The Best Movies of 2017, So Far…

Chris Tilly
Movies
Movies

We’re six months into the year, and with that being the half-way point, FANDOM thought it would be a good time to take stock of the many movies that have hit screens, and pick a few of our favourites. So these are the best movies of 2017, so far…

Get Out – Chris Tilly (Managing Editor)

It’s not often you get to sit in a cinema and think ‘this is a masterpiece’ as a story unfolds before your eyes. And it’s even less likely in a horror film. But that’s exactly the way I felt when watching Get Out. Jordan Peele’s ‘social thriller’ – about a young black man who gets more than he bargained for when visiting his girlfriend’s white parents – is tense and scary and funny and shocking, sure. But it’s much more than a pure piece of entertainment.

Get Out is an important film, wrapping thought-provoking questions and themes in a rollercoaster ride, giving African-Americans a voice in a genre where they are criminally under-represented, and announcing Peele as a major new filmmaker whose pledge to make more ‘social thrillers’ is great news for fans of genre cinema and great cinema alike.

Kong: Skull IslandZuleika B (FANDOM Contributor)

Kong: Skull Island isn’t a movie that challenges the viewer to think, but it is a thrilling and amusing flick that does a great job of setting up the MonsterVerse. Kong is at best a visually stunning B-movie that gets directly to the point, with a few deaths along the way.

Like previous versions, Kong: Skull Island doesn’t hold back on thrills and a giant ape swinging around. From start to finish viewers see how Kong exercises his immense strength on those that want to destroy his home. However, what’s most interesting about this film is the end credits when viewers hear “Kong is King on Skull Island, but there are other kings,” thus paving the way for the future MonsterVerse.

Lion – Samantha Loveridge (Gaming Editor)

Lion

It’s not often that you’ll find me crying through an entire film practically non-stop, but Lion hit me in the feels in a way that no other film has to date. The film tells the story of five-year-old Saroo who gets lost on a train and ends up thousands of miles across India away from his home. He finds himself in Kolkata, but is eventually adopted in Australia.

Dev Patel excels in his role as the 30-year-old Saroo, who decides to try and find his biological family using nothing but a handful of childhood-warped memories, determination and Google Maps. It’s a powerful movie about family and identity, and we dare you to see if you can stay dry-eyed the entire way through.

Baby Driver – Drew Dietsch (Entertainment Editor)

You can listen to me gush about this film by checking out my review above, but to sum things up: nothing in 2017 is going to be better than Baby Driver. We don’t get this kind of manic creativity at the cinema very often, and it’s incredible to see such a vision come to life without anything lost in the process.

Edgar Wright has made a movie that maintains his inimitably niche style but can still be enjoyed by all audiences. It’s proof that he is one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. And that soundtrack! See it on the big screen and soak in all of its magic. You won’t regret it.

LoganMike Delaney (Community Development Associate)

These days, for a superhero film to stand out, it has to do something different. For me, Logan was that film. The film is grounded in a realism often untouched by superhero films. I loved the intimate, more personal nature of the film as it focused on and explored a small number of characters.

The film was beautifully scripted and deeply emotional, and for me it was at its best exploring the weaknesses and frailties of characters like Logan and Charles Xavier. The relationship between the two was touching and deeply emotional, wonderfully brought to life by Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart.

This was finally the Wolverine film fans deserved, and the Wolverine film I was waiting for. Unless of course they manage to get a Wolverine and Deadpool film off the ground.

Your Name – Zuleika B (FANDOM Contributor)

your name highest grossing anime worldwide your name makoto shinkai featured image

Although Your Name technically had a summer 2016 release date, it only officially reached Western cinemas last spring. The anime movie received critical acclaim for its stunning visuals and transcendent storyline.

The film’s director, Makoto Shinkai, wanted Your Name to echo the Japanese people and culture, from the rustic living in the countryside to the high-energy visual overload that is Tokyo. While the film succeeded in achieving this, it’s the concept of body switching that went beyond what critics and fans expected. Shinkai refashioned the tired body switching trope and had it also takes place across time and space. Not only that, the concept doesn’t stagnate. Throughout the movie, viewers see how it develops into a bigger idea and the way it authentically influences the characters.

Get Out – Lawrence Yee (Editor-in-Chief)

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut Get Out manages to be smart, scary, AND funny.
The thriller features Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams as a young interracial couple who visit her parents’ secluded home for the first time. Williams’ Rose assures Kaluuya’s Chris that he will be welcomed with open arms, but a racial profiling police incident on their way to the house is sets off of a series of bizarre events.
Peele expertly taps into deep-rooted societal fears about race (both black and white) and how these notions can drive people who believe them to extremes. And just when Peele brings viewers to to a nail-biting climax, he cuts it with gut-busting comedy (courtesy of breakout star Lil Rey Howery).
Chris Tilly
Freelance writer. At this point my life is a combination of 1980s horror movies, Crystal Palace football matches, and episodes of I'm Alan Partridge. The first series. When he was in the travel tavern. Not the one after.