Top 10: 2007’s Biggest Surprise Movies
Greetings fellow FUSED readers.
You know what a great feeling is? Sure you do. Great feelings could consist of making out with that special someone or peeing right when you wake up in the morning. You want to know what another great feeling for me is? Being surprised by a movie you had no high expectation for.
So in this season of year end lists I thought I would share my top ten surprising films of the year. Now, keep in mind that these are based on movies I have seen this year.
HOW MY LIST WORKS
Some movies may not make it, only because I didn’t see it.
The #1 film on this list is not necessarily the “best” film on the list… just the one that has the biggest gap between how bad I thought it would be, and how good it ended up being.
Now without further ado.
KEVIN’S 10 MOST SURPRISING FILMS OF 2007
1. STARDUST
This film was not only surprisingly good it was fantastic. Stardust had many elements that made films like Princess Bride and Willow good but it also contained the elements that make top tier fantasy films good, like Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter. Stardust’s marketing strategy seemed to be very weak and unconvincing to me that it was going to be worth seeing. Not knowing anything about the novel that the film is based made it even more difficult to believe this film would be any good. The actors gave me hope but again the marketing campaign seemed to hurt the film’s push. I walked out of the theater very happy and now it sits in my DVD collection.
2. TMNT
So had my reservations for this film from the beginning. Being that I am only 22 years old I grew up right in the midst of the Turtle phenomenon. The live action movies were the greatest things that could have ever graced a movie theater when I was a kid. I thought a CGI Turtle movie was going to be weak, especially serving as a sequel. I was wrong. It was a fun movie and really brought me back to my childhood. The story wasn’t bad either.
3. MR. BROOKS
I have to admit there are movie that just completely shock me and this was definitely one of them. Mr. Brooks was a movie that went under my radar. I didn’t know it was being made until I saw the first preview which made me question if Kevin Costner could still act. A friend of mine lured me to the theater to catch an afternoon movie. Mr. Brooks was the choice film. To me it had a reminiscence of American Psycho, which is one of my favorite movies. Not to mention Costner got some acting left in him. William Hurt isn’t bad either.
4. LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
To me the Die Hard series is iconic and I knew this film had some potential, but I didn’t think anyone thought it would end up quite as good as it was. I mean Die Hard with a Vengeance is still my favorite. My biggest surprise with this movie is that being rated PG13 instead of R didn’t ruin the film.
5. AUGUST RUSH
I thought this movie was going to be lousy. I mean it looked like it was going to be little orphan Oliver meets the biography of Beethoven. I was never more wrong about a film in my life. Freddie Highmore is truly a wonderfully, talented actor for his age. Robin Williams’ character surprised me. Also Kerri Russell and Jonathan Rhys-Meyer’s character’s didn’t annoy me like I thought they would. I am going on limb to say that Freddie Highmore might be talked about for a Best Actor, Oscar nomination.
6. OCEAN’S THIRTEEN
I never discount a cast like this or a director like this… so I did have some expectation for Ocean’s Thirteen… but with the major disappointment of Ocean’s Twelve my expectations weren’t very high. I have to say this one did everything that was great about the first one instead of all that was bad about the second one. Like the first film this one made high class thievery seem almost romantic in a sense.
7. DISTURBIA
I am always careful and hesitant about remakes of classic movies. Since Rear Window is my favorite Hitchcock movie I was even more guarded about this movie. I knew Shia was good but I had no idea this kid could actually act. Disturbia, truly surprised me.
8. SHOOT’EM UP
I love action movies as much as the next guy but when it seems like the plot will lack I digress. This movie actually had a plot and immersed you into instant action from the very beginning. The absurdity of the action is what made me enjoy this film. It made me think that who ever came up with the action scenes simply played a lot of video games in college and thought that those far fetched video game style shoot out scenes should be in a movie. Clive Owen was brilliant and Monica Belluci is hotter than hot.
9. KNOCKED UP
I love anything with Seth Rogan but I was scared Knocked Up would lack humor and be more chick flicky. Romance flicks aren’t bad I just do not want to see Seth Rogan in one. Knocked Up was as hilarious as it could have been and more. Funniest movie of the year with the exception of Superbad.
10. RUSH HOUR 3
I do not like Brett Ratner at all. I think he could quite possibly be the most overrated director of all time. However, the Rush Hour series has made me tolerate him and the third movie surprised me with its ability to keep the continuity going with the previous films but also keeping Tucker and Chan’s character’s still memorable. Rush Hour 3 is as good as a third movie could be.
