my heartstrings — when it feels like the end of the world because you can feel yourself getting older — but it does that too.
The film runs for just 98 minutes yet it’s extremely dense. The editing job must have been monumental. If I had a headache the day I saw it, I might suggest that the characters need more depth — but I didn’t, so I won’t. The CGI can be crummy, but that just adds to the insanity.
Best avoided:
- I Saw The TV Glow — Neat idea, abysmal execution. Why’s everyone talking in slow motion? Dull, grating performances. Needs age appropriate actors! Ian Foreman sets the bar too high.
- Carry On — Doesn’t hang together logically. I would like to know why the evil doer is so self assured. Seems delusional. Interesting scenario but very shallow attempts at character and stakes.
- Trap — Or as I call it: CRAP.
- Civil War — There’s a total absence of A.I. and/or likely misinformation campaigns. And it lacks the character depth. Jesse Plemons does eventually offer some tension. Otherwise: I was mostly bored.
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