Here’s the final part of our now traditional Review of the Year, pointing out what we liked most.
This time, it’s Film & TV.
(Part 1 looked at Fantasy Books, Part 2 looked at Horror Books, Part 3 looked at SF Books.)
Taking part are Rob Bedford, Mark Chitty and Mark Yon.
Rob Bedford:
Film
While I watched a lot of movies in 2024 (I tend to watch a horror movie every Friday night), the majority of those films were pre-2024 releases.
Even with that said, only one film I saw in theaters in 2024 would fit into SFFH and that’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which was extremely entertaining. The movie aims to tie together ALL the Marvel movies from the past 25 years and manages to do so with a great deal of humor and nods to fans of Marvel characters. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have incredible chemistry.
That said, because of the seemingly shortened window between theatrical and home/streaming release, I was able to watch a decent number of 2024 genre films.
Dune: Part Two was another beautiful adaptation of Herbert’s landmark novel. Denis Villeneuve captures epic glory so well. For as long as the movie was (nearly three hours long), the end seemed to come to a fairly abrupt conclusion. This (and Part One) are movies I feel would strongly benefit from a re-watch, especially back to back, though that is a significant time commitment. Let’s hope Villeneuve is able to make a third Dune movie.
Perhaps the most surprising movie for me was Smile 2. I had dismissed these movies when they first released, but I watched the first Smile movie and thoroughly enjoyed it. A much better film than I expected, that went in spots that surprised me. When Smile 2 landed on streaming, I immediately watched it and was enthralled. The premise of the story in both films is that a demon can inhabit a person when they experience that demon causing another person to commit suicide. So yeah, this series deals with trauma and grief. In this sequel, a pop star (kind of modeled on Britney Spears and Lada Gaga) is “infected” with this demon. This is a pretty smart movie and overall, the “smile demon” is a unique creation.
Abigail was another fun, horror flick. It starts out seeming to be a crime caper with a rag-tag group of criminals brought together to kidnap a criminal kingpin’s daughter. When the group arrives at the mansion of this young ballet dancer, they realize the titular Abigail is no meek little dancer. While the marketing of this film blatantly gives away the twist, I’ll just say it was a fun movie with a really good cast.
Another MonsterVerse film was released, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, with the giant monsters teaming up again for another threat to the world. These are big, dumb monster movies. Nobody should go in expecting anything more than that, but if you do, you’ll probably be in for a treat. It seems as if Kong is emerging as bigger star of these films than Godzilla, though.
‘Salem’s Lot – I’m only mentioning this one because I’m a big fan of Stephen King. Released around Halloween 2024, the studio was holding on to this one for at least year. Based on King’s second published novel about Vampires moving into a small town, it has some very good scenes, but is not exactly the best adaption of King’s vast oeuvre.
Oddity – A “Shudder Original” this was a creepy story steeped in grief with a man-sized wooden homunculus that just might be cursed from Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy. At the very least, the thing moves when you aren’t looking. The story centers on a blind shopkeeper is having a tough time grieving the death of her sister a year prior. This mannequin could help her find the closure she needs. Very creepy and taut.
Alien: Romulus – The Alien franchise is a seemingly endless source of stories and this is a worthy entry in the saga. Directed and written by Fede Alvarez (who gave us the excellent 2013 Evil Dead), the story is set between the first two films on a darkened human colony where the recovered cocoon of the Xenomorph from Nostromo from the first film is being experimented upon. The cast is a little younger than we’ve seen in Alien films, but they do a very good job of carrying the narrative especially as it leads to a fun action sequence at the end. Does it blaze completely new ground in the Alien franchise? Not sure. Was it a fun and pulse-pounding? Yes.
Azrael – Another “Shudder Original,” this time in a post-apocalyptic world with humanity living in sparse villages. The rapture happened and the world is awaiting the birth of the antichrist. The center of this movie is modern-day scream queen Samara Weaving….and she has virtually no dialogue. More of an action-horror, I enjoyed this one quite a bit.
TV
Shogun – Hands down, the best piece of television I watched in 2024. An incredible achievement of storytelling, acting, visuals, and everything that goes into making a great TV show great. This is the second adaptation of James Clavell’s landmark 1975 novel. No, this isn’t fantasy, science fiction, or horror. However, it will likely appeal to fans of fantasy and Game of Thrones. This adaptation is one of the best pieces of television I’ve ever watched.
