7 Movies Way Better Than They Had Any Right To Be

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better” is a quote from the Dali Lama. It’s good advice, although it gets very hard to be optimistic about movies when the box office is saturated with reboots, rebrands and mismanaged DC flicks that tend to leave the bitter taste of disappointment in your mouth.

Be optimistic all you like, Mr. Lama, but you should maybe draw the line at the films that from the very get-go look like they’re on track to a worse cinematic experience than Titanic 2: Jack’s Revenge.

However, for every fumbled brilliant concept there’s a terrible one that ended up surprisingly bearable. Sometimes a film that has all the red flags in the world can still turn out pretty damned excellent, to be completely honest. Troubled productions, unachievable levels of ambition, cast members walking out (or even dying), confusing (or just outright terrible) premises and studio meddling should be the resounding knell of death for a movie, but not always.

Some films endure. Some films overcome. Despite all the odds, some movies turn out way better than they had any right to be...

I’d have put good money on the lego movie being terrible. And then I’d have lost that money, because The Lego Movie is awesome. The first glimpses of information we got made The Lego Movie look like a confusing mix of characters across multiple lego properties mashed into a baffling cluster of cameos contained a barely disguised 90-minute lego advert.

Ultimately, it turned out to be a masterpiece of family-friendly comedy and warm, cuddly heartfelt moments to move even the manliest of men to shed a tear. The various characters always feel honest and well placed in the world,

The voice talent of Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie and Charlie Day bring the script to life, not to mention the incredible Chris Pratt killing it in his first ever starring film role.