The movie industry is struggling to keep audiences interested in going to the theaters. The old ways of filming from decades past is nearly prehistoric considering that everyone jumped to streaming services like Netflix and the only movies audiences are interested to see are movie universes (thanks to Marvel). If you want to have a better proof that the movie industry isn’t interested in telling good stories and all in it for the money and politics, look no further than the lack of original materials released from 2010 to 2019. We’ve seen the downfall of comedies, non-jump-scare horror movies, and movies not based from a previous work before it. It seems that nowadays, for a movie to be successful it has to be based on a familiar property; no longer name recognition from actors & directors can sell as well as they used to. When you see that the best grossing movies are sequels, remakes, or connected to a movie universe you know that Hollywood is creatively bankrupt. Now that 3D effects is an afterthought (and hardly ever made that much of a grossing success), producers are relying on audience’s familiarity with previous releases to keep Hollywood from going out of business. Never has there been a time when audiences could ever be this communicative with everyone in the movie industry voicing what they want and don’t want in their theaters. Just look at 2016’s Ghostbusters, The Last Jedi, or any politically driven adaptation or sequel that continues to fall flat on their faces. The moment that movies somehow get out of this dark age of film making, they can’t rely on movie universes forever because we’re seeing viewership going less and less. I can only see the movie’s in the 2010’s highlights only being about comic book movies and failed attempts at anything else. Just because visuals improved, it won’t distract us from desired storytelling. And that’s what these ten movies from 2010 – 2019 accomplished.
Number 10. – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
“Scott Pilgrim vs the World” is a movie directed by Edgar Wright, and stars Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Ramona Flowers), and Jason Schwartzman (Gideon). The story follows Scott Pilgrim in a video-game style story, in which he has to fight 7 evil bosses, to win. However, this isn’t a video game, this is real life for Scott. His prize is getting to date the girl of his (literal) dreams. This extremely witty movie is entertaining, has great dialogue, and epic fight scenes. The story is quick and and unique, and is definitely enough to keep you watching. The movie has many nods to comic books and video games, and it does those references extremely well. While in other movies with references (such as Ready Player One) thrive off of throwing those references right in your face, “Scott Pilgrim” thrives off of subtly nodding to them, and having you pick them out yourself. There are so many little details in here that you may need to watch this movie around 5 times just to catch them all. Now let’s talk about the aforementioned fight scenes. They are super fun and unique. You would think cramming 7 fights into a two hour movie would feel cluttered and boring, but it isn’t. The fights are so much more than typical punching and kicking. We have giant beast bass battles, to simple 8-bit sword fights. In between this fight fest we see our main characters grow and change, and have internal struggles. Edgar Wright has a way to make us feel their emotions with them. Visually psychedelic and hilariously fast-paced, this is one heck of a fun ride through the unbound imagination of cartoons, comics and video games, with a mature live-action twist. That’s not a guarantee, of course, that the story equally delivers.
Number 9. – Drive
Being in the cinemas where everything is required to be loud and fast-paced to keep audience interest, Drive is an entirely different beast. Started and ended the film with Synthwave music playing, while Ryan Gosling drives through neon lit streets. How could you not be impressed with Drive’s atmosphere and film-making style? Drive certainly brings a lot more to the table than your average crime flick. It is without a doubt a standout film in the crime/drama genre due to its unique elegance from start to finish. Drive also offers an incredibly engaging character study topped off with an ending that is both beautiful and satisfying for the viewer. Although Drive contains elements of your average crime film (violence, gangsters, robberies to mention a few), it is undeniably accompanied by a fresh and artistic twist. It’s that kind of movie that is unmistakably a piece of art. The storytelling is Immaculate and prides itself on showing you what’s going on instead of telling you what’s going on, an art-form in of itself. The soundtrack can make any grown man cry and mosh at the same time. It’s that good. The Camera Angles, The Visuals Aesthetics, The Shot Composition, Script, Pacing, EVERYTHING IS PERFECT. And if you’re complaining about the lack of dialogue, I get where you’re coming from, but there’s beauty in reading a characters face, the room, the scene and the mood instead of it being sort of explained to you. And it makes for some very off-putting and tense moments too. More than anything else, this movie made me a true believer that Ryna Golsing is more than just a chick-flick actor, but instead one of the best actors in the business. His stares and silence speaks way more than any actor’s long winded dialog and creates so much mystique towards the thoughts behind his role. Nicolas Winding Refn is the few directors that knows this and he captures his role as the Driver and not once tell us who he is. And why bother ruining the mystique when a wonderful movie like Drive needs no lore?
