2024: The Good, The Bad, The Surprising, & The Disappointing
It’s time to look back on the year that’s a solvable math problem.
The following are my picks for the best and worst Movies, TV Shows, Books, and Video Games that I watched, read, and played in 2024. Just like previous years, this is NOT the best and worst of what was released in 2024, but of what I experienced in 2024. Many of these may have come out years prior, but I just now got around to them. And now, drumroll…
Movies
BEST
Deadpool & Wolverine
Yes, you’re right, Deadpool & Wolverine was not the best movie of the year, but it was the best movie experience of the year. It was plotless and relied entirely on nostalgia, but it was fun and highly entertaining. And it didn’t phone it in on the nostalgia with short one-off references, it actually paid homage to the old school superhero movies that many of us grew up with and wove them into the story.
Leading up to its release, this was being touted as the film that was going to save the MCU. While that still remains to be seen, at the very least, it was the film the MCU needed given its current state.
Honorable Mentions
Godzilla Minus One
The problem with Hollywood monster movies is that they’re misguided. They’re monster stories that focus on humans, whereas Godzilla Minus One is human story that focuses on humans but then get interrupted by a monster. It’s the film that made Godzilla terrifying again, that made his atomic breath devastating again and made us actually care about the humans in a monster movie again.
Made on only a $15 million budget and winning the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, it’s a prime example of everything Hollywood is doing wrong.
Twisters
Twisters in a weird place where it could be equally praised and criticized. But in a time of legacy sequels, it manages to set itself apart by standing on its own merits instead of riding the success of its predecessor. What really did it for me though is it’s re-watchability. It’s the fun ride movie you don’t realize you need until you watch it.
WORST
Borderlands
Borderlands was doomed from the beginning due to incompetence on every level. From revealing its horrible miscasting of pretty much every character, to its disastrous production problems that would honestly make for an intriguing documentary, only to end with a devastating box office performance, and Randy Pitchford’s internet meltdown as he attempted to defend the film. It was a Hollywood failure so bad it’s practically a historical event.
Dishonorable Mentions
Comic Book Movies
The genre that held the rest of Hollywood hostage for the past decade and a half has hit an all-time low, with the only decent films of late relying purely on nostalgia, the lazy filmmaker’s best friend. Aside from Deadpool & Wolverine, 2024 will likely go down as the worst year ever for comic book movies.
(I know The Marvels came out in 2023, but I needed a 6th picture for symmetry.)
Lift
Yes, there are far worse movies that came out this year, but I wanted to point out Lift because it easily has some of the laziest writing I’ve ever seen without even trying to hide it. I’m almost starting to feel bad for Kevin Hart because he’s clearly been trying to break into the action hero role lately but keeps getting stuck with the worst scripts.
MOST SURPRISING
The Wandering Earth II
The scope and scale of this film is absurd. Even after watching and loving the first movie, I did not expect this one to go as hard as it did. It’s 3 hours of epic!
The main criticisms I’ve seen of this series is that the characters are underdeveloped, and the story is absurd. True, it is a little absurd, but it’s important to remember that this is a Chinese film/story told from the perspective of Chinese culture. Their beliefs don’t lie in godlike heroes or a chosen few tasked with saving the world, as is what’s often seen in Hollywood. They’re faith is in people and the idea that alone we are powerless but together we can move mountains. To achieve the feats depicted in this story would require dedication and sacrifice from everyone to the point where interpersonal stories become irrelevant.
Honorable Mentions
The Beekeeper
A lean, no time wasted perfect throwback to the dumb, over-the-top action movies of the 90’s.
The only negative is that as it got later into the movie it started to take itself a little too seriously and lost some of the charm of being a cheesy 90’s action movie throwback.
Rebel Ridge
This could almost be considered a non-violent action movie. It’s a stark contrast to the bloodbath and body count laden films we get now in the John Wick era of action. The film and main character go out of their way to neutralize rather than kill with the use of non-lethal disarms rather than brutal finishing moves, and still achieves the same level of tension and suspense as many of its contemporaries.
