Best films from 2014 so far

With 6 months of the year already gone it's time for a look back at the best 5 films that have been released in the UK in 2014 so far. With many of the Oscar nominated films not released on this side of the pond until January it means that narrowing down the field can be quite tricky but only two Oscar nominated movies actually made the cut in the end, honourable mentions go to 22 Jump Street and The Edge of Tomorrow as good films that were close in consideration.

5. The LEGO Movie

An incredibly fun movie with easily the most catchy soundtrack of any film released this year. The comedy in the film is both clever and completely odd but it finds a way to make you really like it, a real surprise hit film of 2014.

4. Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

As the Avengers series rumbles on towards the next big assemble type film with all the heroes in one film, Captain America produced a genuinely impressive sequel to the rather average opening film in the series. With an intense but intriguing storyline and some fantastic fighting scenes, we finally have an Avengers individual series to take over from Ironman. 

3. Inside Llewyn Davis

The Coen brothers latest film didn't make the waves many expected it to with it being mostly shunned during awards season but a beautiful soundtrack gives it a lovely folky feel. The story of a struggling singer still dealing with the death of his playing partner is sweetly yet oddly funny as it plays out and of course there's always room for a cameo from John Goodman.

2. Her

Spike Jonze takes a tale of love and loss but gives it a very futuristic feel as Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), who is s computer operating system. Throughout the film Theodore tries to discover what love real is and its a uniquely bittersweet view on love in an everchanging world.

1. The Raid 2: Berendal

The original film was a real surprise hit back in 2012 with a small budget but Gareth Evans finally got his wish to make a bigger film on a grander scale off the back of the original. Rama (Iko Uwais) returns after surviving the tower block and is enlisted to infiltrate a criminal gang in Jakarta with the intention of rooting out the corrupt cops in the city. The action is even more impressive than the original with some incredible martial-arts fighting and a brutal fight to the death in a kitchen is right up there as one of my favourite fighting scenes of all-time (alongside the brutal fight in the corridor scene from Oldboy). The plot is maybe slightly simplistic but everything else about the film is truly magnificent.