Number 8. – The Lego Movie
I guess it only takes one viewing to fully believe that a stupid premise can turn into a phenomenal movie. For decades now, Lego has been the world’s most popular toy and this movie is the best representation of the joys and charm of the toy brand. The Lego Movie kept me laughing and thinking and let me bring out my inner child. The idea of too much order takes away freedom, too little order creates chaos, and that freedom with a certain amount of order just made me love the movie all the more. The mixture of adult themes and humor with a children’s movie look just reminded me of Pixar movies yet the Lego Movie had a different feel somehow (It didn’t have me crying a river, it had me laughing thunderstorms). I want to like it more but I just can’t bring myself to. The ending just left me empty, which is a big difference between Pixar films and the Lego movie. But this was a great movie because of its humor, its AWESOME creativity, its cool action, its lovable characters, and its funnily represented yet important themes. The best and closest film we will get to a real stop motion movie. Although it does include some special effects and CGI. Everyone has some sort of history with lego. The main character was Emmet played by Chris Pratt. I would have thought this was a bad idea since Chris Pratt is commonly known as a live-action actor, but you won’t disagree that his voice fits the characters personality. This movie felt like Hollywood’s latest attempt to make Who Framed Roger Rabbit, thought not quite as good Lego Movie still is better than Wreck-It Ralph, Space Jam, and especially Pixels. I never thought that I would ever come to the conclussion, that a LEGO film would be deserving to be included in a 100 best films of all time list. But there are strong motivations to suggest it does, from the breathtaking visuals, to its complex story and structure and multiple layers of meaning… and that twist… a film that is a pleasure to analyze and a joy to watch.
Number 7. – Spider-Man:
Into The Spider-Verse
We’ve all anticipated this movie to flop. Sony with Spider-man as always been a bad combination. All of the live-action Spider-Man movies were the cringiest cheese you can ever imagine. It’s no wonder why everyone wanted Marvel Studios to gain the rights back after years to fighting for the Spider-Man rights. But not only did Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse became a huge surprise but it has managed to surpass many of the comic book movies that came before it. This animated masterpiece is filled with so much level of style that balanced out with substance. Avoiding another Peter Parker adventure has got to be the best decision making that a sequel/movie franchise has ever made. The shift to Miles Morales brought more storytelling opportunities that what we’ve already seen hundreds of times. As it stands, Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse is the best Spider-man film of all time. An original story that made a compelling case for the protagonist, who might not have been as well-received in the comics. The film has made incredible technical achievements that fit in with the “comic” appearance, at times messing with the frames in order to give it the “comic coming to life” type of feel. It even implements frames into storytelling! And unlike many superhero movies, this is a origin story with heart. It’s a fashion statement for those who were told superhero movies were for sad acts and shut outs. It flaunts its minority status and wears it as a badge of pride like no other movie that has come before. And all while weaving in a wonderful story about what it means to grow up as an outsider. Miles Morales has done the impossible and potentially usurped Peter Parker as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He’s delightfully awkward, but still carries with him a charm that makes him bounce off the other Spiders with complete ease. It helps that each Spider-Man from the multiverse gets a chance to shine – even Nic Cage – and the kinetic ground-breaking animation lends itself to an energetic, ensemble-led affair that never once lets up. When the dust finally settles on the superhero craze, Into the Spider-Verse will be held up as one of the genre’s shining beacons. It’s a movie that has you smiling all the way through. That is if you’re not too busy bopping along to its tune-laden soundtrack and effortless sense of style. For being cool, daring and essential I have no doubt that Into The Spider-Verse is taken more seriously than most live-action comic book movies trying to make a film franchise going.
