Empire Magazine's "The Best Movies of 2018"
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- DirectorAnthony RussoJoe RussoStarsRobert Downey Jr.Chris HemsworthMark RuffaloThe Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.It had to be, didn’t it? No, not just because it’s a Marvel movie – but because it’s the Marvel-est Marvel movie Marvel could have Marvelled. And it’s marvellous. For all the MCU’s previous successes, Infinity War was a huge risk – how do you combine that many characters, that many plot threads, plus an untested CGI mega-villain into one film that, to an extent, stands alone, while also paying off on ten years of previous movies? Frankly, it’s a miracle that it’s not a complete mess – that it’s as incredible as it is is god-level stuff. Infinity War is a blockbuster working at maximum capacity for 150 minutes – constantly delivering on character, on spectacle, on drama, on emotion, even on laughs for its entire runtime. The action sequences are fluid, propulsive and edge-of-your-seat exciting, it’s packed with instantly-iconic images, and everything about Thanos – Josh Brolin’s performance, the incredibly nuanced rendering, the empathetic storytelling – is a triumph. No matter what Avengers 4 brings, Infinity War is a success beyond even our own mountainous expectations. Oh snap, indeed.
- DirectorChristopher McQuarrieStarsTom CruiseHenry CavillVing RhamesEthan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.If you hadn’t already clocked by now, whenever a new Mission: Impossible movie arrives you absolutely should choose to accept it. Over 20 years into the franchise, the dream-team pairing of Tom Cruise and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie have kicked things up into an even higher gear, delivering a new action masterpiece packed with mind-blowing chases, burly brawls, and jaw-dropping stunts. McQuarrie’s camera makes it perfectly clear that it really is Cruise flinging himself – often literally – into near-certain danger, making Ethan Hunt feel truly vulnerable. And then there’s Henry Cavill, gloriously ‘tached, reloading his arms (and, let’s face it, his entire career) with a brilliantly physical performance as August Walker. Let the overly-convoluted plot wash over you, and bask in the glory of an astonishing action movie.
- DirectorJohn KrasinskiStarsEmily BluntJohn KrasinskiMillicent SimmondsA family struggles for survival in a world where most humans have been killed by blind but noise-sensitive creatures. They are forced to communicate in sign language to keep the creatures at bay.
- DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsFrances McDormandWoody HarrelsonSam RockwellA mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter's murder when they fail to catch the culprit.
- DirectorRyan CooglerStarsChadwick BosemanMichael B. JordanLupita Nyong'oT'Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country's past.Marvel Studios’ first film headlined by a POC superhero is a bold blockbuster threaded with a powerful sense of identity – director Ryan Coogler’s filmmaking DNA can be found in every strand of Black Panther, from its bookending Oakland scenes to the presence of his constant collaborator Michael B. Jordan. Coogler channels themes around pride, heritage, colonisation, and the black experience in American inner-city communities, all while delivering thrilling fight scenes, breakneck car chases, and gadgets that Bond could only dream of. It’s the women around T’Challa that steal the show – Letitia Wright as his tech-savvy Q-like younger sister Shuri and Danai Gurira’s fierce warrior Okoye especially. Wakanda forever.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsRyan GoslingClaire FoyJason ClarkeA look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.After presumably listening to ‘Another Day Of Sun’ for months on end with La La Land, director Damien Chazelle turns his attention to that other massive sky-orb: the moon. This Neil Armstrong biopic is a remarkably different kind of film from him – emotions tightly buttoned down, steely aesthetics and mere occasional wafts of jazz – while still resonating within his favourite topic of people pushing themselves towards greatness. Ryan Gosling is stoic and unshowy as the grief-battered Armstrong, while Claire Foy steals scenes with a totally sympathetic turn as his wife Janet. When the moon landing sequence finally comes – oh come on, that’s not a spoiler – it’s truly majestic.
- DirectorGreta GerwigStarsSaoirse RonanLaurie MetcalfTracy LettsIn 2002, an artistically inclined 17-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.
- DirectorBradley CooperStarsLady GagaBradley CooperSam ElliottA musician helps a young singer find fame as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsVicky KriepsDaniel Day-LewisLesley ManvilleSet in 1950s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsJohn David WashingtonAdam DriverLaura HarrierRon Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, Colorado, successfully infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan branch aided by a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.
- DirectorPanos CosmatosStarsNicolas CageAndrea RiseboroughLinus RoacheThe enchanted lives of a couple in a secluded forest are brutally shattered by a nightmarish hippie cult and their demon-biker henchmen, propelling a man into a spiraling, surreal rampage of vengeance.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsYalitza AparicioMarina de TaviraDiego Cortina AutreyA year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
- DirectorAri AsterStarsToni ColletteMilly ShapiroGabriel ByrneA grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsBryan CranstonKoyu RankinEdward NortonSet in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.
- DirectorAlex GarlandStarsNatalie PortmanJennifer Jason LeighTessa ThompsonA biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.
- DirectorPawel PawlikowskiStarsJoanna KuligTomasz KotBorys SzycIn the 1950s, a music director falls in love with a singer and tries to persuade her to flee communist Poland for France.
- DirectorLee UnkrichAdrian MolinaStarsAnthony GonzalezGael García BernalBenjamin BrattAspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.First came Jessie’s ‘When She Loved Me’ song in Toy Story 2. Then the ‘Kitty!’ closer to Monsters, Inc. And don’t even get us started on the fiery furnace in Toy Story 3. Lee Unkrich continues his relentless war on your tear-ducts with the glorious Coco, a sumptuous adventure to reduce even the most stony-faced viewers to floods. Young Miguel’s quest through the Land of the Dead to reverse his family’s long-held hatred of music is fast and funny, with stunningly detailed and vibrant animation even by Pixar standards. And then that perfectly-pitched final wallop of an emotional crescendo kicks in, and it’s all over – a new Pixar classic is born.
- DirectorDebra GranikStarsThomasin McKenzieBen FosterJeffery RifflardA father and his seventeen-year-old daughter are living an ideal existence in a vast urban park in Portland, Oregon when a small mistake derails their lives forever.
- DirectorLynne RamsayStarsJoaquin PhoenixJudith RobertsEkaterina SamsonovA traumatized veteran unafraid of violence tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe's nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what could be his death trip or his awakening.
- DirectorCraig GillespieStarsMargot RobbieSebastian StanAllison JanneyCompetitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.