Soompi Editor's Choice: Top 20 American Movies of 2007

Jan 01, 2008

2007 was yet another year full of movies, some good, some bad…and a whole lot of Trilogies. Here is my list of the Top 20 American Blockbusters you shouldn’t miss.

#1	300 Frank Miller’s dark story about a group of 300 Spartans is visually orgasmic and features ground breaking special effects in that most if not all the backgrounds are green screen or painted.
#2	Bourne Ultimatium In the conclusion to the Bourne Trilogy, Jason Bourne comes home to find out the truth of his beginnings and who he really is. It’s rare that the third film in a trilogy is on par with the first or second, and arguably this one could be said to be as good as the first or second if not better.
#3	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Jack is back with the third and final film of the Pirates series. The crew and cast do an excellent job of maintaining the quality of the first two films, a rare thing indeed.
#4	Live Free or Die Hard John McClane takes on an Internet-based terrorist organization who is systematically shutting down the United States. Who knew that Bruce Willis would look so good and fit in the pants of John McClane again coupled with the dude from the Apple commercials? Who knew? Well, Willis proves us wrong yet again with this latest and greatest action blockbuster with eye popping "WTF?!" stunts and effects.
#5	Transformers The latest Michael Bay film, "Transformers" makes its first live big screen debut and boy does it do it with a bang. Some scenes cheesy as they may be are true to the faith of Transformers, and brings a nostalgic tear to my eye. The effects have pushed the limits of human believability and the seamless integration of 3D, FX, and environments have left me breathless.
#6	Spider-Man 3 The ever lovable Peter Parker, your friendly neighborhood web slinger is back in the final installment of the Spider-Man trilogy except this time it’s with a much darker overtone. With the introduction of the Sandman and Venom, and the darker movie, i found this to be much better than Spider-Man 2.
#7	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix It seems that Harry and his friends are forever getting themselves into trouble, however things come to a head in this installment of the series when Voldemort makes his debut. I found this film to be very dark, darker than all the previous films, which gave the film more "depth".
#8	Sicko The latest Michael Moore film "Sicko" is a documentary comparing the highly profitable American health care industry to other nations, and HMO horror stories. Whether you love or hate him, Michael Moore delivers a poignant, shocking, and thought provoking film that every American MUST see.
#9	Shrek the Third When his new father-in-law, King Harold falls ill, Shrek is looked at as the heir to the land of Far, Far Away. Not one to give up his beloved swamp, Shrek recruits his friends Donkey and Puss in Boots to install the rebellious Artie as the new king. Princess Fiona, however, rallies a band of royal girlfriends to fend off a coup d’etat by the jilted Prince Charming. While i felt this began to feel "tired" and it lacked some of the charm, wit, and humor that the first two had, but nonetheless was entertaining.
#10	Ratatouille Remy is a young rat in the French countryside who arrives in Paris, only to find out that his cooking idol is dead. When he makes an unusual alliance with a restaurant’s new garbage boy, the culinary and personal adventures begin despite Remy’s family’s skepticism and the rat-hating world of humans. It’s been awhile since a 3D animated movie has been really good, but this one takes the cheese…err cake.
#11	Shooter A marksman (Wahlberg) living in exile is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why. This film got little attention because it came out right after Bourne 3 did, but Mark Wahlberg does his own version that can almost contend with the first Bourne film.
#12	The Simpsons Movie After Homer accidentally pollutes the town’s water supply, Springfield is encased in a gigantic dome by the EPA and the Simpsons family are declared fugitives. One of the most popular cartoons in the world, "The Simpsons" finally make their big screen debut and manages to separate that fine line between movie, and just another TV episode.
#13	Zodiac Based on the Robert Graysmith books about the real life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s. It’s rare that we see a thrille/horror that has as good quality as this flick.
#14	I Am Legend Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure. With his last movie "In Pursuit of Happiness" a whiles back, Will Smith is really showing he’s come a long way from "The Prince of Belair". He can’t seem to make a bad movie these days.
#15	Hot Fuzz Jealous colleagues conspire to get a top London cop transferred to a small town and paired with a witless new partner. On the beat, the pair stumble upon a series of suspicious accidents and events. A funny, if not random British made comedy, this movie offers clever laughs bundled in an interesting storyline.
#16	The Kingdom A team of U.S. government agents lead by Jamie Fox is sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in Saudi Arabia. In what was a surprisingly good movie, this goes beyond that of another "shoot em up" movie, and the ending lines will leave you with food for thought.
#17	Knocked Up For fun loving party animal Ben Stone, the last thing he ever expected was for his one night stand to show up on his doorstep eight weeks later to tell him she’s pregnant. Seth Rogan plays a genuine and funny star role (he mostly plays supporting roles in his films) and does and excellent job.
#18	Superbad Two co-dependent high school seniors (Hill and Cera) are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry. Another Seth Rogan film, this was a surprisingly funny and well made movie definitely guaranteed to bust your gut.
#19	Resident Evil: Extinction Survivors of the Raccoon City catastrophe travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice (Jovovich) joins the caravan and their fight against the evil Umbrella Corp. The third movie in the trilogy, this film does a good job of putting the cap on the series.
#20	Hitman A gun-for-hire known only as Agent 47 hired by a group known only as ‘The Agency’ is ensnared in a political conspiracy, which finds him pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military as he treks across Eastern Europe. Based on the popular video game.