MOST DISAPPOINTING
Gladiator II
Gladiator 2 is a movie that nobody asked for and simply didn’t need to be made. Beyond the action scenes, it really doesn’t do anything new. And I don’t mean that in an “it’s generic” kind of way, I mean it’s nearly the same movie all over again. Particularly when it comes to the story, it borrows so much from the original to the point where it’s almost more of a remake than a sequel. Character motivations and depth are wildly inconsistent or paper thin. Denzel Washington is the only person of interest, as every other character is bland and forgettable, and the two emperors are just plain annoying.
It’s safe to say I am not entertained.
Dishonorable Mentions
Atlas
Atlas felt like the filmmakers wanted to adapt Titan Fall, but couldn’t get the rights, so instead they made a poorly acted, less interesting rip-off. Jennifer Lopez somehow gives her most cringeworthy performance yet, and a very annoying addition is that “Atlas” is actually the name of her character, rather than being a reference to the mechs or the world.
Civil War
A superficial action movie riding the wave of false controversy it created for itself. I say “false controversy” because the movie seems to go out of its way to remain as politically neutral as possible out of fear of creating actual controversy.
I can’t be the only one that felt lied to by this film’s marketing. It’s not about a civil war, it’s about a bunch of reports trying to cover a civil war, accomplishes nothing, and ends with more questions than answers.
TV Shows
BEST
The Penguin
By far, The Penguin, contains the best acting performances of the year. The incredible makeup and prosthetics combined with Colin Farrell’s amazing performance makes it so he completely disappears into the role of Oz to the point where you forget that it’s him. But it’s Cristin Milioti that absolutely owns the show, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes more known for her role as Sofia Falcone than as The Mother in How I Met Your Mother.
Honorable Mentions
Shōgun
Shōgun is a rare case of masterful television in the modern day. It’s gorgeous, immersive, and compelling all at once, enhanced by writing that combines intrigue, humor, romance, and action in a way that’s nothing less than visually poetic.
For All Mankind
I’m late to the party on this one, as this show already has 4 seasons under its belt, but I finally got around to watching it and ran through all of them. It’s easily one of the best sci-fi shows on television with some of the most well-done space sequences on television, or even in movies. An interesting feature not often seen is how the story transitions from season to season, jumping forward roughly a decade at the end of each. Season 1 starts out in the 60’s at the height of the space race, and season 4 ends in 2012. It’s a fascinating alternate history story that superbly weaves in real events to add to its immersion.
WORST
The Acolyte
An utterly nonsensical story that completely disregards established lore, loaded with bafflingly awful dialogue and character motivations that change on a dime. The Acolyte is the culmination of everything wrong with Disney Star Wars and epitomizes the downfall of a once beloved franchise.
And then there’s all the off-screen controversy… we’ll just leave it at that.
Dishonorable Mention
The Rings of Power (Season 2)
It’s not in the Disappointing category because we saw this coming. With the continued bastardization of the source material by showrunners that couldn’t learn their lesson from the first season, it was already going to be bad but magnifying this is redonkulous amount of money that was being spent on the show.
MOST SURPRISING
Fallout
A cheerful yet brutal apocalypse filled with satirical black comedy and (absolutely necessary) gory violence as if every character has the Bloody Mess perk. From the quirky characters to the retro-future aesthetic of the world, from the vulnerability of wanting to die to the high of welding power armor, Fallout understands what makes the game great and how to depict them in a way that satisfies die-hard fans and welcome new ones.
Honorable Mention
Obliterated
There’s no deep meaning here or a complex story. Obliterated isn’t trying to be anything more than what it is, action, sex, and a good time. The show is raw and crude in an unapologetic way, and that’s a good thing. Today’s world needed a show that’s willing to throw caution to the wind and do whatever it wants simply because it can.
