All things considered, 2017 was a pretty good year for movies. Not for Hollywood itself mind you. The scandals that plagued Tinseltown have been well covered elsewhere, so we’re not going to get into them here. But the consensus seems to be that the quality of movies this year was a cut above.
By the numbers, the biggest movie of the year was – perhaps surprisingly – Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. It took in over $36 million at the local box office; just a smidge behind the $37 million of 2016’s top movie, Rogue One. Thor: Ragnarok was some way behind at number 2, coming in at $26 million. of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, perhaps hampered a little by its release date. That could however change at the last minute with The Last Jedi still in cinemas at time of writing. Despicable Me 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 rounded out the top 5. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it a little depressing that the top 5 box office movies of the year were either sequels or remakes.
The top Australian movie was Lion, which took a respectable $22 million and came in at number 6.
Apart from sequels, diversity was a major theme this year. Moonlight (after a moment of confusion) won the Best Picture Oscar; Get Out proved a breakthrough for Jordan Peele; as did The Big Sick for Kumail Nanjiani; and strong female characters led the way in 20th Century Women, Wonder Woman and Atomic Blonde.
Comebacks provided other highlights for the year. Steven Soderbergh returned to movies after five years working in TV with the heist caper Logan Lucky. Harrison Ford and his alter ego Rick Deckard re-emerged in Blade Runner 2049, a sequel some 35 years in the making. And Sofia Coppola directed her first feature since 2013’s The Bling Ring with her enigmatic The Beguiled.
Dwayne Johnson seems to have been the big drawcard this year. The former wrestler starred in The Fate of the Furious and Baywatch – both inexplicably in the top 35 highest-grossing movies of the year – plus the recent Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
As with any year, 2017 saw its share of flops. The “biggest” flop is a matter of contention (because it depends to a large extent on what measures you take into account) by high on the list has to be the Tom Cruise vehicle The Mummy. Intended as the precursor to a franchise (including the Wolf-Man and Frankenstein’s monster) the film tanked big time, throwing the whole enterprise into doubt. The Charlie Hunnam starring King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was up there too; as was the overblown The Dark Tower.
Perhaps reflecting the times, in the realm of critical acclaim, there was a degree of discord. While its only natural that some critics will like films that others don’t (just like everyone else), the dichotomy was particularly marked this year. Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! was loved and reviled in almost equal measure. A similar fate befell The Beguiled, and Alien: Covenant. And although there was no exact equivalent of last year’s Ghostbusters controversy, a social media-fuelled political storm surrounded the Christian Bale-Oscar Isaac drama The Promise.
So to our favourites. As with previous years, we’ve set out each of our reviewers’ top ten list; but this year we’ve also produced a consolidated list. This list has been compiled by taking all the choices and allocating a score of 3 for movies ranked between 1 and 3 on each list; 2 for those from 4 to 6; and 1 for 7 to 10. Where there was a tie, the film appearing on more lists was ranked higher.
By that (admittedly limited) measure, the top movie of the year was Dunkirk, closely followed by Hidden Figures.
As always, if you enjoy movies please, go to the cinema. Don’t download, don’t wait for home release. Do yourself a favour and get out of the house. Trust us, you’ll be glad you did. So now, here are our critics’ top movies of 2017:
Consolidated
- Dunkirk
- Hidden Figures
- Manchester by the Sea
- Baby Driver
- Logan Lucky
- The Big Sick
- Personal Shopper
- Get Out
- Logan
- Jackie
Greg King
- Baby Driver
- Hidden Figures
- Logan
- Call Me By Your Name
- IT
- Wonder
- The Disaster Artist
- Dunkirk
- Detroit
- God’s Own Country
David Edwards
- Personal Shopper
- Get Out
- Jackie
- The Big Sick
- Dunkirk
- Blade Runner 2049
- Manchester by the Sea
- Final Portrait
- Logan Lucky
- The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Alex First
- Dunkirk
- Manchester by the Sea
- Hidden Figures
- The Florida Project
- American Made
- 20th Century Women
- Detroit
- Baby Driver
- Logan Lucky
- The Big Sick
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David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television