2015 was undeniably one of the best years for movies in a really long time.
Films that are sure to become classics like Mad Max, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and Inside Out all made huge marks and will be remembered decades from now. We received several mega-hit franchise revivals in the forms of Creed, Star Wars, and Jurassic World, helping studios rake in cash and ensuring that we will get dozens of sequels for years to come. We even got some unexpectedly-great movies like Spongebob: Sponge Out of Water, The Intern and The Martian that broke out. Oscar movies like Spotlight, Carol, The Revenant, and The Big Short have made waves among critics and may do well with the general public very soon as well.
However, even with all of those hits, there were still some movies that went beneath the radar of most moviegoers that deserve more attention. While there were many critical successes that ended up becoming major box office flops such as The Walk, Steve Jobs, and Crimson Peak, there are many movies that received much less attention, either critically or financially, that I believe should get a second look.
Some of these choices may be somewhat controversial, but these are six movies that I saw in 2015 that I believe deserve much more than they got during their runs in theaters:
6. Mr. Holmes
Mr. Holmes, a movie by Chicago and Dreamgirls director Bill Condon, is about the last days of Sherlock Holmes, set in the post-World War II era when he is the age of ninety-three. The movie was critically lauded, especially for Sir Ian McKellen’s turn as an elderly Sherlock Holmes, but it never received too much attention from the general public, because its release was buried under a number of other Summer releases and most of the Oscar news in the room was sucked up by Mad Max.
The movie does a great service to the Sherlock Holmes series by closing it off in a tragic but fitting way, with a senile Holmes trying to figure out a mystery when his memory has faded and he cannot recall the details. It doesn’t get too hokey like many dramas that deal with similar subjects, and I cannot stress enough how good McKellen’s performance is. Any Sherlock Holmes fan should make this a must-see.
5. The Gift
The Gift, which was Joel Edgerton’s directorial debut earlier this year, premiered one week after Mission Impossible V, alongside Shaun the Sheep, Ricki and the Flash, and Fant4stic, and one week away from Straight Outta Compton, so its presence was severely masked by a crowded end-of-summer schedule. The movie actually made a big profit and made over $40 million in America (only $10 million behind Fant4stic, funnily enough), but because of all the other movies that premiered at the same time, its minor success was barely noted.
Which is a shame, of course, because The Gift is a terrific thriller. Despite being his directorial debut, Edgerton is able to create a thriller that is not only psychological for the characters, but for the audience as well. It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride that I would recommend to anyone that enjoys the thriller genre. In short, if you liked Gone Girl or Memento, you’re probably going to really enjoy this one too.
4. Mortdecai
This is probably my most controversial choice here, but for silly and stupid comedies, people really should reevaluate Mortdecai. It was a critical failure and one of the biggest box office bombs in recent years (though it soon found a lot of company with Rock the Kasbah, Our Brand is Crisis, and Victor Frankenstein, among several others), so saying it’s underrated seems strange. But I actually thoroughly enjoyed this movie, much to my surprise.
Mortdecai is a strange beast. It is a flawed movie, to be sure, but it’s also an oddly charming one. It’s one of those adult-skewing comedies that they don’t really make anymore; it’s not overtly sexual like the typical Seth Rogen or Adam Sandler flick, but it’s most definitely an adult movie. The plot is engaging, but it never causes a laugh-riot. The humor is more in the sheer silliness of the situations. Johnny Depp’s performance is over-the-top, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your taste, and he’s assisted by a strong supporting cast from Ewan McGregor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany, and America’s national treasure Jeff Goldblum, who all play their parts tongue-in-cheek.
If you like your comedies silly and stupid, then I recommend Mortdecai. I’m determined that this film will become a cult classic one day, after all the initial hate has faded away. It’s a very underrated choice.
3. Chappie
Chappie kind of sucks, but it’s also a great movie.
I understand that the above sentence was extremely contradictory, but it’s my feeling towards it. The movie was a bit of a box office disappointment in America and got pretty bad reviews, but unlike Mortdecai, its cult following is already growing only months after its initial release.
The movie is extremely strange, barely coherent at times, and throws stars like Sigourney Weaver into miscast roles that don’t get nearly enough screentime to justify their inclusion, but the movie succeeds at… Something. Somewhere in the combination of South African gangsters teaching a robot how to succeed in life while the robot begins to transcend everyone around him in intelligence and Hugh Jackman playing a sociopathic loser with a ridiculous obsession with his own success, the movie’s flaws come together and cancel each other out. Chappie is ridiculously entertaining, even if it is tonally jarring and has too many subplots for its own good.
Any movie where the South African rappers Ninja and Yolandi play fictional criminals named Ninja and Yolandi and wear clothes with their own band’s name on it is one that needs to be watched.
2. Focus
Focus is the ultimate example of an underrated movie. The film was moderately well-reviewed, but it wasn’t anything special. The movie was a box office success, but not enough to make any note. The movie is already all-but-forgotten and it didn’t have those qualities to eventually make it into a cult classic in the years to come.
It’s a really rare type of Will Smith movie– one that is small-scale, and one where Will Smith plays out of type. It’s not aiming to be a masterpiece, and Will Smith isn’t trying to get an Oscar, so knowing all of that, it’s really enjoyable.
The movie, about a group of pickpockets and con artists who try to get the biggest scores, is a very entertaining one. It’s actually two separate movies, divided at the halfway point. The two halves share characters, but they are completely separate plotlines for the most part. This may put some off, but it’s done well enough.
The cinematography for the movie is gorgeous, and I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten any awards attention for it. Will Smith and Margot Robbie give great performances, and their story is told in a fairly predictable, but still very satisfying way. And as is expected from a about con artists, the movie has some extremely tense moments that do a really good job at keeping the audience on edge.
Focus is most definitely the film I’d recommend most as a check-it-out-if-you-missed-it movie, though there’s one more movie that is more underrated than anything else on this list…
1. American Ultra
I adore American Ultra. It bombed at the box office, and got mediocre reviews, but this is one instance where I have to say that the critics were absolutely nuts not to love the movie. In fact, this movie bears a lot of resemblance to Dredd for this very reason (they even made almost the same amount at the box office).
If you don’t know, this movie is pretty nuts. It was marketed as a stoner comedy, but it’s not really like that at all. It’s a crazy Scott Pilgrim-style movie mixed with a Jason Bourne-esque spy plot about a former superspy who was deactivated and memories erased until they suddenly reawaken. Since it’s written by Max Landis (who wrote 2012’s Chronicle), you already know that the movie is going to have strong dialogue, so mixing that with a ridiculous plot makes for an extremely entertaining combination.
American Ultra was destined to bomb. It’s really weird, but not in the way that would catch fire like Napoleon Dynamite, and it’s not a turn-your-brain-off popcorn movie because the entire movie is about subverting tropes and cliches to keep the viewer off-guard. But this is a movie where John Leguizamo plays a dorky drug dealer and Kristen Stewart actually gives a good performance– it’s surprising in countless ways, and should be on any movie fan’s watch-list.
What movies from 2015 do you think deserve a second chance from moviegoers? Name your underrated picks of the year in the comments below!