# The Best Movies of 2018

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-best-movies-of-2018/
- Published: 2019-01-17T07:00:28-06:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

Continuing my best of 2018, here are the best movies that I saw that came out in
2018. Unfortunately, I don’t get out to the theater much and usually my theater 
trips are limited to either comic book movies or kid movies.

Here are the 10 best movies I saw last year.

 **[1. Avengers: Infinity War](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154756/?ref_=nv_sr_2)**

I’m not surprised this movie was at the top of the list; we’ve been building to 
this for 10 years and 20 movies. Having read the source material, I had a general
idea of how the movie was going to end, but it still got to me.

The acting was on par with all of the previous movies of the MCU and the writing/
direction was top notch. The nerd in me went nuts seeing all of these characters
together, many for the first time.

The downside to the movie has been waiting a year to see how it ends. Less than 
4 months remain.

**[2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4633694/?ref_=nv_sr_1)**

If there was one movie that I didn’t expect to make the list, it was this (or #5).
An animated Spider-Man movie sounded good when I first heard about it over a year
ago, but as I saw the previews popping up, I got excited. Add in my daughter started
reading Ultimate Spider-Man weeks before the release, it was something we had to
see.

It didn’t disappoint. The story was pretty complex (thank you Flash for explaining
the multiverse to my family), but I don’t think the story was hurt by the complexity.
The characters were all interesting, even the ones I wasn’t familiar with before
see it.

Not only was it a good movie, it also had one of the best soundtracks of the year.
The music was so ingrained in the movie that I could hear many of the songs outside
of the movie and know the parts they were from.

**[3. Black Panther](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/?ref_=nv_sr_1)**

If you would have asked me in May what was going to be the second best movie of 
the year, this would have been the winner. The late addition of the Spider-Verse
knocked this down a spot. And it was nothing against this film. This is one of the
top 5 MCU movies made so far.

I love BP as a character, but the secondary characters made the movie. Shuri came
off as a female Tony Stark and would be a perfect successor for Iron Man. Okoye 
proved that Danai Gurira can play a badass in anything and could give any other 
strong female character a run for their money.

And Killmonger has been the best MCU villain since Loki. His motives felt more realistic
than many super-hero movie villains.

If there was one thing I didn’t like, it was killing Klaue; while he’s not a huge
villain like Magneto, Loki, or Green Goblin, but he’s probably the best suited guy
to be a reoccurring villain for BP. Plus, Marvel has a problem with killing off 
villains, or making them unavailable to reappear.

**[4. Solo: A Star Wars Story](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3778644/?ref_=nv_sr_1)**

Of the April/May movies, this was the one I was least looking forward to; not that
I didn’t want to see it, but it was a train wreck coming out of production – fired
directors, change in actors, acting coaches – plus it was coming out at a time when
there was so much other stuff coming out and so soon after the most polarizing Star
Wars movie released.

That’s a lot going against it. But it was a good movie. Not a movie we needed, but
it was a fun exploration of a character that many Star Wars fans loved.

Alden Ehrenreich did a great job as Solo; he wasn’t Harrison Ford, but he shouldn’t
and didn’t try to be Ford being Solo. He brought his own flair to the character.

Of course Donald Glover stole the show; from his first line sounding like Billy 
Dee Williams to the personality he brought to the character, Glover was Lando (so
much so that I want a Lando movie).

The surprise cameo at the end of the movie really pushed this over the edge for 
me; I knew Maul was alive and had no clue he’d show up in the movie (although, I
should have known since he was heavily in the underworld after the Clone Wars). 
A Crimson Dawn movie, exploring the underworld of Star Wars, is something I’d like
more than a Lando movie.

**[5. Tag](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2854926/?ref_=nv_sr_1)**

Really, this movie had no right being as good as it was. It’s based on a real life
group of friends that have been playing a game of tag for over 30 years. The movie
was funny, but also had a lot of heart.

The only reason I wanted to see it was because of the “based on…” story. I know 
it’s fictionalized, but to think about adults playing a game of tag that encroaches
on their real life is just mesmerizing.

