2015 didn’t really see that many good comedies, or maybe I was at the wrong cinema most of the time. Personally, I favour comedies with more wordplay than slapstick, although I, of course, enjoy the lewd joke every now and then (especially when it’s well disguised). Sometimes it’s more about rolling with the crassness and hyping it up, rather than pretending it’s a family comedy when there’s so much sex in it.
In any case, I present the 5 funniest comedies of 2015 to you!
What stunned about “Spy” was how unafraid Melissa McCarthy was of making a fool of herself. The humour came as much from character as it did from the situations she found herself in. One of the key things that made it so funny were the reaction shots from Susan Cooper – she would get a horrible disguise (old spinster who’s a cat lady, for instance), and she would groan in frustration. That would be the exact reaction we’d give if we were in the her situation, which meant we related to her woes as a normal person. There was a little schadenfreude in it, but then isn’t most comedy about that relief as well?
2)Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods
I loved the wordplay and puns in “Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods.” Though it took a bit more work (since you have to pay more attention to catch spoken puns than written puns), it was well worth it. The anachronistic situations and the shallowness of the Gauls (which was always a pain for Asterix and Getafix) also made this a clever comedy that tickled on many levels. The action didn’t hurt either!
3)Kingsman: The Secret Service
British humour may be a little long-winded and wordy, but that’s the beauty of it. The lengthy set up is always rewarded with a rich pay off, and “Kingsman: The Secret Service” was no different. True, there were some eccentrically violent moments (like the church scene), but those quirks added character to the movie, marking it as distinctly British.
Despite the humour in “Ted 2” being vulgar and sexual, we could all identify because that’s what we did with our buddies. That’s how we talked to them, and if we weren’t in our pressure cooker environment we’d be up to the same shenanigans as Ted and Mark Wahlberg’s character. It also helped that it was a story of friendship, and touching, funny stories are always a hit (since they’re both positive emotions).
5)Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
I’m still of two minds about whether Scouts are awesome or retarded, thanks to this movie. It may not have been the smartest of comedies, but it relished its role and gave us sick undead humour in spades. A penis pulling gag might have been seen as distasteful in any other comedy, but thanks to the utter lack of sophistication in this film, it worked pretty well. It’s lowbrow humour done right.
So this is what lightened up my 2015 (although I’ve watched my fair share of crap comedies, like “Big Game”). What got you laughing in the last 12 months?
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