Top Movies Of 2016

Are mainstream audiences ready for an R-rated superhero movie about a disfigured mercenary with a thirst for violence and a flair for the profane? We'll find out on February 12, when Marvel's "merc with a mouth" makes his long-awaited standalone debut in Deadpool. In development for years, the eighth installment in Fox's X-Men film franchise will give star Ryan Reynolds an opportunity to finally do right by a character many fans felt got short shrift during his supporting appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. If it works, it should go a long way toward proving once and for all that the boundaries of the superhero genre are elastic enough to fit films of all shapes, sizes, and ratings.

For a collection of stories that's over 100 years old, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book still generates a surprising amount of interest in Hollywood: even after multiple animated and live-action adaptations, it's being prepped for a pair of return visits to theaters. Disney's striking first with its own version, which finds director Jon Favreau blending live-action and CGI to present the most dazzling Jungle Book to date—and apart from the thrilling visuals, he's lined up an incredible voice cast that includes Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Christopher Walken, and Lupita Nyong'o. While we'd hardly be the first to argue that a new Jungle Book is among Hollywood's bare necessities, this movie looks like one you won't want to miss in 2016.

The X-Men franchise seemed destined for the junkheap after 2006's The Last Stand, but starting with 2011's First Class, Marvel's mutant-powered saga has enjoyed a rebirth, branching out with a new trilogy that returns our heroes to their comic-book roots while repairing the least successful elements of the original films. This trilogy comes to a conclusion with X-Men: Apocalypse, starring Oscar Isaac as the titular villain—an awesomely powerful figure whose status as arguably the world's first mutant has set him on a centuries-long quest to purify the species by any means necessary. With the current trilogy's cast set to make what seem likely to be their final appearances—and plenty of senses-shattering action on tap—this is one superhero sequel that should live up to its name.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film franchise has endured some awkward attempts to get back on track in recent years, and even the cast and crew involved with 2014's most recent reboot have publicly admitted it left a lot of room for improvement. Fortunately for long-suffering fans of the heroes in a half shell, they've also vowed to deliver on that untapped potential with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, which reunites many members of the original cast to carry the first installment's story forward while once more pitting our anthropomorphic protagonists against their arch-nemesis the Shredder. Will this finally be the TMNT film that makes critics and filmgoers cry "Cowabunga"?

Pixar's classic Finding Nemo told a beautifully self-contained story that never really needed another chapter, and to its credit, the studio isn't really trying to follow it up with this sequel. Instead, as the title suggests, Finding Dory focuses on the endearingly forgetful character voiced by Ellen DeGeneres in the original, giving her a new adventure that picks up six months after Finding Nemo, centered on her efforts to reunite with her family after suddenly regaining memories of her childhood. Along with the 2016 return of Nemo and his worrywart dad Marlin, Dory will introduce audiences to a handful of new characters voiced by a star-studded cast that includes Idris Elba, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, and Modern Family co-stars Ed O'Neill and Ty Burrell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHOTJf7nTMk

We've all grown more cynical about franchise reboots over the last few years, and that goes double for studio-driven attempts to milk more money out of classic pictures like the original Ghostbusters. But that movie worked because it matched a terrific premise—funny people fighting ghosts—with some brilliant comedic minds. This update seeks to follow in the original's footsteps by handing the creative reins to writer-director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) and a cast that includes Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. There's still a lot that could go wrong here, and Sony Pictures is clearly trying to recapture lightning in a bottle, but given the amount of talent assembled here, we're absolutely inclined to give the new-look Ghostbusters the benefit of the doubt.

After years of letting Marvel own the lion's share of the superhero-movie marketplace, Warner Bros. is finally stepping up its efforts in 2016, and Suicide Squad is the opening salvo in the studio's ambitious plan to build a bigger cinematic universe out of its DC Comics properties. Offering a villainous flipside to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, this David Ayer-directed feature assembles some of DC's dirtiest rogues—including Will Smith as the assassin Deadshot, Jared Leto as the Joker, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn—and makes them forced participants in a black-ops government program. It's scheduled to arrive as we're rounding the bend in a year with no fewer than eight comics-inspired films. But with a cast like this, who cares about a saturated marketplace?

As soon as Marvel set up shop at its own studio, it set about testing the boundaries of the "superhero movie" genre, and made a pretty good go of it thus far. Ffor every straight-up costumed action-fest like Iron Man or Avengers, there've been curveballs like the WWII serial-inspired Captain America, or the mythology-assisted comedy Thor, or the snarky heist flick Ant-Man. Marvel is making its boldest gamble yet with Doctor Strange, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the goateed Sorcerer Supreme (and Tilda Swinton as his mystic mentor). Director Scott Derrickson (Sinister) has embraced the comic's psychedelic weirdness so eagerly that he's even gone on record as saying he can't believe Marvel's letting him get away with it. Spider-Man, this ain't.

Bad Santa wasn't exactly a blockbuster hit in 2003, but a good black Christmas comedy is hard to find. With Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox playing a couple of professional thieves who take advantage of their mall-Santa gig to steal from department stores, it's no wonder this movie's achieved seasonal cult status over the years. Now, after years in development, comes Bad Santa 2, with Thornton and Cox back in their roles and director Mark Waters (Mean Girls) working from a script most recently rewritten by Entourage helmer Doug Ellin. Details of the plot have been kept under wraps, but the addition of Kathy Bates as Thornton's mom should be good for a movie's worth of holiday laughs all on its own.

You might be tempted to giggle at the idea of a movie about a modern-day man being tugged back in time and experience the memories of a 15th-century Spanish ancestor in order to gain the skills of an assassin and join a centuries-long war, but hear us out. Assassin's Creed is not only the long-awaited adaptation of a hugely successful video game series, but it's got one majestic whopper of a cast. Michael Fassbender (who also co-produced) is our main Assassin, Callum Lynch, and he's aided and abetted by an eclectic collection of stars that includes Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, and Michael K. Williams (otherwise known as Omar from The Wire). Fassbender's hopeful for a sequel, and we wouldn't bet against one—or several.