8. The Grey
When the trailer for The Grey first dropped around this time last year, we all pretty much thought we had it pegged as a film selling itself solely on the notion of "Liam Neeson punches a pack of wolves for 100 minutes", but Joe Carnahan's unexpectedly contemplative, philosophical thriller has a lot more to offer than its vapid marketing campaign dares suggest. Neeson plays one of several oil men who survives a harrowing plane crash in Alaska, but the worst is yet to come; the group are stalked by a gang of vicious wolves who are intent to take them down if the punishing weather conditions don't do so first. At the head of the team, Neeson's stark survivalist is a staunch atheist, challenging the various beliefs of his cohorts, as each one succumbs to the perilous nature of the journey. In fact, there's no wolf-punching in the entire film, and the final shot of the film was crassly manipulated for use in the trailer to present The Grey as something that it is not; a loony action film. Rather, it's a thoughtful film about what happens when a man faces his own mortality, confronting what has occurred in his life to that point, and what might (or might not) lie beyond. With Liam Nessons elevating the film furthermore, this was a pleasant little surprise to start 2012.