Right about now, you're probably up to your neck in Best of the Year lists packed with awards contenders, foreign dramas, and obscure indie hits. No judgment, in fact I've got one such list of my own headed your way in a couple days, but a movie doesn't have to be revelatory or life-changing to be worthy of acclaim. There's an art to entertainment and a value to a good time, well-spent. We're living in some pretty bleak and discordant times, and a temporary reprieve from the daily dreary is a commendable feat.
As you may have heard (ad nauseum), the 2016 summer movie season was a bit rough. The months that usually provide the year's biggest and best in blockbuster entertainment were littered with one fizzled franchise attempt after the next. Independence Day: Resurgence, Jason Bourne, Ghostbusters, Warcraft, Tarzan and plenty of others failed to connect with audiences, and half of the year's superhero haul was a big disappointing bummer.
Even so, the year was pretty well stacked with popcorn-powered gems. but was a tough year to pick a final ten. Both of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's offerings, Neighbors 2 and Sausage Party, were barely edged out of the list, as were Finding Dory, Star Trek Beyond, and The Accountant. Disney exerted dominance in the blockbuster enertainment arena through their Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation and live-action branches, a fact demonstrated by their record-shattering best-ever box office year and massive presence in the Academy Awards VFX race. If it was a tough year to choose, it was an even tougher year to rank, with few films that truly stood out as drastically better or worse than the others. Basically, don't get too heated up over the rankings here, they feel right but within slight degrees.
Without further ado, here are the ten most entertaining popcorn movies of 2016.
10. The Jungle Book
All hail Jon Favreau, king of the crowd-pleasers. The Elf and Iron Man director works his magic again with a CGI/live-action adaptation of the Disney animated classic, The Jungle Book. Favreau finds a pitch-perfect blend between the original films lackadaisical, wandering narrative and the intensity of seeing those scenes play out in photoreal environments, giving The Jungle Book propulsive blockbuster action and capturing the ferocious beauty of the jungle without getting too scary for the target audience. Bill Murray as Baloo and Christopher Walken as King Louie are two strokes of casting genius fully revealed when they break out into their characters' iconic songs, 'The Bear Necessities' and 'I Wanna Be Like You' respectively. On a technical level, The Jungle Book is a staggering achievement with fully immersive CGI environments and an empathetic anthropomorphized animal ensemble. The Jungle Book feels exactly as it's supposed to; like a Disney animated classic brought to life and it's got all the wonder, heartbreak, and magic of the legacy it's built on.
9. The Shallows
Jaume Collet-Serra knows his way around a B-movie. The director behind cheeky horror fare like House of Wax and Orphan and underappreciated Liam Neeson actioners Non-Stop and Run All Night turned out his best thriller yet with The Shallows. The setup couldn't be simpler -- Blake Lively vs Shark -- and the film is only stronger for that lean focus, leaving only room for white-knuckle suspense and visceral action beats as our heroine tries to make it off her tiny island of safety before the high tide rolls in.The Shallows is scrappy survival horror pitched in the blinding light of day, and Collet-Serra uses every opportunity for visual gags to get you squirming in your seat without ever veering into unpleasant body horror territory. Lively deserves a lot of credit too, as she single-handedly carries the film, selling you on her character's equal terror and determination in a physically and emotionally exhausting role. The Shallows is a crowd-pleasing lean, mean thrill machine that earns a proud spot as one of the best giant shark films of all time.
8. Moana
John Musker and Ron Clements, the creative duo behind The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and The Princess and the Frog, spin their Disney magic once again with Moana. Set in a dazzling Polynesian paradise, the spirited adventure follows the title heroine (Auli'i Cravalho), a ruler in training, who teams with the demi-god Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to save her people by rekindling their heritage of fearless exploration. Moana is gorgeous and funny, hitting all of Walt Disney Animation's classic mythmaking beats while updating the formula to something delightfully more modern -- diverse, body-positive, and all-around inspiring for little ones the world over, Moana takes the old princess schtick and turns it into a heroic journey for empowered modern audiences. The movie also boasts an exceptional soundtrack courtesy of international music star Opetaia Foa'i and Hamilton sensation (and all around non-stop genius) Lin-Manuel Miranda. Moana is a first-rate Disney animated adventure, bursting with personality, music, and lush visuals through every epic action sequence, comedic beat, and tender moment.
7. Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange introduced a welcome bit of, well, strangeness to the earth-bound Marvel Cinematic Universe (the Guardians are taking care of the weirdness up in space just fine). The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister director Scott Derrickson delivers a visually stunning and kinetically inventive expansion of Marvel's palette that embraces the far-out imagery of Strange's roots in the psychedelic subculture of the 60s without feeling hokey or passé. With the help of his unreasonably charming cast led by Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Tilda Swinton, Derrickson embraces multi-dimensional sorcery for all the set-piece fuel it's worth, bending space and time on screen to build a world of magic that feel like more than incantations and beams of light. Doctor Strange also has a natural undercurrent of meditative wisdom on mortality that provides a surprisingly resonant third-act punch in the midst of the visual splendor. Like the best of Marvel's solo films, Doctor Strange feels very at home in the MCU, but also carves out a space for itself as something unique and original.
6. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
It may not quite be that missing Hogwarts letter Harry Potter fans have always secretly hoped for, but Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them provided a joyous opportunity to revisit J.K. Rowling's enchanting Wizarding World. Scripted by the Harry Potter creator herself and directed by four-time Harry Potter saga helmer David Yates, the prequel puts a Jazz Age spin on the mythology as the introductory chapter in a five-film saga during the rise of Wizardkind's second-most-powerful dark wizard, Grindelwald. Following Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander to 1920s Manhattan, Fantastic Beasts expands the universe with Rowling's signature flair for wondrous invention with an equal emphasis on the dark and dangerous times afoot. Fantastic Beasts hasn't quite landed the balance of its predecessor yet, and removing the focus from children naturally costs a bit of the whimsy, but the film matches gleeful moments of levity with somber reflections on power-hungry evil, all with a zeal that truly feels magical. Plus, it has a Niffler.
