2024 has been a fairly solid year for movies. In terms of box office success, Inside Out 2 has become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, not accounting for inflation, while Deadpool & Wolverine has made good on all the anticipation it had beforehand and then some. There have also been quite a few critical favorites, including the aforementioned Inside Out 2, Dune: Part Two, and Longlegs. And, thanks to excellent scripts and line-readings, it’s been a year of quotable lines.
The following includes some, but not all, of the aforementioned films. Yes, expect Inside Out 2 to make an appearance because a movie can’t tug on everyone’s heartstrings and go without warranting a mention. What binds all of these lines is the fact they’re memorable, organic to the character speaking them, and quite often relevant to the society we find ourselves living in.
10 “I Need to Take Care of the Hive.” – Adam Clay
The Beekeeper
Adam Clay is one of Jason Statham’s best roles to date because it establishes him as an enigmatic anti-hero, but one with a very strict code. He’s The Beekeeper, a retired member of a league of assassins (called the Beekeepers) that strives to put right those who have been wronged. This includes the elderly woman whose barn he’s renting, who is scammed, resulting in the financial decimation of a charity she was overseeing.
Don’t Mess Over This Beekeeper
When she takes her own life, Clay comes out of retirement. This results in two things: thrown fists and bee-related puns. And why not, after all, the man’s not only a “beekeeper,” in his retirement he found solace in being, well, a literal beekeeper. This line is the best because it’s an insight into his code. He hasn’t killed for money, he’s killed to protect. Also, it’s a line that works both ways, in that he takes care of his own and, in terms of the scamming organization, it’s a hive he’s going to “take care of.”
9 “You’re a F***ing Movie Star.” – Maxine Minx
MaXXXine
Ti West’s X trilogy came to an enjoyable and clever conclusion with the Hollywood-set MaXXXine, a movie with a genre that’s hard to truly pinpoint. For the most part, it’s horror, but it also has its moments of levity and, perhaps as prominently as horror, it’s a character study. And, thanks to Mia Goth’s continued sterling work, Maxine Minx remains a character worthy of study.
A Rare Moment That Shows Minx’s Convictions
Part of an ensemble in X, Minx gets center stage in the third film, and as a character she makes the most of it. It’s a tale of a cutthroat who once nearly had her own throat cut, and that experience hasn’t made her afraid, it’s made her hardened. There are a few lines that show Minx’s conviction to her craft (“Y’all might go home because I just fu***n’ nailed that!”), but her expletive-adorned talk to herself in the mirror takes the confidence cake.
8 “Your Little Cinematic Universe is About to Change Forever. I’m the Messiah. I Am Marvel Jesus.” – Deadpool
Deadpool & Wolverine
The MCU got the injection of life it needed with Deadpool & Wolverine, with box office returns to match its quality. Its success wasn’t a surprise, but that success has given this line some extra poignance. Deadpool was right, the “little” cinematic universe was about to change.
Deadpool Saves the Marvel Universe
And, yes, that change is pretty much entirely thanks to him. Pretty much because, well, there’s another character’s name in the title. So, while using the word “Messiah” may have been a show of arrogance more than anything else, it also wasn’t entirely wrong. There may have been a book called Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe but, when it comes to cinema, Deadpool saved it.
7 “Profesh Is My Middle Name.” – Colt Seavers
The Fall Guy
David Leitch has built quite the impressive filmography. He kicked off a franchise with John Wick, gave Charlize Theron a terrific role in Atomic Blonde, continued Deadpool’s narrative, helmed the underrated Hobbs & Shaw, and followed that up with the rewatchable Bullet Train. But there’s a strong argument for The Fall Guy being his best movie so far. It’s personal to him, considering he was once a stunt performer, but also shows that he’s as capable of delivering charming interpersonal scenes as much as enthralling ultra-violence.
If there’s a film from Summer 2024’s movie season that features sterling chemistry between its leads, it’s The Fall Guy’s stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), and first-time director Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). Naturally, this is at least partially owed to the talent of the lead performers, but credit must also be due the smart script, with lines like “Profesh is my middle name” coming across as both cute and organic.
Charming Line, Charming Character, Charming Movie
“I’m not the hero of this story. I’m just the stunt guy” is also pretty great. It’s both accurate and a wink at the movie’s whole point: that the faces on the poster get by far the most attention, but it’s the stunt people who really do all the heavy lifting. Even still, the edge goes to the line that best conveys the movie’s best element, which is the utterly believable chemistry between Gosling and Blunt.
