2015 has reached its inevitable end. With such a dense line-up of amazing movies coming for us in 2016, the past year deserves a bit of retrospective. Whatever your pick for best flick might be this year, it goes without saying, this was a resoundingly memorable year for the silver screen. These are the top five best movies released in 2015 and why they deserve our recognition:
5) Ted 2
Coming off his disastrous attempt at real life acting in A Million Ways to Die in the West, writer/director and creator of Family Guy, Seth McFarlane, returns as the beloved foul-mouthed plush bear in Ted 2. Continuing the drug addled tale of Ted and John (Mark Wahlberg), Ted finds that having a baby with his new wife is not only a challenge, but it’s in fact illegal upon discovering his very humanity has been stripped by the government. While many would argue that this wasn’t one of the best overall movies of the year, it was by far the best comedy of 2015. Full of heart, witty humor, and a surprisingly star-studded cast of cameos, Ted 2 was a worthy sequel for loyal Thunderbuddies everywhere.
4) The Martian
Director Ridley Scott graces us with a modern day Robinson Crusoe tale, The Martian. When genius botanist, Mark Watney (Matt Damon), is separated and stranded on a mission to Mars due to a freak storm, he’s forced to stay alive as long as humanly possible until NASA can mount a rescue. Surprisingly enough, The Martian was never really about the spectacle of space exploration or the hellish landscape of the red planet, but more so about the resilience of a man faced with certain death and the risks one must take in the name of great discovery. The Martian was thrilling, heartfelt, amazingly executed, and without a doubt, an instant classic.
3) Mad Max: Fury Road
With the mind-numbing barrage of reboots that continue to underwhelm, one classic filmmaker stood up and uttered, “Witness me!” Original franchise director, George Miller, returns to his roots and brings his high-octane, “no holds barred”, post-apocalyptic action thriller, Mad Max, back to twisted, screaming life! Starring Tom Hardy as Max, the lone road warrior must traverse a desert wasteland with his new compatriot, Furiosa (Charlize Theron), in order to escape the tyrannical hand of the evil Immortan Joe. With a phenomenal cast and a masterful marriage of both practical and visual effects, HHMad Max: Fury Road was the clear cut evidence that trying to teach an old dog, new tricks is totally futile when the old tricks still look so good.
2) Kingsman: The Secret Service
Coming completely out of nowhere, one of the best sleeper hits of the year was Kingsman: The Secret Service. Helmed by director, Mathew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class), the comic book adaptation centers on a rough-and-tumble kid named Eggsy who finds himself recruited by a covert british spy organization called the Kingsman. While the movie didn’t get much notice upon its initial release, word of mouth quickly spread and people found the movie to be unlike anything they might’ve anticipated. It was clever, witty, packed with action, and any connoisseur of choreographed, brutal violence could awe at the completely unexpected performance from Colin Firth.
1) Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
With the resounding battle cry of a million screaming fanboys, the best movie to release in 2015 was by far Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The new installment to the grand space opera was the first well-received film in the franchise in 32 years. Boasting the return of original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill, it managed to become the highest grossing film of the year before its release thanks to pre-sales alone. In a matter of weeks, it’s already on track to overtake Avatar as the highest grossing film of all time, raking in a whopping $1.2 billion worldwide! The Force Awakens gave us the new version of Star Wars we’d always hoped we’d get. With a great story, beautifully executed visual effects, and stellar performances from not only the veteran actors, but from the new kids in the quadrant, it proved that given the right vision and love from exactly the right people, hope is never lost…even in a galaxy far, far away.
