Hits and misses: The top five best and worst movies of the year

What a year 2024 has been.

Filled with absolute peace and joy, we have seen no drama or tension anywhere on the planet and that has translated to the media we have consumed.

I am, of course, full of rubbish because much like the world today, the movies released have been scattered across a vast spectrum of quality and response. Some people love some things and hate others, while some of us can’t stand movies other people adore.

Because of this, I, Region’s sacrificial lamb, have been given the difficult task of sorting through the large number of movies released this year and creating a definitive list of the best and worst.

Now, before I start, I won’t be covering every indie film released this year. I live in a country town, after all, so don’t bother arguing. Because, at the end of the day, I’m right. (Just kidding. Please don’t hurt my feelings. I have a very fragile sense of self!)

#5 Worst – Joker: Folie à Deux

Man, where to start with Joker: Folie à Deux. Directed by Todd Phillips, this sequel had a lot to live up to after the first became the highest-grossing mature-rated film of all time. Instead, we got a complete swing-and-miss. Tonally, the movie was all over the place. On one hand, it was retreading the first with the Joker’s internal identity crisis, which defeats the point of the original. On the other, it introduced Lady Gaga to do nothing but sing to the camera.

It was a strange movie with strange ideas, none of which seemed to pay off. Bombing at the box office and receiving an awful critical response to boot, it’s fair to say not a lot of people will be rewatching Joker: Folie à Deux anytime soon.

#5 Best – Challengers

This movie is not talked about enough! It premiered right before the American summer, and many saw this as an erotic tennis movie and nothing more. While that is true in parts, what people missed out on was an absolute pulse-pounding film about three toxic people who choose addiction and infatuation over what’s best for their relationships.

Featuring incredible cinematography, a cracking soundtrack and a masterclass of acting from Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, Challengers is the best sports and arguably drama movie of the year.

#4 Worst – Harold and the Purple Crayon

OK, I understand that some movies are made for kids and if they enjoy it, then who am I to judge whether it’s good or bad? On the flip side, wow, this movie was an absolute stinker!

With Harold and the Purple Crayon, released to die and be swept under the rug in the same week that kids went back to school in the US and the same week as Alien: Romulus was released internationally, Sony Pictures knew what it had on its hands with this and it’s nothing worth celebrating. Insulting to the intelligence of children, a blight on the resume of everyone who worked on it and a waste of money for anyone who paid to see it, Harold and the Purple Crayon deserves to disappear into the back catalogue of whichever streaming service it winds up on.

#4 Best – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Releasing nine years after the masterpiece that was Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa had a lot to live up to. Bringing the franchise back to the Australian outback and following a different protagonist, this movie was always going to provide an interesting outcome worth talking about regardless of its quality.

Thankfully for audiences, Furiosa was awesome! A mix of brilliant special effects and CGI, this magnificently storyboarded film really could have only been conjured up by the genius of George Miller. Add a villain of the year-calibre performance by Chris Hemsworth and what might be the best story in the franchise and you get an incredible post-apocalyptic epic.

#3 Worst – Borderlands

We are digging our way to the bottom of the barrel now. Borderlands (The game this ”movie” is based on) is full of rich lore, lovable characters and hilarious jokes that are carried across five different games.

This movie ignored all of that and instead, the filmmakers at Lionsgate submitted something that cosplayers with an iPhone would have been ashamed of. The choppy editing makes it impossible to keep track of anything going on. The lead actors take turns trying to see who can phone it in the most, and the less I talk about how this movie looks, the better.

#3 Best – The Wild Robot

If this were a contest about which movie was the most beautiful, The Wild Robot would win in a landslide. An original IP, with brilliant animation that looks like a moving painting as well as a story that brought me and many others at my cinema screening to tears, The Wild Robot should win Best Animated Picture come the Oscars next year.

Diving into themes of adopted parenthood, grieving, fitting in and overcoming differences to see the best in people, The Wild Robot treats its young audience with respect while also being a treat for adults. As soon as this came out on native 4K resolution, I fired it up on my TV at home and was blown away all over again. Hands down the best animated movie of the year.

#2 Worst – Red One

Honestly, this and No. 1 can be interchanged for the worst movie of the year. The only reason Red One gets demoted/promoted from being the worst flick of the year is that my movie-going experience during this wasn’t as bad as it was with the next one on this list.

Where to start with this abysmal production? Red One could have been fun, a guilty pleasure for the family to watch every year. Instead, we got another of Dwayne Johnson’s ”made in a test tube” movies that rival an early episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the production department. Bad CGI, bad costumes, terrible acting and even worse writing make Red One a cut below every other movie released this year … almost.

#2 Best – The Substance

Holy cow, was this movie an absolute rollercoaster ride. Treading the line between a parody of TV and a warning about addiction, The Substance features Demi Moore in her best role in decades.

Harking back to the body horror of the 1980s and ’90s, no other film this year has kept me so engrossed and on edge. A stylised gem that, admittedly, not everyone will be a fan of, this film is the scariest of the year. Not because of jump scares or supernatural themes, but because of the balancing act it plays between horrifyingly real and ridiculously over the top. I would love to see this earn a Best Picture nomination next year.

#1 Worst – Madame Web

Anyone who has read any of my negative reviews this year would have known this would be No. 1.

Madame Web was released on Valentine’s Day in Australia and if you took your loved one to see this, I pray that you are still together. Not only the worst superhero movie since 1997’s Batman and Robin (the one with George Clooney and the batsuit with nipples), Madame Web doesn’t even fall into the ”so bad it’s good” category.

Dakota Johnson will win the Razzie for Worst Performance of the Year, there’s no debate. The editing and ADR are among the worst I’ve ever seen, the plot doesn’t exist and above all else, it’s so boring!

With Madame Web committing the cardinal sin of centring on product placement (seriously, do a drinking game where you take a shot every time you see a Pepsi sign), I can easily see it being the worst film of the decade, not just 2024.

#1 Best – Dune: Part 2

Releasing only a week or so after Madame Web (thank God), Dune: Part 2 was my most anticipated movie of the year and boy, did it deliver! Providing an all-star cast of Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Stellan Skarsgard, this movie was never going to disappoint.

In my opinion, Dune, as a whole, is this generation’s equivalent to The Lord of the Rings films. Epic in scope based on a tale that inspired Star Wars, Dune: Part 2 took everything that the first did well and dialled it up to 11. The production, the imagery, the moments of quiet followed by intense battles and the political intrigue that rivals peak Game of Thrones, Dune: Part 2 is nothing short of a masterpiece.

There we have it: Region’s best and worst movies of the year. I do not doubt that everyone will agree and if you don’t, I will start accepting payments for next year’s list come January.