This is my favourite time of the year. Its the time where I look back at the films of 2015 and organise them into my top 10 favourites. While 2015 may not have lived up to the cinematic goldmine that was 2014, it still gave us a selection of great summer blockbusters as well as independent films looking good going into award's season.
First disclaimer should be that I haven't seen every single movie to come out in 2015, so if your favourite film isn't on the list it may be because I didn't see it... or I hated it... or I liked it but just preferred other movies more.
Second, this is my list based purely on my own biased opinions, personal preferences and my overall enjoyment of the film. If a movie on this list places higher than another its probably because I enjoyed it more.
Without further delay, let's begin the list by naming off some honourable mentions. These 3 are really great movies I had a hard time not putting on the list. However, because there are only 10 slots available they had to miss out. These are:
Ex Machina
The Gift
Spotlight
These 3 movies were all terrifically enjoyable films to watch this year and if I could give a 4 way tie to number 10 to those movies and my choice for number 10, I would. Nonetheless, those are great movies you should seek out if you haven't seen them already. Finally, let's begin the list with number 10!
#10 The Revenant
The Revenant just makes my list at number 10 and is a truly engrossing theatrical experience like no other. It's one of the most visually astounding films I have ever experienced thanks to Emmanuel Lubezki's wonderful cinematography and Innaritu's direction. Leo gives one of the finest performances of his entire career as explorer Hugh Glass in a role which requires so much commitment both physically and psychologically. I have no idea how they accomplished some of the shots they did with this film, and The Revenant remains the most unique cinematic experience I enjoyed all year.
#9 Avengers: Age of Ultron
The sequel to 2012's The Avengers was never going to live up to the quality of the first one but this film was still one of the most enjoyable theatre experiences I enjoyed all year. I give a lot of credit to Joss Whedon for his work on this film as he managed to create a solid, cohesive film despite having to resolve multiple plot lines from previous MCU films whilst laying the foundations for the plot lines of Phase 3 to play out. It was a funny movie, it was action packed and had a great villain in James Spader's Ultron. Oh, and Vision stole the entire film.
#8 Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation has everything you'd want in a summer blockbuster film as well as any action film for that matter. It gives us a vulnerable hero to route and care for, it has a great sense of humour, a very strong female lead in Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust, a good villain and captivating, blood-pumping action sequences helmed beautifully by director Christopher McQuarrie. The bike chase sequence alone is worth the price of admission, boasting some incredible stunt work by a group of committed actors and a film crew who knew exactly what they were doing crafting enthralling action sequences.
#7 Mad Max: Fury Road
This is honestly one of the craziest movies I've ever seen in my entire life. Revisiting it the other day, I realised just how quickly it immerses you into this post apocalyptic environment in which everyone has gone utterly insane, or is at least close to. The action sequences in this film are phenomenal and are up there with some of the best I've ever seen. Mad Max once again proves that convincing stunt work, practical effects and long, wide takes beat a CGI slop fest any day of the week. I thought Tom Hardy was good as Max, but often played second (sometimes third) fiddle to more compelling characters Nux and Furiosa, played excellently by Nicholas Hoult and Charlize Theron.
#6 The Martian
Back in my Top 10 WORST of 2014 list I said that Ridley Scott needed a project with a great script to once again return directing a quality film. The Martian truly is a great film with an incredibly well written screenplay which seemed to balance drama and comedy so naturally. What I loved most about The Martian was the way it brought to the forefront our main character's sheer optimism. This could have been a brooding, depressing film had it been taken up by other people, however it's best quality was how humorous it was despite the fact our main character is in a desperate situation for almost the entirety of it's runtime.
#5 Creed
In terms of realising its characters and giving us a compelling story about the relationship between 2 people, Creed is one of the year's best written films. It does such an excellent job at probing deeper into the reasoning and motivations behind why our 2 leads do the things they do. It's a compelling tale about a younger man's need to find his place in the world due to his own actions and not the legacy of his father's, but also a tale of an older man who needs to fill a hole in his life. The acting in this film is breath-taking; Michael B Jordan proves he is a proper movie star despite his mini wobble in Fant4stic and Sylvester Stallone is Oscar worthy returning to the role he was born to play.
#4 The Hateful Eight
Classic Tarantino. The Hateful Eight had everything I wanted going into a Tarantino-directed film; mesmerising dialogue, intriguing characters, obscene language and brutal, over-the-top violence. Samuel L Jackson is hilarious and pretty much steals the entire film, but the real star has to be Quentin Tarantino whose style of direction blasts its way off the screen giving us one of the most engaging and entertaining movies of the year. It might be my favourite screenplay of the entire year. And the musical score is beyond epic.
#3 Sicario
It's no secret that I love a good thriller and Sicario is the best thriller of 2015. Despite the fact its almost depressing to watch at times handling an edgy subject matter, that aspect of the film didn't bother me as I was so happy to see a group of filmmakers who really understood what they were doing behind the camera. My heart was pumping, my palms sweating and I was gripping my seat during a film which never stopped or failed to be intense. I must give a shout out to Benicio del Toro who stole the film in his supporting role. Roger Deakin's cinematography is also gorgeous. I think its 2015's most underrated film.
#2 Inside Out
An animation is the runner up to my favourite film of 2015 and it deserves to be this high on the list. I think it might just be in my Top 5 Pixar films, which is saying a lot considering the high quality animations they've produced in the past. Seriously though Inside Out is a gorgeous looking animated film with an incredible heart. If you have ever felt an emotion at all in your life, you will relate to Inside Out. Its one of the smartest films I've seen all year and the film which successfully made me cry on 2 occasions... both times I saw it. Inside Out is genius and anyone can enjoy it.
#1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens
I'm not saying this is categorically the best movie of 2015... but its the one I enjoyed the most and considering this list is based biasedly on my own personal taste, Star Wars has got to be number 1. JJ Abrams deserves huge credit for giving us a movie which aesthetically feels as if it belongs in the Star Wars universe. But his biggest achievement was paying homage to the old whilst making you incredibly excited for the new and what is to come. Kylo Ren is the best villain of the year, Rey the standout in a year of strong female leads, and Finn and Poe are two characters I would aspire to be like. It was also great to see Harrison Ford back as Han Solo in a role integral to the plot. It's an awesome space adventure and an incredible ride. I can't wait to see where these characters are going to go in Episode 8 and 9.
And thus concludes my picks for the top 10 best movies on 2015. Agree with my choices? Awesome! Don't agree with them? Even better! Let me know your favourite movie of 2015 and we can all discuss this like mature film nerds.
Coming soon are my picks for the 5 WORST movies of the year, which is going to be fun!
Thanks for reading, and happy new year!
Matt
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