re: What was the last movie you saw in theaters that either meet or exceeded...

Guess Mission Impossible 4. The action was just spectacular and suspenseful. Granted that was the last time I was in a theater because only 8 American films were allowed in China per year before this year, which has fortunately been upgraded to 20.

But really a lot of films regularly surpass my expectations... and a lot disappoint my expectations. Honestly its rare that a film meets my expectations.