BENJAMIN HAYLETT
staff writer

2017 has been a whirlwind year for movies.
A number of great films came out this year, and with that in mind, here is just a small sampling of my favorites.
As with every year in recent memory, superhero blockbusters have dominated the box office and with good reason.
As long as people will still line up around the block to see explosions and good triumphing over evil, superhero movies will continue to be made.
Movies that flip the switch on what it really means to have a superhero movie like “Logan” and “Wonder Woman” are among the best hero flicks ever made, but for my choice of the best superhero movie this year, it has to be “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2.”
Building off the relationships it established in the first film, “Vol. 2” cranks everything up to 11.
It has moments of laugh-out-loud comedy countered with heartbreaking sadness that takes you on a roller coaster of emotions.
The visual style of “Vol. 2” is also gorgeous, with saturated colors and top of the line CGI that is just candy for your eyes.
2017 saw the return of many franchises such as “The Fate of the Furious,” the first “Fast & Furious” movie to not include Paul Walker, “Transformers: The Last Knight,” a solid addition to the infamous franchise, and “Blade Runner 2049,” the highly anticipated sequel to the 1982 cult classic.
However, my favorite new addition to a series has to be “John Wick: Chapter 2.”
Director David Leitch recognized what made the first “John Wick” so amazing and simply redid it, to great effect.
Hand-to-hand combat, car chases, multiple massive gunfights and explosions make this a welcome addendum to the first action masterpiece.
Fans of the series will be happy to know this is not the last installment of the franchise, as Lionsgate plans on making this a staple of its productions for the foreseeable future.
This year has also seen an increase of mainstream horror film popularity.
“Happy Death Day,” “Get Out” and “Alien: Covenant” all received positive reviews, but the latest iteration of Stephen King’s terrifying novel “It” is my pick for the best horror film of 2017.
Full of 1980s nostalgia, gut-busting humor and bone chilling horror, “It” is a masterpiece that kept the audience on the edge of their seats for the entirety of the film.
Each of the main characters of “It” are introduced one by one, in a way that lets the audience get its bearings on who each of the children are and what it is they are scared of.
In this way, there is not a single “main character” in “It,” but rather a group of protagonists that all share equal importance to the story to defeat the demon clown that plagues their town.
A sequel for “It” is set for 2019, and I certainly will be brimming in excitement until then.
These films are just the tip of the iceberg. There have been so many great movies that came out this year, and 2017 is not over yet.
There are some solid releases plotted to come out later this month such as “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” “The Greatest Showman” and the one I am most excited for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

BENJAMIN HAYLETT
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