10 Recent Movies NOBODY Expected To Be Good

What a pleasant surprise these recent movies all were.

By Jack Pooley /

Though we as moviegoers might think we can spot a dud project coming from a mile away, it's always fun when a film the collective world has written off pre-release actually ends up being shockingly good.

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Whether due to poor marketing or the underwhelming track records of the talent involved, these films didn't move the needle at all with audiences en masse - that is, until bewilderingly positive reviews came out and they got to see them for themselves.

Are these 10 pleasantly surprising movies from the past year a testament to the power of low expectations? Perhaps, but that's also a little unfair to the talented filmmakers and actors who evidently went above and beyond to ensure these films all punched well above their weight.

From seemingly low-rent genre films which delivered a damn fun time, to almost hilariously robust entries to long-in-the-tooth franchises, seemingly stodgy video game adaptations, naff corporate biopics, and everything in-between, these movies all turned out so much better than anyone expected.

The lesson here? No matter how bad a movie might look, there's always the possibility it's actually a low-key banger...

10. Plane

Look, it's a movie called Plane starring Gerard Butler and the bloke from Luke Cage (Mike Colter) with the trailer giving off distinct "this should've been a streaming film" vibes. How good could it possibly be?

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Yet as much as Plane was a meme long before it came out - largely due to its comically unimaginative title - the end product is precisely the sort of modest, meat-and-potatoes genre film we desperately need more of these days.

Indeed, nobody's going to see a movie called Plane for a nuanced meditation on the human condition, but this gamy action-thriller benefits considerably from the entertaining two-hander between Butler and Colter, its snappy pace, and slew of tense, well-staged set-pieces.

If "Dad Thrillers" tend to be a point of mockery for both critics and audiences, Plane proved that when the ingredients are all there - a fun high-concept, well-matched leads, and loony action - they can be unpretentiously joyous.

That it ended up receiving better reviews than many of the year's most anticipated blockbusters - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Flash, The Marvels, and Wish, to name just a few - is absolutely shocking in the best way.

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