Movies that most exceeded your expectations in 2015

[Karmasux96]

Nice thread OP. Was thinking about making this one myself.

For me:
Jurassic World: Was expecting something closer to Terminator Genisys in terms of quality. Writing sure wasn't the greatest but I definitely had a lot more fun than I thought I would.

Mad Max: Kept my expectations low and couldn't believe what I was watching. Even with the positive buzz a couple months before release I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did. Exactly the movie I wanted this year.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: I tried to keep my expectations level since I fully expected to be disappointed. I absolutely love this movie. Legit chills down my spine in several scenes both times I've seen it.

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by octagon

Jupiter Ascending - I was expecting a visually impressive trainwreck but this was really, really good. It's a shame nobody else thought so cause I wouldn't have minded more.

This is my pick as well. Yes, Fury Road and Force Awakens were good too and I enjoyed them, but everyone else did as well and I always thought the trailers for both looked awesome so no huge surprises there. Jupiter Ascending was a critical and commercial flop but turned out to be much better than I dared hope, and is probably the only movie that really exceeded my expectations in a big way this year. I think it might even grow on me over time.

[Foggy]

I think I need to make a thread called Movies from 2015 that you had neither strong or negative reaction to.

[Adam_ME]

Kingsman: The Secret Service - I went into this one about as blind as you can. I'd caught maybe one trailer, but didn't remember much about it. It was a sneak preview screening over a month before its official release. Hell, I didn't even know what the movie would be rated(I'd assumed it was a PG-13 flick). Holy hell, did this one catch me by surprise. It was like someone took Kick-Ass and James Bond and mixed them in a blender. One of the craziest, funniest movies I've seen in a long time. The fight in the church has forever changed the song Freebird for me. As has the final action sequence(before the mid-credits one) with KC and the Sunshine Band's Give It Up. Matthew Vaughn is one twisted but brilliant filmmaker.

Creed - I expected something really good after all the positive, glowing reviews cropped up, but leading up to its release, I was not interested at all in this flick. I thought it might be decent, but the trailer was underwhelming and looked like a lame hip hop version of Rocky. Boy, was I wrong. It's probably the best sequel in the series(although I have a soft spot for Rocky III) and a damn fine sports drama in its own right. And that score was epic!

It Follows - I'd heard great things, but it's been so long since I saw a genuinely scary horror flick. I thought maybe I'd become too cynical and numb to that genre as I approach 40, but not after seeing this movie. A clever concept brilliantly executed. I was creeped out the entire time right up until that chilling final shot. And again, that score was inspired.

Goosebumps - I am not a Jack Black fan to say the least. He's ok in small doses, but I was not expecting much at all from what looked like a Jumanji wannabe. Instead, I got a witty, well-acted, occasionally scary, fun little movie that far exceeded Jumanji. In fairness, I've never read the books, so I went into this blind and with no preconceived notions of what it should be like. But this was probably the biggest surprise for me in all of 2015.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - I was cautiously optimistic from the moment it was announced. But I'd been burned so badly by the prequels and disappointed by Star Trek Into Darkness, that I refused to allow myself to get suckered by the hype. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. Abrams, Kasdan, and the entire cast and crew nailed it. Sure, it's derivative, that final space battle was a bit of a letdown, and Luke had even less screentime than Vader in Revenge of the Sith, but you could nitpick any movie to death if you wanted to. What a fun 2 1/4 hours that really did make me feel like a kid again. This is popcorn cinema at its best. It rejuvenated the franchise, washed away the foul stench(say those words in your best British Carrie Fisher voice) of the dreadful prequels, and has me genuinely geeked about Episode VIII. Thank goodness we only have to wait another 16 1/2 months.

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I think I need to make a thread called Movies from 2015 that you had neither strong or negative reaction to.

just to cover all bases

[Talleyrand]

Fury Road - Like many others, my initial thought was "Oh, sure, why not add a belated and uncalled for sequel to YET ANOTHER franchise." Obviously I was wrong.

Genisys - The reviews led me to expect the worse. It was actually quite good.

99 Homes - I didn't like the idea of Garfield as a lead, and I was right to doubt, but the film more than compensates.

Knock Knock - Did I trust Eli Roth to make a non-gore flick? I don't know, but he did a damn fine job. Heck, Green Inferno was solid (about as good as I hoped) but this was a wild card.

Jurassic World - again, extreme fear due to the lead, although this time the fear proved to be unfounded. A pretty good movie.

Trainwreck - well, that was funnier than I expected. LeBron is great.

[Talleyrand]

On a more negative note, films I expected to be atrocious trainwrecks but wound up being mediocre:

[Show spoiler]Force Awakens, Mockingjay 2

.

[Astro Zombie]

My expectations were already pretty high for Fury Road. Though I guess it still ended up exceeding them a bit.

[Captain Flint]

Mad Max: Fury Road and Ant-Man.

Wasn't expecting them to be terrible. Not the biggest fan of the original Mad Max movies and Ant-Man just sounds odd. But I ended up loving the crap out of both those movies.

[MovieKing101]

Inside Out
Creed
Straight Outta Compton.

[Troll2fan]

Creed - I had a feeling that I'd like the movie, but I feared that it was over-hyped and would be a let down. My fears were unwarranted and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

Kingsman: The Secret Service - Like Adam_ME, I knew very little of the movie going in, and didn't know what to expect. I found the movie to be both funny, enjoyable and serviceable, but the church scene blew me away. I remember rewinding and watching it three times during my first viewing of the flick. That scene alone is worth the price of admission.

[willtopower]

Originally Posted by spectre08

I thought this thread would be a good converse to the most disappointing.

what movies did you see in 2015 that you didn't expect to like, or had mixed feelings about but ended up being really enjoyable?