Arcane – One of the most beautifully animated programs I’ve ever watched, the second and final season of the adaptation of the video game landed on Netflix in the autumn. I enjoyed the second season, but the first was a little bit stronger. A little too many loose ends to keep track of, but a wonderful, immersive experience.
The Dragon Prince – As I write this, the final season of this wonderful fantasy series has landed on Netflix. I’m about two episodes into it, but I almost don’t want to watch because then it will be over. Once this series is finished, it will stand as one of the greatest animated fantasy series of all time. The princes Callum (high mage) and Ezra (the young King) are reeling from a devastating dragon attack on their kingdom as the dark elf Aaravos (the last three seasons are called The Mystery of Aaravos) is back in the world after a long banishment. Aaravos has convinced the daughter of the previous high mage (who turned out to fit the “untrustworthy royal advisor” role quite well before a wonderful redemption arc) to help him.
Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power and Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon – I have these two lumped together because they are big fantasy productions, but I didn’t make it too far into the second season of either.
Fallout – This was probably the highlight of the year for me, from a Television perspective. Like Arcane, I have zero connection to this video game property, but a post-nuclear holocaust story is right up my alley. Especially when Walton Goggins is a featured actor. Great storytelling, fine acting, and impressive visuals made for a delightful story with quite a dark undertone.
The Boys – This is the darkest superhero story ever filmed and it is a blast. We’re nearing the end of the story where what amounts to an Evil Superman (Homelander) is just one of the villains in this world of corporate capes. Karl Urban is just wonderful as Billy Butcher, who has been obsesses with destroying Homelander. As violent as the story is, it does make you think that if superpowered individuals were real and relatively commonplace, it might not be the best thing for humanity.
Batman: Caped Crusader – another year, another Batman animated series. This was a fun one and I think that is in large part because Bruce Timm (One of the primary creatives behind the original Batman The Animated Series from the mid-1990s) is running this show. A little more “adult” and darker than previous animated series featuring the Dark Knight, I enjoyed this one quite a bit.
Invincible (Season 2, Part 2) – Invincible kind of tows the line between the uber-grimdark of The Boys and traditional superhero comics and storytelling. There was a jump of a few months between the release of the first and second parts of the second season for reasons I still don’t understand. Heroes are fairly commonplace and the hero of Invincible is the son of Omni-Man, another “evil Superman.” Except Invincible (a.k.a. Mark Grayson) is doing everything to NOT be the man his father was. The story does a good job of depicting the struggle between maintaining a normal life and superhero life.
Sweet Tooth – Another comic book adaptation, another series coming to a close. In a world ravaged by a viral pandemic, hybrid humans are maligned and thought to be the cause of the Crumble. At the center of the story is Gus, a young boy who is a deer-human hybrid. As the series draws to a close, he’s on the search for his “mother” having overcome the paramilitary force who tried to subjugate him, along with other hybrids. Beautifully shot, well-acted and good storytelling make for an entertaining program.
Last, and most certainly not least, the wonderful, delightful, hilarious What We Do in the Shadows has come to a close. Depicting the mundane everyday life of a few vampires on Staten Island, NY, the show is a comedic gem with wonderful performances by British comedians/actors Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, Natasia Demetriou, and American comedian/actor Mark Proksch, there could be no more ineffectual vampires “terrorizing” New York. They are grounded by familiar “Guillermo” portrayed by Harvey Guillen. I will truly miss this brilliant show.
Mark Chitty:
Film
Having time to watch the latest film releases has not been my forte this year, and I say I’ve only watched two: Deadpool & Wolverine and Alien: Romulus. Deadpool & Wolverine was good fun, not quite on par with the first Deadpool movie, but nonetheless it did well and, of course, threw plenty of cameos in the mix. Alien: Romulus was, I thought, very good. The return to the original Alien/Aliens aesthetic was very welcome, and the story did a good job of giving what an Alien movie should, though a few less call-backs would have made it more a film of its own.
TV
Again, not a massive amount of time to watch and focus on TV shows this year, so some of the big ones are missing. I did manage to catch Echo, a solid Marvel show with some great ideas as far as representing a deaf protagonist; Avatar: The Last Airbender, a show I enjoyed despite never having watched the original anime; The Acolyte, a Star Wars show that seemed to get a lot of hate that I didn’t think it deserved at all; Twisted Metal, some pure and ridiculous fun; and 3 Body Problem, a show that somehow managed to encapsulate the book without melting my brain.
