Top 20 Movies That Exceeded Expectations

i am iron man well that was surprising welcome to watch mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 movies that exceeded expectations for this list we're looking at movies that did far better than we anticipated based on critical reception box office numbers and awards number 20 kingsman the secret service spy movies are usually pretty entertaining but kingsman surprised everyone with how unique it was my point is that the lack of a silver spoon has set you on a certain path but you needn't stay on it if you're prepared to adapt and learn you can transform you know like in my fair lady no i know full of surprises the film follows a foul-mouthed criminal teen who trains to become an organization's next secret agent marketing couldn't show just how vibrantly violent and darkly comedic the movie was that's his rank harry you blew up his head it's a bit much innit but word of mouth helped spread its hilarious brutality the film was praised for its stylish action sequences as was newcomer taryn edgerton's performance it became director matthew vaughn's highest grossing movie which is pretty impressive considering his previous was part of fox's x-men franchise it was successful enough to spark a film franchise earning a sequel and even a prequel i'm gonna shove your manners up your [ __ ] so are we going to stand around here all day or are we going to fight number 19 slumdog millionaire an underdog story through and through danny boyle's masterpiece did far better than anyone could have guessed i can safely say that tonight is the biggest night of both our lives the film follows jamal malik a who wants to be a millionaire contestant accused of cheating who tells his life story to show how he knows each answer are you ready for the final question for 20 million rupees no but maybe it's written no it's a feel-good rags-to-riches story that earned 378 million dollars worldwide on a budget of only 15 million dollars it also won eight oscars including best picture but all of its future success was put into jeopardy when warner brothers closed us distributor warner independent pictures just as filming wrapped warner brothers clearly didn't know what it had on its hands as the straight to dvd release was considered luckily fox searchlight came on to co-distribute and the rest is history [Music] number 18 napoleon dynamite there are plenty of indie movies that became box office giants though not many are as big of a cultural phenomenon as napoleon dynamite was the comedy follows an exceptionally odd teen who attempts to help his friend win the school class presidency do you think people will vote for me heck yes i'd vote for you like what are my skills well you have a sweet bike and you're really good at hooking up with chicks featuring an incredibly unique sense of humor the film was made for a mere four hundred thousand dollars only one thousand of it went to star john heater pauline give me some of your tots no go find your own come on give me some of your tots no freaking starved i didn't get to eat anything today however a successful showing at sundance led to fox searchlight's purchase which led to a limited theatrical run followed by a wide release and a worldwide poll of 46 million dollars peter was able to renegotiate his contract to earn more and you couldn't go to a department store without seeing vote for pedro t-shirts everywhere vote for pedro vote for pedro both for battle pedro pedro vote for pedro number 17 saw the saw franchise is one of the most successful of all time but it has a very humble origin hello amanda you don't know me but i know you i want to play a game it began as a low budget short film so that writers james juan and lee winnell could receive funding that funding was only around 1.2 million dollars and the production only lasted 18 days what about it it's brand new so so somebody obviously wanted us to know the time directed by juan and co-starring winnell saw was a monster hit at sundance and tiff in theaters it pulled 103 million dollars making it one of the most profitable horror movies of all time it ushered in a new horror trend that hollywood would be obsessed with throughout the 2000s itself receiving several sequels more importantly it jump-started juan and winnell's careers as modern horror icons number 16 star trek although j.j abrams had made a name for himself and tv this 2009 reboot of the beloved sci-fi series was only his second feature directorial effort after mission impossible 3. if you're half the man your father was jim starfleet could use you you can be an officer in four years you can have your own ship and hate not only that but there hadn't been a new movie in seven years and with the franchise's reputation for odd numbered entries being less than great the 11th overall film had fate stacked against it your argument precludes the possibility of a no win scenario i don't believe in knowing scenarios however the back to basics plot fantastic cast and incredible effects made star trek a hit it earned a couple of sequels helped begin an era of new tv shows and led to abram's jumping into another cherished sci-fi film [Music] the series will do number 15 the hangover you'd have been forgiven for writing this one off as just another raunchy comedy from the director of old school and while it featured plenty of risque jokes it was also much more clever than anyone