2016 is going to be an epic year for movies!!! Or so I thought!

So for the last couple of years I’ve put out a list of movies I thought would be awesome for the following year. Yet I rarely review them afterward. So I am now. You’re welcome. I know that some of my views will not be popular, but hey, they’re mine and that’s all I can say. So I thought 2016 would be a banner year for amazing movies. I was super excited! And mostly disappointed. So, here goes. My reviews of the movies I most anticipated in 2016. POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD! You’ve been warned!!!

20. Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur

This movie didn’t actualy release so I can’t yet give it a review. At least I think it hasn’t released!

19. Rogue One – A Star Wars Story

Sigh… Rogue One! What a let down. I am a Huge Star Wars fan! People who know me, know that! But this movie… ugh… There was no character depth. No backstory. No setup. Nothing. The only ones I cared about were the robot and two of the secondary characters. And they all died! All of them! No one made it out! That’s just not cool. And very boring. There was none of the magic the original Star Wars movies had. No Jedi. No Lightsabers. No witty banter. It just all fell flat 🙁 So sad.

18. Deadpool

I have to say in all honesty, I didn’t watch it. Why? Because my husband and kids did and even my kids who are HUGE Deadpool fans said the movie sucked. So… I didn’t see it. Too bad.

17. Assassin’s Creed

I was super excited for this movie! I went to see it and Bam! I spent the first half of the movie asking what the freak was going on! Seriously! I did not get it. Neither did my girls. Then, by the second half I was like, yeah I sort of get it. And by the end I was like, Okay the parkour and fight scenes were great, but I still don’t understand everything. I saw it a second time and it made a lot more sense but still there were things that were really vague. All in all, it was good. But they could have spent a bit more time helping those of us who haven’t played the game yet understand what the heck was going on!

16. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Tim Burton is one of my top 3 filmakers in Hollywood. However in the last 8 years or so his quality has been really iffy. So when I saw this was coming out I had high hopes, but didn’t hold my breath. And after having seen it I have to say, I liked it. I don’t think it’s Tim Burton’s Opus as others claimed. I still think Nightmare Before Christmas is the best movie he ever produced and Edward Scissorhands is a close second followed by Beetlejuice. But this was definetly a refreshing throw back to those older Tim Burton movies that I adored.

15. Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find them

I went into this movie with extremely low expectations, but Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander stole my heart. He was so sweet and so genuine that his performance was oscar worthy in my opinion. The plot was okay. The graphics were great but it was Eddie that really made the movie shine. I loved his entire performance and would watch it again just because of him. The plot was predictable at best and honestly the one thing that really ruined the whole movie for me was Johny Depp at the end. I really had hoped for someone else. Just about anyone else. I’m kind of over his stale performances.

14. Jason Bourne

I have to be honest, I have not yet seen this one. I need to get on that.

13. The Hateful Eight

Again, I put off seeing this one. Not sure why. I just didn’t get around to it. I need to though.

12. Moana

Loved it! This was a beautifully done movie. Dwayne Johnson was funny as ever. The plot was great. The visuals, the laughs, all of it. I really loved this movie. Well done Disney. This was how I had hoped the movie Brave would be, but wasn’t. This did the Polynesian people proud.

11. Independence Day

I have to be honest, due to all the terrible reviews I could not bring myself to watch this. They were terrible, and apparently so was this movie. I just have no interest anymore.

10. Gambit

This one didn’t release but I still reserve the same thoughts I had before. Channing Tatum is no Gambit. I hope this one doesn’t suck.

9. Star Trek Beyond

This one was a let down. I loved the new character Jayla but other than that, it was the same old same old predictable plot for a Star Trek Movie. Which is sad because I have loved the last 2 they did. But this one fell short for me. From Spock and his girlfirend fighting to the villian being a Star Fleet Officer to everything. Just, predictable. I hate that.

8. BFG

Again, I didn’t see this one because the reviews weren’t good. I plan on seeing it because I loved this story as a child, but it was in and out of the theaters so fast I just didn’t get a chance.

7. The Jungle Book

Another movie that has great visuals but lacked everywhere else. There were things about it that they did that I really did not like, especially the ending when Mougli sets everything on fire. But it was great visually.

6. Batman vs. Superman

This movie got a lot of flack but I personally didn’t think it was terrible. I loved Wonder Woman. Didn’t understand the weird dream sequences and thought the fight scenes were good. I even liked the acting. Except for Jessie Eisenberg as Luther. I didn’t like him at all. I am fully on Superman’s side in this one, BTW. And thought Batman was a jerk, not unlike Tony Stark in Civil War. But all in all, though it’s not a movie I’m dying to watch again, I didn’t hate it.

5. X-men: Apocalypse

I soooooo wanted to love this movie! I LOVE X-Men. They are one, if not my most, favorite franchise. But this one fell short. The bad guys didn’t talk. They were killed off of defeated too quickly. Their storylines were vague at best. I just didn’t really care for this one. Sorry.

4. Dr. Strange

This was a great movie. Not an amazing movie, but a great movie. My favorite character was the cape. I had hoped for more though. I had hoped to see more magic in it and more magic graphics and training and learning but we didn’t. We got some, but not as much as I’d hoped. It was a good movie though and I’d watch it again.

3. Suicide Squad

Again, this was a movie that got a lot of bad reviews but I was pleasantly pleased with it. No, it is nothing like the graphic novels, but it was good. And as a romance author, I just loved the twisted Harley Quinn/Joker storyline. It was twisted and amazing. Jared Leto played the Joker like we’ve never seen him before and it was great and new and refreshing. I even liked Will Smith as Deadshot. I think a lot of the characters in the squad were under utilized, but hey, in a big squad not everyone can shine. Jsut ask Hawkeye and Black Widow.

2. Captain America: Civil War

Best Movie Of The Year!!! This movie rocked! I saw it 5 times in the theater. Yes, it is that good. Everything about it was awesome. The fight scenes. The banter. The fight scenes. Captain America and Bucky. The cameos. All of it. Black Panther and Spiderman stole the show. I didn’t expect to like Black Panther but he was so awesome! And Spiderman was he perfect blend of goofy kid and great hero. I loved this one. Loved it!

1. Warcraft

I waited 10 years for an amazing Warcraft movie… and I’m still waiting. On the surface this movie was pretty good. But not great and not amazing. All of the characters were flat. They had no backstory and nothing to really tie us to them. It was rushed and there was no build with the characters, again, so we couldn’t really root for them. I feel like there were so many storylines they could have gone with and so much content out there that it should have been amazing. They could have gone the LOTR or DragonLance route with it on a epic adventure showing you all of WoW. Or they could have done a war like they did but start out showing the lands and how the Orcs were dying off and then them being called and going through the portal and everything, but again, they cut that out and didn’t do it. There was just so much they could have done to make this a real story, and they relied on the visuals instead of the storyline to carry them through. I’m kind of tired of movies doing that. All visuals, no plot.

So what do you think? Did you see these movies? Let me know. And stay tuned for the new 2017 list this week of movies I’m excited for!

Rebekah R. Ganiere – Books with a Bite

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