Number 6. – Pacific Rim
It seem that in this day in age, a movie needs to be based off a comic book, novel, or another movie to be made. But leave it to Guillermo del Toro to continue expressing his love for movies he grew up with and made a love letter to giant monster movies. A lot of people would boil it down to giant robots fighting kaijus but it’s so much more than that. You can feel the time and effort Guillermo del Torro put into crafting this world, its characters and the journey they go on. Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi play off each other great as lead actors. Their characters are interesting, their backgrounds are well developed and although they become very close to each other during the movie their relation feels natural; they are not pushed into an artificial love interest for the sake of it as in most Hollywood production but rather they develop a close bond and friendship. Idris Elba as the jaded general that’s seen it all is fantastic. Ron Perlman is also fantastic as the eccentric collector Hannibal Chau. Charlie Day is a bit of a mixed bag for me as I found it hard to picture him as the mad genius but although I think a better casting choice could have been made, he never pulled me out of the immersion. All the Jaggers and Kaijus are creative and interesting and they feel huge. When you watch them fight you do get the feeling that a giant machine is fighting a giant beast unlike in something like Transformers. The movie looks beautiful and the music is fantastic. I admit that I had very low expectations when I went into the cinema and expected another big disappointment like all the Transformers movies but I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this movie and I still do. It monster-flicks are no longer a guilty pleasure but a genre that I am allowed to take seriously in all kinds of levels.
Number 5. – Nightcrawler
Similar to how Ryan Golsing redefined his career with Drive, Jake Gillanhal did the same with Nighcrawler. But comparing the two films is like night and day because their pacing is so different. Nightcrawler isn’t a feel good movie where you can route for the main character. Instead this is the ugliness of news media and how disgustingly competitive it is to just get a good story, no matter how many lives you have to step on. You think that Lou is a good guy because he wants to take down criminals running Los Angeles, but if it didn’t create audience viewership he wouldn’t be so passionate. The levels that Lou had to go through to capture the best news footage ever recorded is why Nightcrawler’s script is so ingenious. The whole movie you see how obsessed this starving cameraman wants to be on headline news leads to the goal of the movie of the most instense car chase ever filmed. Nightcrawler seems to want to show the dark side of the television industry which in this film is emphasized in news broadcast journalism. A satire to show how valuable a rating on the television show. Certainly, it’s extremely sad really. There is a satire of capitalism, present-day tropes, audience, and others. The film is intimate with eagerness and news. Additionally, they regularly penance something to give us the most valuable substance. However, I effectively related to Lou; thoroughly unsettling character study. Dan Gilroy wrote and directed the creepiest thriller I’ve seen in a long time with this film. It is a gripping and unnerving suspense film depicting the profile of a sociopath. We see Lou’s shallow motives built up by manipulation, threats, and even violence. Nightcrawler is a demonstration of society without ethics fueled by a moral depravity. It is captivating from beginning to end. Whenever I think of Nightcrawler, I think of a dark and gritty film with a straight forward narrative of a man trying to make money.
