The 3 most disappointing films of 2010

When contemplating my top 5 films of 2010, I found I had plenty of choice and decided to whittle them down by asking myself if they met or exceeded my expectations. When asking the question lots of films came into my head that I had been less than impressed by, so here they are my three most disappointing films of 2010…

3. Machete(18) “They call him…Machete.” UK Release Date: 26^th November 2010, Director: Ethan Maniquis and Robert Rodriguez, Starring: Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba

This supremely violent exploitation film about a double-crossed Mexican assassin, who seeks vengeance and revenge for his murdered family, originated as a spoof trailer made for ‘Grindhouse’. The imaginary film was made into reality, but I’m sad to say that in the transition the humour and sarcasm was lost. Machete has undeniably an energetically violent opening after which, unfortunately the film begins a downward spiral that even appearances by infamous action star Steven Seagal and veteran actor Robert de Niro couldn’t stop. The occasional outbursts of action and witty dialogue, “Machete don’t text”, “You just f***ed with the wrong Mexican” couldn’t save the film from being dull for the most part. In my opinion it was the intricate, highly political and complicated plot that spoilt the fun and enjoyment of the action pieces throughout. The original ‘Grindhouse’ trailer is most definitely my most watched YouTube video and after anticipating the film for almost a year, I’m sad to say it failed to deliver the goods and although there were some saving graces Cheech Marin was excellent as Padre Cortez, I came out of the cinema feeling deflated and disappointed. It’s safe to say that Machete was a missed opportunity and nowhere near as enjoyable as the trailer.

2. Cyrus(15) “Your son hates me!” UK Release Date: 10^th September 2010, Director: Jay and Mark Duplass, Starring: Jonah Hill, John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei

Cyrus is the film version of the word nice. There’s nothing really wrong with the film but it doesn’t excite, anger or evoke any sort of emotional response, it’s just plain nice. The storyline of a lonely divorcee (Reilly) meets the woman of his dreams (Tomei) but then encounters trouble with her protective and slightly strange son (Hill), is funny in parts but fails to pack the punch that we have come to expect from Reilly and Hill. The naturalistic acting and lack of energy causes the plot to be uninvolving and the film doesn’t seem to give us quite enough of anything. Cyrus isn’t a bad film it’s just ultimately an underwhelming 90 minutes that seems from the trailer to have more potential than the end result gave. The film is okay but I couldn’t help hoping for and wanting more than I got.

1. Alice in Wonderland(PG) “You need to be as mad as a hatter” UK Release Date: 5^th March 2010, Director: Tim Burton, Starring: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway

The major problem with Alice in Wonderland is that it was big on spectacle but small on plot, kids would enjoy the 3D, the colourful characters and depiction of wonderland but as an adult I expected more. I found during the film that I was completely bored throughout. The plot was predictable and it lacked any pace, emotion or humour that could’ve made it passable. There are some funny moments particularly from the Red queen (Bonham Carter) and the visual design is highly distinctive but this world of fantasy and imagination is mostly just plain dull. There is no doubt that Burton fans found Alice in Wonderland the most conventional and worst film to come from him. In short the film is a lot more Disney than Burton, backed up by the fact that the White queens palace bears an uncanny resemblance to the Disney castle logo, raising the argument of subliminal corporate branding. Even the cast of well-known comics and thespians Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman couldn’t save the film from being a complete let down and don’t even get me started on Depps ever-changing accent.

My top 5 most loved films of 2010

With huge releases such as Toy Story 3, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, the Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Alice in Wonderland, Inception, and Shutter Island 2010 was always going to be an incredibly good year for film. When it finally drew to a close and we welcomed in a whole new year for Hollywood I began to look back and realise just how many amazing films had been released throughout 2010 and some hadn’t always got the publicity and recognition that they deserved. So, here is my five star five of 2010…

5. The Expendables(15) “We are the shadow, the smoke in your eyes, the ghosts that hide in the night.” UK Release Date: 19^th August 2010 Director: Sylvester Stallone Writers: Dave Callaham, Sylvester Stallone Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li

A lot of people may not believe The Expendables worthy of a place in the top five films of 2010, but let’s face it, it’s just totally awesome. The film does have a vague plot to it, about a group of mercenaries who are sent to a remote island to overthrow a dictator, not to be rude, but who cares! There’s explosions, fights, witty banter, more explosions, tattoos, car chases, unbelievably cool one liners, Jason Statham on a motorbike and yet more explosions which makes it no surprise that it was written and directed by one of the most iconic action stars of all time, Sylvester Stallone, that teamed with a cast made up of almost every legendary action star, Stallone, Statham, Li, Austin, Crews, Couture, Rourke, Lundgren, Schwarzenegger and Willis, let’s face facts it was always going to be an incredible and totally fulfilling dose of good old-fashioned action.

