10 Best Films 2024: Joseph Wade
8. Dune: Part Two
Denis Villeneuve earned his status as a modern master with his work on Dune: Part Two, a sequel that could have followed the exact pattern of the original film but struck out in interesting new visual directions, including some technological progress the likes of which is usually reserved for Christopher Nolan.
Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides is beginning to understand the power behind his role as intergalactic chosen one, and is faced with an endless barrage of bad guys looking to take his life and the land of his people. With Chani (Zendaya) and Stilgar (Javier Bardem) at his back, he confronts a giant force of evil led by the emperor (Christopher Walken) and best personified by the empire’s most fearsome gladiator, Feyd-Rautha (a hairless Austin Butler). It is grandiose sci-fi and mega budget blockbuster melded together by the eye of one of the era’s foremost filmmakers; a huge studio film with arthouse sensibilities.
In comparison to the first film, Dune: Part Two seems intent on moving the story forward and ensuring there are clear heroes and villains for us to root for. That choice won’t be for everyone, but it does free up the time and space to make sure that new characters are properly introduced, that old characters remain relevant, and that all the filmmaking genius of Villeneuve, cinematographer Greig Fraser, et al, is brought front and centre. Minutes and minutes of footage was shot in infrared, for example, the effect being one of complete alienation on screen, but the reality being that of genuine technical innovation from the team, and a staggering one at that.
Dune: Part Two is one of those films that even experts will look at and wonder about how it was achieved, and a film that is bound to take on even more significance with the passing of time and the conclusion of the story in an upcoming Villeneuve effort. This is the space opera for our time after all.
7. The Wild Robot
We are living through such an encouraging time for animated feature innovation that even the big studios are getting in on the fun. The Wild Robot, from former juggernauts of the industry, Dreamworks Animation, is one such film; a 3D animation with a brush stroke quality that peels away the layers of refinement present elsewhere to offer something more truthful to the artistry that the animators themselves once dreamt up.
In this found-family allegory with themes of embracing those with different needs and abilities to other people, a human service robot named Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) becomes the surrogate parent for a gosling named Brightbill (Kit Connor) when she accidentally crash lands in a forest. With the help of a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) and the wider community of forest animals, Roz seeks to ensure a nice childhood for Brightbill and peace across the whole of the wild.
The visual presentation, which takes cues from the Spider-Verse movies in how it leaves in moments where characters are painted outside of their lines and generally embraces imperfection (in turn highlighting the artistry behind each frame), The Wild Robot is also an emotionally rich movie, with central themes that we could all do with being reminded of more often in the 2020s: how hate is overcome by love, how we are all better together, how we should embrace our differences and celebrate them, and how we should be thankful for those who’ve cared for us when we’ve needed it most.
It’s the kind of animated feature to put up there with the Spider-Verse movies, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, and so on, as a beacon for this new generation of form-bending, formula-busting animated feature work, and it’s likely to become known as a classic family film.
6. Challengers
The loud thudding of the bass in your speakers, the sweat forming on your upper lip, the slow-motion raise of their eye towards yours; Challengers is all tensing muscles, wry smiles, bitten lips and sex, sex, sex. It’s bloody great.
Plenty occurs across years of story in this modern erotic thriller with comedic twists from Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino, but all you need to know is that Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist play professional tennis players and best friends embroiled in a love triangle with a fellow tennis player and dominant personality played by Zendaya. As the years are traversed, and moments reveal themselves, a central tennis match takes on different meanings, resulting in one of the greatest climaxes you’ll ever experience.
There are elements of the sub-genre of melodrama present here, such as the ultra slow-motion reveals and vibrant colour scheme, as well as psychosexual explorations of modern relationships and the drive behind high calibre athletes. With a summery shimmer to every shot, a colour palette closer to an ice cream parlour than your typical 2000s movie, and about as much sexual tension as you can fit into a duffle bag, it’s difficult to turn away from all of the highs and lows of these three consistently engaging characters. You’ll probably laugh out loud, too. This is audience pleasing cinema for those tired of the generic ready-for-TV fare.
