Movies Released in 2021 That I've Seen
Movies I've seen from 2021, ranked from best to worst.
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- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsTimothée ChalametRebecca FergusonZendayaA noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.Denis Villeneuve never misses. Dune is beautiful, epic, dense and heady sci-fi which still manages to fire on all cylinders when it wants to be an action movie too. Stellar cast and special effects too. If there's one problem, it's that this is just the setup with no payoff, and it's frankly a miracle that we're going to be getting Part 2 at all.
- DirectorJames GunnStarsMargot RobbieIdris ElbaJohn CenaSupervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker, and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.The Suicide Squad is everything that the original Suicide Squad should have been in the first place. It's darkly-funny tone, the main characters' moral shadiness, the comic book tone, everything works well to make this a blast from start to finish. The film also surprises by having a reasonable amount of character development to make you care about them before their heads get blown off, and also has a story which is surprisingly relevant. It's not perfect, but it's easily my favourite DCEU film so far.
- DirectorChris SmithStarsMatthew ModineRoger RignackJillian PetersonReenactments drive this documentary investigating the mastermind behind a scam to sneak the kids of rich and famous families into top US universities.The college admissions scandal is one of those news events which I was always aware of, but the details of which passed me by at the time. Operation Varsity Blues lays it all out in a truly compelling manner, exposing the corruption in the American college system and the depths of entitlement the privileged will sink to.
- DirectorLana WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesCarrie-Anne MossYahya Abdul-Mateen IIReturn to a world of two realities: one, everyday life; the other, what lies behind it. To find out if his reality is a construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more.I can understand why The Matrix Resurrections has such a divisive reputation - it simultaneously leans hard into what you expect from a Matrix film and also feels completely different. Perhaps most salient is that the spiritual, serious tone of the original trilogy is gone and is replaced with a more light-hearted, meta take on existentialism. That's not to say that it's not clever - in some ways, this is perhaps the truest belated Matrix sequel you could have asked for. It also rights two of the major sins of the original trilogy, making Trinity and Neo's relationship 1000x more compelling and making up for how wasted Trinity was in those films. You may have preferred a standard, straight-forward Rise of the Machines type Matrix movie, but you can't deny that The Matrix Resurrections stays true to its core concepts while also being one of the boldest legacy sequels we've gotten in years from a major studio.
- DirectorScott BarberStarsDave BrockieHunter JacksonSexecutionerThe powerful story of the most iconic heavy metal/art collective/monster band in the universe, as told by the humans who have fought to keep it alive for over thirty years.Gwar's one of those bands which I've known about for a decade and a half but never actually checked out. This is Gwar has really given me an appreciation for the band's low-brow artistry and gives a fairly wide overview of the band's history, including plenty of wild and unsavory stories.
- DirectorJames WanStarsAnnabelle WallisMaddie HassonGeorge YoungMadison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.James Wan doesn't really have anything to prove these days, having shown over and over that he's a modern day master of action and horror, so it's nice to see him use that to make a movie that's completely insane. The plot here is certifiably mad and whether or not you like this movie is going to come down to whether you are willing to go with it, but it's basically just an excuse to give us some very unique and evocative imagery and features some of the most badass action scenes you'll ever see in a horror film.
- DirectorJohn KrasinskiStarsEmily BluntMillicent SimmondsCillian MurphyFollowing the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path.It has to be said up-front that A Quiet Place Part II is nowhere near as good as the original. Some of this is due to ambition - the first film succeeded due to its very tight scope and relentless tension, whereas Part II opens up the world and makes the tension more intermittent. However, the tension that we do get is just as good as the original and it's great to see Millicent Simmonds stepping up as this franchise's true lead.
- DirectorJon WattsStarsTom HollandZendayaBenedict CumberbatchWith Spider-Man's identity now revealed, Peter asks Doctor Strange for help. When a spell goes wrong, dangerous foes from other worlds start to appear, forcing Peter to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.It doesn't really help No Way Home that I watched it right after a rewatch of the Raimi trilogy, because that just highlights how hollow NWH feels in comparison. It also highlights what I don't like about multiverse stories, as none of the several cameos really have any reason to be dealing with each other and are just shadows of themselves compared to their own standalone films. NWH is entertaining spectacle but it doesn't have a whole lot going for it beyond that.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsHenry CavillBen AffleckGal GadotDetermined to ensure that Superman's ultimate sacrifice wasn't in vain, Bruce Wayne recruits a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.Compared to the theatrical cut, Zack Snyder's Justice League is a far more coherent and well-executed film. Hell, compared to Snyder's other two DCEU films, Justice League is far better executed, balancing its self-seriousness with some levity so that the whole affair doesn't feel as miserable as usual, even with the bloated four-hour runtime. That said, the film really isn't *that* much different from the theatrical cut in the end - other than giving everything more time to breathe, Cyborg and the Flash get better served and the final battle is a bit different, but for the most part this is the same story. That's ultimately a curse for Justice League, as we're basically getting the same, already-mediocre story but twice as long. Furthermore, that runtime makes Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman feel particularly half-baked. It's a major improvement overall, and I'm glad Snyder got to see his vision through, but I struggle to say that it's worth the four hour investment.