could have guessed it's not gambling when you know you're going to win counting cards is a foolproof system following an especially wild bachelor party three friends awaken to find the groom missing and must piece together the previous night i don't think i've ever been this hungover after the hard rock i blacked out it was like emptiness okay we have up until 10 pm so that gives us a 12-hour window where we could have lost him it's hard not to get sucked in by the mystery as every scene adds another piece to the absurd puzzle and every hilarious encounter is navigated by rising stars bradley cooper ed helms and zach galifianakis with a budget of 35 million dollars it brought in 469 million worldwide and spawned two sequels for better or for worse guys one time deal deal deal okay oh dear lord that's classic number 14 casino royale there were plenty of good reasons to not be excited about a new bond in the mid-2000s a big part of the fandom insisted that daniel craig wouldn't work simply because he's blonde which sounds ridiculous in retrospect a more understandable reason was that the franchise's formula had gotten stale especially in 2002's schlocky cgi-heavy die another day casino royale took the character back to his roots literally by showing him earn his double o license i knew it was too early to promote you well i understand double those have a very short life expectancy so your mistake will be short lived the grittier take from goldeneye director martin campbell and craig's grounded brutal portrayal breathed life into the tired series thrilling stunts and a fantastic villain also helped make it a franchise high her name's bond james bond number 13 get out it's not unheard of for a comedic actor to transition to something serious but jordan peel's move to horror behind the camera no less surprised everyone get out sorry man okay get out known mostly for his work on sketch comedy shows mad tv and kian peel peel's directorial debut came out of nowhere trailers for get out couldn't give too much away but that means no one knew what to expect from it now you're in the sunken place [Music] it ended up being an incredibly clever and chilling tale about institutional racism as well as one of the most important horror films in recent memory on a budget of 4.5 million dollars it brought in 272 million dollars worldwide it also earned four oscar nominations with one win to peel screenplay which is incredibly rare for the genre oh no no no no no no no no no no no no no i do something that's not my experience not at all number 12 the lego movie at first glance or maybe even the second and third the lego movie seemed like a cash grab feature meant only to sell more of the iconic bricks to kids what do i do i don't have my instructions [Music] how wrong that assumption was following an ordinary construction worker prophesied as special the movie told an interesting story about conformity park between the lines yes drop off dry cleaning before noon read the headlines don't forget to smile always root for the local sports team it featured incredible voice over work from the likes of chris pratt elizabeth banks will ferrell liam neeson and will arnett as the scene stealing batman hey guys i think we're about to crash into the sun yeah but it's gonna look really cool the animation was surprisingly fantastic and the jokes were often hilarious its worldwide pull of 468 million dollars on a 60 million dollar budget led to a sequel and two spin-offs not too shabby for a tie-in movie about toys number 11. how to train your dragon this adaptation of cressida cowell's book has turned into one of dreamworks most successful franchises though you wouldn't have guessed it back in 2010. so i guess we'll share it read it uh oh all mine then wow so uh okay i'll see you uh tomorrow marketing didn't make it look very original or special from dreamworks other works like shrek or madagascar everything we know about you guys is wrong but the story of the misunderstood creatures and the boy who sought to redeem them was extraordinarily heartwarming beautifully animated flight sequences made great use of 3d and although it had a hefty budget of 165 million dollars it brought in close to half a billion worldwide two oscar nominations two sequels and numerous tv spin-offs later how to train your dragon stance as the gold standard for the studio's animation capabilities turns out all we needed was a little one of this you just gestured all of me number 10 pirates of the caribbean the curse of the black pearl while the franchise has definitely fallen from grace the first entry was a stellar adventure movie but it was the family friendly disney's first pg-13 film and it didn't exactly draw positive word of mouth for being based on a theme park ride [Music] however the pg-13 rating ended up being entirely necessary the explosive action and spooky effects for the black pearl's cursed crew made it thrilling and captivating it also earned johnny depp his first oscar nomination and led to him as well as pirates in general finding massive mainstream success that's got to be the best part i've ever seen so it would seem on a budget of 140 million dollars it brought in over 650 million worldwide bring me that horizon number nine batman begins christopher nolan is one of the biggest directors working today but at the time he signed on to batman begins he was yet unproven with big budget productions