Number 4. – Avengers: Infinity War
Marvel has proven to be the most accessible entertainment in the globe. So many times has there been a struggle to make many of their adaptations into a successful picture. Though superhero movies has gotten bigger over the years, no one could ever predict that The Avengers would been so big that the whole movie industry changed into shared movie universes that every producer craves for equal number of success. Since Marvel’s The Avenger broke records, we as the audience wanted to know what’s the big deal of this Thanos villain that has been hyping up for a long time. After watching Infinity War after all the wait, I finally am convinced that Thanos is the best movie villain of the 2010s. We’re talking about a character that is so determined to wipe off half the population of the universe and is just too powerful to be stopped. We’ve seen apocalypse characters like Thanos before, but never did I felt that this character was realistic in his motives and yet felt so human as the same time. And I haven’t even mentioned that this is literally the biggest cast of character that I’ve ever seen in film; cross-overing characters from Iron Man, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, and more. What an outstanding marvel movie with so many great characters that are surprisingly given a lot of development. With fantastic action and special effects and an incredible emotional ending, it’s hard to see a better comic book movie than what Infinity War provides. The massive set of heroes inevitably means some will have lesser parts than others (some more surprising than others) which also means while they do all get some emotional payoffs we don’t get the full character arcs previous films did greats jobs at building. The story is light but like a big TV show finale, Infinity War ticks its plot points off one by one as it pulls out all the stops with gasps and big story turns that are sure to keep fans coming for at least its next big three projects. An excellent movie the MCU has been building up years for. By no means should this movie work with all the characters jammed in, but it does. Once in a lifetime experience for me following this franchise for a huge part of my life.
Number 3. – How To Train Your Dragon
After years of being second-rate to Pixar, Dreamworks finally made a film that gave its company its own identity. They’ve made a franchise that isn’t embarrassing to have around but rather is a mainstay to all audiences. So what makes HTTYD so special? It’s an environmentalist movie that has heart through-and-through. It’s a strong tale about a boy from a Viking town that hunts dragons only to have him find out that they can not only be tamable but be part of humanity’s lives. Hiccup may seem like a character that’s out of place in a setting like this but he’s supposed to be. He’s not like anyone from his tribe no matter how much his own father forces him to. And by the time we see Toothless the Night Fury, you instantly fall in love with him as you would do with a practical animal. But more than that, Hiccup finds out their weakness by not resolving them to violence but find physical comfort required to yield. Putting an animalistic quality in these dragons adds more 3-Dimension than the 3D animation displayed. Not only that, the whole trilogy has successfully made their flying scenes more wondrous and magical that even Avatar (2009). And the ending of the first movie always, always gets me to tears. HTTYD is a reminder of how hard it is to change the norm but is a must to not resort to violence or genocide. Dragons are creatures that many of us wishes exists but this film convinces the audience that what once was seen as beasts of destruction now turned into the most lovable creatures. Dreamworks hit home-run with this movie and spawned a trilogy and successful television series from this very very movie. There’s just so much lore for How to Train Your Dragon that it’s one of the few animated masterpieces that does not treat its audience like simpletons (like all the other Dreamworks films before it) but respects each and everyone watching.
Number 2. – Mad Max: Fury Road
The 2010s had this godawful trend of woke-gender changing, mary sues, and feminist-empowered female roles that got every cinema fan to grow a strong distaste for them. Despite liberal Hollywood wanting Hilary Clinton to win the 2016 Presidential Election, where do you think Ghostbusters 2016, Ocean’s 8, Terminator: Dark Fate, Disney’s Star Wars, and the rest got their feminist agenda? Nearly every big name franchises gone woke all because of the success of Mad Max: Fury Road. And unlike all the others that follow the woke-trend, Fury Road still does it better than the poor imitators and their hasn’t been another that lived up to its name. This is a movie that seemed impossible to be good on paper since Mel Gibson is blacklisted out of Hollywood and filming these scenes seems liked an impossible task. After decades of careful decision making & production hell, we got ourselves not a sequel or a remake but a re-imagining of not only Mad Max, but how action movies are done. It’s refreshing to finally see a film where a new female character, as Imperator Furiosa, isn’t a love interest or a ‘mary sue’ but instead as much of a realistic hero as Max is. This post-apocalypse is a grim world where women are seen as second-rate and have little chance of survival without living in a patriarchal civilization. On board Max and Furiosa’s truck are the runaway wives of Immortan Joe. The degree of the War Boys wanting the wives back is just adds weight to the conflict. Because of the wanting the wives to return to Immortan Joe and how much our heroes all want their freedom shows how engaging it is to watch this film. Let’s not forget that it is a sight to behold to have so many of the most fantastically shot action sequences. All the action shots throughout this movie is both practical and sights to behold! Anyone movie snob can never resist some of the leaps of faith every one of the characters have attempted. The escape to freedom was been a nearly impossible task but because of that strong hope that our heroes have are able to overcome the hundreds of vehicles chasing them constantly puts us viewers on the edge of our seat. But more than the marvelous action sequences is how much the film respects its audience. Rather than hammering us a feminist message of the film, it instead remain hidden for the sake of practicality and realism. Nowadays whenever there’s a popular franchise that went woke, you can tell that everyone on board is constantly fighting against the audience. Having no practicality with their heroine and failing to suspend our disbelief for creating a mary sue not only fails but elevate Fury Road each and every time. For all the boys vs. girls, left vs right, gamergates and other pointless fighting that occurred in the 2010s, Fury Road allows us to forget such a conflict exists and just allows us to enjoy an impressive action movie. For all the hard work that George Miller had to put himself through for the Mad Max series, Fury Road is one masterpiece that still get people discussing, filmmakers imitating, and everyone celebrating since then.
