Every now and then, I stumble across a movie and think, Wait… that came out HOW long ago? That’s exactly how I felt looking back at 2010’s biggest films. Somehow, 15 years have passed since I sat in a theater, spilling popcorn all over my lap, completely wrapped up in these mind-bending plots, self-aware comedies, and animated adventures.
If you’re anything like me, realizing these movies are now officially vintage is a bit unnerving. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit 15 films that made 2010 such a memorable year.
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1. Inception (July 2010)
I still remember the collective gasp in the theater when the screen cut to black at the end. Did the top fall? Did it keep spinning? Christopher Nolan’s Inception wasn’t just a movie—it was an event. I walked out questioning reality, and honestly, I still do.
Fun Fact: That zero-gravity hallway fight scene? No CGI. They built a rotating set, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt actually learned to fight in it.
2. Toy Story 3 (June 2010)
I did not expect to cry over a movie about talking toys, but Toy Story 3 had other plans. When Andy gave Woody and Buzz away, I wasn’t just watching a movie—I was saying goodbye to a part of my childhood. It’s rare that a sequel is as good as the original, but it’s unheard of the third in a series is the best of them all.
Fun Fact: Tom Hanks and Tim Allen had to take breaks while recording their final lines because they kept getting too emotional.
3. The Social Network (October 2010)
It’s wild to think there was a time when Facebook was just a new tech startup, and Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t a household name. I remember watching Jesse Eisenberg’s fast-talking performance and thinking, No way is this all true. Turns out, a lot of it was.
Fun Fact: The line “You better lawyer up, *******” wasn’t in the script—Andrew Garfield improvised it, and they kept it in.
4. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (August 2010)
Back in 2010, I wasn’t sure what I had just watched, but I knew I loved it. Scott Pilgrim was chaotic, colorful, and nothing like any movie I’d seen before. It bombed at the box office, but now? It’s a full-blown cult classic.
Fun Fact: Brie Larson recorded a full version of “Black Sheep” for the movie, and it finally got an official release—eleven years later.
5. Shutter Island (February 2010)
I thought I had this movie figured out halfway through. I was so wrong. Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese delivered a psychological thriller that completely wrecked my brain. Even knowing the twist, it’s just as eerie on a rewatch.
Fun Fact: The actors playing the mental hospital staff were secretly told to react to DiCaprio’s character like he was a patient, not a detective.
6. Despicable Me (July 2010)
I had no idea that a goofy little animated film about a villain adopting kids would become a massive franchise. And let’s be real—none of us could have predicted how powerful the Minions would become.
Fun Fact: The Minions originally weren’t supposed to be small and yellow. Early designs made them taller and creepier.
7. Black Swan (December 2010)
This was one of those movies that stuck with me long after the credits rolled. It wasn’t a movie that had particularly been on my radar, but the person I was dating really wanted to see it. I had no idea what it was about, and at first, I thought I was watching a film about ballet, which it technically kinda is, but it’s so much darker and stranger than I was prepared for. Natalie Portman’s performance? Still haunting.
Fun Fact: Portman trained in ballet for over a year, and the grueling process left her with a dislocated rib.
8. Iron Man 2 (May 2010)
Before the MCU was the unstoppable machine it is today, Iron Man 2 was still figuring things out. It wasn’t perfect, but it gave us our first look at Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow—and that alone made it worth watching.
Fun Fact: Elon Musk makes a weird little cameo in this movie. Yes, really.
9. Kick-Ass (April 2010)
I remember sitting down for this one expecting a fun superhero comedy. What I got was a wild, bloody, absolutely insane ride. Hit-Girl stole every scene, and Nicolas Cage doing an Adam West impression? Iconic.
Fun Fact: The comic it’s based on hadn’t even finished when the movie came out, so the film’s ending is completely different.
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (November 2010)
The beginning of the end. I remember the anticipation for this movie—it felt like the world stopped when it hit theaters. Seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione outside of Hogwarts for the first time was surreal.
Fun Fact: Daniel Radcliffe went through 80+ wands while filming the series because he kept breaking them.
11. The Other Guys (August 2010)
Buddy cop movies were everywhere back then, but The Other Guys was different. It was super self-aware and constantly played on all of the overly trod tropes of the genre while not completely losing itself in parody. It’s fun, it’s silly, it’s worth a rewatch.
Fun Fact: Wahlberg learned ballet for the movie, just to deliver one joke.
12. Tron: Legacy (December 2010)
I was a big fan of the original, so when I heard this was getting a reboot/sequel, I wasn’t the most excited. I started hearing good things about it, and eventually saw it and loved it. The graphics were impressive for the time, and now seem dated in a way that’s more charming than distracting.
Fun Fact: Jeff Bridges was digitally de-aged in this film—one of the first major movies to attempt it.
13. How to Train Your Dragon (March 2010)
Toothless was an instant icon. This movie looked stunning, but it was the emotional storytelling that really stuck with me. Fifteen years later, it still holds up.
Fun Fact: The film’s dragon-flying scenes were inspired by real fighter jet footage.
14. The Expendables (August 2010)
This movie was a love letter to old-school action flicks, and I ate it up. Seeing Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, and the rest of the action legends together was something I never thought I’d see. It’s another one that was self-aware, and played on tropes, but it also delivered in a big way on the promise of being a pure action flick.
Fun Fact: Stallone broke his neck filming a fight scene.
15. Easy A (September 2010)
I’m pretty sure this was the first time I was introduced to Emma Stone as an actor. She played a self-assured high-schooler who pretended to be intimate with guys at her school to help them solve their social issues, in return to movie and favors. It was a sex-positive twist on the high school movies of the 80s and 90s, and it worked. It’s fun and definitely worth a nostalgic rewatch.
Fun Fact: The film was inspired by The Scarlet Letter, but Emma Stone hadn’t actually read it before filming.
