Ranking 2015's Summer Blockbuster Films From Worst To Best

3. Straight Outta Compton

Yes, with its enormous box office success, this biopic of gangsta rap group N.W.A. is the year's most unexpected blockbuster, and even more surprisingly, has scooped huge audience and critical acclaim in addition to its financial winnings. It's easily one of the most fully-formed, even-handed and outright entertaining musical biopics in years, vastly exceeding all expectations. Though it follows a fairly familiar biopic formula, it's the heart and soul that makes this one work: F. Gary Gray makes the audience feel like they're dropped right into late 80s/early 90s L.A., and the five young performers who play the group's members (including Ice Cube's son playing his father) are almost scarily brilliant in their respective parts. From the uproariously funny banter between the crew to the electrifyingly-staged concert scenes and the emotionally flooring moments dealing with Easy-E's AIDS diagnosis, it's hard to imagine a more authoritative and entertaining take on the group's rise to stardom and later decline.