Big screen titans: 2019’s most popular movies
photo by martin lopez via pexels.com
Exciting remakes, anticipated sequels, the highest-grossing movies of all time. 2019 was an exciting year for movie fans. As the next decade creeps up on us and 2019 comes to a close, we can look back at the biggest movies of the year and how they became so popular.
If you’ve gone outside at any point in the past year or so, you’ve probably heard of a movie called Avengers: Endgame. It was released on April 26 to a positive reception and later became the highest-grossing movie of all time.
“I would say it deserves the top spot if it was a popular movie. There are definitely a lot of movies that could fill that spot, but I still think it’s a good movie to be the highest-grossing,” Taylor Hartley, 11, film club member, said.
Cameron Schmitt, 11, another movie fan at SJHS, said that Avengers: Endgame was his favorite movie of the year. “I really like the cast of superheroes, I think they tied it up nicely. It was like a little finale and I think they tied it together really nicely.”
And it seems like the general population agrees. In a recent survey sent out to SJHS students with 113 responses, 35% said that Avengers: Endgame was their favorite movie of 2019.
Avengers: Endgame really showcases the kind of movies that are popular: a familiar cast of characters, action, big special effects, and one of the most recognizable companies in the world— Disney.
Six of the top ten highest-grossing movies of the year were distributed by Walt Disney Studios, and with Frozen II and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker just now hitting theaters, that number is expected to rise.
“They’ve got a reputation. They’ve got a lot of companies under their belt too. They bought a lot of rights to pre-existing things that people already liked,” Cameron said about Disney’s popularity.
Along with Avengers: Endgame, five other Disney releases claim the top spots this year with two other Marvel titles in Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Toy Story 4, and two new live-action remakes of their classic animated films in Aladdin and The Lion King.
In recent years, Disney has been releasing live-action remakes of their beloved animated classics. They’ve been dominating the box office and breaking records although receiving mediocre reviews. Their two newest releases, Aladdin and The Lion King are no exception. But Cameron doesn’t understand their popularity.
“I think animation brings out the creativity and makes it cooler and makes it a lot nicer. You can do a lot more with the story than live-action,” Cameron said.
With most movie fans criticizing Disney remakes, it’s somewhat of a mystery as to why they’re so popular. The question of what makes a movie popular is something that has always baffled fans, critics, and filmmakers.
“I think what makes a movie popular is relevance—if they include things that kids now can relate to. Not all films have to have that but I feel like a majority of them have something that can be like, ‘oh, I can relate to that,’” Taylor said.
And she’s right. The loss of a friend, the desire to become a better person, the drive to reach for what you want most. These are all things that the most popular movies of the year exemplify, and are all things we can relate to.
Popular blockbusters are often ridiculed for being fodder for the masses and too simple. But sometimes it’s the simplest movies that impact us the most.