The Top 5 Movies of 2016 IBRO [In BurtonReviews Opinion]

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2016 is pretty much done. We came, we saw, in a lot of ways we faltered, but in the end we conquered. And while what was happening out in the real world wasn’t always the funniest or nicest thing, there was a heck of an amount of entertainment for us to escape and loose ourselves in to remind us everything is going to be okay, because if Ryan Reynolds can still smile after becoming a living testicle, so can I. And with that comes list time once again. What were the Top 5 movies that thrilled, amazed, and touched us the most? I think I have an idea.

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1.    Captain America: Civil War

Did you expect anything different? Of course Captain America: Civil War is at the top of my list. Simply put, it’s an almost perfect comic book movie that had astounding visuals, intense action that never stopped and boosted your heart rate ten-fold, real stakes that not only changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it, but also affected characters that we have invested hours upon hours of time into and care deeply for. It had me smiling, oooh-ing and ahhh-ing throughout and introduced us to maybe the best representation of the best superhero of all time with Tom Holland’s portrayal of Spider-Man. I could watch it another 100 times without getting bored and have nothing but good to say about this true comic-book-nerd’s fantasy come true.

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2.    Hardcore Henry

Remember when you were a grossly inappropriate 14-year-old, and your ideas for movies were nothing but kick ass, brutal and bloody action, a good portion of swearing, drugs and strip clubs, as well as the beautiful damsel-in- distress that is motivating these terrible, but motherf^£$*g cool, acts of violence always being just out of reach? Well someone actually made a movie of that with Hardcore Henry! The unique and innovative premise of the whole movie being in first person was an inspired idea that made the movie not just your typical action movie. The action is not only tremendous, but refreshingly portrayed by the films perspective, the soundtrack is just as testosterone building, and the plot is surprisingly well thought to make this world feel believably insane. A balls to the wall thrill ride has me smiling whenever I think back to it.

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3.    Deadpool

Hilarious, Awesome, and loveable, that’s Deadpool. A film we never thought we’d actually ever get, then to actually get it well made and faithful to the merc with a mouth as its R rating let the film really embrace every disgusting corner of how this red suited sociopath operates. With nothing holding him back, Ryan Reynolds delivered a perfect performance of the character that cemented why only Reynolds and his powerful charisma could pull this off. Almost every comedic beat hits, its well-placed meta winks to the audience, and well-choreographed cool action made for an amazing experience that had my sides splitting and my jaw hurting from how much I was laughing.

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4.    Nocturnal Animals

While this Nocturnal Animals had a lot of problems, being a film of three interchanging stories where one of the main story lines had me bored and honestly annoyed at how pretentious it was, and an opening that was just shock for shocks sake, all of those issues are overwritten by one man’s incredible performance. Jake Gyllenhaal shows why he is one of the most talented actors of our generation with this piece as in every scene he takes your heart in the palm of his hands and makes you feel everything his character is feeling. Whether he is charming the pants off everyone in the cinema, or bringing the room to the verge of tears, Gyllenhaals performance was not only the most powerful of the year, but from what I’ve seen, the best. And the story his character is put through in the film is a justly well-paced and heart-breaking tale that let everyone involved, from Michael Shannon’s determined cop, to Aaron Taylor Johnson’s portrayal of the utter piece of s$%t Ray Marcus, stretch their acting muscles and explore the darker side of humanity in a film that has stuck with me ever since.

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5.    Batman Vs Superman

Yeah you read that right. I put 2016’s ugly duckling Batman Vs Superman in my Top 5 movies of the year. Do you wanna know why? Because I enjoyed the hell out of this movie damn it. As a huge fan of Superman, and superheroes in general (if you couldn’t tell by now), this film was a blast. Sure it had its problems. A lot of staging for the film, script wise and just how characters were physically placed on screen were awkward and avoidable, and Jessie Hinesburg’s portrayal of Lex Luthor, while a good villain, he should not have been called Lex Luthor. But when a film has me smiling for the majority of its runtime, has a mind-blowing action scene at the top of the film, and a nerdgasm inducing one to round it off, and gives me goose-bumps  two times in the movie, and impresses me with its ambition. Then it belongs on my list, if nothing else for the amazing soundtrack delivered by Hans Zimmer that I am listening to right now while typing.

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So there it is, and what a ride that was. From universally agreed highs, to that last film that will definitely have most of you shouting into your screen about how wrong and stupid I am, there are my Top 5 Movies of this year, 2016.  But as usual, 5 is just too low of a number to cram all of my favourite experiences of the year in so I’d like to shout out some that were literally about to be placed into that number 5 slot. Two films that inhabit the same type of experience are Star Trek: Beyond and X Men: Apocalypse. I’m not even a fan of Star Trek, but Beyond had me genuinely invested and amazed by the wide and just down right cool universe of this film and in my mind is now the definition of solid fun. Then there’s X Men Apocalypse. Another hated movie of this year that I genuinely enjoyed and liked. Its villain was intimidating and really interesting to me and while its first two acts seemed like more of the same good ol’ mutant fun, the final battle of this film is a heart racing and epic showcase of the power that is stored in the X Mansion, and was one of the coolest ends to a movie that I have seen all year. Then changing gears abit is Hell or High Water. I’d heard nothing but good things about this movie before seeing it, and the hype was right. The setting of West Texas was so full of character that it effortlessly gave in-depth context to the films plot, showing how good people are being forced into a corner where there only way out may be the despicable thanks to the economic climate and poor treatment they are being forced to undergo. This is a side of Chris Pine you will have never seen and it just shows that this guy has real acting chops, as do the rest of the cast in a film that had all my attention from start to bitter end.

Now I pass it over to you, do you agree with my list? How much do you hate the fact that I put BvS on this list? What are your favourite movies of 2016? Voice your opinions in the comments below and of course, Happy New Year everyone!

Why not check out my YouTube channel, BurtonReviews, where I upload awesome gaming montages put to badass songs or scores every Sunday. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbUfnyezvQsVsDgN3TGRh1Q

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.