December 2023 Movies Ranked

With December at an end, I wanted to share my thoughts and ranking on the new movies I saw this month. I managed to see 7 movies with month with three of them coming from Netflix. This month is the last final push for Oscar movies such as Maestro, Ferrari, Poor Things, and The Color Purple. I didn't see all of the Oscar-bait movies but did manage to see a couple. This month is also the last big blockbuster month with films like Rebel Moon, Aquaman, and Wonka. Overall, this is a decent month for movies. With that being said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the 7 new releases I saw.

7. Leave the World Behind

Leave the World Behind is easily the worst movie I saw this month and one of the worst movies of the year. This movie is about an upper-class family that takes a trip outside of the city. However, weird things begin to happen such as cell towers and the internet going out, weird behavior from animals, and loss of control of vehicles. The family must come together with two strangers and figure out how to navigate these events. On paper, this sounds like a movie I would really enjoy. But in reality, it didn't do it for me. The movie does a decent job of building tension and mystery throughout the story. You feel on edge the entire time wondering what is going on. However, the execution was really not very good. I felt that the movie had too many ideas going on. It is trying to touch on cyber attacks, international relations, racial tensions, and class divides that it doesn't do any of them justice. I also found most of the characters quite insufferable. Most of the main characters are very unlikable and do not have any chemistry together. The movie also fails to provide any sort of satisfying ending. It explains what is going on but then just kind of ends without any sort of resolution. Overall, this is a movie with some good ideas but ultimately poor execution. 

Score: 5/10 Grade: C

6. Rebel Moon: Part 1- A Child of Fire

Rebel Moon: Part 1- A Child of Fire was the most disappointing film I saw this month. On paper, it checks all the right boxes to be great. It is Zach Snyder's version of Star Wars and is an original Sci-Fi story. There were a few cool moments in it. All the visuals were very well done. Zach Snyder has a great style to him. I also thought a lot of the action sequences were great. They also do a great job of including Slo-mo that looks cool. What keeps this film so low is that that story is just so unoriginal and the characters are just so hollow. This movie is a beat for beat knock off of The Magnificent Seven. Everything down to the plot structure is just Magnificent Seven in space. I also felt like the characters were all wasted in this film. None of them really have any sort of defining character trait or motivation and we don't even get to see any of their skills in the actions sequences. In the end, I really wanted this movie to be good but it just did not have the depth that it needed to.

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

5. Ferrari

Ferrari is the second biopic I saw this month. This movie centers around Enzo Ferrari as he struggles to keep his company in business. There were a lot of cool moments in this film. All of the racing moments in the third act of the film were very exciting and cool to see. I also thought the movie delivered some great performances from Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz. The movie also does a decent job of not over-glorifying the person that Ferrari was. It shows him as a very complex and flawed person which is likely more accurate to who he actually was. However, there was a lot about this movie that didn't live up to its potential. For being a movie about a race car maker, there wasn't a lot of racing to it. The movie spends the majority of its time centered on the love triangle between Ferrari and the Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley characters. I was excepting and the trailers marketed a racing-centric movie but there are maybe 30 minutes of racing stuff in the film. I also felt that the movie didn't spend enough time with de Portago. If they wanted us to be invested in the race at the end, the movie really needed to focus more on him. In the end, while this movie had some cool moments, it was ultimately a bit disappointing.

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

4. Maestro

Maestro is a movie that I appreciated more than actually enjoyed. Maestro centers around Leonard Bernstein and his relationship with his wife Felicia Montealegre. It is a very character-focused story instead of a plot-focused story and reminded a lot of last year's movie, Tar. This movie does a great job of paying homage to older Hollywood movies, especially in the first half of the film. Both Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper give fantastic performances. They both do a great job of showing their character's journeys over the course of many years. They do great as the 20-something young artists and as the 70-something adults. Both are deserving of acting Oscars and have a decent shot of being nominated. I also liked the soundtrack of the movie and how it incorporates Leonard Bernstein's music. I also like the way the movie was shot. It was done in a very traditional way that is similar to classic Hollywood films. There isn't too much wrong with this movie. The only slight issue was that the character development was a bit rushed at times. The main issue is that this type of movie just isn't really my thing. I found myself a bit bored as the story just wasn't interesting to me. All people will like it for its literary craft but it is just not for me. In the end, I can appreciate what it was going for but this movie just isn't for me. 

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

3. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the final film in the DCEU. This movie takes what worked in the original film and basically just does it again. The visuals are so vibrant and colorful and the action is just so exciting that you can't help but be entertained with this film. It is also unashamedly goof with every character getting some sort of laugh line. The best thing about this movie is the focus on the relationship between Orn and Arthur essentially making this movie a buddy comedy. The chemistry between the two is so much fun with their constant bickering. We also get some solid evolution in their relationship. Unsurprisingly, the story is quite sloppy with a very thin plot holding things together and moving us from one action sequence to the next. The movie also doesn't even try to add exposition naturally and just chooses to stop what is happening to dump it on us. I also felt that the CGI was a bit spotty at times. Sometimes it looks great, other times it is very bad. Overall, this is a fun campy movie that is very entertaining. It is by no means a proper send-off to the DCEU, but as a standalone Aquaman movie, it is very fun.

Score:7/10 Grade: B

2. Wonka

Wonka was one of the biggest surprises of the month. I was not on board with this movie when I first heard about it. I thought it was unnecessary and unwanted and that Timothee Chalamet was miscast. I fully expected this movie to be bad. To my surprise, I had a ton of fun with this movie. It was incredibly charming and a lot of fun. Timothee Chalemet won me over with his performance as Willy Wonka. I thought he did a great job of capturing the energy of the character while still doing his own thing. I also found the story incredibly sweet and made me feel good when leaving the theater. The songs in this movie are also a lot of fun. Many of them are very catchy and memorable. I continued to listen to them for days after seeing the movie. I also liked how this movie managed to pay tribute to elements of the original film with how some of the characters look, some musical cues, and a couple of songs. It put a big grin on my face hearing Pure Imagination and the Oompa Loompa song in this movie. The only issues I have with this film are that I wanted the Oompa Loompa character to have more of a presence and that Timothee Chalemet tried a bit too hard time with his performance. Overall, this is a very fun movie that is enjoyable to both kids and adults and is a must-see for the whole family. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

I. Godzilla Minus One

Godzilla Minus One is easily the best Godzilla movie I have seen. Godzilla Minus One takes place in post-WWII Japan where Godzilla has decided to surface and attack the city. It has the awesome monster attack scenes you want from a movie like this while also providing compelling characters and a good story. The characters that are the center of this movie are all fully developed with compelling stories and complex motivations. While more recent Godzilla movies have been more about watching monsters attack a city, this is one more about a family trying to protect each other and their city. We send a decent amount of the movie watching their relationship grow. The visuals also look quite good. This movie doesn't cost nearly as much as other recent Godzilla movies but still manages to look just as good. The movie also has some surprisingly emotional moments that pay off the story in the end. I also liked how the movie shows a bit of how hard life was in Japan after WWII. In the end, this was a great Godzilla movie with solid characters and an interesting story. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-