2010 Movies I Liked

Now for the movies that I liked (sometimes more then they deserved), moving up from the ones that I wasn't thrilled with, and those I found forgettable. I'm still not going to run out and buy every single one of these on DVD, but I'll probably end up owning most of them eventually. Putting together the top parts of my 2010 list has been harder, because most of these films could be juggled and I probably wouldn't notice if Robin Hood and Alice in Wonderland switched places.

#20. The Losers

There were three movies about teams of heroic dudes released this year (four if you count RED). Of the three, I liked The Losers most. It didn't have the star-studded cast of The Expendables or the classic history of The A-Team, but it was silly cheesy fun that didn't take itself too seriously, but also didn't devolve into ridiculous action sequences. And it based a whole scene off a Journey song. What's not to like?

#19. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

I found this an enjoyably cute piece of entertainment, and strangely the second Nic Cage movie I liked this year. I've decided he plays crazy side characters well.

#18. Alice in Wonderland

I can only take Tim Burton's visuals in small doses, but I'll admit he knows how to make a damn fine looking film and his work was perfectly suited for adapting Lewis Carroll's classic. I'm not sure how I felt about playing up the Mad Hatter character, but Johnny Depp turned in another trippy performance and the movie added up to madcap 3D fun (though I'll argue the 3D was an unnecessary waste of money).

#17. Robin Hood 

And this was a pretty big disappointment. Looking ahead to the releases of 2010, I'd thought this had the potential to be one of the year's best, with a top-notch director and cast, and all the makings of a great medieval epic. Also, I was ready to have Disney's Robin Hood replaced as my top Robin Hood film. But Ridley Scott's film fell flat for me. I wanted to see a Robin Hood story about steeling from the rich, not a movie about Russell Crowe repelling a fictional French invasion. It felt like a prequel and ended just when I'd wanted it to start.

#16. RED

There were a bunch of movies this year that seemed based off the basic premise of throwing a bunch of famous actors together and hoping the audience would show up. This one was the best, probably because it was based off a comic book (just kidding). Actually, it worked because it had an interesting premise: What happens to action heroes when they get old?

#15. Clash of the Titans 

I believe the technical term is "So-Bad-It's-Good." Watch Voldemort square off against Qui-Gon Jinn! This film features some of the most ridiculous lines of the year ("Don't look this bitch in the eye") and horribly mangles any legend it might have been based off. But once you get past that, it's some pretty enjoyable mindless entertainment.

#14. How to Train Your Dragon

On the other hand, How to Train Your Dragon showed that a kid's film can get away with taking some risks and pulled of a storyline that had darker and more mature elements than most of the adult action films released this year.

#13. Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The newest Narnia movie was a worthy follow to a series that is very a much a kids version of Lord of the Rings. Moving to Fox from Disney, it still didn't manage to find much of an audience in U.S. which will probably put a sequel in jeopardy, but considering the next two books take dramatically different tones, I don't know that films would work out well. Besides, while I enjoyed Dawn Treader, it really did nothing new especially thought provoking.

#12. Tangled

Maybe it's because I grew up with The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, but this seemed like a perfect return to form for Disney's animation department, which (apart from Pixar) hasn't turned out anything decent since the '90s. Casting Zachary Levi (star of my personal favorite show Chuck) probably helped, but I was also impressed by the way they got rid of talking animals but still let them steel the show. So, solid animation and nostalgia bumped this up the list, though the 3D didn't seem to add anything.

#11. Prince of Persia

Something about this movie (possibly Gemma Arterton) worked for me, though it wasn't nearly as good as I think it could have been. SPOILERS. But anyone who didn't see that Ben Kingsley was the villain just doesn't have a grasp on cheesy movie clichés. I mean he was bald and had a goatee. And as anachronistic as it was, Alfred Molina's small business who seemed to have just left a Tea Party rally was funny for me.

And up next will be my top 10 films of the year.