Before I get into my top 10 best and worst films of 2016 I thought I would put together this list of films which surprised me in 2016, but not quite enough to make it onto the top 10 list. It is nice to be surprised by a film when you head to the cinema that is for sure!
Here you can see the films that I caught at the cinema during 2016!
Creed
Another film in the Rocky series that didn’t actually have Rocky as the main character, the good news though? We get a truly fantastic addition which even earned Stallone an Oscar nomination for the character he was portraying for the seventh time! But the film is really great and would work as a standalone film as well. I was nervous heading into this one though as really wasn’t sure which way it was going to go.
Ghostbusters
The backlash surrounding this film before anyone had even seen it was well ridiculous. Why can’t female’s be a Ghostbuster? I personally would have loved this growing up as I have always been a fan of the Ghostbusters. The film was so much better than I expected and I am very much looking forward to what happens next, too many haters for this one that probably only watched the trailer!
The BFG
Live action and massive amounts of CGI to the story that we all know and love. Did we really need this film for the famous story? That doesn’t really matter as we got it with Spielberg in charge it turned out to be rather fantastic in all honesty and I thought Mark Rylance was the perfect choice for the BFG!
The Shallows
We’ve had plenty of sea and shark films over the years haven’t we that have never really created the same amount of fear as Jaws. I think with The Shallows they have eventually done that, as long as you can look past all of the close up shots of a bikini clad Blake Lively although I am sure the male viewers will watch for that reason. It turned out to be an incredible adventure as we really hope that everything will end well.
Pete’s Dragon
A remake which I had not seen the original for, but I felt that this was a lot better than I expected. It certainly had a lot more emotional moments that I ever expected. Making it feel rather real, yes even with a dragon in it!
Nerve
Considering everything now has such a high social media presence I did think the concept behind this film was very interesting. An app which basically is dares for the player and they get money by doing some rather outrageous tasks. The best thing I found though was that the film more than delivered and therefore it makes this list as the concept certainly did work!
The Magnificent Seven
I had not seen the original so didn’t have anything to compare this one to in all honesty which I think worked very well in its favour. I didn’t rush to see it either, but when I did watch it I was actually very impressed with the acting and that it had a lot more lighthearted moments than I ever really expected.
Which films surprised you in 2016? You know the ones that you aren’t really expecting to be any good and you ended up liking or more importantly enjoying!
I 100% agree about The Shallows and Nerve. I was shocked that there were that good. It proves a good script can make a difference.
So pleased you felt the same way about those two films, I think it also shows that a trailer can give you the wrong impression of a film (both good and bad ways).
Interestingly, on the how a film is marketed, War Dogs is a VERY different film to how it was sold. Although offered up as something in the vein of The Hangover/with weapons trading, it’s a much smarter, more serious film underneath.
I actually really fancied seeing that one but missed it. I will catch up with it eventually.
I enjoyed The BFG immensely.
Same here, so much more than I ever expected!
I loved “Creed” and I loved “Pete’s Dragon”” as they both featured heartfelt stories. “Queen of Katwe” and “A United Kingdom” will both make my top 10 list of the year. Thank you for making me think about film in 2016.
Happy to help :-). My top 10 list has Queen of Katwe on it, so pleased yours does as well! I’m still whittling down but A United Kingdom is in with a chance too!
I’m glad you mentioned The BFG. I seemed to get dumped on and forgotten by most. My family and I really enjoyed it. Also agree on The Shallows. It was the perfect example of having zero expectations but being completely surprised.
Yeah I felt The BFG kinda came and went at the cinema without much fuss, although around London was pretty cool with the dreamcatchers (didn’t actually get to see them though). The Shallows just worked somehow haha.
I enjoyed The BFG surprisingly too, saw it the other day – the visuals were particularly great in it anyway. Missed The Magnificent Seven disappointingly.
Reuben
It seems as though everyone who has seen BFG actually really enjoyed it, which is great! You’ll have to catch up when its on TV!
I’ll probably get the Blu-Ray of it when it comes out.
I think Kubo and the Two Strings was the biggest surprise for me, having never seen a Studio Laika film before
I missed that one as wasn’t sure if I would like it or not.
Aah, interesting! I still preferred Coraline but Kubo, visually and the targets they reach, makes it sublime. I wanted to like it a bit more but if that’s your first insight in Laika, it’s a very nice place to start.
I still haven’t seen Coraline either!
Oh wow, nice and dark! Can send you Kubo if you like, drop me a message 🙂
(Not a pirate!)
Nice one sounds good!
I agree Creed was amazing no doubt.
I hated BFG it wasn’t dark enough for me
Nerve i enjoyed but again i have seen a dark version i enjoyed more called 13 Sins starring Ron Perlman this felt more realistic.
I didn’t hate Ghostbusters, but i didn’t think McCarthy or Wiig were good enough to lead the film, Hemsworth stole the film for me. I think most the hate is not you can’t have female ghostbusters its more can’t you write an original script and characters that happen to also be ghostbusters instead of trying to reharsh the original.
My biggest surprise was if you are using UK release dates is Goosebumps, Train to Busan and The COnjuring 2
Ahh I haven’t seen any of those but I really did want to see Goosebumps, because I used to read the books as a kid and Jack Black was in it and he is usually pretty good!
The quote from Creed is powerful! Almost better than Rocky Balboa’s ‘it ain’t how hard you hit…it’s how hard you can get hit and keep movin forward’
Totally agree with that!
Nerve has a hell of a soundtrack as well, one of those films where even if you’re not into the style of music, it works so, so well.
Films that surprised me and may possibly end up in my favourites of the year:-
1. Trumbo
2. Eddie the Eagle
3 Eye in the Sky
4. Sing Street
5. Kubo and the Two Strings
6 Train to Busan
7. Captain Fantastic