The cast was solid and the story was well written. I thought this would be lumped
in with many of the other many comedies that have tried to play with the Hangover
formula; instead it stood out because of the comedic timing and essence of the story.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an award winner; it was a movie that entertained 
me and had me laughing.

**[6. Ant Man and the Wasp](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5095030/?ref_=nv_sr_1)**

The MCU continued to deliver. AM and the Wasp definitely wasn’t the first movie,
but it did a good job of moving Scott Lang’s story along and explaining his whereabouts
during Infinity War. It also gave Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne more to do.

It lacked the heart of the first movie though. The visual gimmicks were still there(
the giant Hello Kitty Pez Dispenser and the growing/shrinking car) and it was action
packed.

It also lacked a villain that impacted the story and the MCU; Ghost was a much better
comic character than movie character, although the changes to it were interesting.

I’ve been pretty negative on this movie so far, but I did like it.

Paul Rudd is perfect at Scott; his sense of humor and the way he interacts with 
the cast plays well with many of the other characters.

The movie also sets up Scott as a big part of Avengers: Endgame.

**[7. Deadpool 2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5463162/?ref_=nv_sr_1)**

Deadpool is one of the 2 comic book characters that I absolutely love and will purchase
anything related to. Unfortunately, I left this movie underwhelmed after having 
such high hopes.

I felt this this was trying too hard to be the first movie. Some of the jokes were
played out. Some of the supporting characters came off flat. X-Force felt like a
waste.

From each of the flaws though came some good stuff too. There were new and funny
jokes still. Catching easter eggs made the movie very fun. Plus the cameos left 
you thinking “Was that really…?”

I love Deadpool and enjoyed the movie; it just didn’t leave me as blown away as 
the first movie did. It also makes me hopeful that Kevin Feige can add his spin 
to it and make it more like the first movie.

**[8. Aquaman](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1477834/?ref_=nv_sr_1)**

I used to believe that the worst MCU movie was better than the best DCEU movie. 
Then Wonder Woman happened and it got my hopes up. Then Justice League happened 
and I lost hope again.

Then Aquaman…

He had a fun introduction in the JL movie, but I questioned whether he could hold
his own in a solo movie. He did, and then some. I consider Aquaman to be equal to
Wonder Woman in quality and enjoyment.

Jason Mamoa took an inferior comic character and made him interesting. The story
made sense (unlike most of the DCEU movies) and was much lighter than the other 
movies.

It gives me hope moving forward.

**[9. Ready Player One](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677720/?ref_=nv_sr_1)**

I was hesitant coming into this movie. Typically when there is a movie of a book
I love, it’s not very good. Then the reviews started coming out and it killed my
enthusiasm to see it.

I was wrong. RPO was not a groundbreaking movie. It looked cool and followed some
of the aspects of the book. You could find easter egg after easter egg, which was
very fun.

Many of the changes bother me, like removing the gates once you get the key; you’d
have another challenge once you got the keys. It also doesn’t explain the real world
as much as the book; plus the real life “resistance” against IOI just didn’t sit
well.

If you have no reference of the book, the movie is very enjoyable. If you’ve read
the book and can look past the changes, it’s very enjoyable. If you are a stickler
for the source material, you’ll probably not like it.

**[10. I Kill Giants](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547194/)**

One of the things people don’t realize about comic books is they aren’t all about
Super-Heroes. I Kill Giants is one of those comics. In fact, there is little action
and more drama than you would anticipate from a movie based on a comic.

The story centers on teenager (Barbara) who believes she can kill giants. But it’s
really a story about trying to fight something you know you can’t beat. That something
in this movie is cancer.

Barbara retreats to a fictional world where she can defeat her biggest fear rather
than dealing with the issues within her family.

The story follows the comic closely, with Joe Kelly adapting his graphic novel. 
The GCI giants are pretty well done; so much so that one of my children didn’t want
to watch the movie.

---

2019 looks like a promising year in movies and I’ll knock out what I want to see
in the next few weeks.

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