Another year and another batch of films.  This year in particular will go down in history as a momentous year for cinema.  This year had movies such as Across the Spider-verse, Barbie, Oppenheimer and even a good movie adaptation of the Super Mario Bros franchise 

 

The Highest Grossing movies of the year

This year’s top 3 highest grossing movies were deservedly Barbie , The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer.  

The Super Mario Bros. Movie truly broke the “bad video game movie adaptation curse” with its release on the 5th of April and redeemed Nintendo of their mistakes with their previous live-action movie adaption of the Mario Bros.  The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a fantastic movie for gamers and non-gamers alike and chalk filled with references to the games. 

Oppenheimer impressed audiences with stunning visual effects and performances from it’s cast.  This biography follows Oppenheimer’s life from his schooling , creation of the atomic bomb , security hearing and the awarding of Enrico Fermi Award at the end of the movie.  Robert Downey Junior’s performance was a highlight of the movie and he stole whatever scene he was in. 

Releasing on the same day as Oppenheimer, Barbie had some serious competition going for it and it clearly outshined the rest since its the Number One Highest Grossing movie of 2023.  The cast of this movie was “on point” according to Sahana Satish.  A sentiment that many other fans of the movie agree with.  The soundtrack was perfect for the tone of the movie and the original song "I'm just Ken" went viral.

The Barbenheimer Phenomenon

A reason for the amount of popularity the movies Oppenheimer and Barbie had were partly in due to Barbenheimer.  A cultural phenomenon about two very tonally different movies releasing on the same day in cinemas everywhere.  People would debate about which movie was the best to watch first and what to wear while watching them.
 

100th Anniversary of Disney

2023 was the year that Disney turned 100!   To celebrate this milestone, the studio released the short film Once Upon a Studio and Wish.  Both films presenting Disney’s most iconic moments in their 100 years.

 

Was Superhero fatigue real? 

While in previous years, the superhero movie genre was dominating the box office, 2023 saw the rise in the amount of people growing tired of superhero movies.   While some movies such as Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3  were highly received and praised, other movies were considered to be unremarkable.  Judging by the range of success from near masterpieces such as Across the Spider-Verse to some of the more forgetful experiences of the genre, it seems that audiences still want to superhero movie experiences and that the genre is in more of a “slump” than a dead end. Maybe James Gunn’s reboot of the DCEU will revitalise the genre in coming years.



2023 was a new era of films. Only the future will tell if they stand the test of time.