6 “The Question Is, Do You Have it in You to Make it Epic?” – Dementus
Furiousa: A Mad Max Saga
Even if it doesn’t hold a candle to Mad Max: Fury Road, it’s hard not to call Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ambitious. The same goes for Chris Hemsworth’s performance as Dementus. Utterly unhinged and fully passionate, it’s his best role outside the MCU, and he eats it up.
Epic Indeed
“The question is, do you have it in you to make it epic?” works because being ‘epic’ is really all Dementus cares about. He’s a leader who doesn’t really lead, at least not the way a leader should. The well-being of his followers is more an afterthought when compared to getting attention and acquiring his obsessions, e.g. with the film’s title character, to whom he speaks this line.
5 “Belief is Power. How Do You Control People Who No Longer Believe? People Who Do Not Seem to Fear? You Create Something to Fear.” – Ralph Ineson
The First Omen
It took quite some time, but The Omen IP finally got a second all-around quality installment with The First Omen. It’s the tale not of Damien, but how Damien came to be, but even without the frightening little tyke cognitively pulling deathly strings, plenty of people meet their end in gruesome, elaborate, Final Destination-like fashion. And, as positioned by this movie, that’s just how the church wants it.
That’s One Way to Get People’s Attention
This line is issued as somewhat of a warning by Ralph Ineson’s Father Brennan, but it also serves as an explanation of the movie’s overarching plot. People have begun to turn away from the church, so the church needs to revise its methods. In other words, they specifically seek to bring out the son of the Devil. It’s the kind of plot point (and line) that was bound to offend some folks, and that’s what makes it so great.
4 “What? Who Taught You Shapes?” – James Dalton
Road House
It wasn’t an easy task to replace Patrick Swayze’s charm as bouncer James Dalton in the original film, but in Jake Gyllenhaal the powers that be behind 2024’s Road House did just that. With snappy dialogue conveyed with conviction and an impressive physique, it was a case of perfect casting. But the script is pretty impressive too.
A Poor Education
This version of Dalton is confident like the original film’s, but he also comes across as a bit sharper. For instance, when he’s taking on Conor McGregor’s Knox aboard a little motorboat in the third act. Knox says “Lookee here, our own little octagon,” to which former UFC middleweight fighter Dalton replies with a baffled look, “What? Who taught you shapes?”
3 “Maybe This Is What Happens When You Grow Up. You Feel Less Joy.” – Joy
Inside Out 2
Even more so than with the first film, the box office smashInside Out 2 is a movie that reaches the hearts of adults in the audience more than the children. It’s Pixar’s best in years, and perhaps their deepest ever. And, given that the human protagonist, Riley, was 11 in the first film and 13 in the second, she naturally becomes subjected to some new emotions (e.g. Anxiety and Nostalgia) and finds some long-held ones…altered.
That’s Life, Kiddo
This is particularly true of the protagonist emotion, Joy. Joy finds her host becoming more and more complex and, with that, her prominence diminished. Riley’s growing up, and the joys of youth are starting to slip away. There isn’t an adult out there who isn’t going to fully understand that.
2 “You Don’t Face Your Fears. You Ride Them.” – Tyler Owens
Twisters
Between Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Twisters, it’s safe to say that 2024 has been a good year for legacy reinventions of long-dormant IPs. And, when it comes to Twisters, at least, audiences were treated to a movie superior to the one that preceded it long ago. This is mostly courtesy of the magnetic chemistry between (and general presence of) Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
Twist and Shout
And, if there’s one line in the movie that stands out, it’s the one said (or, rather, shouted) by Powell’s ultra-enthusiastic Tyler Owens. “You don’t face your fears. You ride them” is one part inspirational and, thanks to Powell’s performance, one part infectious. It invites the audience in on the action, and was a shoe-in for the movie’s marketing campaign.
1 “I’m Sorry About What’s Gonna Happen to You.” – Abigail
Abigail
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett gave audiences the best Scream since the second installment with their 2022 reinvention, and with Abigail they showed they can craft top-tier horror even without Ghostface. A unique take on 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter, Abigail is a blood-soaked rollercoaster ride from beginning to end. It’s one part exciting and one part genuinely scary, with the line “I’m sorry about what’s gonna happen to you” checking both boxes.
Apologies for the Arterial Spray
It’s a great trailer line because it’s just cryptic enough to intrigue the audience. And, the fact it’s spoken with such a calm disposition by a child (who the audience suspects is up to something, but the characters do not) makes it chilling. Ironically, the one the title character says it to is, in fact, the only one who walks away, but when Abigail says it, the audience sure believes she (Melissa Barrera’s Joey) will die like the rest. It’s also a good line because young Alisha Weir’s performance is so rock-solid the audience questions whether it’s just a threat or if even just a small part of her is actually sorry.
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