The Final Posts | Genre Trending

As I near the end of Rath's Reviews (in case you missed it, here's why), I wanted to ensure I could have fun with some final musings, rankings, and look-backs...all without being super cumbersome on my time. I was able to narrow down a list of potential posts to just a few that I hope to get out before I formally walk away from all of this. 

One that kept popping up was about how certain genres have trended over the course of Rath's Reviews. How has their "stock price" changed? It's a fun concept with clear answers for most of them, so it's my first look-back post. 

Keep in mind this will be a combination of the films I've specifically seen - which is a lot - but also my pulse on the genre as a whole if there are films I haven't watched. Part of me debated actually graphing each of these out based on their final score but I avoided that for several reasons (the most of which being that I don't have the time), and the fact that thoughts and perceptions can change over the course of 13 years. There are certainly more genres and subgenres than I've listed below and there's clearly overlap between them in certain instances.

If you disagree, agree, or have thoughts - let me know in the comments or on social media!

Action

Overall Trend: started mostly mediocre, has risen much higher

Key Films: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, The Raid 2, No Time to Die, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, John Wick: Chapter 4, Top Gun: Maverick, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Expendables 2, Mad Max: Fury Road, Skyfall

Thoughts: we seem to be in a bit of an action Golden Era. As with any genre, there are the duds and poorly made films, but by and large, the Action genre feels like one that is continually trying to best itself with every major outing. You've got massive names like Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves who are constantly throwing their bodies on the line, coupled with choreography and technical details that seem insane. More than anything however, these movies continue to be fun. John Wicks, Mission: Impossibles, and even a majority of the recent James Bond (just to name a few) have some "ooo", "wow" action beats, and then there are many other small, one-off films from all parts of the world that have something to say, often with fists, knives, and guns.

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Comedy

Overall Trend: started middle/high, has declined and never really recovered

Key Films: 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, The Lego Movie, What We Do in the Shadows, The Nice Guys, Bottoms, Jojo Rabbit, The Banshees of Inisherin, Barbie

Thoughts: comedy has had perhaps the toughest time over the last decade+. There's been a lot of movement in society around "what's funny", but more importantly, "what's acceptable", that has forced this genre to be more cautious about what it's churning out. That's reduced the quantity of films considerably, but also the quality overall. However, it's made some of the best comedies shine brighter as they're forced to be more clever with their material and delivery.

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Drama

Overall Trend: started high, remains consistent year to year

Key Films: The Grey, Gravity, The Wolf of Wall Street, Argo, Sicario, Whiplash, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, Athena, 1917, Oppenheimer

Thoughts: drama is the broadest category on this list, at least how I have it established. It'll include your thrillers, historical dramas, Oscar-bait pictures, etc. It's a bit of a catch-all for the other categories. Despite that (or maybe because of that), this category has consistently remained of a very high quality. It's also probably been where I've grown the most as a critic, previously "poo-poo"ing the Oscar hype, instead leaning into seeing more of these films in my early years to expand my horizons. Just like with any genre, there can be a lot of noise in this category - and with Oscar nominations and even winners - but the films that stand out in this genre are ones that stand out for a very, very long time.

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Horror

Overall Trend: started bad but has been on a fantastic run. Currently in a "golden age"

Key Films: It Follows, The Lighthouse, The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, Get Out, Us, Longlegs, It: Chapter 1, A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place: Part II, Scream VI, Midsommar, Hereditary

Thoughts: I attribute my opinions of this genre to my growing interest and likelihood to see horror films, but I also know that I've become choosier in the films I see in theaters over the last several years. So the fact that I'm seeing more horror than I did at the beginning of Rath's Reviews is a clear indicator, and the movies themselves have been impressive across different ranges and sub-genres. There's still a lot of garbage churned out, but I do believe this is the genre with the single biggest increase in quality over the last decade+. 

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Musical

Overall Trend: mostly average/good with intermittent peaks of greatness

Key Films: The Greatest Showman, La La Land, Hamilton, Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, Coco, Moana, Encanto, West Side Story

Thoughts: with the list above, there's clearly a lot of bleeding into other genres like comedy and animated musicals. For the sake of brevity and focusing purely on "movies where songs are sung", I decided to roll these all into "Musical". This is a genre that I don't often get excited for - and there's many average entries - but when a film in this space hits, it really hits. Take the box office success of The Greatest Showman or the lasting power of La La Land as perfect examples. It's a genre with a lot to give, if you know where to look.  

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Science-Fiction / Fantasy

Overall Trend: Sci-Fi films are consistently high, often some of the best. Fantasy is the lagging part of this duo-genre

Key Films: Arrival, Ex Machina, Dune: Part II, Interstellar, Tenet, Annihilation, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Ready Player One, The Green Knight, Avatar: The Way of Water, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, War for the Planet of the Apes, Blade Runner 2049

Thoughts: I'm bias because I often don't think there's much better than a really good science fiction film, and boy, have there been some heavy hitters during my time of Rath's Reviews. One's that really get into your consciousness and memory and stay there. And while fantasy has generally decided to go the TV route (e.g. Game of Thrones), there have been some memorable moments here too. The list of films for this duo-genre is potent...some of my absolute favorites.

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Superhero

Overall Trend: grew to an exciting peak, has diminished in quality in recent years outside of a few gems

Key Films: The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Deadpool & Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Logan, The Suicide Squad, The Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 

Thoughts: there's always lots of talk about "superhero fatigue" but I've always believed that's attributed to the quality of the films. This is a genre that can have some stinkers - and the MCU is owning an increasing amount of disappointing duds - but the high points have been remarkable theater going experiences that audiences won't forget. This genre's demise is overexaggerated, but I do believe the last several years of experimentation have proven some lessons around what works and didn't. People will always love these characters (I know I'll see whoever the 20th Batman is, if the film looks good), but what they want in addition is quality filmmaking, character interactions, and storytelling. Ultimately, those 3 things are what built the MCU to be the juggernaut it was in the first place. 

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This has been a fun post to put together and think about some of my favorite movie genres in broad strokes. As these Final Posts were designed to do, it also allowed me to go back to the annals of Rath's Reviews early years to pull reviews in. I hope you enjoyed! More to come.