2023 saw yet another season of blockbusters from across Hollywood. Today we’ll look through the good, the bad, and the ugly of this year’s summer flicks and see which ones are worth the watch.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
May 5, 2023
Dir. by James Gunn
Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Studios
The finale to the beloved Guardians trilogy has finally arrived, with the titular Guardians reuniting for one last mission: saving Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper).
This film is largely centered around Rocket’s previously-untold backstory, with a good portion of the runtime being set in flashback scenes. Without spoiling those scenes too heavily, they deliver a deeply emotional message unlike anything ever seen in the MCU.
One natural downside is the emotional whiplash that comes from pairing these flashbacks with Guardians’ typical humor; Chris Pratt’s sarcastic quips just don’t feel appropriate next to Rocket’s scenes. Beyond that gripe, however, it’s hard to find many other flaws in this movie.
“I thought it was a low-key perfect conclusion to Guardians of the Galaxy,” senior Jalen Daugherty said. “I thought it was a step in the right direction for Marvel as a whole.”
Overall, Guardians 3 serves as an amazing send-off to both the ragtag group of heroes and James Gunn as he moves to DC.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
June 2, 2023
Dir. by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures
Another long-awaited sequel, Across the Spider-Verse follows up on the story of Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) as he meets Miguel O’Hara (voiced by Oscar Isaac) and the Spider-Society.
Across fully embraces the chaotic potential of the multiverse, featuring hundreds of Spider-People and the first appearances of universes other than Miles’s. Between Gwen Stacy’s (voiced by Hailee Steinfield) watercolor-style alternate New York, the bright and bombastic Mumbattan, and the futuristic and chromatic Nuevo York, Across has no shortage of new ideas to add to the Spider-Verse.
But unlike other movies set in the multiverse, Across never feels overwhelming. Somehow the movie manages to balance enough cameos to make any hardcore Spider-Man fan’s paradise with a plotline simple enough for anyone to follow.
“It’s my favorite Spider-Man movie now,” said Daugherty. “I thought it was perfect in every way.”
The only major downside in my opinion is, spoiler warning, the cliffhanger ending. We’ll have to wait for Beyond the Spider-Verse to see the end of this story, which was scheduled for a March 2024 release prior to the ongoing Hollywood strikes. But even if it’ll be a few more years to see the end to this trilogy, Across the Spider-Verse has cemented its legacy as one of the greatest superhero series to ever release.
Nimona
June 23, 2023
Dir. by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Annapurna Pictures / Netflix
Against all odds, Nimona managed to survive the closure of its original production team, Blue Sky Studios, and finally release on Netflix this year. Set in a medieval-futuristic kingdom, we follow the newly knighted Ballister Boldheart (voiced by Riz Ahmed) who is accused of murdering Queen Valerin (voiced by Lorraine Toussaint).
The kingdom is quick to shun Ballister, who finds himself fighting to save his reputation and befriends the shape-shifting Nimona (voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz). They seek out proof of Ballister’s innocence while a group of knights, led by Ballister’s boyfriend Ambrosius (voiced by Eugene Lee Yang), search for the fugitives.
Nimona is one of the more generic movies of the year that only really excels in its art style and voice acting. It’s not bad by any means, but not anything great.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
June 30, 2023
Dir. by James Mangold
Lucasfilm Ltd. / Walt Disney Studios
Speaking of generic, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) makes his return…again. The Dial of Destiny comes 15 years after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, itself releasing 19 years after the original trilogy’s release in the ‘80s.
The franchise’s fifth theatrical release sees an elder Indiana team up with his estranged goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) to find the missing half of Archimedes’ Dial, an ancient artifact that can supposedly enable time travel. It’s a race against time as ‘former’ Nazi Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) goes on his own journey to find the Dial.
For a series as formularic as Indiana Jones, The Dial of Destiny is especially generic. Everyone is just going through the motions at this point, ending the franchise not with a bang, but with a whimper.
They Cloned Tyrone
July 14, 2023
Dir. by Juel Taylor
MACRO Media / Netflix
One of the most strange movies of the year, They Cloned Tyrone follows Fontaine (John Boyega), a drug dealer in a suburban town named Glen. After managing to get some money from regular Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), Fontaine is fatally shot by a rival dealer only to wake up the next day.
Charles is stunned by Fontaine’s survival, and joins Fontaine as they seek to unravel the city’s bizarre underbelly and reveal the truth behind Glen. They Cloned Tyrone revels in its weirdness and is a true mystery film, following a plot that is bound to entice any viewer.
There are certainly some dull points that drag on for too long, and a lot of repetitiveness as a natural result of the mystery, but overall delivers a stellar flick that shouldn’t go under the radar.
Barbie
July 21, 2023
Dir. by Greta Gerwig
Heyday Films / Warner Bros. Pictures
Barbie has grown to be the most surprising success of the year, and it’s not hard to see why. The film stars the titular Barbie (Margot Robbie) entering the Real World alongside Ken (Ryan Gosling) to fix Barbie’s uncharacteristic imperfections. While there, they learn about the Real World’s patriarchal society and find the root of Barbie’s problems.
“I personally loved the movie Barbie, I thought it was exactly what our world needs right now,” said junior Audrey Colwell, “I’m so glad it is reaching so many people.”
It’s weird to call a film based on a line of plastic dolls the most creative film of the year, but that’s what Barbie manages to achieve. Between the bright and bombastic world of Barbieland, the tightly-written script that packs a ton of humor, and the stellar performances from essentially the entire cast, Barbie definitely deserves its spot as the highest-grossing movie of the year.
Oppenheimer
July 21, 2023
Dir. by Christopher Nolan
Syncopy Inc. / Universal Pictures
One of the more gritty films of the year, Oppenheimer is a biopic on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), the director of the infamous Las Alamos Lab that created the atomic bomb. The film takes place primarily after the bomb’s creation, when Oppenheimer is being investigated by the federal government, but has extensive flashbacks going back all the way to the beginning of his career as a professor.
Oppenheimer is an extremely dense film, with much of the dialogue being based on scientific terms that are difficult to keep up with. Despite being so dialogue-driven, the film follows Nolan’s age-long tradition of making the dialogue barely audible, only making the movie harder to follow.
But that isn’t to say there’s no quality to be found. “I actually ended up liking Oppenheimer more than expected, I thought it was interesting and had amazing cinematography,” Colwell said.
Overall I would say that the film definitely has an audience, but isn’t for everyone.
The summer of 2023 was an action-packed one in the film world, and although not every movie was a hit, there was no shortage of quality content for the year. There’s no doubt that 2023 will be remembered for delivering several movies that will be talked about for years to come.