Number 1. – Blade Runner 2049
A movie like Blade Runner does not deserve a sequel, but its immense cult following has made its way to “greatest of all time” category. No movie in the history of cinema has ever failed in the box office somehow managed to convince everyone that it should be taken seriously. More than that, the cyberpunk setting in the later years have all been imitators to everything already seen in Blade Runner. The only thing that the genre could do that could push forward creatively was to make a sequel. And come to my surprise, this is BETTER than the original by every margin. This movie has impressed me throughout. Cinema has technologically reach to realism that anything can be filmed. The long awaited sequel tells a story about a Blade Runner named K who ends up with a case where he could be not only a replicant but a legitimate son of Deckard and Rachel from the original. This is a phenomenal case because it brings the question of how can a imitation of a human such as replicant be able to give birth? As K learns continues to reveal this this case, the more he begins to remember the events of this the child who’s born from a replicant. The LAPD and the new Wallace Corporation want to capture K and Deckard for causing this phenomenon from letting the public know that replicants are just as human as human. While the original Black Runner was all atmosphere and innovative ideas, 2049 is all of that but with a brilliant story to tell. The world of Blade Runner 2049 is all familiar yet expanded. Who didn’t get reminded of the dreary world of LA but couldn’t look away? Best yet is how much we got to see that wasn’t from the original. From K’s relationship with the holographic Joi, to Luv creative holographic images, to even Deckard’s mansion filled with outdated technology and nostalgic 20th century materials? And what makes Blade Runner 2049 so compelling is how that goal is revealing the mystery seems both fully realized yet forever out of reach at the same time. With so many twists and turns, inventiveness and forward-thinking it think it’s safe to say that this sequel not only lives up to its original but surpass it. You can even watch this movie by its own merits without having to see the original and still be amazed by this movie. And even if you connect 2049 with the original, 2049 is very much Deckard’s story as it is K’s. I am more than appreciative that not once has the movie ever explored the debate of “is Deckard a replicant?” because it didn’t need to. Ridley Scott made a jackass out of himself with the numerous cuts made into the original but thankfully 2049 only needed one. I see nothing in Black Runner 2049 but perfection from its atmosphere, world-building, and character development, I strongly believe that this depiction of the future does it best. This is Drive & Only God Forgives as a cyberpunk.
A replicant Blade Runner who only knows how to obey orders, K quickly unearths a case that makes him question himself. It’s a quest of self-discovery that is taken even further by the evolution of his relationship with Joi. While he knows that he doesn’t have a soul, both Joi and his quest bring him emotions that he shouldn’t be feeling. As he embarks on the search for Deckard’s daughter, K proves that he is exactly the special person he always wished to be. By sacrificing himself for Deckard, by convincing the retired cop to go meet his daughter, K proved that one needn’t be born to be human. It’s a beautiful arc that is both simple and complex. And that is exactly why Blade Runner 2049 succeeds as the impossible sequel. Because it’s simple… and just as complex.
The Top Movies of the 2010s Decade
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The Top Lister 