Film Feature: Best & Worst of 2018 So Far by HollywoodChicago.com

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

WORST OF 2018 SO FAR by Spike Walters

Peter Rabbit
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment

PETER RABBIT: The beloved subject of the timeless storybook from childhood is turned into another run-of-the-mill hyperactive hoodlum. When the character personality of Peter Rabbit is “making it rain,” you know something is seriously wrong.

THE FIRST PURGE: There’s nothing wrong with trash movies that aspire for bigger and better things than the debased amusement of the masses. But trash that takes itself and it’s simple minded social themes deadly seriously – without realizing it’s a forgettable installment of a forgettable series – that’s too much to take. “The First Purge” is that kind of trash.

TOMB RAIDER: “Tomb Raider” fails on even a most basic level. It’s a film about a gamer’s wet dream of a character that never manages to capture the knockoff Indiana Jones-type thrills, which was the original game’s aspiration. It has no adventure, no hiss-worthy villain and simply no charisma.

WORST MOMENT OF THE WORST: The original author of the 1902 “Tale of Peter Rabbit” – Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) – never anticipated dialogue like this from a 2018 film version of her work (spoken by the character Thomas McGregor as he’s strangling Peter Rabbit), “I’m chilled out, man. I’m cool now.”

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]