In a surprising twist, I not only managed to see all ten of my most anticipated movies of 2016, but they were also the only ten 2016 releases I’ve seen thus far. So this isn’t actually a top 10 so much as a ranking of the ten movies I did see.
10. X-Men: Apocalypse
Not that great, but there was one really funny line that my husband and I will be quoting forever now: “The most American thing about this place is that it used to be British.”
#8 on my most anticipated list
9. Independence Day: Resurgance
This movie was entertaining enough, but definitely not great.
#9 on my most anticipated list
8. The 5th Wave
This movie met my not super high expectations. It was enjoyable for a watch and Leiv Shrieber was perfect in his role.
#10 on my most anticipated list
7. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
I was just slightly disappointed in this one. I did enjoy the characters, but the story was just sort of so-so, split between a dark storyline and a lighter storyline, that inevitably intertwined in an alright way. I think I’ll like it more once the story unfolds more and I can see the bigger picture.
#3 on my most anticipated list
6. Jason Bourne
While not the strongest Bourne offering, I did enjoy this one.
#7 on my most anticipated list
5. Star Trek Beyond
A fun addition to the rebooted Trek franchise.
#6 on my most anticipated list
4. Captain America: Civil War
An addition to the Marvel universe that managed to introduce us to new characters, make us excited for their movies, and further delve into the psyches of both Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. A solid film, but had I do have some quibbles with it.
#1 on my most anticipated list
3. Finding Dory
A sweet sequel I never really needed, but am happy to have.
#2 on my most anticipated list
I thought I had settled in my mind my 1 and 2 choices, but I found myself flip-flopping on it. So let’s consider this last two a tie for number one…
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
I thought this movie was solid. It wasn’t perfect, but the last act, especially the climax, was fantastic. I loved Jyn and Cassian even though they weren’t as fleshed-out as I would have liked, and I felt I was able to fill in some of the blanks for myself. The message of this one was profound for me and has really stuck with me a couple weeks after viewing it; I feel Ella summed it up beautifully on her blog. I am actually thinking about checking out the novelization of this movie so I can get even more details.
#5 on my most anticipated list
Doctor Strange
Yes, this movie is pretty formulaic. But I came to care for Stephen Strange and his character arc, and it also had themes I found profound.I especially loved how the Ancient One tells Stephen both that not everything’s about him that and that he’s more than just some molecules floating around in the universe. It has its flaws, but I enjoyed it from beginning to end.
#4 on my most anticipated list
What were your favorite movies of 2016?
