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Best and Worst Films from May 2024

Best Films from May 2024:

3. Godzilla Minus One

This month wasn’t the greatest for me. This was the time that I rewatched more than a couple of movies and I also saw some pretty bad ones, so this best section is going to be limited. Featuring impressive effects for its small budget and fun action scenes, Godzilla Minus One also included an emotionally resonant story that tackled the theme of survivor’s guilt quite well. The mixture between human drama and monster mayhem was struck almost perfectly here. It’s a technically polished movie that has that old-fashioned, almost Spielbergian touch in its approach that made it quite charming. I just wished that the second half didn’t drag as much. It’s somewhat overrated, but still quite strong.

2. Challengers

Challengers’ accomplished, kinetic cinematography was simply incredible while the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross was truly remarkable, featuring synth-pop and electronic music that was electric and so perfect for every scene. These two worked in unison to create what is one of the most propulsive and kinetic movies in recent memory. The acting performances from the entire cast were also phenomenal with the standout being Josh O’Connor in an effortlessly charismatic turn. Zendaya should have had a bigger role, but she was reliably superb. This is a slight film in plot and nowhere near as juicy as it could have been, but it’s so technically astounding that I still had a blast.

1. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

I love this franchise and this newest entry is quite underrated. The characters are strong, the visuals are phenomenal and the world building as superb as ever. The ending is thrilling and the movie is both emotionally involving and surprisingly spiritual in its themes. It’s not quite as strong as the original film and the prequel trilogy, but it came awfully close and I am now looking forward to the sequels that will undoubtedly be great as well.

Worst Films from May 2024:

3. A Most Wanted Man

A Most Wanted Man is a boring espionage thriller that was seriously hurt by its sluggish pacing and an uninteresting plot. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Rachel McAdams were excellent in their roles and the movie is confidently directed, edited and shot. But it had nothing to say about anything while sorely lacking in intensity, which was a big problem for what was supposed to be a thriller.

2. Friday the 13^th Part Three

The third Friday the 13^th movie is quite bad. There are some memorable kills here for sure, but terrible characterization and poor acting were its worst offenders along with an uninspired and rehashed script. It’s a movie that had no reason to exist and it’s one of the worst entries in the franchise.

1. Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver

The second Rebel Moon movie might be even worse than the original. The bombastic action, frenetic pacing and terrible characterization were its main issues while the poor, overly familiar plot and a tiresome third act did not help matters either. Snyder is planning to make even more of these movies, which just goes to show that he has zero self-awareness of his work.