not only that but the caped crusader's reputation had taken a hit thanks to 1997's overly cheesy batman and robin you get the ice i'll get the iceman and many fans were probably fine leaving him on the page or in animation well a guy dresses up like a back clearly has issues nolan's more realistic interpretation turned out to be just what the character needed darker visuals and more insight into bruce's training gave a better understanding of the hero who strikes fear into the thugs of gotham if you make yourself more than just a man if you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can't stop you then you become something else entirely which is legend and it gave us what many consider one of the best trilogies of all time i never said thank you and you'll never have to [Music] number eight rise of the planet of the apes rebooting a beloved sci-fi film series is always hard hey some things aren't meant to be changed you need to accept that but it's especially difficult to garner excitement when the previous reboot is as maligned as tim burton's 2001 film was add on the fact that this movie was swapping out practical effects for cgi and it left some moviegoers scratching their heads i swear you know everything about the human brain except the way it works however said cgi effects were astonishing earning several prestigious awards and an oscar nomination andy circus's layered mocap performance as caesar was heart-wrenching carrying the fascinating origin of the hyper-intelligent apes caesar is home as a result ryze became the highest grossing film in the series at 481 million dollars worldwide that is until the sequel was released in 2014. number seven 21 jump street when hollywood adapts a tv show into a feature film it usually doesn't go well fortunately for you two we're reviving a cancelled undercover police program from the 80s and revamping it for modern times you see the guys in charge of this stuff lack creativity and are completely out of ideas however turning the johnny depp led cop show into an action comedy with jonah hill and channing tatum was a genius idea the film follows two younger looking cops going undercover as high schoolers to stop the spread of a new drug infiltrate the dealers find a supply we get to be brothers infiltrate the dealers find a supplier what if we find the supplier first we don't have to worry about the deal god damn infiltrate the dealers find the supply the comedic chemistry between hill and tatum resulted in one of the best buddy cop movies in some time not only did it pull in 201 million dollars on a 42 million dollar budget but its sequel was even more successful this could have easily been a serious slog of a movie given its source material but it was a delightful and hilarious surprise i think your mistake you're literally wearing your badge did you really just check to see if you were wearing your badge number six district nine from a failed adaptation of the video game halo rose this groundbreaking sci-fi film from producer peter jackson and director neil blumkamp although its original incarnation was a failure and the filmmakers were forced to recycle props and set pieces the film soared past any expectations well the truth is nobody really knew what this place was there's a lot of secrets in district 9. the film's grimy set design fits splendidly with the documentary aesthetic and story of xenophobia that's not to mention its terrific visual effects which earned it one of four oscar nominations worldwide district 9 earned 7 times its 30 million dollar budget hello little guy for you okay there you go eat your sweetie he's gonna eat he's gonna eat his sweetie that's insanely impressive considering it mostly relied on viral marketing and stylistic humans only ads they must just go i don't know where they go and they must just go here if they were from another country we might understand but they're not even from this planet at all number five spider-man into the spider-verse it's no secret that sony's handling of spider-man has let down fans on several occasions you know with great ability comes great accountability that's not even how the saying goes with low reviews for venom released a few months prior the fact that this was animated instead of live action and that it was anything but a traditional spider-man story were all signals to not get our hopes up when do i know i'm spider-man you won't that's all it is miles a leap of faith however spider-verse blew all expectations out of the water the revolutionary animation was unlike anything we'd ever seen and made it feel like we were watching a comic book miles morales journey to discover that anyone can wear the mask was at times heartwarming and at others downright tragic miles the hardest thing about this job is you can't always save everybody like it was my fault you wouldn't understand miles we're probably the only ones who do understand it surprisingly beat disney and pixar for the best animated feature oscar number four iron man despite the mcu now being the biggest film franchise in existence it began on the backs of an actor and character who weren't exactly popular it is one thing to question the official story and another thing entirely to make wild accusations or insinuate that i'm a superhero i never said you're a superhero didn't iron man was far from a marvel a-lister at the time and robert downey jr's career was only beginning