10. The Expendables - Taking a stroll through the wilderness of 1987 was nowhere near as bad as first envisaged. With enough star wattage to power the actual production itself and explosions galore, Stallone surprisingly struck gold. A sequel isn't necessary though, but unfortunately inevitable.
9. Kick-Ass - A wonderful superhero homage that works as an action flick but also as a voyage of wishful self-fulfilling prophecy, all within the parameters of an indie production. Sickly funny because of its uber violence with a central welcome theme of making fun of the one genre that has been exhausted by Hollywood in recent years: the superhero movie.
8. The Other Guys - Writer-director Adam McKay peppers the script with enough solid one-liners, Will Ferrell is his usual self, and even Mark Wahlberg delivers a hilarious turn in the laugh-out-loud comedy of the year. The end result is a film that, while being eminently forgettable and absolutely mediocre when looking back on it, makes for a pleasant enough diversion which should hold up in the future.
7. Robin Hood - Though the magic of Gladiator has not been replicated, Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe still manage a thoroughly enjoyable venture into Sherwood Forest and beyond. The twelfth century epic with extensive battle scenes, palace intrigue and much talk about duty to one's country is an unexpected triumph as everyone involved does justice to the mythic source material by adding an appropriate dose of realism.
6. Unstoppable - Suspense is something a lot of directors strive for but don't usually hit because they either bookend the scenes with lingering close-ups or creepy music that is so obvious to fans it doesn't warrant extra attention. Formulaic it may be, but Tony Scott and constant cohort Denzel Washington deliver an awesome genre flick draped in fingernail chewing thrills in a similar Pennsylvania setting to The Deer Hunter. The train is the star and what a superb powerhouse performance.
5. Inception - Inception is incredibly beautiful, using the medium of film perfectly to tell a story that is deep, complex and intellectually stimulating. Christopher Nolan apparently took eight years to perfect his script and it shows. The story is largely flawless. A few conveniences keep the plot moving, but nothing that supplants the audience out of the picture. It's so uniquely clever and Nolan's use of the device of dreaming is inspired.
4. The Social Network - Firstly, the film is excellent. The script is tight and razor-sharp for such a wordy affair; there's also a lot of really deadpan/witty humour throughout – more than the film's been given credit for (even though Aaron Sorkin walked away with numerous screenwriting awards). Director David Fincher includes some standard moral undertones about power, money, popularity, and classic narrative elements like betrayal, pathos and all the things that should make a story good – the subject matter just isn't as gripping as Fincher's Zodiac – there's only so much drama you can pump into the story of Harvard guys arguing over the theft of an idea. Reminiscent of Jay Roach's Recount about the 2000 Presidential election, we all know what the outcome will be and the intriguing story leading up to the climax has been captured perfectly. The whole exercise is just devoid of legitimate surprises. Kudos to the production team for making a feature film about Facebook and not a typical documentary though, they couldn't have done a better job. It's worth repeating: The Social Network is an excellent film, just not quite in the extreme upper echelons of 2010.
3. Shutter Island - Shutter Island doesn't bother with the seriousness of Goodfellas or the violent glam of Casino. This isn't the brain-scratching Scorsese of Bringing Out the Dead or the patience-laden Kundun. Forget the gravitas of The Aviator because it doesn't reside here either; this is a childlike master at extraordinary play behind the camera. Scorsese's moulds Shutter Island into a massive funhouse of righteous thrills; it's full of cracker-jack detectives, moments of full-throttled Americana, crowded prison cells, lobotomies, haunted weather, mad scientists, human experimentation, deranged patients, and a seemingly endless asylum that houses paranoia itself. With the help of Leonardo DiCaprio, stalwart editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and a supporting cast including Sir Ben Kingsley and Mark Ruffalo, The Greatest® makes all these features work together and speak in a unified voice that proudly declares he is still having one hell of a good time with his filmmaking toys.
2. The King's Speech - Director Tom Hooper recreates a delectable slice of royal life. Throughout the narrative, even when World War 2 breaks out the plot never loses sight of its impressively real royal hero, a figure that lends itself to immense grace even when faced with imminent and immediate vocal disgrace. The King's Speech is the only film about royalty where millions have not been spent on creating courtly flamboyance. The film's opulence comes from its delicate and subtle delineation of details that make a king great even when he can't say a hello without faltering. What makes Firth's King George VI so human is his astonishing affinity to remaining normal even when war rages both within and without. This is a true inspirational story. One that I haven't been able to stop praising in stammering gratitude.
1. Toy Story 3 - Just as composer Randy Newman crooned in the first moments of the first film way back in 1995, we still have a friend in the Toy Story series. Like the toys inhabiting the film, that doesn't change and it never grows old. Lee Unkrich has simply made the greatest final instalment to a trilogy ever. Made with incredible love, care and attention, Toy Story 3 is the climax Pixar's predominant series deserves and it's as close to a perfect piece of mainstream entertainment that one can imagine. A whole new continuous generation of children will surely sit thrilled by the wonderful action sequences, memorable toys and slapstick humour, but those of us who have grown up with these characters will always undoubtedly have a stronger reaction. Rarely has the act of putting away childish things resonated as deeply as it does in this glorious film.
Honourable Mentions
Iron Man 2, Green Zone, Hot Tub Time Machine, Get Him to the Greek, Due Date.
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