MOST DISAPPOINTING
Arcane (Season 2)
Season 1 of Arcane was an absolute masterpiece, while season 2 was a rushed mess. Important moments lost their impact due to not being fleshed out and having next to build up. Next thing you know, events were happening before we were even able to comprehend what was going on. Each weekly release felt like they were trying to cram an entire season into a couple episodes.
Dishonorable Mention
3 Body Problem
David Benioff and D. B. Weiss are clearly trying to make a name for themselves as producers capable of adapting the unadaptable. Yeah, they did a good job with Game of Thrones but completely botched the ending.
3 Body Problem suffers from them trying to oversimplify a complex story, and not realizing that the complexity is what made the original story so good.
I recommend watching the Chinese adaptation, they did a much better job.
Books
BEST
Betrayal (Ryan Drake, Book 3) by Will Jordan
Anya is one of the most well-crafted characters I’ve ever read, and in Betrayal her past gets put front and center in a heart pounding story of espionage and revenge. No matter how ruthless she is you can’t help but root for her.
I kind of with this had been book 2 because it would’ve made for the perfect follow up Redemption.
Honorable Mention
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
I almost never read non-fiction, so the fact that I’m considering one of the best books I read all year is a testament to how good it is. Cleopatra is one of the most intriguing figures in all of history, and this book is a must read for anyone interested in her.
WORST
Ready Player Two (Ready Player One, Book 2) by Ernest Cline
I knew this was going to be bad, but WOW!
RP2 is just a worse version of its predecessor. It's just another race to hunt down powerful hidden objects within the Oasis. The problem here is the lack of capitalizing on the world building that's been done. For all intents and purposes, the series takes place within the Oasis, a virtual reality world where anything is possible and a countless variety of stories can be told, and yet Cline decided to just do the same thing. SEE FULL REVIEW.
Dishonorable Mention
A Thousand Heartbeats by Kiera Cass
I honestly wanted this book to be good. I wanted this to be Kiera Cass' return to form after her fumbling the end of The Selection series and missing the mark on The Betrothed series. But Cass' writing has regressed so much that she's lost all intrigue and variety. SEE FULL REVIEW.
MOST SURPRISING
Redemption (Ryan Drake, Book 1) by Will Jordan
When I heard The Critical Drinker was also a published author, I was very skeptical and even more curious. But WOW, he doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk. With great pacing, great action, and great characters, Redemption is an amazing opening to a series.
Honorable Mentions
The Korean Woman by John Altman
Very intriguing but not very complex. It’s a pretty straightforward story about a Korean sleeper agent in the U.S. but is filled with tension and suspense as she leads a double life and ends up on the run.
Neon Gods (Dark Olympus, Book 1) by Katee Robert
Not going to lie, while Neon Gods is incredibly hot, a part of me just thinks that I liked it because it’s what I was expecting A Touch of Darkness to be.
MOST DISAPPOINTING
A Touch of Darkness (Hades x Persephone Saga, Book 1) by Scarlett St. Clair
At time of writing, this is the #1 Urban Erotica book on Amazon. Someone’s going to have to explain that to me. But that’s not why I read it. I read it to see what all the hype was about because I kept seeing it everywhere online and finally decided to give in. And my overall review is a resounding meh, it’s a thing that exists, moving on.
Dishonorable Mention
Mystic (Mystic, Book 1) by Jason Denzel
I really wanted to like this book and get into this series, but something about it just couldn’t get it over the hump. It just never seemed to do… enough. Almost every aspect felt like it should’ve been taken further. It’s also in a weird gray area where it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. It’s marketed as adult fantasy but written in a way to try and appeal to younger readers.
Video Games
BEST
Helldivers 2
The game that took the world by storm.
Helldivers 2 nails every aspect that it possibly could: the gameplay loop and progression, weapon variety and enemy variety, atmosphere and immersion, its comedy of satirical patriotism. But most importantly, it’s the embodiment of fun and showed the gaming industry what it looks like when Live Service is done right.
