From the Hollywood heavy-hitters to the groundbreaking innovators to the stunning dark horse surprises,
the early days of 2018 saw no small number of fantastic films hit the box office.
Luckily for all the cinephiles out there, it seems like the summer which is traditionally
a benchmark season for studios to release big pictures has managed to more than live
up to the hype.
These are a few of the season’s very best movies.
Hereditary
Hereditary drew enormous buzz in the months leading up to its release.
Its debut at Sundance in January 2018 was greeted with overwhelming praise, with much
of it lavished on the performance of Toni Collette.
And while many festival favorites struggle to find their place among general audiences,
Hereditary followed through with ease.
This audacious feature debut from writer/director Ari Aster shaped up to be a significant box
office success, supplemented by an array of shining reviews.
The general consensus among critics has been that Collette has delivered the performance
of her career.
Meanwhile, the film’s underlying themes of menacing family dynamics and the passing
down of tragedy through the generations helps Hereditary get under your skin and stay there.
New Yorker critic Anthony Lane warns:
"I would hesitate to recommend it to the readily traumatized [...] for viewers recuperating
from a wounded childhood, or from a festering relationship, it could scrape too close to
the bone."
Ant-Man and the Wasp
No surprise here: with Ant-Man and the Wasp, Marvel Studios landed their third smash hit
of the year and their 20th straight film to debut at No. 1.
Audiences were in desperate need of a palate cleanser after Avengers: Infinity War, and
returning director Peyton Reed gave them one as well as a worthy sequel to 2015's Ant-Man
that's fleeter on its feet, more assured, and perhaps even funnier than the original.
"hiya champ Hi was school today?
HAHA"
Filmfare.com went so far as to call it "the funniest Marvel film you'll see," which is
high praise indeed considering that Thor: Ragnarok was released less than a year earlier.
The film’s tone is loose and playful, while the action sequences are confidently and competently
staged.
The stakes are suitably low enough, too, making Ant-Man and the Wasp a much-needed breath
of fresh air after the sheer trauma that was Infinity War.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
For over two decades, Tom Cruise has put himself in mortal danger for the amusement of audiences
via the surprisingly resilient Mission: Impossible franchise, which has failed to lose even an
iota of momentum despite its star's advancing age.
Now in his 50s, Cruise continues to insist on doing every stunt that it's physically
possible for him to do, which is no short order for a series which has long favored
top-shelf action set pieces over plot and characterization.
Director Christopher McQuarrie became the series' first returning director, remaining
in the seat previously held by directors like Brad Bird, John Woo and J.J. Abrams.
His steady hand behind the camera, as well as Cruise's otherworldly dedication to the
role of eternally put-upon IMF agent Ethan Hunt, resulted in a crackerjack picture which
pulled in some of the best reviews of the entire series.
As impossible as it might seem, this venerable action series and its star just seem to keep
getting better with age or, as the Detroit News put it:
"Bless this franchise, we're truly not worthy."
BlacKkKLansman
With a new generation of stunningly talented African-American filmmakers finally getting
their place in the spotlight, it's easy to forget Spike Lee.
Nearly 30 years after detonating a cinematic nuclear bomb with 1989's Do the Right Thing,
Lee has returned to form with BlacKkKlansman a hilarious, scathing, insightful piece that
critics have praised near-uniformly as his best picture in years.
John David Washington stars as a black police detective in the 1970s who with the aid of
a Jewish fellow officer played by Adam Driver tries to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
Critics were roundly amazed by Lee's mastery of tone, as he imbues dramatic, high-stakes
situations with his singular sensibility.
Digital Spy's Hugh Armitage summed up this consensus neatly, calling the film:
"a rollercoaster that is laugh-out-loud when it isn't shocking you into stunned silence
[...] a damn fine and funny piece of entertainment, and a testament to Lee's skills as an artist."
Crazy Rich Asians
Directed by John M. Chu, Crazy Rich Asians features Constance Wu leading a nearly all-Asian
cast to tell the story of a native New Yorker who accompanies her boyfriend to a wedding
in Singapore.
Soon after release, it became a surprise critical smash with all the trappings of a genuine
cultural phenomenon.
Reviewer Rendy Jones encapsulated the critics’ consensus by concluding that:
"Crazy Rich Asians takes familiar tropes and revitalizes them and its entire genre [...] a
great cast, amazing direction, and powerful writing."
“Woo!”
Like Black Panther before it, Crazy Rich Asians constitutes a clear message to Hollywood execs
that heartfelt, well-executed stories featuring people of color can not only cross cultural
boundaries, but smash them and earn huge box office returns in the process.