I watched a total of 27 movies in cinemas in 2011. Wow, that's kind of a lot. I wonder how much would that cost in money terms? As the title says, here are my top ten films for 2011 in no particular order.
1. Sucker Punch
I always love Zack Snyder movies because they are usually stunning in visual. But for Sucker Punch, not only that it was breathtakingly beautiful, it also had a good story. Add that with a powerful cast, then you have a great movie. I remember watching the first fight scene involving the main character played by Emily Browning with some evil robotic-like samurai, it caught my breath away. In short, Sucker Punch is stunning and inspiring.
2. 127 Hours
Talking about inspiring, 127 Hours is just the right movie for that. The scenes doesn't varied much and mostly revolved around the same area (he was trapped in between rocks...duh!) but that's not an issue of course. The scenes were powerful and by the end of the movie, you will definitely feel inspired. I was also amazed by the performance of James Franco as the center character who basically run the whole movie. Truly an amazing film. Bravo!
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
I don't think I need to say much about this movie because I bet everyone knows how great the franchise is. Although I think Part 1 is slightly better than Part 2, this movie nevertheless gave the audience the epic finale that fans had been waiting for.
4. Thor
I never know anything about Thor before, I mean Thor the superhero. To finally know the character through this movie is good for new fans like me. Although I'm not sure how faithful the movie is to the comics, but I guess it was a good interpretation of it. The story was simple though, but good enough to keep the audience entertained. Asgard, the homeland of Thor, was beautifully visualized. The cast were great too. Nothing to complaint, really.
5. X-Men: First Class
Another superhero movie. And this time there are a bunch of them. X-Men: First Class is a great sort-of-reboot to the franchise. First of all, they have great and powerful cast; James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Kevin Bacon, etc. Next, they have great and moving plot. Then, they also have great fight scenes. I would say that they have not a single scene that were boring. In fact, some of them are really good, like when Xavier and Raven (or Mystique) first met when they were kids, or when Hank McCoy (or Beast) and Mystique had a conversation about being normal and getting rid of their 'illness'. It's not all about fight scenes for this movie, it's the story that's important. But you also get a healthy dose of action scenes in the film, so it's quite a balance between those two, a great combination I must say.
6. Paranormal Activity 2
No, no, it's not a typo. I really mean Paranormal Activity 2, not Paranormal Activity 3. The movie was released late December 2010 / early January 2011 (honestly, I don't quite remember when) in Malaysia. I watched it in January 2011, so it got into the list. I really like how the story slowly unfold and things start to go bump in the night (literally speaking). Then people were screaming, baby was crying and things moved on their own. This movie brings me chills. In case people were wondering; yes, I watched Paranormal Activity 3, and no, it's not in the list.
7. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The title is kind of weird to me, but the movie was simply superb. This movie is packed with some amazing scenes. The opening scene when the mother chimp tried to protect her baby was totally good and sad. The scene when Caesar (the main chimp character) begged to Will Rodman (James Franco) to get him free from captivity was...sigh~ simply touched my heart and made me want to shed a tear. And the scene when Caesar finally spoken his first word was very, very powerful. If you haven't watch this movie yet, please, watch it. It's good. Really, really good. Watch it. Now. Go!
8. Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa
The only Asian movie in the list, this Malaysian movie is loosely based on the 16th century document of Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. Also known as The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines and Clash of Empires: The Battle for Asia in other countries, the film see actors from Malaysia and other countries collaborated in a fine movie about power struggle and politics in Malay Peninsular. It also introduced Malay culture and history to the rest of the world. Not every year you can see this type of movie in Malaysia, so it's a great effort by the filmmaker.
9. Insidious
Another horror movie on the list. From the people behind the Saw franchise, Insidious certainly is one of the best horror movie that I've seen in 2011. Although I have to admit the first half of the movie is better than the second half (when the story unfold to you the reason behind everything), but overall it is a good movie with a good scare here and there. Definitely worth viewing.
10. The Thing
Wow, I really like this movie. It's a prequel to The Thing that were released in 1982. Yeah, they have same name, I know, a bit confusing to explain. The original was released even before I was born, but I remembered watching it on TV. Although I can't remember much of it, the good news is that you don't have to watch the original to appreciate the prequel. Mary Elizabeth Winstead starred in this movie, and I like her a lot, so little wonder why I love The Thing. But I don't like this movie just because of the main actress, I also like it because of the pace, story and atmosphere that it brings. And also the cast. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was in it. Did I mention that?
So there you have it, my top 10 movies of 2011. Hopefully 2012 will bring even more good movies to us. I hope you enjoy my post.
Images from
Wikipedia.