Honorable Mentions
Stellar Blade
A stellar over-the-top sci-fi action game reminiscent of the PS3 era with satisfyingly smooth combat that rewards skill, only to be overshadowed by a dumb controversy.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a lot of game: a roughly 50-hour campaign, 30+ minigames, impressive visuals, and finely honed combat. Square Enix went all out for this entry, addressing many of the criticisms of the first game, Remake, and then takes things even further, expanding on the world and the characters but never losing sight of what’s important.
WORST
Skull and Bones
After being in development hell for a decade, going through multiple reboots, and Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot trying to justify is $70 price tag by calling it a “quadruple-A” game, Skull and bones has yet to justify its own existence. Even with all the additional mechanics associated with an Assassin’s Creed game, Black Flag is still a better overall pirate game than Skull and Bones. This only adds to the confusion of how it ended up in such a bad state when arguably 60% of what the game should’ve been was already in place from Black Flag.
Skull and Bones is the symbol of Ubisoft’s fall from grace.
Dishonorable Mention
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
The live-service-when-it-didn’t-need-to-be, braindead looter shooter that strips all of its characters of their personalities. Instead of making a combat system that takes advantage and showcases each character’s unique skillset, they just gave everyone a gun. And this genericness extends to the enemies as well, instead of having to defeat different enemies in different ways, they’re all just bullet sponges that are defeated once you pump enough led into them.
If anything, it gets the award for Most Chaotic HUD.
MOST SURPRISING
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
A game a developer thought to be out of their comfort zone. An IP that hasn't had a video game in ages. A film franchise that's become stagnant in mediocrity. All signs pointed to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle being bad but instead turned out to be everything you want in an Indiana Jones game.
Honorable Mention
Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2
The reason I consider it surprising is because I didn’t really care for the first game. It was ok, I guess, but it wasn’t anything special. For me, it just kind of existed and that was it. But Space Marine 2 manages to perfectly capture the essence of Warhammer 40k: the power fantasy of being a Space Marine, the violence and gore, and the world with immaculate art design. Easily the best Warhammer 40k game yet.
MOST DISAPPOINTING
Star Wars: Outlaws
Star Wars is supposed to be about action and adventure, and when we finally got the chance to play as an outlaw to fight our own rebellion against the empire, it came with an onslaught of forced stealth sections that were way too unforgiving. Adding to this frustration was the scarcity of checkpoints, getting caught often meant having redo long sections that also included potentially spawning in a completely different area of the map, rather than the beginning of the mission. Which then leads to another issue: the complete lack of fast-travel locations to the point where traversing the map became an annoying chore.
But the true irony is that this would’ve been the one game where the Ubisoft formula would’ve worked. A bloated open world to explore with a never-ending check list of missions to complete set in the Star Wars universe? I think this is the one time people would’ve actually been ok with that.
Dishonorable Mention
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
Graphically, the game is stunning, probably the best-looking game of the year, but it misses the mark in pretty much every other aspect. The combat that was already taking a backseat in the first game felt even more barebones, Senua had even less character development, and the overall story hardly progressed. The game is incredibly short with a lot of walking and not a lot to do. You could get the same full game experience just by watching somebody else play it.
Event of the Year
Paris Olympics
Less about the controversies and more about the memes. In ways no one saw coming at an event meant for competition, the Paris Olympics managed to unite the world through impressiveness, hilarity, annoyance, and cringe. There truly is no greater unifier than sports.
Honorable Mention
Women’s Sports Explodes
I know, sports again. But the explosion in women’s sports in 2024 cannot be denied.
Caitlin Clark made women’s basketball must watch TV.
The expansion of the WNBA.
The expansion of the NWSL.
The launch and skyrocketing popularity of the PWHL.
The announcement of a women’s pro soccer league in Canada.
