After a long year of almost no new theatrical releases, 2021 started off with the promise of a return to the movies. Current events and some misguided studio marketing strategies ended up derailing that promise just a little. While we didn’t get back to where we once were there were plenty of new releases to satisfy the hope of a revival of theatrical viewing experiences.
I saw approximately 35 new releases in 2021. I say approximately because due to the ever evolving technology around movie theater ticketing I no longer have all of my physical stubs to count up at the end of the year. There were some films I saw that only had the virtual ticket. This is something I sadly know I must get used to, and as such will need to figure out a better way of keeping track of things I see throughout the year. Perhaps this blog will suddenly start featuring more content as a result. Either way, of the films I saw there were plenty to choose from to determine a best of list, as well as a most disappointing list.
Since it is so much more fun to criticize than to praise, let us start with the more disappointing lot. Not all of these were bad films, they were simply underwhelming, especially after all of the expectation built from not having many new films to see in 2020.
Most Disappointing Films of 2021
A Bond film on the “worst” list? How can it be? I would like to simply blame the hell that was 2020 for this mess of a film but unfortunately all of the blame must go to the filmmakers. This film struggled even before the issues of 2020. It lost its director halfway through shooting, Daniel Craig was injured, and there were rumors of terrible script choices from the beginning. What ended up in the final cut of the film was a meandering, saccharine story that featured one of the more pointless Bond villains of the franchise’s history, as well as the most unjust portrayals of some of the most beloved Bond characters and tropes. In trying to give Craig a worthy sendoff the creators overthrew by a mile. Instead, No Time to Die shall sit in the same ranks as The Last Jedi in disappointing fanbases with middling contributions to long loved franchises.
I had so much anticipation for this film, and had it not been for the last act it would have been on the other list in this post. I loved Edgar Wright’s stylization and his use of music but in the last part he fell into so many bad horror film tropes. There were character choices that made absolutely no sense except that they helped to move along the plot, and there were so many twists that it left me dizzy trying to keep track of everything. Perhaps upon future viewings I will be more forgiving of the lackluster ending but as of now this was my most disappointing film going experience of the year.
This was another experience that was more on the disappointing side than being a terrible film. In fact, much of the film is well done. The cast is good, and the production styling is gorgeous. The film just moves at such a slow place and doesn’t feel like it has anything pushing it forward. Simply put, I found myself bored.
Here was another film that had so much going for it and ended up being so slow and dull. Not to mention some of the performances were laughable despite being portrayed by Academy Award winning actors. I’m still marveling at the fact that such an interesting story, and a stellar cast could lead to such a boring film. The only explanation is that it is mishandled by the director’s choices. So for this I blame Ridley Scott.
2. Old
M. Night Shyamalan has been so inconsistent with his last few films. He either hits it out of the park or ends up fouling it drastically. There is an idea somewhere in this film that is interesting but its execution is a mess. So much of the film makes almost no sense and the weirdness of it detracts from any impact it might otherwise have in its performances and impressive visual effects.
1. Eternals
This film is what happens when you try to put what Marvel and Disney painstakingly crafted over ten years and 20 plus films into a single film. It is a hodgepodge of emotionless characters who have no real distinct identifying characteristics pushed into a plot that is world-ending in its scope, both in terms of the story within the film as well as potentially for the greater MCU as a whole. After so many years, and so many wonderful films from this universe, it was such a letdown to come away from this film feeling empty without any of that Marvel magic we have become so accustomed to experiencing.
With the disappointments of the year out of the way, let us turn to happier thoughts, and the best films I saw last year.
Best Films of 2021
10. West Side Story
Being a Steven Spielberg fan, and a fan of the original it was very likely going into the film that I would end up loving it. While it is by no means comparable to the 1961 film, it does have that Spielberg quality I love and the cast is incredible.
Having loved the first two films in this franchise, to say I was highly anticipating this release is a bit of an understatement. I was a little surprised at the seriousness of the film’s tone but think it works quite well, especially considering this is a bit of an origin story. Plus, there’s plenty of highly choreographed fighting and over-the-top gore to appease those seeking the lighter heartedness of the previous two films.
8. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
This was such a pleasant surprise! I went in with absolutely no expectations and had a blast! I knew nothing of this character and loved how his origin story was told, not too traditionally but also not so extravagantly that you lose something of its heart in the execution. The leads were great and had excellent chemistry. Most importantly this was a Marvel film that understood it was time to get back to having fun at the movies.
7. Cruella
Yet another surprise! I was very skeptical having seen some of Emma Stone’s accent in the trailers but found that after a couple of minutes it fell right into place with the rest of the film’s aesthetic. I’m also not the biggest fan of villain reimagining stories but somehow this one worked. Perhaps it was the cast, who were great, or the fact that the entire film feels like a 70s timepiece, which is simply brilliant. Whatever it was, this worked for me.
Despite the fact that this should have been the film opening the Summer blockbuster season, this was one of my favorite filmgoing experiences of the year. I got to see it at my old hometown theater, and it was one of the first times seeing larger audiences venturing out to the movies. Add in that the film was the perfect blend of sweet, sentimental, and humorous, with a touch of new, and it easily reserved a spot in my favorites list upon its initial viewing.
5. Nobody
Early in the year releases are not always the most promising signs so this was yet another happily surprising experience. Back when a lot of things were still being held for release this was one of the few films brave enough to come exclusively to theaters first. It ended up being a lot of fun, with so much action and humor packed into it that you were able to believe this unlikely lead could actually kick some ass.
Finally Marvel/Disney and Sony worked together to bring us the multiverse! I’ve been a big fan of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and was incredibly excited when rumors started swirling around this film. To say it lived up to the hype would be an understatement. Based on the audience reaction from my viewing alone, this went above and beyond expectations. Again, Marvel realized it could swing back (pun absolutely intended) to the fun side while still balancing that dark side we see so often in superhero stories.
3. American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story
The last film I saw in 2021 was one of the best. Yes, it is filled with everything you expect it would be, all that sentimentality and go-get-’em attitude that some might roll their eyes at. For me it all worked. Maybe I enjoyed the film so much because I love Zachary Levi as an actor. Maybe it is due to the fact that football is my favorite sport and I love a good underdog story. Or maybe it’s because this story is really the stuff sports films are made of and it’s just a truly inspiring piece of both personal and sports history.
2. Dune
This may have been my most anticipated film of 2021. I grew up in a household where the 1984 film, and the book it is based on were very much loved. I had never read the book but was able to get it in just under the wire (literally finished it the day before the film was released), so I don’t have the long standing history with the story that many fans do but I did have some hopes and expectations. I was blown away by how well the film matched them. I still maintain that this is one half of a whole that has yet to come but even on its own it is a masterpiece of cinematic artwork. The production, sound, special effects, and cinematography alone would argue for its place on any top of the year lists.
1. Belfast
This film really snuck up on me. I hadn’t heard anything about it until right before its release when I saw the trailer play before something else. I love Kenneth Branagh as an actor and think he has done a wonderful job of bringing his talents from in front of the camera to his work behind it. He really is an actor’s director, and Belfast is a film meant to highlight characters played by brilliant actors. The story itself has enough sentiment on its own to pull at the heartstrings but it takes a talented storyteller to know how hard to pull and when to step back and let things breathe. It presents itself as a simple film about a family trying to live their best during incredibly rough times but really does end up being a heartfelt monument to this time in Ireland’s history, and more so to the people who lived through it.
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