1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2. Hugo
about an orphan boy in the 1930′s living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station where he maintains the clocks, and thieves to survive. When Hugo encounters a broken automaton, an eccentric girl (Kick-Ass’s Chloë Moretz), and the reserved man who runs the toy shop, he is caught up in a magicaladventure that could put all of his secrets in jeopardy. This is director Martin Scorsese’s first 3D film, and he, predictable enough, brings art to the form. It’s also his first kids movie, but really it’s a love letter to cinema itself (film pioneer Georges Méliès is a major character). The magic of childhood innocence meets the magic of cinema in a dazzling presentation.
3.Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
In present day San Francisco experiments with genetic engineering create intelligent apes and trigger a war for supremacy. The focus is on the relationship between Dr. Rodman (Franco), who’s trying to find the cure for his father’s Alzheimer, and the most developed ape, Caesar. Andy Serkis motion-captured that role and gives the best performance of the year. The excellent monkey fx are matched with top notch character work (each has a distinct personality and arc despite being mute). The direction is smart and often thrillingly kinect when a monkey is on the move. And it’s a well plotted script that triumphs despite having some very tricky aspects to cover.
4. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his new team (Renner, Patton, Pegg) to go rogue to clear their organisation’s name. The villains are played by Michael Nyqvist (09′s Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) Léa Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds) and Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire). Directing duties were given to Pixar animation maestro Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille), whose experience of live action was minimal. But it paid off. Critics agree this is the best high-adrenaline action flick of the year, by some way. The edge of your seat tension is capped by the skyscraper sequence, which in Imax is one of the most heart-in-mouth sequences in cinematic history. It’s also the best Mission Impossible movie – not as convolted as the first, bigger in every way than the third.
5. X-Men: First Class
60s-set prequel to the X-Men trilogy which focuses on the relationship between Charles (aka Professor X) and Erik (aka Magneto) as young men and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. As Charles establises his school and Erik seeks revenge against his tormentors in the concentration camp, a new mutant threat, Sabastian Shaw, emerges seeking to provoke nuclear war between the superpowers. This is a throughly entertaining movie that plays like a smarter, freakier version of a Bond flick. Fassbender is excellent as Magneto, and Bacon is compelling as Shaw.
6. The Artist
It’s 1927 in Hollywood and while a silent movie star wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with a young dancer set for her own big break. The movie is shot as if it’s a silent black and white from the ’20s, and while no dialogue might sound daunting, it reminds us that as much, if not more, can be communicated by the face. The leading man won best actor at Cannes this year. The Artist is just a fantastic idea, brilliantly executed.
7.The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (U.S. Remake)
A disgraced journalist (Craig) investigates the disappearance of a wealthy patriarch’s niece 40 years earlier, with the help of a punky computer hacker carrying serious man issues (Mara). Sticking closer to the book and with an on-fire David Fincher at the helm, this is an improvement on the Swedish movie, which was pretty good to begin with. Rooney Mara fully commits to the now iconic role, finding the right balance of agressive edge and vulnerability.
8. Thor
When heir-apparent Thor (Hemsworth) arrogantly ignores his king’s (Hopkins) wishes, he is stripped of his powers and banished from the fantastical realm of Asgard. On earth, Thor must learn humility before his treacherous brother Loki seizes the throne in his absence. This is one of the best movies of 2011 because it was a difficult character and world to introduce to live-action, and Marvel did a very good job. It never strays too far into cheese, and Marvel’s gamble that Kenneth Branagh would bring some Shakespearian gravatas to the court of Asgard paid off. Hemsworth is excellent as Thor.
9. Captain America: The First Avenger
During World War II, skinny Steve Rogers (Evans) volunteers for an Allied research project which turns him into super soldier ‘Captain America’. Soon he is up against Red Skull (Weaving), Hitler’s head of weaponry, who intends to use a tesseract as an energy-source for world domination. This is an enjoyably old-fashioned adventure set apart from other comic book movies by its ’40s atmosphere. The set pieces serve the narrative rather than the other way round and its filled with enjoyable, shaded performances.
10. Warrior
The youngest son (Hardy) of an alcoholic former boxer (Nolte) returns home, where he’s trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament – a path that puts the fighter on a collision corner with his older brother (Edgerton). The power this has is making you emotionally invested in both brothers, even though only one can supposedly triumph. Hardy and Nolte in particular are excellent, with the latter likely to be Oscar nominated. The ending is unforgetable.
