Table of Contents
The 2008 slate of films featured an absolute banger list: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Cloverfield, In Bruges, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Kung Fu Panda, The Incredible Hulk, WALL-E, Step Brothers, Tropic Thunder, Burn After Reading, Rachel Getting Married, Changeling, Slumdog Millionaire, Quantum of Solace, Milk, Doubt, Gran Torino, Yes Man, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Defiance and many more. This was the year that laid the groundwork for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, elevated animated storytelling, reintroduced iconic characters and proved that some films have nothing to regret.
From a pure financial standpoint, 2008 was one of the biggest years for film. The total return for the top ten highest grossing films of the year brought in over $6.3 billion with The Dark Knight raking in almost a billion dollars by itself and set records throughout the summer as it continued to bring in money hand-over-fist following its release on July 18th. The remaining highest grossing films included Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Kung Fu Panda, Hancock, Mamma Mia!, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Quantum of Solace, Iron Man, WALL-E and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Let’s dive into the great films of the year and what made them captivate audiences.
The Beginnings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Even after 15 years, Iron Man remains one of the best films in the entire timeline of the MCU but during 2008, its success was not a guarantee. The casting of Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark was considered to be a major risk as the actor had been trying to rebuild his career an exhaustive cycle of drug use, rehabilitation, recovery and relapse but wanted an opportunity to star in a blockbuster film and shift the perception about him. The studio wanted Tom Cruise for the inaugural entry of what would become the MCU but he would pass on the role and actor Sam Rockwell eventually screen tested to play Tony Stark but the focus changed when RDJ expressed interest in the role. Director Jon Favreau met with the actor and knew right away that the troubled man was the right person to play the troubled character. The rest, as they say, is history; Iron Man grossed almost $600 million at the box office, RDJ’s career was fully resurrected with the actor vaulted into superstar status and completely blew expectations but the film was immediately overshadowed by the premiere of The Dark Knight just two months later.
Iron Man was not the only MCU film to premiere in 2008 as The Incredible Hulk also released in June of that year. While the connection to Iron Man was tenuously made during a credit sequence, The Incredible Hulk has fallen into the bottom portion of annual lists ranking the quality of the MCU films but it is a film that deserves a second look. While Mark Ruffalo has truly made the character of Bruce Banner/Hulk his own following his debut in 2012, actor Edward Norton brought to life the complexity of Bruce Banner and his struggle with the beast within him. Following the mild bust that was Hulk in 2003, the series was reworked with Norton being cast in the lead role and offering to rewrite the script in the progress. Director Louis Letterier was brought in and together, they made a film that felt reminiscent of The Incredible Hulk show from the late 70’s and while it was not a success on the same level as Iron Man, it is important to acknowledge it as a foundational film in the MCU even though it was clunkily added to the franchise and has gained a reputation as the forgotten stepchild to other films featuring the same characters.
Animated Storytelling
In 2008, no one thought a story that feature almost entirely of robotic characters would be such a sensation but Pixar once again turned that notion on its head and released its best film at that point with WALL-E, a story about a lone robot left on Earth to clean up the mess left behind by humans but dreams of finding a new purpose beyond the abandoned planet. It is still a remarkable story with adorable characters and a premise that feels a though it’s becoming more real as the effects of climate change and overconsumption are making the planet increasingly hostile. WALL-E would become an incredible success for the animation studio as it had grossed over $500 million worldwide and would earn six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture while winning for Best Animated Film. The Best Picture nomination is particularly noteworthy as it became only the second animated film to receive a Best Picture nomination and would kick off a run of three consecutive years for Pixar of their films receiving nominations for the category with the others being Up and Toy Story 3.
The year was not entirely dominated by Pixar though as DreamWorks Animation finally emerged from Pixar’s shadow and proved they could make other films beside Shrek with their two releases of Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa with a combined gross of over $1.2 billion. The Madagascar series has somewhat faded into obscurity in recent years but there seems to be developing projects for the Kung Fu Panda franchise as its inaugural film launched two subsequent sequels with a third expected to release in March 2024 as well as several television series and short films. For an animated film, Kung Fu Panda features an all-star cast that includes Ian McShane, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, Dustin Hoffman and of course, the immortally popular Jack Black who seems to find a way to be loved for any of his films and the idea of a panda with innate kung fu abilities seemed to fit Black’s personality like a glove.
