#32: The Monkey KingGiven how solid of a year we had in that regard, these two animated entries will pain me, but Monkey King goes first. After finishing God of High School and watching the Lego Monke Kid, I was hyped to get more into Chinese Mythology and Journey to the West. I also like the inherent "idea" of deciding to have a movie that depicts the Monkey King before his trip.However, after watching this movie, I now understand why I've usually experienced Sun Wukong after his redemption. Because before it, this guy was annoying af. Jimmy O Yang, being a more comedic actor, does make sense to pull off for this mostly comedic movie, but Jesus Christ, it's tough to sympathize with this version of the Monkey King.He has all the recklessness and ego you'd expect but dialed up to 11. So much so that I love how the movie has to constantly spell out for you Wukong's vulnerabilities and sympathetic nature instead of having Wukong admit that himself without being magically controlled; combine that with Lin hanging around him and the ending piece where both of them essentially feels less bittersweet and more rightfully deserved.Having this story essentially as the origin of Wukong's journey to the West is excellent, and seeing the various locations of the land to get his iconic powers is astonishing. The animation is also hella impressive, beautifully mixing in very expressive 3d while still making this feel like a story come to life. It's paired off with the excellent 2d segment to start, and the Monkey King, at least, is something you can throw into the background visually.#31: WishAh, I was waiting till we got into this hornet's nest. My feelings about Disney are complicated. Even without them showing support to genocide through Israel, plus their blatant stubbornness during the writer's and actors' strikes, Disney has had over a century of shitty practices now. Fuck, with the boycott in place, I considered even talking about them at all. Despite this, some of me would still like to judge a film by itself.Not in a "separate the art from the giant corporation" sort of way but more so just because, as a screenwriter, I want animators, writers, and everyone else to get easy work and compensation. To that end, I treat every Disney movie as its own thing and don't hold it to the highest standards. Especially when I feel like ever since Disney Plus has become a thing with so much content, I feel like Disney has just been trying to appeal to so many markets they just can't please damn near everyone on the planet.Of course, this isn't me trying to bodyguard the most enormous corporation on the planet. Still, it does make me side-eye whenever Ben Shapiro or Ron De Santis freak out over the bare fucking minimum representation. And in more of a general sense, in the modern hellhole of media discussion, I think people tend to confuse "wasted potential '' just as not admitting that a story wasn't for them. Massive preamble aside, Wish is the most considerable wasted potential of the year for me. It's a movie that's 100 years in the making.#30: Five Nights at FreddiesHave you ever had that one experience with your friends where you have no idea what's going on and are just there for the ride? Because that was me when I joined my friends to see Five Nights at Freddie's. Somehow, someway I'm like one of the few Gen Z people who never grew up with this damn franchise, meaning I have no nostalgia or cute easter eggs to blind me here.
From what context I could grasp from the movie and my friends, Five Nights is decent for how many hoops it had to jump through as an adaptation. Josh Hutcherson plays a compelling and fun character, though the show's real star lies in the animatronics.
