The Last Days I actually saw back at Film4's Frightfest in August, the Spanish Science Fiction deals with an epidemic that gives humans an irrational fear of the outside, forcing humanity to be trapped within the walls of the building that they find themselves consumed in during the outbreak. Set in Barcelona with stunning visuals of a different approach to the post-apocalyptic world that has normally been portrayed on the big screen over the years; The Last Days offers something a little more different and feels fresh for this, throw in some great character acting with a strong bond that builds between the films two main characters and their opposing goals whilst trying to work together and build some level of trust and The Last Days has a very compelling story to tell, the film also looks fantastic with some excellent cinematography and masterfully builds tension throughout - it's brutal at times and also has some poignant moments. Can't ignore the fact that the films ending will divide opinion for which the Directors did admit in their Q&A session, but you've got to give them and the film credit for sticking with their original vision and not taking the easy way out when they know full well that the ending will not sit well with a large portion of the audience; I was actually perfectly fine with the ending, though I'll admit that it could have had more impact going another direction, but that doesn't take away the fact that The Last Days is a brilliantly executed Science Fiction film that has brains as well as stunning visuals, something that is quite rare within the recent attempts of the genre; I Am Legend (2007, dir Francis Lawrence) this is not, more comparable to the likes of The Road (2009, dir John Hillcoat), and that is why The Last Days (Los Ultimos Dias) is at number 10 of my favourite films of 2013.
No. 10 Worst - Man of Steel dir. Zack Synder
Kicking off the Top 10 of the Worst films of 2013 is Zack Synder's Man of Steel; Now heading into the film I did have some contrasting preconceptions, first off hearing the name Zack Synder really does put me off any film, the guy has been atrocious for quite sometime and I was very surprised to see that he had been entrusted with the Superman reboot considering his poor recent performances at the Box Office, but then we had Christopher Nolan's name heavily attached to the project and the trailer hit accompanied with the Hans Zimmer score, ended up being one of the most exciting trailers for quite sometime. Unfortunately the fingerprints of Nolan wasn't enough to save this disaster of a reboot - for me Zack Synder betrayed the Superman character, with his seemingly uncharacteristic devalue of human life - Superman willingly lays waste to numerous buildings effectively killing countless people and his resolution to dealing with ZOD pretty much broke the whole film for me. As for the rest of the film, where it suffers most is it's use of the flashbacks, on one side you could argue that the non-linear approach is a break from the norm, but in reality these flashbacks do nothing than destroy any momentum that the films story tries to work towards and we are left with a meandering mess of an origin story that is brought to an end with the most ridiculously bloated action sequences, that while at first look great end up becoming downright painful to watch, it's honestly like watching a poorly directed Dragonball Z episode that' s being stretched out to breaking point. It's such a shame with so many highly talented people involved that Man of Steel is such a train wreck, but I have to admit that Henry Cavill's portrayal of Superman is actually very good, though unfortunately we aren't able to see much of his attempt to play Clark Kent; also the films score by Hans Zimmer is utterly brilliant, but these two positives aren't enough to save Man of Steel from becoming one of the worst films of 2013.
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