2019 was a surprisingly great year for movies, as reboots, remakes, and sequels kept ticket sales fairly high and two of the biggest franchises of all time put out "final chapters" (both becoming huge box-office successes, if to different extents). It was also a great year for Disney in particular, as they claimed seven of the year's top ten highest-grossing movies (two others came from Sony; the remaining one was from Warner Brothers).
It's not all about the money, however — using IMDb user ratings makes it clear which of 2019's films got the most love from movie fans, and which didn't get as strong of a reaction.
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker - 6.6 - $1,074,144,248
As the final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, December's The Rise of Skywalker had a tough task on its hands — doing justice to the series canon while still working as a follow-up to Rian Johnson's controversial The Last Jedi. Ultimately, director J.J. Abrams failed at both these tasks.
While the final chapter in the monumental 9-film series boasted some glorious visual effects and decent performances from its charismatic leads, there wasn't anything really memorable about it. It made $1.07 billion at the box office, a little over half what The Force Awakens made just four years earlier, and currently has a 6.6 IMDb rating.
Jumanji: The Next Level - 6.7 - $800,059,707
Despite being a spin-off of the hit comedy Jumanji, starring Robin Williams, December's The Next Level was more banking off of the unprecedented box-office success of its star-studded 2017 predecessor Welcome to the Jungle. The film follows Anthony, Martha, and Bethany from the previous film as they once again venture into the world of Jumanji to rescue their friend Spencer, accompanied (as the result of an accident) by Spencer's wise-cracking grandfather Eddie Gilpin and his former business partner Milo Walker.
The Next Level's frenetic charm wasn't enough to prevent it from receiving some scathing reviews, but even its critics seemed to at least have fun with it. It was also a pretty big crowd-pleaser, making $800 million worldwide — more than enough to get a sequel immediately greenlit.
Captain Marvel - 6.9 - $1,128,274,794
March's Captain Marvel, the last MCU film before Avengers: Endgame, was inserted into the franchise's continuity to explain the origin story of titular heroine Carol Danvers (Brie Larson). Despite being released just a month before Endgame, the film managed to make a mark of its own with an incredible $1.1 billion box office haul.
It had a harder time winning the favor of its viewers, with some calling it cliched and predictable, but counterbalancing those criticisms was a healthy dose of praise for its story, directing, and performances (with Larson's being particularly acclaimed).
Frozen II - 6.9 - $1,450,026,93
November's Frozen II might have faltered a bit in its quest to equal the enormity of the 2013 Disney classic, but to be fair, even the studio heads behind it seemed to recognize that it could never reach that height — "Into the Unknown" is catchy, but nowhere near as memorable as "Let it Go."
Still, the gorgeous design and all-star cast led to Frozen II pulling in more than $1.4 billion at the box office. That hardly-equaled feat would have made it the highest-grossing animated pic of all time if not for...
The Lion King - 6.9 - $1,656,943,394
July's The Lion King was falsely declared by some critics as a live-action adaptation of the 1994 film of the same name: actually, both versions are entirely animated. This type of groundbreaking achievement would mean much more if the new, hyper-realistic version wasn't lacking in emotion to the point that it just looks like a dull DisneyNature documentary.
Strangely, the only thing holding 2019's The Lion King together — sans the original's narrative virtues — was echoes of nostalgia. Echoes of nostalgia that were strong enough to pull in $1.6 billion dollars and ensure Disney added yet another success to its yearly earnings chart, that is.
Aladdin - 7.0 - $1,050,693,953
Though it's fair to be disappointed that Disney's other 2019 remake, May's Aladdin, didn't go full Bollywood musical, the movie was a lot better than most people thought it would be when Will Smith's "Genie" was first unveiled.
That being said, Disney clearly was trying to make a quick billion dollars and thus deprived the blockbuster revamp of anything that could make it memorable enough to be ranked alongside the original. It's at least worth watching to see stars Smith, Naomi Scott, and Mena Massoud bring their A-games, even if in service of an undeserving screenplay.
Spider-Man: Far From Home - 7.4 - $1,131,927,996
June's Spider-Man: Far From Home didn't usher in Phase 4 of the MCU as flawlessly as many would have hoped, but its healthy balance of easily-digestible story development and well-crafted superhero fight sequences kept it from leaving a bad taste.
Honestly, with the success of Spider-Man: Homecoming two years prior, its sequel drawing a magnificent box-office haul — even one surpassing the $1 billion dollar mark — was a no-brainer regardless of the quality.
Toy Story 4 - 7.8 - $1,073,394,593
June's Toy Story 4 finds the famed animated franchise's protagonists (accompanied by a sentient, suicidal plastic spork named Forky) getting caught up in the adventure of their lives while on a road trip. While it doesn't feel quite as necessary as the other Toy Story films, the ending at least proves that the Pixar writers are nowhere near short on tear-jerking material.
Some will prefer to end the series with Toy Story 3 for binge-watching purposes, but for a Disney sequel, Toy Story 4 is surprisingly solid, filled to the brim with warm, welcoming nostalgia — and even oddly deserving of its $1 billion in ticket sales.
Avengers: Endgame - 8.4 - $2,797,800,564
The long-anticipated direct conclusion to twenty-one movies' worth of buildup, April's Avengers: Endgame was a make-or-break moment for the MCU. Advance-ticket sales records were broken, theater lines stretched around the block, and spoilers flew around the Internet. Would the blockbuster somehow give every fan what they wanted with a conclusion to the most hyped-up film franchise of the decade?
Short answer: yes. The fight scenes were better than ever, the characters were fully fleshed-out, and the ending felt earned after the decade of development that led up to it. And thanks to a timely re-release, Avengers: Endgame also managed to break Avatar's record as the highest-grossing movie ever made.
Joker - 8.5 - $1,074,251,311
Carried by its massive marketing campaign and the high-soaring acting ambitions of Joaquin Phoenix, October's super-villain origin story/crime thriller Joker did better at the box office than even the most optimistic of analysts had hoped.
Despite the polarizing response Joker got from critics, audiences loved the movie, giving it a steady stream of online word-of-mouth that would eventually lead to it becoming the first R-rated film to break the $1 billion box-office mark.