Jim Henson's Creature Shop again proves why they are the GOAT with their practicality. Multiple times throughout the movie, I thought Freddy and the gang were CGI because of how fluidly they moved. Also, while I mentioned this before, having some fanservice from other content creators like CoryxKenshin and Matpat is sweet.Still, given how much of a slam dunk this was for fans, FNAF falls into the trap many horror movies fall into for me, which is vagueness. While that same vagueness aids in the horror, I think questions like how William Afton figured out how to make the animatronics or Abby's connection to the dolls need a little explanation. Speaking of the former, I am also split on his inclusion.I know he's a big deal in the games, and it's a fantastic twist, but I wish we got more of Matthew Lillard's Afton. The guy commands such a significant screen presence. I would've loved it if we saw him go crazy for longer. A character I wanted to see less of, though, was Vanessa. Cops are already a hard sell for me today, and I did not care about her at all, especially with the implications that she was an accomplice in Afton's crimes.As a final aside, while I do get the fanbase of FNAF makes the PG-13 make sense (plus they go pretty damn far anyway), I would've preferred if they went full R-rated. However, unlike other movies before and after this list, most of these could be solved in the sequel. Whether I see it remains to be seen.#29: Aquaman: The Lost KingdomOh, DCEU, you are a beautiful, primarily awful, disorganized mess. Given how successful the first Aquaman (still crazy, it's the most successful movie) was, I probably would've been way more excited for this movie if it came around 2021. But after a slew of films that underperformed badly amidst the WB sinking ship and the promise of a new DC cinematic universe, I knew Aquaman was destined to underperform.Despite that, there's still some stuff to enjoy. James Wan's signature style still makes the Seven Seas more grand than the stars at points, with great locations and VFX. Every fight scene in this movie pops something fierce alongside the overly fun tone. Black Manta is excellent... and this is where I get into the negative stuff.I'm not going to act like Aquaman is this grand sweeping character epic, but they could've delved deeper into some of the character stuff. Arthur doesn't have an arc in this movie. While there is a clear theme of not allowing revenge to blind you (a true king builds bridges compared to Manta burning all of his), it doesn't translate to him being a better king.The backdrop of Alantis potentially starting shit with the human world again is borderline an afterthought, especially when their real criticisms of pollution are conveniently handwaved away with Manta's actions. While I love Manta getting the runback he deserved with his new suit, I hate how he occupies the same role he had in the first film.Once again, Manta is reduced to a secondary antagonist in his movie. Except this time, instead of Orm, we get Kordax, who, even by CBM standards, is a forgettable villain with too little screen time. Speaking of him, though, he's great. As always, Patrick Wilson performs well, and we work with Momoa. It just sucks that after a pretty impactful ending, we may not see Aquaman appear on the big screen for a while, which sucks, given how it leaves a ton of potential for future stories. A sentiment that summarizes the DCEU.#28: Silent NightClocking in near the end of the year, Silent Night is all right. I'm naturally gimmicky, so you can maintain my attention depending on how creative or far you take your bit. Something I feel Silent Night pours to significant effect. Having the film feature almost no dialogue to simulate Brian's rage and, later, his turn to silence is a great ploy.The title premise, in general, allows for tons of really creative visuals while forcing Joel Kinnaman to bust out more of his acting chops. Another detail I love about this movie is the subtle escalation of the action. In the beginning, Brain is getting his ass kicked by every Tom, Dick, and Harry, but as time goes on, we see Brain fight smarter. Though, at the cost of an excellent protagonist, we get an equally stock antagonist whose name I can't remember.John Woo and Erica Lee (John Wick 4) blend nicely in this semi-serial yet smaller-budget action flick. Silent Night isn't exactly golden, but it's an open-and-shut action flick to which some people are returning. Beyond that, I'll not spare any more words.#27: Super Mario Bros Movie2023 had a lot of cultural resets film-wise, and Mario was undoubtedly the start. Much like FNAF, all my friends were going crazy for this movie, and I see why, given how massive the memes and marketing were. While I can't currently speak for my friend's later reactions, I've come to the startling conclusion that the movie is ... all right.Memes aside, Mario's voice cast is excellent. Sure, veteran voice actors would always be my first choice for these kinds of things (fuck, how crazy would this be if Kevin Afghani voice acted this?). Almost everyone turns in a good performance. Chris Pratt is pretty solid, Charlie Day is surprisingly great as Luigi, and, of course, Jack Black steals the show as Bowser. If life weren't so cruel, we would have had Peaches get another verse, but what is a dragon to do?However, enjoying voice acting when the animation delivers takes a lot of work. I fell out of favor with Illumination over the years, but Nintendo must've had their fingers on the staff's pulse to make this movie. All the locations, little expressions, and especially the fight scenes are drop-dead gorgeous. IGN started this meme, but the fanservice and reintroduction of game elements make me feel like a plus-sized plumber who gets higher from mushrooms.Still, for all my praise, the movie is a tad falsely advertised. Luigi is barely in the damn thing, and I sometimes felt as though Bowser could've shared a bit more screen time as well. Both characters were good in their own right, and I would've loved to see them have more time to interact with Mario himself.Also, this is a small gesture, but with how hard Brian Tyler worked on the soundtrack, what could have been done if they had gotten less licensed music and more renditions of classic Mario soundtracks? Still, for what we got, I'm glad Mario got the love and motion it needed at the time. And if it weren't for one of our top picks, I'm sure it would've gotten higher.