Mark Yon:
Film
My favourite film of the year is a bit of a no-brainer. This may be partly because of the delay in release (we were expecting it back in November 2023), but Dune: Part Two did not disappoint. It was going to be a difficult job to build upon the excitement generated by the first part, but the director Denis Villeneuve managed to do it. It looks stunning on a big screen – had to be seen in a cinema! – and the acting generally is impeccable. For me the sign of a good film is when you still get something new from a second viewing, and I’m pleased to say that re-watching the film (even on a smaller screen) holds up.
Almost as eagerly awaited was the arrival of the movie Deadpool and Wolverine. It was definitely not for everybody, but the family generally enjoyed this movie. It was silly, it was irreverent, it was rude – and generally good entertainment. Doesn’t really stand on its own, but if you’re a fan of the series there was a lot to enjoy here.
Two surprises for me this year. First was the movie Civil War by director Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Dredd.) This was a surprisingly low-key, no fuss, low-action type movie – more of a road trip than an action film, but it was very effective in the way that it showed possibilities of a civil war in the US. Seeing it before the elections both here in the UK and in the US, it was an intriguing reminder of the importance of, and possible fall of, democracy. A movie that I kept thinking about long after I’d watched it – another sign of a good movie for me.
Similar to Dune: Part Two, Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had a lot to live up to. In my opinion, this series has gradually improved movie after movie since the first reimagining of the Planet of the Apes franchise with Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011. I was a little concerned that the director of this part was not the director of the third film, Matt Reeves (busy with Batman!), but the latest part, the fourth, was effective, with an interesting script, great dialogue and good acting throughout. The fact that I soon forgot that I was watching CGI animals is a testament to the work of those involved. The twist at the end was not too unexpected, but an interesting development. I’m pleased to see that there will be more movies in these series in the future (predicted 2027); I look forward to seeing where they go.
TV
Having just finished this series and recently reviewed the art book, it should be no great surprise that one of my highlights of the year has been the animated series Arcane. For me Season Two was as dramatic as the first – impeccably characterised, superbly animated, impressively stylized. Some of the family felt that this season was not quite as good as the first, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I was pleased to find many gems that I enjoyed more than I thought I would. I enjoyed XMen ’97, a cartoon series which stayed true to the original series, but was given a polish and a makeover, making it appropriate for the watchers of the 90’s series but now older. Better than I thought it would be.
So too Batman: Caped Crusader, which brought the team behind Batman: The Animated Series from the 1990’s (a series I regard as one of the best ever animated series) to the 2020s, and gave it a contemporary feel but with a film noir setting.
Another generally better-regarded by the family was the TV series of the computer game Fallout. This was entertaining, and generally felt to be better than they thought it was going to be. Again, there are future series in the works. As I’m not really a game player, I was intrigued. Despite not really knowing much about the premise beforehand, I followed it pretty well – and enjoyed it, too!
I enjoyed the series the 3 Body Problem more than I thought I would actually, considering the creators were those responsible for the ending of the Game of Thrones debacle. Although the TV series was radically different from the original book (reviewed here), it was entertaining and engaging and had a nice cliffhanger at the end.
But perhaps the families favourite TV series this year by far was the HBO series The Penguin. This built on the setting created in Matt Reeves’ movie The Batman and generally took the idea of The Godfather or The Sopranos into Gotham City. Good acting all round, and I have to reluctantly say that there was supremely impressive acting on the part of Colin Farrell, a person whose previous acting roles I’ve never been a great fan of. Dark, impressively stylized, and with terrific characterization, not to mention the odd surprise along the way, I look forward to more of this in the future, not to mention the next Batman movie.
I am hoping for great things from the series Dune: Prophecy, but as I’ve only just started that one, I can’t really comment much about it. So far, so good, though!
And that’s it for this year (I think that’s our 17th!) We hope that we’ve highlighted some things to read and watch and that you’ve found some of our comments useful. You may even have found some of our opinions you haven’t agreed with, to which we will politely guide you towards the discussion forum for further chat.
Whether you disagree with us or not, as ever, thank you for being with us this year, and all the best for 2025!