4. Kick-Ass(15) “A superhero never reveals his true identity.” UK Release Date: 31^st March 2010 Director: Matthew Vaughn Writers: Jane Goldman, Mark Millar, Matthew Vaughn Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloe Moretz

Kick-Ass is a fresh, funny and plain fantastic story about a teenage boy who makes the simple decision to become a superhero and gets a lot more than he bargained for. This film adaptation of Mark Millar’s comics is bursting full of biting wit, bone crunching action and a ridiculous level of violence. Aaron Johnson gives a good performance as the wannabe superhero Dave Lizewski, but the gold star definitely has to go to Chloe Moretz who is outstanding as Mindy Macready/Hit Girl, an 11 year old assassin with a mouth like a sailor and who without, the film wouldn’t have quite made into my top 5. Your love of this film will depend on how much you can appreciate its defiant shamelessness, gleeful violence and utter wrongness. For me it’s an enjoyable and fun homage to both the superhero and action genres that acts as a wish fulfilment for wannabe superheroes everywhere.

3. Shutter Island(15) “Sanity’s not a choice.” UK Release Date: 12^th March 2010 Director: Martin Scorsese Writers: Laeta Kalogridis, Dennis Lehane Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley

Shutter Island is the fourth collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio and just like the other three it doesn’t disappoint. They have managed to create an intensely provocative film experience based on the brilliant book of the same name written by Dennis Lehane. The film revolves around a female patient who has gone missing from a prison for the criminally insane and whose disappearance is being investigated by US Marshal Teddy Daniels, played by DiCaprio who executes the role perfectly and who is excellently supported by Ruffalo as his partner Chuck Aule. The film draws you in from the outset using a carefully structured plot, superb characterisation, breath-taking performances and incredible music choices throughout to completely entice and involve you in the plot. All this makes the twist ending even more shocking and unbelievable, guarantees a second viewing from each audience member and shows that after almost 40 years in the business Scorsese hasn’t lost it.

2. Toy Story 3(U) “What a nice bear…And he smells like strawberries.” UK Release Date: 19th July 2010 Director: Lee Unkrich Writers: Michael Arndt, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, John Lasseter Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack

When the third Toy Story was announced, I think everyone was a little nervous. The first two Toy Story’s are among the best movies ever made, so Toy Story 3 had some majorly big shoes to fill. But right from the opening scene it was clear that the third instalment was going to be as impossible not to love as the first two. With its mixture of all new toys, Big Baby, Lots-o-Huggin’ bear, Chatter Telephone and the original gang of Woody, Buzz and Co. Toy Story 3 managed to continue to create the magic for those who grew up with the films whilst still appealing to an entirely new generation. Toy Story 3 is warm, exciting, clever, emotional, insightful and hilarious with its coming of age storyline and probably the most original prison-escape plot ever produced. This final instalment, of a young boy growing up with his toys and learning friendship and imagination from them, is a last blast of childhood joy and the perfect goodbye to characters who truly have earned a place in a whole generation of hearts.

1. easy A(15) “A is for awesome.” UK Release Date: 22^nd October 2010 Director: Will Gluck Writer: Bert V. Royal Starring: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley and Amanda Bynes

This sparkling moral tale about a small lie that quickly multiplies and gets out of control has it all; it’s smart, sassy, sexy and surprisingly emotional. With its incredibly witty dialogue, “And if there’s one thing that’s worse than chlamydia, it’s California”, its’ interesting premise which is drawn from literary roots (the film is (very) loosely based on the book The Scarlett Letter), its exceptionally charming cast, Olive Penderghast is definitely Stone’s best role to date and secures her as this generations best hope for a lovable comic lead actress, Amanda Bynes excels as Marianne, the uncompromisingly religious and overbearingly opinionated Jesus-Freak that annoys the hell out of everyone and Thomas Haden Church shines as Mr Griffith the charismatic and captivating literature teacher who cares, its homages to high-school comedies gone by complete “with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason” and tributes to the legendary John Hughs, easy A is without a doubt at the top of its genre. As soon as the lights went up at the cinema I couldn’t stop smiling, gushing about how amazing it was, how much I loved Emma Stone, singing ‘I gotta pocketful of sunshine’ and demanding that I see it again right there and then, it’s clear to say that easy A is definitely my top film of 2010.

I need a hero...

There is nothing i like better than a good action movie, a story told through unbelievable physical action and witty one-liners provided by a typically strong, determined, relentless and ever-victorious hero. Its safe to say that without a doubt the 1980's was the official era of action, it saw action movies and their macho adventure heroes take over Hollywood. In the 1980's heroic male film stars were a plenty, Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones (1981/84/89), Sylvester Stallone in Rambo (1982/85/88), Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988) and Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator (1984).

