X-Men - First Class (2011)
Matthew Vaughn drags the X-Men back to 1962 and hands the franchise to two terrific actors. A stylish, confident reboot that I admired more than I loved. 7/10.
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Attack the Block (2011)
Joe Cornish turns a South London estate into a siege movie, and a teenage mugger into a hero, with more nerve and wit than its budget has any right to. 8/10.
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Hanna (2011)
Joe Wright leaves the drawing rooms behind and makes a fairy-tale spy thriller, scored by The Chemical Brothers and built around a remarkable Saoirse Ronan. Strange, stylish and endlessly rewatchable. 8/10.
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Source Code (2011)
Duncan Jones follows Moon with a tight, clever time-loop thriller that does a lot inside ninety-three minutes and a single train carriage. Lean, humane and built to rewatch. 8/10.
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Limitless (2011)
A blocked writer swallows a pill that switches the whole brain on, and a slick wish-fulfilment thriller runs with the idea harder than it thinks it through. Style and pace win out over depth. 8/10.
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The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
A Philip K. Dick premise reworked as a chase romance, carried by Matt Damon and Emily Blunt and a city full of men in hats. Lighter than its source and all the more rewatchable for it. 8.5/10.
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127 Hours (2010)
Danny Boyle takes a man, a boulder and ninety minutes, and somehow makes the most static premise in survival cinema feel like a chase. 8.5/10.
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Tron - Legacy (2010)
Disney revives a 1982 cult oddity as a sleek, Daft Punk-scored ride through the Grid. The story is thin and the critics are unconvinced, but on atmosphere, sound and sheer rewatchability it is the science fiction I will keep going back to. 9/10.
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Monsters (2010)
Gareth Edwards builds a credible alien-infected world on a holiday budget and points the camera at the people, not the creatures. A quiet, atmospheric debut that earns its scale. 7.5/10.
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Unstoppable (2010)
Tony Scott points half a million tons of unmanned freight at a small town and lets Denzel Washington chase it down. Lean, loud, and built for the rewatch. 8/10.
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