The very first year of the 2000s started the new decade/century/millennium off with a bang, film-wise. When the decade came to a close, 2009 also proved to be a good year for cinema. As such, 2010 had a good deal to live up to, given the decade that preceded it began and ended stupendously well, and all the years between that start and finish also proved to be packed with great films.
Thankfully, 2010 was more than up to the task, with the 2010s being kicked off in style, thanks to a range of great movies that were released in the decade's first year. There's also the need for honorable mentions here, since some great movies just missed out (most notably Animal Kingdom, 127 Hours, How to Train Your Dragon, and Kick-Ass). What follows are the best of the best, ranked below from great to greatest.
10 '13 Assassins'
Prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has a body of work that may feel like it's as much about quantity as it is about quality, but he's undeniably been behind some great movies. 13 Assassins is one such highlight, telling a simple yet powerful story about unemployed samurai being brought together to pull off one incredibly dangerous mission: assassinating a tyrannical lord who has aspirations of ruling Japan.
It's a movie with plenty of action, but saves almost all of it for the final act, leading to a narrative that builds up anticipation and suspense for a bloody and awe-inspiring climactic battle. It's excellently paced and very well put together from a visual perspective, and has a villain who's easy to hate and a group of anti-heroes who are very easy to root for. It's samurai action at its best, and one of Miike's greatest films.
9 'True Grit'
One of those rare remakes that's at least as good - or possibly better - than the original, True Grit is a thrilling Western that feels both old-fashioned and strikingly modern in equal measure. It follows a young girl named Mattie Ross, who hires an aging, frequently drunk lawman to help her seek revenge, as she's determined to kill the man who ended her father's life.
It was something of a star-making role for Hailee Steinfeld, who was then only 14 and earned an Oscar nomination for her performance (in the supporting category, oddly enough, even though she was the lead). With the film also containing great performances from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin, and being typically well-directed by The Coen Brothers, it's a pretty great movie all around.
8 'Blue Valentine'
Blue Valentine technically is a romance/drama, but it goes to show that not all movies that deal heavily with relationships are necessarily good date movies. It's a frequently intense and confronting film, showing the final stages of a relationship defined by ups and downs, in contrast to a more digestible romantic comedy, which might show the ups and downs of the earlier, less heavy stages of being in love.
For those who feel up to a challenging film, Blue Valentine is easy to recommend on the basis that it was one of the most powerful movies of its year. Even though Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are acclaimed actors who are both associated with countless iconic performances, watching their characters argue and struggle here makes you forget you're watching Gosling and Williams. They disappear into their very difficult roles, and the result leaves a true impact.
7 'The Town'
Of the many movies that depict bank robberies, The Town is up there with the best, and is certainly one of the most exceptional heist movies of the last couple of decades. It follows one particular crew as they go about their high-risk/high-reward work, only for complications to arise when one of the robbers falls for a woman he had to take hostage, and FBI agents begin pursuing the crew with greater ferocity.
Ben Affleck's direction shines here, and he ended up putting together a surprisingly exciting and action-packed crime movie. With a strong cast, compelling moments of action, and a well-earned ending that's effectively built to, The Town is more than capable of stealing your attention for the duration of its two-hour runtime.
6 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'
Few video game movies replicate the feel of a video game as well as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, yet this 2010 film isn't even based on a video game! It takes the aesthetics, look, structure, and feel of classic retro games, and applies the subsequent unique style to a story about one young man who has to battle the ex-partners of the woman he loves.
It combines action, comedy, romance, and sci-fi/fantastical elements to perfection, making for a consistently fun movie that's dazzling to look at and listen to. It's also funny watching it now, seeing as certain members of its cast have become far more famous since 2010 (the film boasts a pre-Captain AmericaChris Evans, a pre-SuccessionKieran Culkin, and a pre-Room/pre-Captain MarvelBrie Larson, for three examples).
5 'Incendies'
One of the most acclaimed foreign films of the 2010s was Incendies, a downbeat and sometimes stomach-churning psychological drama/thriller. It's a slow-burn movie where the less said about the plot, the better, though at its core, it's about two twins who both look into the history of their family with alarming results.
It was directed by Denis Villeneuve sometime before he became known for American productions like Blade Runner 2049, Sicario, and Dune, and clearly demonstrated his immense talent for filmmaking. Incendies is not as easy watch, but it does prove to be engrossing, keeping you glued to the screen, even though it's unafraid to have its mysteries unfold slowly.
4 'Black Swan'
One of the best thrillers in recent memory, Black Swan tackles familiar themes surrounding identity, obsession, and the pursuit of perfection in a way that's stylish and nightmare-inducing. The plot is simple - a ballerina becomes dangerously dedicated to a new role - but the ideas explored and the film's visuals prove to be complex and even overwhelming (in a good way).
It walks a line between horror and thriller well, is home to some of Darren Aronofsky's best visuals, and features an amazing central performance from Natalie Portman; possibly even the best of her career so far. Its willingness to dig deep into the protagonist's frame of mind makes it more frightening than most horror movies, and it's likely to retain its power as the years go on.
3 'Inception'
The hype for Inception was immense in 2010, given Christopher Nolan had been knocking it out of the park throughout the 2000s, and Inception was the follow-up to perhaps his greatest film: The Dark Knight (2008). Thankfully, this psychological action/thriller/heist movie delivered, and is regarded to this day as one of Nolan's best.
The plot sees a team trying to pull off a reverse heist, where they need to leave something at their destination rather than take something. Their target also happens to be someone's subconscious, and the "heist" involves traveling into that person's mind to implant an idea. It all sounds silly on paper, but Nolan makes it work in practice, ensuring Inception is a fun, exciting, and action-packed blockbuster.
2 'Toy Story 3'
After two perfect movies - one in 1995, and the other in 1999 - the idea of making a third movie in the Toy Story series sounded risky. There was some hope Toy Story 3 could be a great end to a trilogy, sure, but there was also concern that it might weaken the legacy of those earlier movies, especially since it was coming out more than a decade after Toy Story 2.
Remarkably, Toy Story 3 lived up to the quality set by its predecessors, and proved to be an incredibly funny, heartfelt, and bittersweet conclusion... of sorts. The Toy Story series has continued since 2010, but either way, the third movie expertly concludes the story revolving around Andy and his toys, ensuring those first three movies still feel like a satisfying trilogy.
1 'The Social Network'
Thanks to one of the greatest screenplays in recent memory, The Social Network made the story around the birth of Facebook a shockingly riveting one. What could've been just another biopic instead felt surprisingly weighty, dramatic, dynamic, and even tragic, focusing on the sacrifices made - and the friendships lost - to ensure Facebook could become what it became.
No way to describe it can make it sound as good as it is, but it's truly a close-to-perfect film, and probably the best released in 2010. Aaron Sorkin's screenplay, David Fincher's direction, the music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and fantastic work from the whole cast all combine to make this a modern-day masterpiece.
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June 19, 2023 at 03:00AM
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10 Best Movies of 2010, Ranked - Collider
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