When a new film is announced the reactions from movie fans can go either way: someimes there's an instant buzz of excitement and a keen sense of anticipation - fans have faith in those involved in the production and can look forward to the final release safe in the knowledge that it's going to be an entertaining movie. Other times, however, the announcement makes people groan in despair and they can't help but make the assumption that the film will be nothing short of awful. Sometimes this is because the director involved has a track record for making terrible movies; other times, it's the announcement of a particular actor in the starring role that fills fans with a sense of impending dread. Occasionally it's the franchise itself - perhaps it's one which has already been handled badly, or maybe it simply sounds like a terrible idea on paper that couldn't possibly work on the big screen. 2014, like any other year, saw a number of films lined up for release that many people thought were inevitably going to turn out to be awful. Of course, some potentially awful movies turned out to be just that - Transformers: Age Of Extinction and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles both have that uncomfortable distinction, despite their undeserved box office takings - but others were genuine surprises and turned out to be thoroughly entertaining movies. The following list covers 10 of the most pleasantly surprising releases of 2014 - potentially awful movies which turned out to be great.
