The Year in Movies Part Two

Yesterday, we took a look at the first half of the year and today it’s July to December’s turn…

July was an odd month: it kicked off with yet another misconceived attempt to resurrect Terminator as a viable concern. Terminator: Genisys suffered from casting Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as a Sarah Conner who looked like you could have pushed her over with one finger and Schwarzenegger as comic relief machine murderer from the future. Maybe it’s time to lay Cameron’s creations to rest for good now.

The same month did see the most entertaining superhero movie of 2015 though: Ant-Man. Paul Rudd as the burglar who can shrink surprised everyone with a film that struck the right balance between humour and action and it captured the fun and imagination of the comics with style and panache.

July also saw the latest Pixar animated effort, Inside Out, which brought a young girl’s emotions to life on film. It looks amazing but felt less sophisticated and less well-realised than some of the studio’s previous efforts. The month closed out with the latest Mission: Impossible sequel, Rogue Nation, a very stylish and entertaining slick espionage blockbuster. Cruise manages to be the most likeable in his Mission: Impossible appearances and McQuarrie keeps the action moving with panache. Rebecca Ferguson makes for a female co-star who has chemistry with Cruise.

August kicked off with the monstrosity that was Fantastic Four. Fox’s latest ill-starred attempt to bring Marvel’s first family to the big screen was dull, lifeless and lacking any flair at all. The month didn’t get any better in terms of big genre releases either with Adam Sandler’s unspeakable affront to all that is decent: Pixels. A group of fortysomething men use their teenage video game skills to fight off an alien invasion where the aliens have the bright idea of sending threats in the shape of the characters from their favourite arcade games.

The month did get quite a bit better though with Guy Ritchie’s Man From UNCLE, a stylish updating of the classic 1960s TV series with a solid cast that included Henry Cavill, Arnie Hammer and Alicia Vikander. For some reason, it didn’t engage with the box office and it is unlikely we’ll see another one.

The summer ended with Legend, Brian Helgeland’s cackhanded Krays biopic. Even though Tom Hardy was decent, especially as the less psychotic Reggie, the film itself lacked any real tension and drama.

September closed with The Martian, Ridley Scott’s best film in years. Based on the massive book of the same name by Andy Weir, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) finds himself stranded on Mars with only his scientific prowess to keep him alive. Damon has this innate ability to exude charm onscreen and he uses this to great effect here. Scott brings Mars to life like no other contemporary director could. It is helped by a supporting cast that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor as Head of Mars Missions Vincent Kapoor and Jeff Daniels as the man in charge of NASA, Teddy Sanders.

October belonged to James Bond and Macbeth. The former saw the latest Daniel Craig effort, SPECTRE, with the actor reunited with director Sam Mendes in a tale that was too long with a dodgy script. It all went downhill after the brilliant opener in Mexico City and Christophe Waltz as the villain is terminally wasted here. Craig looked bored and the action sequences look like Mercedes Benz commercials. It does seem time to rethink Fleming’s spy on screen yet again. Macbeth starring Michael Fassbender as the legendary doomed Shakespearean Scottish laird was a brilliantly visceral retelling of a story that has become so overly familiar. Director Justin Kurzel brings a raw emotional energy to Scotland on the big screen and there is a cinematic beauty in Macbeth that is rarely seen. Fassbender is exceptional.

October also saw The Walk, a pointless retelling of Man on A Wire, the story of Frenchman Philippe Petit who walked between New York’s Twin Towers on metal wires.  Joseph Gordon Leavitt and his occasionally Clouseau-like French accent don’t help proceedings either. The month also saw the release of Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak, a slight but entertaining Halloween horror tale about a house in the north of England damned by family history. The month ended with the release of Pan, a good-looking but lightweight reimagining of Peter Pan, only notable for Hugh Jackman’s turn as Blackbeard.

November included the excruciating Steve Jobs, a biopic of the late Apple head that managed to be dull and pointless at the same time. Even Fassbender, brilliant in Macbeth, couldn’t save this waste of digital celluloid. The Hunger Games ended its lucrative run with Mockingjay Part 2, a competent but fairly forgettable conclusion to the story of Katniss Everdeen. November ended with Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp as psychotic Boston gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger. The big problem was that if you’ve ever seen any gangster movies in your life, then all of the tropes are here: the cool music, the bent police, the cavalier treatment of other people. Depp is okay but turns in more of a caricatured performance.

The last month of 2015 is really dominated by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As I write this, it has grossed a staggering $813m internationally and it is most definitely on course to grab that highest grossing film of all time crown. It is isn’t perfect by any means: a lot of it feels like a retread of A New Hope and director Abrams does play it fairly safe throughout. However it is nice to see the old gang back together and in terms of pacing, it barrels along without feeling like it’s overstayed its welcome.

So now we’ve gone through the notable films of the year, here are Tripwire’s best and worst

The best films of 2015

The Martian

Matt Damon in Ridley Scott’s most entertaining film in years.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Abrams washes out the bad taste of the prequels from everyone while giving the audience a diverting two and a quarter hours.

Macbeth

Fassbender turns in a virtuoso performance as one of Shakespeare’s most tragic figures.

Jurassic World

Killer dinosaurs on the rampage again. You didn’t expect Max von Sydow playing chess with death, do you?

John Wick

Reeves in an over-the-top but well-made action movie.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Cruise and Co show James Bond how it’s done.

The worst films of 2015

Pixels

Adam Sandler makes you want your two hours back.

Avengers Age of Ultron

A colourful and empty confection, which is basically a series of dull fights.

Steve Jobs

A terminally dull film with some truly atrocious performances. It is as if Danny Boyle has forgotten how to direct and Aaron Sorkin has forgotten how to write

Fantastic Four

A poor script, badly directed and horribly misconceived.

Terminator: Genisys

No future for the T1000.

Jupiter Ascending

Like Star Wars directed by Liberace, this film makes you wish that people would stop giving the Wachowskis money.

The most frustrating films of 2015

SPECTRE

The latest Bond was overlong and rather tedious. It wasn’t totally awful but when the best bits are in the trailer, you know you are in trouble.

Crimson Peak

Del Toro’s gothic horror looked spectacular but the plot lacked enough horror moments and it all felt a little bit like a remix of everything you’ve seen before without adding much new to it.

Legend

Hardy acquits himself well as one of the Kray twins but US director Brian Helgeland just doesn’t get it here.

Man From UNCLE

Ritchie almost pulls it off with the usual visual ticks and some fun setpieces but it is let down by a weak script.

JOEL MEADOWS

Films of The Year 2015 pt1