The Return of Iconic Characters
While the year featured some incredible films, the best and most influential film to emerge from 2008 was The Dark Knight. Not only has it become the best, if not top five, comic book film of all time, it has cemented Christian Bale’s portrayal of Batman and Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker as one of the best hero/villain combinations in history. Director Christopher Nolan sought to make a crime story set in a comic book and this ultra real-world approach to his storytelling made The Dark Knight the film to see during the summer of 2008. As mentioned, it became the highest grossing film of the year and received eight Academy Award nominations as films from the genre rarely received prestige nominations and has remained the benchmark for other prestige comic book films like Joker and Black Panther.
While 2008 saw the return of the Dark Knight, it also featured a sequel to the highly successful reboot of the James Bond series, Casino Royale with the release of Quantum of Solace. Daniel Craig further proved the doubters wrong with this intense action thriller that featured an unhinged version of 007 on a revenge tour following the betrayal and death of his lover in the previous film. While critics were divided on the film following its release, Quantum of Solace is a tight film that clocks in at just under two hours and features some of the most intense action scenes of the late 2000’s. While making a direct sequel to Casino Royale was a misguided choice in hindsight, the producers sought to take the new series in a different direction following the disappointment of several of Pierce Brosnan’s films. While it has become overshadowed in part due to the releases of Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die, Quantum of Solaces deserves acknowledgment as an essential part of Craig’s development as the legendary spy.
Cancel Culture Can’t Touch These Movies
2008 was also a year that was not without controversy among its films. Early in the year, Heath Ledger had passed away from an accidental drug overdose and many had speculated that his work during The Dark Knight was the main reason for his death but later in the year, another film had generated controversy due to actors in black face, uncool words to say in polite society and peeling back the curtain on the Hollywood machine more concerned with churning out marketable products. That movie of course, was Tropic Thunder. If the film was not obvious about it right away, it is a plot that is constructed based solely on satire but like all satire that came before it or will ever come, it’s often unnoticed by larger audiences. Tropic Thunder was designed to mock the film industry as a whole complete with its takedown of method acting, how the Academy doles out nominations, the exploitation of books rather than actual script development and studio executives who want to manage films from a cushy office. While Tropic Thunder can be viewed more as a time capsule rather than some type of lasting cultural critique, it is amusing to see people come after the film and attempt to “cancel” the film for its controversial aspects but it is not a film that deserves cancellation. Like Mel Brooks, actor Ben Stiller (who also pulled writing, producing and directing duties for the film) understood that the best way for satire to work is to be serious about it, make the best film possible and hope that audiences are onboard with the vision and Stiller was successful as Tropic Thunder remains the best work of satire in the 21st Century and Tom Cruise turned in a completely unrecognizable performance as foul-mouthed studio executive Les Grossman.
While Tropic Thunder kept audiences rolling with laughter, actor/director Clint Eastwood teased audiences with what was meant to be his final performance in the film Gran Torino. The film centers on a widowed Korean War veteran who has to contend with his changing neighborhood and the lessons he wishes to impart to a young man who has become his only connection to the world. The character of Walt Kowalski seemed tailor made for Eastwood’s grizzled demeanor as the slightly racist man easily spews out racial epithets and makes his dislike of the local gangsters well known when a fistfight spills onto his front lawn with the now iconic imagery of Eastwood brandishing a rifle and demanding the criminals get off his lawn. Gran Torino was initially set up to be the final acting performance for the then 78-year-old actor but later appeared in the films Trouble with the Curve, The Mule and Cry Macho but the famed actor/director is slated to direct his final film, Juror #2, which will likely be released sometime in 2024.
2008 was an incredible year for filmgoing audiences with spectacle and thrills that have been seldom seen since then. It was a foundational year for our favorite superhero films as well as treating us to memorable films with nothing to regret and showing us that animated films are a genre that is not to be overlooked.
Featured Image Credit: Film 5000
