Greetings, reader!
My dive into the best instalments of various movie franchises is nearing its end, but I still got a few more left in me. Here are my very favorite eighth parts from the movie franchises I've seen!
Here are my honorable mentions: Birds of Prey (And the Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020), Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021).
10. Creed II (2018)
Ah yes, the sequel to the reboot of the original movie, with a plot mirroring the fourth part in the original sequels. Gotta love Hollywood.
The second of the Rocky pseudo-sequel films shares many of the first Creed's strengths: Michael B. Jordan is still fantastic as Adonis Creed, and Sylvester Stallone is still powerful as the aging boxing-legend-turned-coach Rocky Balboa. However, Ryan Coogler's departure as director is felt, as Steven Caple Jr. doesn't come anywhere near the same levels. Also, the film's plot is a bit wonky - it goes so far into the modern trends of making the hero edgy and making the villain have sympathetic motivations, that you kind of end up rooting for the villain.
9. Fate of the Furious (2017)
Still continuing with films that are okay but not great (not too many life-changing part eights out there, I'm afraid), the eighth Fast & Furious film is what you'd expect from the franchise at this point, in both good and bad. The main cast bathes in chemistry, the stunts are big and entertaining, and the whole big-budget blockbuster feel is tried-and-true "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Henceforth, the film's flaws are just what you'd expect - the plot is heavily predictable and generic. Not a masterpiece, but a fine piece of fast-cars-go-brr action.
8. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
The area of crossovers between multiple franchises becomes a murky area when making these instalment lists. Freddy vs. Jason, the crossover between A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, is technically both the eight Elm Street film and the eleventh Friday the 13th film. However, my dilemma was resolved when I realized that it wouldn't be possible for the same film to be on two of my lists, as there will be no "Top 10 eleventh instalments" post (tenth instalments are the last one where I've seen 10 or more qualifying films and can therefore make a top 10, so the saga ends there).
Anyways, much like Fate of the Furious, this film is by and large what you'd expect. If you're looking for a smart and well-made horror movie, I suggest steering far from this one, but if you're looking for chaotic and cheesy slasher extravaganza to the maximum, you can't do much better than this one. The plot is nonsensical and the acting horrendous, but seeing Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees teaming up to kill a bunch of teenagers (and then turning against each other for an entertaining fight) is must-see for fans of either franchise.
7. American Reunion (2012)
Ah, the eighth American Pie movie. After three films with the original cast, one one-off spin-off, another spin-off and its sequel, and yet another individual spin-off, the franchise had escalated into the territory of worse and worse cinema (as well as more and more obscure Stifler relatives as the main characters). But then, a magical thing happened - the original cast was reunited, naturally for the story of a high school class reunion.
It's a blast to see Jim (Jason Biggs), Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), Kev (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and the gang, as well as countless semi-iconic side characters, as middle-aged adults with a life outside of sex and high school. Naturally, the franchise's inherent elements of cringe comedy and sexual misadventures are still very much there, but with a slightly more mature twist this time around. All in all, it fulfils its purpose as a nice, feel-good legacy sequel.
6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Indeed, the eighth Star Wars film is not, in fact, Episode VIII, as this spin-off was released the seventh and eighth episodes of the Skywalker Saga. Rogue One is pretty much the epitome of "Good, not great", with its relatively not-all-that-important premise serving as both its greatest strength and inevitable weakness.
On one hand, there's not much to ruin when the main characters are a new batch and not the ones fans have spent decades being invested in, but on the other hand, that also makes the film feel less emotional and less important. Overall, once you get past the fact that the whole movie basically exists to fix a plot hole from the original Star Wars, this is a solid, well-made addition to the ever-growing universe.
5. Live and Let Die (1973)
The eighth James Bond flick is Roger Moore's debut in the 007 role, and boy, it's a fun ride. While some of the racial elements haven't aged gracefully, that hardly makes the film stand out of the crowd as pretty much all old Bond flicks have their share of "oh dear, it's a product of it's time I suppose" moments. In every other sense, this is one of the better vintage Bond adventures - Moore is delightful in the leading role, the chase sequences across land, water and sky make for loads of entertainment value, and the theme song is an all-timer.
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
The eighth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the second solo outing of Chris Evans' Captain America, and more importantly, the first MCU film to be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. The Russo brothers (who made their breakthrough directing a little show called Community), would go on to shape the very best moments of the whole franchise, with projects like Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
The studio handing the responsibility of their biggest and most vital projects to these brothers is very much thanks to their work in this film: the action sequences are neat and intense, the plot is thrilling, and everything just works. Many consider The Winter Soldier to be the beginning of the MCU's prime: after seven films with varying quality as the studio works out the kinks in the system, this flick started a run of several expecation-defying films, such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
3. Deadpool (2016)
After a trilogy, a few Wolverine spin-offs, a reboot and a time-travel crossover mega-mash, the X-Men franchise once again reinvented itself - this time by finally answering the wishes of patient comic book fans and making a proper Deadpool adaptation.
The film is gloriously meta, insanely funny, delightfully clever and just a really good time. Not much more to say than that, really.
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
The final Harry Potter movie got to adapt all of the most epic moments from the last and best book, and the end result is pretty great. Some of the changes from the source material are bold but ultimately well-reasoned; for example, the final duel between Harry and Voldemort feels much more powerful in the film version than it ever did in the book. All in all, a very satisfying ending for the generation-shaping fantasy franchise.
It's really too bad that J.K. Rowling is a transphobic bully who has lost all my respect. And yes, I will continue to talk shit about her as long as she continues to talk shit about a community just trying to live their lives, and who are constantly vilified by voices like Rowling's despite not being a danger to anyone. If you have extra money on your hands, donating to a cause like The Equality Project or Youth In Policy would be a great step to counteract the harm being done by the Rowlings of the world!
1. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Ah, yes. This sequel film to Star Trek: The Next Generation is as good as an eighth instalment can get. Not only is the premise thrilling, with fan-favorite villains the Borg Collective going back in time to change things for the worse and the Enterprise crew coming after them, it is also borderline profound in how it ties into the very ideals at the core of the franchise.
The Star Trek franchise was always a utopia of sorts, as it takes place in a future that is by no means perfect, but certainly better - somehow, humanity has found a way past racism, past sexism, past homophobia, past greed and war, past the abuse of the environment, and into a more harmonic existence. First Contact is a tribute to this powerful idea, as the time-travel narrative shows for the first time how this future came to be. The climax of the film is one hell of a tear-jerker for a viewer like me, who really hopes with all his heart that humanity in real life could find its way to the same direction.
Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my ranking of the top 10 ninth instalments of movie franchises.
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