to reform after drug arrests in the early 2000s with marvel movies dropping in quality in the mid 2000s with the likes of fantastic four in spider-man 3 the newly formed marvel studios needed to reassure moviegoers although picking the director of elf was a strange choice jon favreau proved himself a capable action filmmaker iron man earned 585 million dollars worldwide on a 140 million dollar budget worst thing to have happened i think we're going to be fine more importantly it ushered in a new and exciting era of superhero films mr stark you become part of a bigger universe you just don't know it yet who the hell are you nick fury director of shield oh i'm here to talk to you about the avenger initiative number three rocky the original rocky was written in just over three days filmed in 28 days and only given a budget of around 960 thousand dollars because then newcomer sylvester stallone refused to sell the script unless he could star oh my kid not even in the guys league so the bar for its monetary expectations was probably already low but it's underdog production and story acted as signs for its future performance i can't see nothing gotta open my eye come here [Applause] the film would go on to become a resounding success earning a whopping 117 million dollars at the box office and winning three out of 10 oscar nominations it turned sylvester stallone into a bonafide movie star here it's chaos rocky you went the distance you went to 15 rounds how do you feel all right what are you it also kick-started a decade's long-lasting series that spawned another franchise number two mad max fury road people may have been surprised to see george miller return to this post-apocalyptic franchise 30 years after the last entry and multiple problems behind the scenes surely didn't help the morale of cast and crew members how does it feel it hurts out here everything hurts you want to get through this do as i say however what was achieved is now considered one of the best action films of all time a symbol plot and high octane thrills meant any general moviegoer could be entertained the film was praised for charlize theron's intense performance did you see it she went under the wheels did you see it she went under the wheels we keep moving now we keep moving and the use of practical effects and real modified death cars bolstered the film's extreme chase sequences while it didn't necessarily wow at the box office it did win 6 oscars out of 10 nominations an unheard of feat for action movies more movies in the series are now in development before we unveil our most unexpected number one pick here are a few honorable mentions the shawshank redemption a non-horror stephen king adaptation now considered one of the best movies ever i guess it comes down to a simple choice really get busy living don't get busy die titanic a historical romance with 11 oscar wins you learn to take life as it comes at you oh you go count to make each day count well said jack yeah yeah to making it count mean girls a teen comedy that's much deeper than you think being at old orchard mall kind of reminded me of being home in africa by the watering hole and the animals are in heat edge of tomorrow a clever twist on time loops the ship is going to explode what are you doing find me when you wake up come find me when you wake up deadpool proved that r-rated superhero movies could be box office juggernauts i'm gonna do this the old-fashioned way with two swords and maximum effort hear the music before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you'll have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one star wars episode 4 a new hope it might be strange to think about now but star wars did not have a strong start george lucas and 20th century fox were initially convinced it wouldn't perform well among other blockbusters that summer [Music] i got a bad feeling about this apparently many theater chains held the same belief as the film only received a limited release in around 40 theaters but swarms of crowds wanting to see the movie led to a much wider release pulling in 503 million dollars on an 11 million dollar budget look i ain't in this for your revolution and i'm not in it for you princess i expect to be well paid i'm in it for the money you needn't worry about your reward if money is all that you love then that's what you'll receive star wars earned seven oscars and its cast were made superstars overnight the little movie that could built an empire of sequels tv shows video games and of course toys great shot kid that was one in a million remember the force will be with you always do you agree with our picks check out this other recent clip from watchmojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest [Music] videos [Music] you

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Rating: 4.8795753 out of 5

Keywords: movies that exceeded expectations, surprisingly good action movies, surprisingly good comedy movies, best comedy movies, best action movies, movies better than expected, top action movies, top sci-fi movies, top comedy movies, top marvel movies, marvel, mcu, iron man, tony stark, robert downey jr., star wars, 21 jump street, mad max: fury road, spider-man: into the spiderverse, rocky, Film, Movies, Action, watchmojo, watch mojo, top 10, list, mojo

Id: HcUrvZbpcQc

Length: 26min 3sec (1563 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 23 2020