So as 2021 draws to a close I want to leave the year on a positive note by listing off my ten favourite films of the year. These are all personal favourites and as such this is an entirely subjective list. So let’s kick it off from ten to one:
10. Willy’s Wonderland
So let’s start with my favourite cult movie of the year. This is a fun, low budget horror staring Nicholas Cage in a roll that you would probably never think he would be right for… but the thing with Nick Cage is those often turn out to be his best roles. This is no exception as he brings a sort of overly calm autism to the silent, deadly protagonist. Not a word passes his lips for the entire movie as he turns the tables on his wood be executors, the possessed animatronic monstrosities at “Willy’s Wonderland”, a family entertainment centre. That base concept is not in itself original, basically being a “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie and also similar to the “Banana Splits” movie that came out 2019 that fused the Five Nights concept onto a previously non-horror franchise. What makes this movie unique though is Nicholas Cages character, who proves more dangerous than the evil that has possessed the place. I would love to see more of this mute drifter in a sequel. No need to bring back the animatronics though.
On a side note apparently a Five Nights at Freddy’s film is in the works. One wonders how many more rip offs it will have before they actually get the movie out.
9. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
If you have read my review this one you will know I consider it a long way from perfect and yet in it’s simplicity it does manage to entertain. Eddie Brock returns in this film and he and Venom are struggling to find equilibrium in their relationship. But they must learn to get on in a hurry to deal with the threat of the Carnage Symbiote that spawned from Venom and has bonded with serial killer Cletus Cassidy. The final conflict is a solid action spectacle, while the rest of the movie is effectively a buddy cop comedy. It is short and does little different to the original movie but the fact is if you enjoyed that one, you will likely enjoy this.
8. Wrath of Man
While this is very much as Jason Statham film, it is one of his better ones. It’s also classic Guy Ritchie, but it has to be said it isn’t the best for either star or director. It’s just a solid action/thriller that delivers pretty much everything you would expect from the pair. Statham plays “H”, a cold mysterious character that clearly has some kind of hidden agenda working at armoured cash truck company responsible for delivering hundreds of millions of dollars around Los Angeles each week. In classic Guy Ritchie fashion the story intertwines criminal masterminds with each other to see who comes out on top. One of the things I always appreciate with Ritchie is his villains usually aren’t incompetent and so the protagonists need to be either very smart or very lucky to get the upper hand.
7. Pig
Yes it turns out Nicholas Cage made two of my favourite movies this yeah, who could guess? This is a really interesting story that never really goes where you would expect it. This is a story of one man’s attempt to find his prize truffle hunting pig after it is stolen by a pair of drug addicts on behalf of a mysterious third party. On it’s surface it looks like this will be a John Wick type story only with a Pig replacing John’s Dog. That’s not the case, or at least if it is it’s only true if John instead of being a highly skilled master assassin was instead a highly skilled master chef. While the movie presents a bit of action it is really a much more personal story and once again Cage presents one of the more interesting characters of the year. This is one of those films where an mysterious eccentric ends up teaching others life lessons, but it’s more than that as the eccentric himself has his own journey to go on. I highly recommend this unusual movie.
6. Free Guy
This was a movie that from the first trailer I could tell two things: It would be incredibly stupid and; It would be incredibly fun. The final product delivered exactly what the trailer promised. Not much in this movie makes sense when you think about it for more than five minutes, but it really doesn’t matter because the movie packs in so much pure unadulterated fun that you can forgive pretty much any other failing. Ryan Reynolds of course is someone that plays variations of the same character (himself) in every movie, but this is him at the maximum level of Ryan Reynolds you are likely to find him outside of a Deadpool movie. On top of that the movie itself provides a lot of fun for anyone that has ever played Grand Theft Auto or it’s sequels/rip-offs and a good number of other references in between, including some that clearly must have been added after a certain studio purchased another studio as those rights wouldn’t have been available before. Ultimately it great time for anyone that doesn’t exclusively watch Oscar nominated dramas.
5. The Suicide Squad
James Gunn provided one of the most heart felt and fun movies of the year. Yes the plot is complete nonsense, yes Harley Quinn was the weak link this time around, but the other characters were on point both in personality and interaction. Indeed this movie had some of the best character work of the entire year, which is pretty impressive for one of the silliest movies of the year. Then again that is exactly what Gunn does. Say what you like about the man personally, but as a director of comic book movies he is perhaps the perfect director combining the kind of character interaction and banter that Joss Whedon is known for with the knowledge, love and dedication to the source material of someone like Sam Raimi.
I think it always says something about a movie when a character you didn’t think you would like ends up your favourite and that is absolutely the case for me with The Suicide Squad and “Ratcatcher 2”. But she’s not alone, Idris Elba proved his “Bloodsport” to be far superior to Will Smith’s “Deadshot” while John Cena’s deadpan comedic delivery proved perfect for such a ludicrous character as Peacemaker and it seems was so impressive in the role he now has a spin off in the works. The humour won’t land for everyone but as I said it is also a movie full of heart and I think most people will appreciate the character work.
4. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Of course if we are talking heart, there was no movie this year that displayed more of it than Ghostbusters: Afterlife and having already shared my full review I won’t go into too much detail here. This was a resurrection of a franchise that many people thought dead, a love letter to the original movie and perhaps most importantly an apology to all the fans that were insulted and belittled after the disastrous 2016 movie by the shill media, actors on that film and even the director himself. It made that apology though while not compromising their mission to make Ghostbusters as accessible a franchise as possible, providing a diverse cast and a female lead that everyone (except those still making excuses for “Answer the Call”) can actually get behind.
The story keeps itself simple and on the surface appears merely a rehash of the original movie, but underneath that it is actually a very personal story where the main character is Egon Spengler. Quite a feat considering that character dies early in the movie and Harold Ramis, his actor died years ago before this movie even began production. Eventually the movie provides the reunion of the original team that everyone was waiting for and gives them a final moment to shine and remind the fans why the original was so good in the first place. If you feel nothing after the end of this movie, I worry for you.
3. Dune
I had a lot of doubts going in as to whether Denis Villeneuve and 2021 could deliver a good Dune movie. I knew it would look fantastic, but after seeing “Blade Runner 2049” I had my doubts on the rest o fit. That movie failed to do justice to the characters, story or themes of the original movie, though it did certainly look the part. I did recognise however that unlike with 2049, Villeneuve would be grounded here by the quality and extent of the source material. Fans of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction series have been waiting a long time for someone to do justice to that series on screen, The first attempt was David Lynch’s 1984 movie that proved heavily divisive amongst Dune fans and the audience in general. For my part I quite liked it, though it was also my first introduction to the franchise having not read the novels. This was followed in the 90’s by a couple of low budget TV shows on Sci-Fi that were actually pretty good too, but suffered from bad 90’s CGI and have dated horrendously.
This new take on the story finds itself in a approach that takes the best from the previous two. Like the TV series, it doesn’t rush to tell the story and of course this is why the movie barely covers a third of that first book, but like the previous movie the acting is top notch and the movie looks and sounds great. I will provide a full review of this in the new year but for now the important thing to note is the movie is epic and compelling, despite the slow pace and long running time. It doesn’t feel like a movie that has taken two and a half hours to tell a third of a story, and while the movies sudden end (and cheesy closing line) leave you fully aware of how little of the story has been told, it also leaves you eagerly anticipating the stories continuation. Definitely a job well done.
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home
If you’ve read my review of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” probably the only thing that shocks you here is that it is not at number one. Yes I absolutely loved this movie, but it’s not perfect and it is ultimately yet another franchise movie, indeed it is two franchise movies the MCU and Spider-Man, the two biggest franchises in the superhero business. It’s success was always guaranteed, though few predicted it would be as successful as it has been. It’s also not a movie free from flaws, but let’s not focus on the negatives here. The truth is this is another redemption story and not just the story of one redemption but multiple ones. It redeems villains, it redeems heroes and redeems entire sub-franchises. By the end of the movie Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is closer to the comic book version than he has ever been and through this I came to realise that this entire trilogy of movies has actually been an origin story. I’m still not sure if that is good or bad, but it certainly leaves a sense of satisfaction.
Like the Infinity Saga before it, this is more than just a movie, it is a huge cinematic event and the culmination of 8 movies and three separate franchises. It does something that has never been done before in the history of cinema and it does it in a way that will leave most people very happy indeed. The only problem is this is something that only really works once. It may have breathed life into a flagging MCU but now they need to course correct with the rest of the franchise.
1. Nobody
What do you get if you take the writers of the best current action franchise, “John Wick”, pair him with the director of breakout cult classic and first person action movie “Hardcore Henry” and ask them to provide an action movie debut to Bob Odenkirk (Of Breaking Bad fame)? Well, what you get is my movie of the year and one of the best action movies I’ve seen for years. Throw in a touch of RZA and Christopher Lloyd as a bonus and you have a real classic on your hands. This is a masterpiece of an action movie, hiding it’s explosive nature under the surface much as it’s protagonist hides his own past and capabilities under the guise of a family man with a boring job. The action sets off from a chain of events beginning with a badly planned home invasion of Odenkirk’s house, which leads to a confrontation with strangers on the subway and the wrath of a local mob boss.
The movie achieves a rare thing and works both on the level of a tense thriller and when it fully ramps up the action outperforms some of the most outrageous over the top action films of recent years. The pacing of the story is perfect easing you in to the gradual increases in intensity and unlike many modern action films you can actually follow every bit of action clearly. It is like the best 80’s action hero meets the best 90’s action stunts and applies the polish of the best 2000’s action CGI fest. If you’ve not seen this one yet you owe it to yourself to check it out and unlike most of the top picks this year, this is an original movie and not part of any pre-established franchise. Top marks all round.
So that is my top movies of this year. I hope you enjoyed my choices, feel free to agree, disagree or share your own in the comments. Happy New Year to you all and see you in 2022.
You must be logged in to post a comment.