The action stars of the 80's were all rugged, daring, act first think later kind of guys, they thought nothing of walking through rooms of cutthroats and hired killers, right up to the boss of the group of reprobates, to tell him not to threaten women and children anymore or he'd have him to answer to. It wasn't until i'd watched most of the classics and some of the less commercially celebrated movies such as Tango and Cash, Truck Turner and Escape from New York, that i realised there are no modern equivalents, there are no action movie stars from my generation, that are anywhere near in the same league as the 80's stars. Male action heroes in today's society tend to be more cynical, more weary and definitely more aware that violence may not be the solution to every problem. Men in Hollywood films nowadays tend not to be the hard-masculine heroes which we saw in the 1980's, they more often than not combinethe toughness required of an action hero with a more sensitive, thoughtful or caring side, which is typically revealed in often quite brief moments of the movie, many of the modern superhero films can be used as examples of this because the hero character always has an alter ego. For example the Spiderman movies, (2001/04/07), they are typical contemporary blockbusters and represent a more modern view of a man. Spiderman is the traditional action fighting for good hero, but his alter ego Peter Parker (Toby Maguire), presents a humane and multilayered representation of modern masculinity. He is sensitive and emotional, he is appealing but a little geeky, he tries hard but doesn't always succeed. In Spiderman 2 especially, he is torn between his desire for love and happiness and his sense of duty to protect the people of New York. The less 'macho' hero is also shown through the portrayal of the villains, the new Green Goblin, Harry Osborn, is forgiven and redeemed as he gives his life to save former friends. In the 1980's no bad guy was ever forgiven, redeemed or even still alive by the end of the movie.

However, it seems that someone in the industry noticed there was a lapse in this genre and sequels to the most well known action movies began to appear. For instance, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), released an unbelievable 27 years after the first Indiana film and with the hero being a 65 year old Harrison Ford, an icredible age for an action hero. The movie was described and reviewed as being very similar to all the other Indy films and gained mostly positive reviews, in short it was a classic case of 'same old same old' and that'd would've been fine if people wouldn't have wanted something new and fresh and exciting. It's a similar story with Die Hard 4.0, released in 2007 a whole 19 years after the original. Die Hard 4.0 was the most successful film in the series grossing a total of $385.5 million. And it did tick a lot of the old 1980's action classic boxes with ridiculous deaths and countless witty one liners. For instance when John McClane smashes a French villain through a 12 storey high window, the villain plummets to the ground lands on a car and sets off the alarm, there's silent pause and Willis utters the words "that's gonna wake the neighbours", and with that one line some of that 80's magic was recreated. But a lot of the film was just full of nostalgic elements, and the reviews picked up on this describing it as a "nostalgic trip for those who grew up with the original films" in short it didn't appeal to a new generation audience. These much later sequels usually have a sort of next generation 'sidekick' to try and appeal to a newer and younger audience for example Shia LeBeouf on the Indiana Jones film, who throughout the film is being groomed, albeit unconvincingly, as the next genereation big action hero.

I and i'm sure lots of other people crave these old school action movies, where the hero faces and takes down 4 trained gunmen single-handedly in a heart stopping gunfight or routinely walks into the heart of danger outnumbered and outgunned and always emerges victorious with barely a scratch on them. We crave these films because we have become fed up and bored of how politically correct and careful actors, writers and directors have to be, and how nowadays you have to show that violence is not neccessarily the solution to every problem and that even the most evil and villainous of enemies can show human emotion and be saved from thei evil ways. I just want a movie jam packed full of action, subtle humour and completely unimaginable and i
unbelievable stunts.

Thankfully it appears that someone has heard my prayers and granted my wish, as two films will be released this year that have sparked my interest and got me very excited. The first is co-written, directed and stars Sylvester Stallone one of the best known action stars of the 80's and has one of the most incredible all action casts i've ever seen including big names such as, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mickey Rourke, Steve Austin, Jet Li, Terry Crews and Randy Couture. If only Steven Seagal, Jean Claude Van Damme and Kurt Russel had agreed it would have been a pretty much perfect action star cast. The well known faces and brand new story and effects will no doubt attract audiences of all ages, genders and nationalities and i'm sure the film will be a huge success on its release on the 13th of August. The second that caught my eye was the making of the A-Team into a movie, starring the great Liam Neeson and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson and also starring Sharlto Copley and Bradley Cooper who will appeal more to a younger audience as they recently appeared in Dictrict 9 and The Hangover, respectively, both of which gained high critical acclaim and many positive reviews. Although i know nothing will ever match up to the action packed glory days of the 80's, i think, these films will come very close and mark the return of the all action hero.