5. 10 Cloverfield Lane
When Dan Trachtenberg's tightly-wound chamber piece thriller adopted the name 10 Cloverfield Lane, it also picked up a heavy burden of expectation in addition to the profile boost. But for the slightly insane third-act, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a stomach-knotting exercise in tension and paranoia, following Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Michelle after she's "rescued" by an imposing and off-kilter man (John Goodman) who claims they have to remain underground in his bunker due to a widespread chemical attack. The meat of the film's entertainment value comes from every moment that follows as we root for Michelle's freedom, ever pondering the bigger horror if Howard might just be telling the truth. Michelle is a fabulous female hero cut from Ripley cloth, she's not showy or sassy or a pastiche of a "tough chick", she's composed and calculating, and surprisingly vulnerable for how much ass she kicks. But if Winstead delivers a fantastic performance, Goodman is outrageously good as her captor and/or savior, both terrifying and achingly human, handily stealing the show in what might be his best role yet. The dance between them makes 10 Cloverfield Lane one of the best edge-of-your-seat popcorn flicks in recent memory and the dose of Bad Robot bam-pow seals the deal.
4. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Straight up, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is the funniest movie of the year. Jorma Taccone, Andy Samberg, and Akiva Schaffer, better known as the musical comedy trio The Lonely Island, apply their bonkers sense of humor to the mockumentary genre with a savage skewering of the modern pop music industry. Charting the rise and fall of a Bieber-esque sensation Conner4Real (Samberg), Popstar delivers a metric fuckton of star-powered cameos and outrageous sequences along with a catchy soundtrack of legitimately good pop songs that would be Billboard contenders if they weren't so absurd. Pound for pound, Popstar has the most jokes of any film in recent memory, layering punchlines, physical comedy, visual gags, throwaway lines, and raunchy humor in breathless, rapid-fire succession. As always, the trio's sense of humor thrives in the mysterious middle ground between clever and deeply stupid, and they're fearless with their comedic set-ups, escalating bits until there's no choice but to throw out the rulebook.
3. Deadpool
Fans have been waiting a long time to see Deadpool get his due on screen, and the dream finally came true this year thanks to the tireless determination of Ryan Reynolds and his writing team Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. With director Tim Miller aboard, Deadpool's modest budget was no obstacle to creating a unique visual style inside the prolific, traditionally massive-scale superhero genre and in terms of story, Deadpool easily went toe-to-toe with the best of its ilk. The brilliant Valentine's Day released played up Deadpool's underlying love story, which gives the film more heart and gusto than your standard blockbuster fare and the creative team had enough faith to lean into their crass, unconventional characters for their full worth. That subversive lilt makes Deadpool a joy from top to bottom as the Merc with a Mouth delivers his trademark snark, dropping zinngers and breaking the fourth wall with casual abandon. It's equal parts romance, action, and comedy, delivering on all fronts in spades and it's one of the most downright enjoyable films of the year.
2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
It almost feels weird to call Rogue One a popcorn movie, given how dark and heartbreaking it can be at times, but Gareth Edwards standalone Star Wars film is without a doubt one of the most stunning spectacles and entertaining times you could find at the theater this year. Centered on the team of rebels that stole the Death Star plans, Rogue One adds an extra layer of richness to the Star Wars mythology, giving new weight to Luke's victory in A New Hope and tidying up a thin point in the original film fans have been nitpicking for decades. But Rogue One doesn't feel like a retcon job. Instead, it's a thrilling war movie that puts you on the ground of alongside the Rebel Alliance while introducing delightful new characters like Donnie Yen as the impish blind monk Chirrut Imwe and Alan Tudyk as the sassiest droid in the galaxy, K-2SO, and gorgeous new planets and terrains on which to stage the action. Edwards uses the tropical island of Scarif for all it's worth for his climactic third-act battle, framing the rebels' all-or-nothing stand with his trademark knack for scope and perspective. The third act, reshoots and all, is a real humdinger of an action spectacular with a genuinely moving resolution. Rogue One is very much a Star Wars movies (arguably too much thanks to a stream of self-reference), but it also stands on its own as an expansion of the visual language and tonal breadth you can find in a galaxy far, far away.
1. Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: Civil War is pretty much a perfect popcorn movie. It's a cumulation of two phases of MCU films that's character-driven, jaunty, and boasts the best fight scene of the year in the airport battle, which is like watching pure comic book joy dance across the screen. Civil War is also a remarkable balancing act on behalf of directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who had to support a crazy amount of characters, introduce critical new headlining MCU heroes, stage a rift between the Avengers without turning any of our heroes into bad guys, and earn its title as a Captain America movie. The Russos pull it off with the help of some impressive scripting by trusty Cap scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who subvert Marvel's most exhausted tropes by rooting the narrative in our leading heroes' personal tragedies and still delivering the trademark banter and bickering. That crossover and interaction is ultimately what makes Civil War such a delight. The film is built on the foundation of all the Captain America, Iron Man and Avengers films that came before it and Civil War wields the weight of that history, not as a burden but as a strength, giving each interaction added layers. On top of being intricately crafted, Civil War is just one of the best times to be had at the movies this year, a champion spectacle and entertaining international romp that brings the beloved band of superheroes back together in a way we've never seen before.
For more of COLLIDER's Best of 2016 coverage, click here or on the links below.