Top 10 Films of 2011

Now that we have seen the list of films I’ve regretted missing this year, so now it’s time to go onto the films I thought were the best this year. Yeah, I’m leaving the worse films list till last, you know, leaving the best till last. Wait, that doesn’t make sense...

Anyway, here are the top ten films of 2011, the ones which I really enjoyed.

10. Cowboys & Aliens

It’s James Bond joining forces with Han Solo/Indiana Jones, what’s not to love? Based on the comics by the same name, Daniel Craig wakes up with no memory and a weird metal device on his arm. He finds himself in trouble with Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), but they have to put their differences aside when aliens destroy the town and take a majority of the population away.

It blends two great genres, the old West and the futuristic sci-fi, perfectly, especially where the cowboys are outmatched by the technologically advanced alien menace. Craig and Ford are great, with Ford giving us one of his best performances to date. Olivia Wilde, she was alright, but she could’ve been better. She does get naked though, that’s a bonus.

The effects were great as well, with the only exception being the aliens which didn’t look real. And of course we have that scene in which, in order to restore Craig’s memories, the Indian Chief knows.......Jedi mind tricks.......he knows plot convenience. And the aliens are planning to harvest the planet for gold. Gold. 1. They’re the Psychlos from ‘Battlefield Earth’. 2. Since the gold goes straight to the alien ship’s power core, or the engine room at least, why would you design a ship that is solely dependent on what, even Wilde character says, is the rarest metal ever!

But despite that, the effects are great, the acting is brilliant, the plot is good, the characters are interesting and likeable, it’s a very enjoyable film.

9. Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Yes, I like the live action Transformers films. Heck, I like Michael Bay films. But even I didn’t like ‘Revenge of the Fallen’, so I was looking forward to a much better film. And I got it.

I don’t want to say too much, because I plan on doing a review on the Transformers films, but it was mainly the special effects, probably the best 3D effects I have ever seen for a film, and I do absolutely love huge climatic battles, which is what the Transformer films are best known for (though I do have a huge problem with them as well). And no Mudflap or Skids! Hallelujah!

Again I don’t want to say much for now, but believe me, it is probably the best one in the franchise.

8. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Well I’ve just done the review for this film just last week, so I should think that my feelings for this film are still fresh in your mind. Or you could just go back and look at the review again, I suppose.

But I am basically giving a quick summary of these films. This film was a definite improvement on the first Guy Ritchie film. This sequel had great acting, some great villains in the form of Professor Moriarty and Sebastian Moran, and some decent effects which I thought were much better than those in the first film.

Really the only major fault I found was Noomi Rapace, I felt she wasn’t really up to scratch. There were the other little faults I had which I put in the review, but I forgot to mention Rapace.

Anyway, the many pros outweigh the few cons, and one of the last few films I will have watched this year (I might be able to sneak another one in), and a really good way to end the year.

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Well there shouldn’t have been any doubt that the boy wizard and his final outing would turn up on this list. It is the best film of the franchise after all. And it has Emma Watson in it.

Granted I personally didn’t think much of the first part, it was good don’t get me wrong, but I preferred some of the other films to it. Anyway we get our big climatic battle between Hogwarts and the Death Eaters, and no-one is spared; kids die, adults die, loved ones die, evil people die. The students dying was actually a really good touch, it showed how dark the films, and subsequently the novels, have become.

Featuring the best of British talent, the acting is sublime, the effects are great and the story is awesome. I did feel that they could’ve handled Snape’s death scene better, but it was still emotional.

And it has Emma Watson.

6. Troll Hunter

By God I enjoyed this film, and it’s a good thing too as I had been looking forward to it the second I heard about its existence. A Norwegian film where a group of students follow a Troll Hunter round the country? It already sounds awesome!

The acting is brilliant, the storyline is great, and it has some of the best special effects I have ever seen. The trolls look so real, it’s CGI at perfection. The style of the film works really well too, I do like docudramas and this one played the story perfectly.

Now we just have to wait for Hollywood to screw it all up with their remake.

5. The Thing

Now just in case you’ve forgotten, I hate remakes. So it’s a good thing this is a prequel, I hate those slightly less. But this one was a surprise, it followed the original story closely so we’re familiar with it, but they’ve changed it enough so that it’s its own story.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is always a pleasure, she’s a really good actress and so were all the other cast members. You know how I felt about the special effects, but everything else made up for it. I should think it’s the best horror film this year, at least one of the best horror films of the modern day, if not the best.

4. The King’s Speech

It’s a great British film, no question about it. It’s one that will entertain audiences all over the world, while also making the British people feel proud of their heritage.

It’s a great story of how an individual, the man who would become the King of the United Kingdom no less, with help from a speech therapist, overcomes his lisp in order to motivate his country in a time of war.

The acting is the key thing in this film, and it is superb. Even people who don’t like the film agree that the acting is magnificent. Maybe it should be higher on the list in all fairness, because this was one brilliant film.

3. Super 8

The modern day E.T., if E.T. was a blood thirsty killer. Oh yeah, the alien eats people in this film. The main characters are kids though and it does follow the same line as E.T., so I do really think this can be the alien film for kids.

And, in case you’ve also forgotten this, I hate child actors. But the kid actors in this were brilliant, in fact, I think they were better than the adult actors. The effects were really good and they hid the monster until the last scene I think, which was really good because the monster looked stupid. As they normally do.

But brilliant acting, great tension within a fantastic story, and excellent effects make this film magnificent.

2. The Inbetweeners Movie

It was close as to who would take the number one spot as I liked both films very much. In the end I decided that the Inbetweeners will take the number two spot.

I mean, this has to be the most hilarious film of the year, I haven’t heard anyone say anything bad about this film. The acting is great and the plot is terrific; anything that could go wrong goes wrong. There are moments which make you want to look away, but you can’t seem to help but look.

If you haven’t seen this, what the Hell is wrong with you?

1. X-Men: First Class

This, film, is, awesome!

This prequel, which came out after a prequel, sees Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, a.k.a. Professor X and Magneto, meet for the first time, and then go on to recruit other mutants to take on Sebastian Shaw and his group of mutants.

The acting is brilliant, I don’t think there was a single flaw. Then again Spoony really hated January Jones, but I suppose I’m one of those people who didn’t see a problem. Kevin Bacon did a brilliant job as Sebastian Shaw, I think he was probably the best villain this year.

The effects were great, no problem with the dialogue, the story is fantastic, the acting is perfect, I don’t think there’s any flaw at all in this. The only point I think I should raise is that I believe that this is a reboot, since there are serious continuity disconnections in relation to the other films, like Magneto and X didn’t design Cerebro, Hank did. Hank was human in ‘X2’, but he turns into Beast in this film, and I don’t have a problem with that.

I should probably do a review on this film because there is a lot I want to say, but I can’t otherwise this section would be ten times longer than the other sections.

So there we are, my top ten films of this year. Coming up next is the top ten worst films of 2011, and by did I see some God awful films, one in particular. What is it? Wait till tomorrow to find out.