Best of 2012: 10-8

10. The Dark Knight Rises:

I’ve grappled with this one for quite some time. Christopher Nolan’s grand finale to his well deservedly critically acclaimed interpretation of Batman is by no stretch of the imagination a flawless film. However, upon viewing it after having written it off for a slot for months, I slowly came around to realizing that I wasn’t quite giving the film enough credit for what it was doing right.

While not shying away from its issues, “The Dark Knight Rises” is nonetheless of an incredible level of filmmaking in nearly every regard that is still not quite the standard of this genre. Nolan directs a packed yet tightly crafted epic, bringing the more human element of “Batman Begins” back around full circle. Bruce Wayne’s final adventure is full of twists and turns, believably escalated stakes, character revelations, and an unexpected amount of emotion that adds a weight to the finality of the films intent. Nolan has always been an excellent teller of complex plots but the shocking detail found in the rest of the film surpasses even his own demonstrated level of skills.

The cast of “The Dark Knight Rises” all give some of the most incredible performances of their careers, lending the franchise a level of heart it had never achieved before. The levels of literary metaphor within the challenges that Bruce must face are masterfully crafted and ultimately culminate in one hell of a sensational climax.

The films high ambitions have for the most part have yielded an intense payoff. Unfortunately, payoffs born out of such high ambitions don’t come without a few tradeoffs. The higher levels of spectacle, despite being more grounded than most films of the same ilk, lends “The Dark Knight Rises” a slightly more alien quality that prevents it from feeling as immersive as its predecessor, which slightly distracts from the heavier atmosphere that the film projects. Furthermore, while I applaud its efforts to tell a unique epic on a grand scale, it does have a bad tendency to rely on telling rather than showing for the sake of furthering its plot.

This unfortunate combination of flaws results in a film that could have been 20 minutes shorter or used 20 minutes to more organically flesh out its ideas. Despite its problems however, “The Dark Knight Rises” dared to take a chance that for the most part worked. Unlike 95% of superhero storytelling today, it put the integrity of its tale ahead of its desire to make a profit, rounding out a trilogy that I will be happily watching decades from now and creating a film that I have grown to love more and respect as one of my favorites of 2012.

9. The Cabin in the Woods:

If there is one genre that our modern genre savvy culture has utterly ravaged, it would have to undoubtedly be horror. With most modern twists and turns in storytelling exposed and conventions explored in great detail, most modern horror films have defaulted to the cheap and manipulative jump scare to get a rise out of the more naïve moviegoer. About the only thing truly scary about almost 90% of modern horror films is the how torturously boring they can become. And, along came Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard to give the horror genre the kick in the pants that it so desperately needs.

“The Cabin in the Woods” is a genre busting and trope twisting affectionate criticism, loving parody, and straightly executed production of the horror genre that I have not seen since “Evil Dead 2.” The film’s deconstruction of horror formula is done with an eye of both criticism and affection, observing the stereotypes and clichés of horror fiction and identifying them in such a way that celebrates their hand in the culture of the genre.

Meanwhile, thanks to Whedon’s sharp script and Goddard’s intricate direction, the delicate balance that goes into mixing the horror with the comedy prevents one element from overtaking the other, resulting in a respectable horror movie in and of itself with a strong element of humor that knows how when to step back, creating a less cynical parody that keeps all of its elements in check as opposed to the age of lazy spoofs that permeate the parody subgenre of comedy.

“The Cabin in the Woods” is a rare comedy in today’s day and age; one that doesn’t fall back on its comedy as a cop out to proper storytelling. Whether the charm of the characters, the subtle winks to horror formula, or the glorious grand reveal of the end, the film has a charm thanks to the perfect balancing act that it pulls off that few films attempting what it is going for have been able to achieve.

8. The Secret World of Arrietty:

I admit that I skated around this issue last year but this year has made it abundantly evident that the state of animation is on its way into a slump. Often I relish in the chance to talk up an animated film around this time of the year. Only then do I come to find that this year and the last have been far from stellar (you know things are getting when Pixar’s churned out mediocre content two years in a row). I’ll give credit to a few sleepers, like “Paranorman” and “Wreck-It Ralph” but thank god Studio Ghibli has stepped up to the plate to redeem itself after the laughably bad “Tales from Earthsea” with Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s take on “The Borrowers.”

There’s a somber tone about “The Secret World of Arrietty” that sets it apart from most typical animated films. Rather than direct a broader, almost theater-like production bloated with flash, quick pacing, and numerous other quirky bells and whistles, this is a film that takes the completely opposite tact. The sense of scale given to the small world of the borrowers is made apparent via the slow, methodical, and detailed pacing of the following of their day to day activities.

This pacing may sound like it makes for a boring film but the detail used to bring the world to life, as well as a strong down to earth plot based around the developing friendship between Arrietty and the protagonist (whom I shall leave unnamed both in the spirit of the original novel and to avoid the immature dubbing vs. subbing conflict of anime) contain so much charm that you don’t even notice the time fly.

In a year that was generally unimpressive for animation, “The Secret World of Arrietty” was a pleasant surprise not merely for its own quality, but as a fresh model that other animated films should strive to follow if for no other reason than to shake up the status quo a bit.