Review Of The Year - Blockbusters

28 December 2009

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As this year in cinema draws to a close, FemaleFirst takes a look back over the years films. This time out, it’s the turn of blockbusters.

This summer saw the launch of more blockbusters than ever seen before, filling the summer months with gorgeous touch guys, mind blowing special effects and more explosions than you can shake a stick at. And they say we’re in a recession….

Not all those films lived up to their promise, with trailers deceiving and letting us down with the final product.

As the winter nights close in, FemaleFirst takes a look back and judges what were the best blockbusters of the year.

Number 1 – Star Trek

The first of the real blockbusters on this list, Star Trek radically moved on a franchise that had become stale since the good people of Star Fleet were last in the cinema.

Star Trek charts the initial adventure of the USS Enterprise and the rise of its captain, James Kirk.

While battling both the establishment and those around him for control of the ship, he has to fight Nero, a time travelling Romulan (one of the more, troubled, races of alien in the universe) who’s just seen his planet blown apart is on the path for revenge.

The film is by far and away the best of the traditional blockbusters, with believable and, more importantly likeable characters to a compelling story.

These are brought to life by a great ensemble cast of largely unknowns. Chris Pine (Carriers) delivers as Kirk, as do Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz) as Scotty and Zoe Saldana (Avatar) as Uhura, who brings a real spark to the character not seen before.

The real highlights are Karl Urban (Lord of the Rings) as the sarcastic doctor ‘Bones’ and in particular Zachary Quinto (TV’s Heroes) as the iconic Spock. Quinto really proves himself to have a future on the big screen, dominating most of the scenes he steps in to.

Bringing in Lost producer J.J. Abrams to direct this reboot (who’s only previous experience was the highly underrated Mission Impossible 3) was a masterstroke as he brings a sense of pace and excitement to the party that no-one else had for years with the crew of the Enterprise.

With a sequel mooted and perhaps this franchise could go to the final frontier.

Just don’t hurt your head by thinking too much about time travel too much.

Number 2 – Public Enemies

Still considered by some as not a true blockbuster, with its level of dialogue wasn’t levelled by the amount of TNT used on set, Public Enemies proved a real hit with audiences this year.

Visionary director Michael Mann’s biopic picture about 1930’s bank robber John Dillinger and his attempts to escape the clutches of the newly formed FBI gripped audiences in the summer and gave most other blockbusters a run for their money when it came to action, but outclassed all when it came to the characters.

Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean) excels as Dillinger, while Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) gives his first best performance for years as Agent Purvis, the agent tasked to hunt him down.

These two fight like gladiators throughout, with Chicago as their arena and use Tommy Guns instead of swords.

The real ace in the hole though is Marion Cotillard. The French actress who won an Oscar for her portrayal of singer Edith Piaf in the French film La Vie En Rose puts her name squarely into the ring for another with a stunning performance.

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