DANDY EDITORIAL- Best Blockbusters of 2014
What were the best big blockbusters of 2014?! See my list here!
By Dandy -
Jan 08, 2015 11:01 AM EST
BEST BLOCKBUSTERS 2014
So here is the deal. I am a big cinephile and I like movies of all shapes and sizes. I COULD give you a list of my top ten overall films….but who wants to look at a list of mostly indie films, right?! So let’s get to the stuff that people on this site actually care about. Namely the big blockbusters!
For the sake of this article I am labeling something a “blockbuster”, if it meets one of the following criteria
1) Made oodles and stroodles of money
2) Was marketed as a major tentpole film
3) Could be considered part of the action/adventure genre
Here are my top ten blockbusters from 2014!
10) The Boxtrolls
Though it may not be as good as Studio Laika’s previous two outings (Coraline, Paranorman), the Boxtrolls is still a high quality animation from the growing stop motion company. I’m a major animation fan and I do sometime morn the so-called “death” of the stop motion art form. However, over and over, again, Studio Laiki proves that there is life in this animation style, yet. The Boxtrolls is just as wacky and weird as their other films but still has a lot of heart and is a technical marvel.
9) 22 Jump Street
When 21 Jump Street was greenlit to be remade into a comedy, there were a lot of groans. No one was really looking forward to it and nearly everyone thought that Hollywood was scraping the bottom of the barrel for franchises to ressurrect. However, with Miller and Lord at the helm, 21 Jump Street was not only good, it was one of the best comedies of the year. But the real question was if the directing duo could catch lightning in the bottle for a second time, and miraculously, they did! 22 Jump Street takes the franchise to the next logical step and entertains just as much as the first one did.
8) How to Train Your Dragon 2
Speaking of catching lightning in the bottle for the second time…… Though I personally didn’t like it as much as the first film, the sequel still managed to recapture the spirit of original and told a new story without repeating too many elements of the original. The music is gorgeous, the characters well rounded, and this franchise remains proof that Dreamworks is just as capable of creating just as epic and dramatic of pieces as Disney Animation Studio and Pixar.
7) Big Hero 6
Like I said….I’m a big animation fan so you shouldn’t be too surprised to see quite a few animations making my list. Actually, it was a very good year for animation this year and Big Hero 6 was just another one to add to the pile. It continues Disney Animation Studios major comeback as the leading animation company for consistently solid films (something that Pixar has dropped the ball on, as of late). It was also a good year for comic book movies, again- something that Big Hero 6 only contributed too. It was a movie with the right balance of action, comedy, and heart.
6) Guardians of the Galaxy
There was no way that this wouldn’t make this list. Guardians was the dark horse hit of the year. Appropriately bizarre and comedic, it struck the right cord with audience and gave us an escapism film that we were all looking for at the tail end of summer. With this film, Marvel also proved that it could dive into its list of lesser known characters and be confident that they'd do respectfully at the box office. Bring on Inhumans, Captain Marvel, and Ant-Man!
5) X-Men: Days of Future Past
After X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins Wolverine, Fox really had to work to earn back the good faith of the fans. And their hard work has paid off with First Class, The Wolverine, and Days of Future Past. The later even goes the extra mile to make the now bastardized Last Stand and Origins completely insignificant and unnecessary while fixing the majority (but not all) the continuity errors. The X-Men franchise is going strong again and Fox has proven that Marvel isn’t the only one that can build a stable and functioning cinematic universe.
4) Edge of Tomorrow AKA Live. Die. Repeat AKA All You Need is Kill
Whoever was in charge of marketing this movie needs to be fired. This was easily one of the more creative and fun action movies of the year and NO ONE SAW IT!!!! Maybe, that’s because no one even knew the title of this thing. The tagline was so overwhelmingly printed that no one knew what the film was even called and the trailers made it look like a generic action film. It couldn’t be further from the truth. This cross of Star Ship Troopers meets Groundhogs Day worked brilliantly and had just the right blend of action adventure, comedy, and drama. Hopefully it’s blu-ray and rentals are doing better.
3) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
After the abysmal attempt by Tim Burton to reboot the series, the Planet of the Apes finally made a comeback in Rise of the Planet of the Apes thanks to sharp writing, good use of cgi, and of course Andy Serkis as Caesar. With Dawn they upped the stakes even further and gave a summer blockbuster film that felt just as much a cultural drama as it did an action film with monkeys wielding machine guns and riding horses. Dawn fantastically blends CGI and human characters together while giving both parties their good guys and bad guys, delivered good old fashioned drama with modern day technology.
2) Lego Movie
Miller and Lord broke out the big guns this year. Not only did they put out 22 Jump Street, but also they gave what was easily the best-animated film of the year. Lego Movie is insanely, off the wall creative, the animation is gorgeous and original, it injects childhood nostalgia into it, and it also has a surprising amount of heart between the many, many jokes.
1) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
I’ll confess to a good deal of bias for this being at the top spot. Next to Spider-Man, Captain America is EASILY my favorite comic book character from Marvel. And while I really liked the period piece and Indiana Jones vibe from the first movie, I enjoyed their Jason Bourne turn even more. Captain America feels like a none-stop action vehicle that manages to inject enough elements of a 1970’s political thriller to keep audiences invested in the story. It also managed to have a major impact on a movie universe and gave Marvel one of their best (if not THE best) movie yet! The Winter Soldier now ranks as one of the best superhero films made.
So that is it for my top 10 blockbusters of the year. Agree? Disagree? Tell me in the comments below and don’t forget to hit that like button!
Be sure to check out my previous article
TOP 20 SHOWS OF 2014