The best films for a group don't flatten the experience - they create one. You want something that generates opinions, debates, a reason to stay up later than planned.
The 2010s were defined by a wave of filmmakers who understood that the best genre films work on multiple levels simultaneously.
Action at its finest is pure cinema â image, sound, and momentum doing what words cannot. These films understand that.
A case of the flu quickly morphs into a pandemic. As the death toll mounts and the living panic, the government plans extreme measures to contain it.
A brutal mugging leaves Grey Trace paralyzed in the hospital and his beloved wife dead. A billionaire inventor soon offers Trace a cure - an artificial intelligence implant called STEM that will enhance his body. Now able to walk, Grey finds that he also has superhuman strength and agility - skills he uses to seek revenge against the thugs who destroyed his life.
A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring a new hope to the galaxy.
Zephyr, now known as Z, rides the seas with only one goal: Destroy all pirates and their dreams at becoming King of Pirates. When Luffy and his crew encounter him at sea, not only are they utterly defeated by the man with an arm made of Seastone, Nami, Robin, and Chopper are turned 10 years younger due to Z's minion Ain. Luffy is so determined to win against him that he does not even notice Z's master plan that could sacrifice thousands of lives.
Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool battles the evil and powerful Cable and other bad guys to save a boy's life.
What separates great action from great noise is consequence. Every punch, every chase, every choice has to matter. These films make it matter.
As bass guitarist for a garage-rock band, Scott Pilgrim has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. But when Ramona Flowers skates into his heart, he finds she has the most troublesome baggage of all: an army of ex-boyfriends who will stop at nothing to eliminate him from her list of suitors.
During an unfortunate series of events, a friend of Kung Fury is assassinated by the most dangerous kung fu master criminal of all time, Adolf Hitler, a.k.a Kung Führer. Kung Fury decides to travel back in time to Nazi Germany in order to kill Hitler and end the Nazi empire once and for all.
Two years after the events of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the moon that Hagoromo Otsutsuki created long ago to seal away the Gedo Statue begins to descend towards the world, threatening to become a meteor that would destroy everything on impact. Amidst this crisis, a direct descendant of Kaguya Otsutsuki named Toneri Otsutsuki attempts to kidnap Hinata Hyuga but ends up abducting her younger sister Hanabi. Naruto and his allies now mount a rescue mission before finding themselves embroiled in a final battle to decide the fate of everything.
Having defeated the best fighters of the Imperial Japanese army in occupied Shanghai, Ip Man and his family settle in post-war Hong Kong. Struggling to make a living, Master Ip opens a kung fu school to bring his celebrated art of Wing Chun to the troubled youth of Hong Kong. His growing reputation soon brings challenges from powerful enemies, including pre-eminent Hung Gar master, Hung Quan.
The spirited Boruto Uzumaki, son of Seventh Hokage Naruto, is a skilled ninja who possesses the same brashness and passion his father once had. However, the constant absence of his father, who is busy with his Hokage duties, puts a damper on Boruto's fire. He ends up meeting his father's friend Sasuke, and requests to become... his apprentice!? The curtain on the story of the new generation rises!
An ending is everything. It's the last thing you carry with you. These films understand that - and they make it count.
These films prove that action and intelligence are not opposites. The best of them require both to work.