40/ CHAPPIE
Though providing further evidence that Neill Blomkamp is probably destined to be one of those filmmakers who will never be able to top his first feature film, his Robocop/Short Circuit cross was still quite a solid science fiction parable which tried hard to make you think and even move as much as it tried to entertain. Chappie was a touching character and his adventures highly involving, while Blomkamp again quite successfully went for realism in his science fiction. 7/10
39/ HOWL
After the stunning The Seasoning House, Paul Hyett immediately for me became a filmmaker to watch. Howl didn’t come anywhere near that film, but, aided by a surprisingly ‘strong-on-characterisation’ script from Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler, he showed himself perfectly able to craft a decent monster ‘B’ picture, making good use of its train setting and with a nice feeling of early John Carpenter and George Romero about it, though the werewolves were a disappointment. 7/10
38/ INTO THE WOODS
Though I haven’t seen the stage version of this musical, it seems to me that Disney made a mistake in making it less ‘adult’ because the slightly awkward result couldn’t quite decide what it wanted to be, and who it was intended to be aimed at, with a final third which flirted with true darkness but didn’t follow through. Still, the songs and performances – both acting and singing – were great [even Chris Pine was good] and its sheer oddness and audacity was praiseworthy. 7/10
37/ MACBETH
We didn’t really need another screen retelling of the play, considering that it had already had three very fine and varying adaptations which can’t be topped, and Justin Kurzel’s gritty version stumbled here and there as well as showing the limitations of Marion Cottilard as an actress, but it was hugely atmospheric, tremendously convincing and often visually stunning [step forward Adan Arkapaw]. while Michael Fassbender may just be cinema’s greatest Macbeth. 7/10
36/ JUPITER ASCENDING
It seems that the Wachowski’s really tried to make a hit movie here, but for some reason it was trashed and the paying public stayed away despite it having more heart and imagination than Guardians Of The Galaxy. Of course it was sometimes funny when it wasn’t trying to be, with some memorable clunkers in the dialogue, but it was highly entertaining, sometimes genuinely thrilling and eye popping, and Eddie Redmayne’s bonkers turn was entirely appropriate. 7/10
35/ IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
When a film claims to be based on a true story, I have a nasty habit of finding out how factual it actually is after I’ve seen it, and then getting annoyed. It seems that In The Heart Of The Sea would have been just as good or even better if they’d not changed so much, while the framing story diminished the tension, and they could have made the CGI more convincing, but it was still a rollicking sea adventure with the best performance from Chris Hemsworth yet. 7/10
34/ ANT-MAN
Choosing to go small rather than big, Ant-Man easily trounced this year’s other Marvel film with loads of charm, the best CGI money can buy, and some great moments of wacky invention even though it still felt a bit restricted by the Marvel formula and that slight Marvel smarminess, while Paul Rudd didn’t quite pull off the title role, but there were good attempts at an emotional anchor for the mayhem, and I can’t see how Edgar Wright’s version could have been much better. 7/10
33/ CHILD 44
Yes, having all the cast attempt Russian accents with varying degrees of success [or, in many cases, failure] didn’t work, and director Daniel Espinoza sadly went in for vomitous shakycam in key moments, but for me this highly underrated effort, which really depicted the terror and the suppression that millions of people lived under in the name of some idiot’s idea of “ideology”, exerted quite a powerful grip throughout, and its serial killer subplot interestingly handled. 7.5/10
31/ EVEREST
As with The Walk, I felt I had to try this in 3D, though the most vertiginous bit came near the beginning with a terrific scene on a rope bridge, and for me personally the film made the climbers look like selfish fools, which I’m not sure is what was intended. Still, it was an often riveting adventure, if almost minimalist in its approach, and it was certainly convincing [well I certainly couldn’t notice the CGI], really making you think you were up there on that mountain. 7.5/10
32/ CRIMSON PEAK
Guillermo Del Toro’s latest effort, the kind of work I wanted to adore but was rather let down by, was possibly the best looking film of the year, and there are times when it was magnificent, but it just didn’t come off as well as it should have done, and certainly wasn’t as scary as it should have been, while the plot wasn’t very well worked out and the ghosts didn’t need to be in the film at all. Still, it was wonderfully old fashioned and often rather beautiful, while Tom Hiddleston hasn’t been better. It’s also improved with hindsight. 7/10
31/ EVEREST
As with The Walk, I felt I had to try this in 3D, though the most vertiginous bit came near the beginning with a terrific scene on a rope bridge, and for me personally the film made the climbers look like selfish fools, which I’m not sure is what was intended. Still, it was an often riveting adventure, if almost minimalist in its approach, and it was certainly convincing [well I certainly couldn’t notice the CGI], really making you think you were up there on that mountain. 7.5/10
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