7 Most Surprising Movies of 2015

Continuing our end of the year coverage, I figured it'd be fun to look back on movies that, for one reason or another, really surprised me in 2015. Read on to see if you agree with this list.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

In a year that boasted a brand new Daniel Craig James Bond film, I was not expecting to like three different spy movies more than Spectre. The first, Kingsman: The Secret Service, was more purely entertaining than any Bond movie ever made: it had all the humor, action, style, and swagger that Bond films so often try to capture. Plus, Kingsman actually had characters that were worth caring about and investing in, and I’m really looking forward to seeing if the eventual sequel can sustain its sense of energy and fun.

Spy

Melissa McCarthy movies are not normally my cup of tea. I liked her in Bridesmaids, but Identity Thief was so bad it made me actively avoid The Heat and Tammy. So imagine my surprise, then, when Spy — which reunited her with Bridesmaids director Paul Feig — ended up being a terrific movie that turned her normally-bumbling on-screen persona on its head and made her a force to be reckoned with. It’s the second spy film of the year I liked more than Spectre (Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation squeaked in as the third.) The supporting cast was on point — Jason Statham totally stole the show as a brash secret agent — and it’s hilarious throughout. This was a perfect showcase of exactly what Melissa McCarthy comedies should be like.

Jurassic World

I think people expected this movie would do well, but no one thought it would do THIS well. Jurassic World has a spot on this list because it somehow became one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, beating out both Avengers films (!), meaning that practically everyone has an opinion about it. Personally, I enjoyed the hell out of it, but I understand a lot of the criticisms people were (and still are) throwing at it. (I’ll admit that most of the characters are idiots.) I just had no idea audiences were itching to head back to Isla Nublar in such a big way.

Trainwreck

When 2015 began, I’d never even heard of Amy Schumer. But by the time summer rolled around, I’d seen every episode of her Comedy Central show Inside Amy Schumer, seen her perform stand-up live, reviewed her first film, and briefly interviewed her about her experience. Trainwreck consistently cracked me up, and while everyone rightfully heaped praise on Schumer for her acting and her screenplay (her first), the film has a secret weapon: Bill Hader. Everyone knows he’s funny from his work on SNL, but I was surprised at just how effective he was playing an authentic, normal guy here. Also surprising — LeBron James was actually pretty damn funny. Who would have thought?

Straight Outta Compton

Biopics are a dime a dozen, and biopics about musicians frankly seem like one of the most boring movies one could make these days. They all follow such a similar basic structure — the rags to riches story, followed by the person or persons in question succumbing to the temptations of power and money before ultimately dying or falling into obscurity, all while leaving a lasting aural legacy — that Walk Hard skewered them almost a decade ago. But Straight Outta Compton managed to be a vital, essential film because of the parallels of police brutality in the ‘80s and ‘90s and the string of racially motivated shootings that have torn through America recently. The film’s blistering energy and excellent performances from its leads made this movie a pleasure to watch despite its formulaic roots.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Everyone I know went absolutely apesh*t for this movie, and while I didn’t love it as much as seemingly everyone else on the planet, I can’t deny that I was surprised to see such a kinetic film spring forth from an aging George Miller. There was so much about Fury Road that sounded like it wouldn’t work, and at times it felt like Miller was possessed with some 1980s filmmaking demon spirit that allowed him to will these insane images into existence. There was a ferocity and fire to the story (another pleasant surprise: it was all about feminism), and thinking back on it — for one final surprise — I’m truly shocked that a major studio financed and released it.

The Big Short

I recently ranked all of director Adam McKay’s films for the site, and The Big Short ended up pretty high on that list. That he would tackle this subject matter head-on isn’t surprising — his films are often deeper than they’re given credit for, and the end-credits scene of The Other Guys is basically a dry run for this movie — but the surprise was how effectively he was able to convey mind-numbingly boring ideas. Learning the ins and outs of exactly how America’s economy collapsed in 2008 sounds about as exciting as reading a phone book, and McKay is fully aware of this; to combat the crushingly boring material, he brought together a stellar cast and spiced up the story using every trick in the book, including one of the film’s best touches: celebrity cameos who directly address the audience. It’s a movie that will make you angry, and it definitely establishes McKay as a filmmaker who, though he often makes comedies, is interested in very serious subjects.