As we near the halfway mark of 2023, I have begun to comprise my rankings of 2023 movie releases. So far, I’ve seen 52 releases and I have to say, it’s been an interesting year in film. There have been plenty of stinkers, but also a pleasant amount of unexpected bangers. Here are my top 5 of 2023, thus far.
Honorable Mention: Reality (Tina Satter), Air (Ben Affleck), Creed III (Michael B. Jordan)
5. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (Kelly Fremon Craig)
This was far better than I ever expected. Every trailer and clip I saw leading up to watching this looked cheesy and fake, but Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is a good movie. Kelly Fremon Craig is clearly very talented at making coming-of-age films with this and Edge of Seventeen being well received. It’s about religion, but doesn’t bash you over the head with preachy, religious jargon. It shows us Margaret trying to navigate growing up while also looking for a true sense of God. I don’t think Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. will make any noise around award season, but it’s a good film.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
4. BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)
2023 has been the year of the biopic with Tetris, Reality, and Flamin’ Hot coming out so far, but no biopic has been as good as Blackberry thus far. It has a very The Social Network vibe, just not as good with more humor. Going into it, I was extremely skeptical because of the cast with Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, and Matt Johnson, but they brought a seriousness to the film that clearly explained the origins of the BlackBerry while also making me laugh on multiple occasions.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson, Kemp Powers)
Can everyone relax now and stop pleasuring themselves to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? It’s really, really good, but not better than Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This is currently my third favorite film of 2023 and I attribute a lot of that to the deep dive into the Spider-Verse and getting treated to new Spider-Mans like Spider-Man 2099 and Spider-Punk. The villain, Spot, was great and we were treated to an awesome cliffhanger. While I’ll still contest that it’s not as good as the first one, it’s really awesome. If you haven’t seen it yet I don’t want to spoil it, but you should know that Gwen Stacy is a horrific friend.
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
2. John Wick: Chapter 4 (Chad Stahelski)
The 21st Century has offered an extensive realm of great action movies and John Wick: Chapter 4 is one of the best of the century. Not just that, but it’s the best film in the John Wick franchise. Chad Stahelski did an amazing job inserting fascinating side characters that another film franchise could be built off of like Mr. Nobody and Caine. The action was next level and the plot of Wick trying to defeat The High Table never got lost in the plethora of action sequences. There have been talks around a fifth John Wick film and I think that’d be a mistake. We received a perfect sendoff for Wick and having another film would be a bastardization of that great ending.
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (James Gunn)
With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 James Gunn solidified himself as the best superhero movie director. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 made me cry, laugh, and sit up in my seat with pride for the characters. Gunn opting to explore Rockets backstory was gutting, but was also a beautiful touch to add depth to the phenomenal characters he built in a three film span. I found Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary to be a great villain because he had a reasoning for his madness and what he was doing. Much like John Wick: Chapter 4, I think it’d be a mistake to make a followup film to this because we got to see the Guardian go their separate ways and begin new adventures in their lives. I debated recency bias, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is my favorite MCU movie of all-time.
Rating: 5/5 Stars