No Escape
I thought this looked campy, and the cast was underwhelming, but when I finally saw it I was floored. Thrilling, exciting, and surprising. I hadn't heard any spoilers, and I wasn't sure of the outcome pretty much until the credits rolled.

I'm with you on this one. I couldn't believe how much I liked it and how exciting it was.

I will add:
Seventh Son
This is a great throwback to good old fashioned fantasy. A really solid sword and sorcery with the right amount of magic, monsters, and swords. Seems completely undiscussed, but I dug the hell out of it.

Paddington
I was pretty excited for this going in, but I think it's fair to include this for myself. It seems like most children's films that get any kind of legitimate recognition belong to disney (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, because I'd love to discover more greats). This movie took me back to my childhood and was just as charming, if not more so, than some recent disney films. It's an excellent film about family values and there's enough for adults imo.

[JackKnightStarman]

There should be stipulations in this thread about what "Exceeding Expectations" or better clarification at least.
That said, the only movie that exceeded anything I could imagine, because of being let down once already by a sequel in a great series....Mad Max Fury Road.
This was the movie 1985 me thought we were getting with that turd Beyond Thunderdome. The only thing missing...Mad Mel. But Fury Road, was everything I had hoped and more.

On a different note, Tomorrowland exceeded expectations, and knowing Brad Bird, I wasn't worried. It's a shame that complaints levied at this are nothing more than "Right" wing political views, and not an indictment of what the movie is. Nothing is different in this Sci-fi thematically than most works of the same nature. But the right wing politics of a vocal few, and Disney's poor marketing, Doomed it.

I'll never understand how people take joy in what a movie costs, makes in domestic vs overseas, and the like, is used in determining if they like/want to see a movie. Same with the stuck up people who feel current movies and filmmakers are beneath them NOW, that they've seen the light on how Malick's Thin Red Line, or any "Arthouse" film from the past 20 years... Can't even compare. And they say they know cinema, but clearly haven't seen anything from the European filmmakers from the late 50's, 60's or 70's that are copied to this day by current Arthouse Director's. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I guess...

[42041]

Originally Posted by JackKnightStarman

On a different note, Tomorrowland exceeded expectations, and knowing Brad Bird, I wasn't worried. It's a shame that complaints levied at this are nothing more than "Right" wing political views, and not an indictment of what the movie is. Nothing is different in this Sci-fi thematically than most works of the same nature. But the right wing politics of a vocal few, and Disney's poor marketing, Doomed it.

I haven't seen Tomorrowland, but film critics were not too kind to it, and they're not exactly the Trump voting block...

[Karmasux96]

Originally Posted by JackKnightStarman

On a different note, Tomorrowland exceeded expectations, and knowing Brad Bird, I wasn't worried. It's a shame that complaints levied at this are nothing more than "Right" wing political views, and not an indictment of what the movie is. Nothing is different in this Sci-fi thematically than most works of the same nature. But the right wing politics of a vocal few, and Disney's poor marketing, Doomed it.

I'll never understand how people take joy in what a movie costs, makes in domestic vs overseas, and the like, is used in determining if they like/want to see a movie. Same with the stuck up people who feel current movies and filmmakers are beneath them NOW, that they've seen the light on how Malick's Thin Red Line, or any "Arthouse" film from the past 20 years... Can't even compare. And they say they know cinema, but clearly haven't seen anything from the European filmmakers from the late 50's, 60's or 70's that are copied to this day by current Arthouse Director's. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I guess...

I'd have to argue that, at least from what I've seen and how I feel myself, it's not an issue of politics. It's that that movie didn't fully realize it's premise at the expense of selling its agenda, an agenda I (a so-called right-wing) actually agree with. The problem is that Tomorrowland is a movie and as such has certain responsibilities that it has to tend to, one of which is storytelling. The movie runs in place for too long then takes off full sprint to an ending that feels more like a commercial than anything, which is unnecessary since they hit their point pretty hard throughout the entire third act.

Just my opinion, but don't get upset based on generalizations. As for the rest of your quote I have no idea what you're talking about.

[FilmKoala]

I dunno, I didn't really see much this year and everything I did see ended up being as good or bad as I expected it to be. Maybe Terminator: Genisys? I enjoyed T2 quite a bit but I was never a huge fan of the original nor am I a big Arnie fan so I didn't expect much from it. But I liked it quite a bit, I don't know if I'm the only one who did though.

Originally Posted by willtopower

Seventh Son
This is a great throwback to good old fashioned fantasy. A really solid sword and sorcery with the right amount of magic, monsters, and swords. Seems completely undiscussed, but I dug the hell out of it.

I've been wanting to see this, if for no other reason than Julianne Moore. I really need to check it out.

[Rich65]

[QUOTE=Al_The_Strange;11705750]

Man From UNCLE: I knew it wasn't going to have that much action to it, but what took me by surprise the most were the characters and how good the acting was. Plus how good the style and the production design was. It entertained perfectly on character and dialogue alone, and I found it refreshing that way.
QUOTE]

I agree on this one, my wife and I had a blast with this movie, too bad it looks like there won't be a sequel. It did the series proud, I saw an interview with David McCallum and he was pleased with the film.

[Abby is Q]

Ex Machina. I thought it looked like a silly "made for Syfy channel" movie when I first saw the trailers. I didn't see it until the video release and I had heard all they hype, so my expectations were a bit higher by the time I saw it, but after watching it it became one of my favorites of 2015.

Can't say anything else exceeded my expectations. Everything else I saw was about what I expected or worse.

[JamesKurtovich]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

[Ironhorse75]

Fury Road

At the most I was expecting an enjoyable blockbuster. I didn't expect the piece of art that was gifted to us.