As the calendar rolls over into July yet again, we’re already halfway through space year 2012 and right smack in the middle of blockbuster season. While Jack recently took a look at what the rest of the summer holds for you movie loving folks, I thought this was an ideal opportunity to take a look back over the previous six months to pin down those few titles which captured my attention in theatres.

Welcome to my Top Five Movies of 2012… so far.

5. THE PIRATES: IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS
[Peter Lord/Hugh Grant – March]
The latest from stop motion genius’ Aardman Animation, The Pirates told a tale of the titular salty sea dogs who go on a marvellous adventure to win a coveted Pirate of the year prize. Apart from the fact that it features fabulous characters, zinging dialogue and a fun filled plot, the most amazing thing about The Pirates is the painstaking process itself – a four year journey to bring a work of art to the screen. The voice work is engaging (from Hugh Grant, MartinFreeman and more) and the level of detail in each and every scene is simply astounding.

Available on home video in September. Read our full review.


4. THE RAID
[Gareth Evans/Iko Uwais – May]
The third feature from a basically unknown Welsh director living and working in Indonesia, there was no reason to expect anything from this years The Raid but even since its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last year, anticipation for the film had been rising. And the hype was entirely deserved as TheRaid is easily the finest pure action film we’ve seen in cinemas for many a year – taking the influences of Indonesian martial art Silat and bringing them to bear on a tough and gritty, set piece filled climb through an isolated apartment block. The fights are brutal, the gunplay is exciting and the kills are guaranteed to get a rise out of any audience. You’re going to hear a lot from Evans over the next few years, with English and foreign language projects on the way and get used to seeing Iko Uwais as well – the world’s latest action star. Top class entertainment.

The Raid is coming to blu-ray and DVD in September, check out our full review here.


3. THE MUPPETS
[James Bobin/Jason Segel – February]
As someone who was a little too young for The Muppets craze and generally unimpressed with the movies I chanced upon as a younger thing, I really wasn’t sure what to expect when the big screen revamp of the characters was announced. Turns out I should have been expecting awesome.

The Muppets is a joy, taking the best elements of the original show, mixing in some top drawer musical numbers, a dash of self aware humour and a fun premise and delivering one of the most gleefully enjoyable films of the year. And much of it is down to Jason Segel, who not only pitched the original story but also produced the film and plays the lead role. His love for the characters shines through in every frame and helps to reintroduce the world for new fans while also delvering plenty for the Henson faithful.

Out now on blu-ray and DVD – reviews here and here.


2. THE AVENGERS
[Josh Whedon/ Robert Downey Jr – April]

The Marvel movies to date, Iron Man and Thor etc, have been fairly enjoyable affairs but it has been clear for some years that they were all leading up to something truly special, the superhero mash up known as The Avengers. But few could have anticipated just how awesome it was going to be.

In our humble opinion, much of that is down to one man – Joss Whedon. With just a single feature to credit to his name, some may have doubted his ability to shoulder a complex blockbuster with a plethora of characters and a huge amount of cash riding on the outcome. But not us. Whedon is a genius and the decision to not only bring him on board as director but also give him the chance to rewrite the script translated into not only potentially the best comic book flick ever made but also the third most successful movie of all time with a box office of $1.4 billion. Take note studio types – people like spectacle but they’re also willing to throw cash in your direction for something much harder to create – a genuinely compelling movie experience. The Avengers has everything you could want from a blockbuster and if you haven’t seen it yet, we look on you with a mixture of shame, pity and a teensy bit of envy.

The Avengers is also out on home video in September. Our review is here.


1. THE GREY
[Joe Carnahan/ Liam Neeson – January]
Coming out of nowhere to be dumped unceremoniously into the recycle bin of a January cinema release, The Grey is not a film to be dismissed lightly. Writer director Joe Carnahan may be better known these days for over the top action flicks like The A-Team and Smokin’ Aces but his big break came in 2002 with the incredibly wrought drama of Narc. For fans of that underrated classic, The Grey is a real return to form for the director, telling a spare and intimate story about a group of men in an impossibly difficult situation who just want to survive long enough to get home.

The story, penned with Ian Mackenzie Jeffers (who wrote the original short that movie is based on) could easily have become a generic machismo laden jaunt but Carnahan sets his stall early with a marvellous scene where lead Neeson calms a mortally wounded comrade, easing him into the silence sleep of death. This is not your regular action film, these characters desperately want to survive and we are made to feel the loss of each and every person as their lupine enemies close in.

Neeson adds real weight to each and every scene of TheGrey, while also bringing his unique physicality to a difficult role. The supporting players are uniformly good and the real world location shooting will send a chill through your bones. Absolutely unmissable.

The Grey is out not on DVD and blu-ray – read our theatrical and DVD reviews.


The summer movie season has plenty more to give and there are tasty morsel on the way later in the year as well, like Ben Affleck’s Argo, Bond’s return in Skyfall and, of course, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey debuting in December. Why not tell us what your favourite flicks of 2012 so far were below and stay tuned to clickonline.com for the latest news on your future classics.