- DirectorJustin LinStarsVin DieselMichelle RodriguezJordana BrewsterDom and the crew must take on an international terrorist who turns out to be Dom and Mia's estranged brother.F9 is clearly a "lesser" Fast & Furious movie, but it's still fun enough that that isn't a total damnation. Being 9 movies in now isn't helping any, because not only are they struggling to find ways to keep us entertained, but they're also weighed down by 9 films worth of baggage since these movies love their continuity so much. However, the action scenes are still creative, unpretentious, preposterous nonsense and the characters are as charming as ever so there's still some fuel left in the engine. However, I hope that Vin Diesel and company are able to stick the finish by the time they hit their planned ending (and, for that matter, commit to it).
- DirectorRoberto De FeoPaolo StrippoliStarsMatilda Anna Ingrid LutzFrancesco RussoPeppino MazzottaIn this gruesome suspense film, strangers traveling in southern Italy become stranded in the woods, where they must fight desperately to get out alive.A Classic Horror Story is gorgeously-shot, has some really well-crafted tension, and has solid performances from its cast. I was enjoying myself for the most part, but when the film starts relying on some meta aspects towards the latter-half, I really started to fall off. It just made the film less interesting to me and strained credulity. These meta aspects will likely be a make-or-break creative choice for anyone watching this, and unfortunately all I can really say is that it did not work for me.
- DirectorAdam WingardStarsAlexander SkarsgårdMillie Bobby BrownRebecca HallThe epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against each other--the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong--with humanity caught in the balance.Godzilla vs. Kong is the epitome of the dumb, summer blockbuster. It's stupid but the title fights we get are very exciting. The film does a good enough job of getting us to care about Kong that there's true peril here, because Monsterverse Godzilla has never been more terrifying than he is here. Unfortunately, the blistering pace and lack of logic make this possibly the stupidest and most hollow film in the Monsterverse, especially when focusing on the Apex sub-plot, and the film is also far more campy than any other Monsterverse film thus far. All that said, it's a fun time, but one you have to turn your brain off to enjoy.
- DirectorAdam RobitelStarsTaylor RussellLogan MillerDeborah Ann WollSix people unwillingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive. Joining forces with two of the original survivors, they soon discover they've all played the game before.The first Escape Room was a surprisingly good time and while this sequel isn't as good, it's still basically the same formula as that movie, so it stays entertaining. I kind of wish I watched the Extended Cut though, the theatrical's ending undermines some of the key elements of the premise and the Extended Cut sounds way better.
- DirectorPaul WeitzStarsKevin HartAlfre WoodardLil Rel HoweryA father brings up his baby girl as a single dad after the unexpected death of his wife who died a day after their daughter's birth.Fatherhood is buoyed significantly by an earnest performance from Kevin Hart, supported by Melody Hurd who puts in a solid performance for a child actor. Fatherhood works best when it's a series of genuine, slice-of-life vignettes, showing the struggles of managing life as a single parent. However, when Fatherhood feels the need to have a coherent plot, that's where it starts to come apart. The actual throughline in the film is dreadfully dependent on tired tropes. The third act conflict for these kinds of films is already frustrating enough but when Fatherhood tries to convince me for like 15 minutes that Kevin Hart's going to give up his kid after being a great dad for her after like 5-7 years it strains credulity. It also doesn't even question the bad decision-making of "I'm incapable of being separated from my kid for a month, f--k this big promotion that would change all our lives". All-in-all, Fatherhood is "nice" but it's better when it's focused on the smaller moments.
- DirectorSimon McQuoidStarsLewis TanJessica McNameeJosh LawsonMMA fighter Cole Young seeks out Earth's greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.Mortal Kombat had a lot of potential but the film is just too hollow to really achieve it. The characters are all a bunch of nobodies, with the exception of Josh Lawson's Kano who's such a hilarious, cartoonish dick that you can't help but love him. The fights are as exciting and bloody as you'd hope so the film at least stays entertaining, but it's too bad that they couldn't inject just a bit more character into a cast which should be far more colourful than they are.
- DirectorM. Night ShyamalanStarsGael García BernalVicky KriepsRufus SewellA vacationing family discovers that the secluded beach where they're relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly, reducing their entire lives into a single day.Old is an absolutely mad movie, M. Night Shayamalan goes places with this premise that you would never expect out of a PG-13 movie. For that, I have to give it some props, because this movie is constantly shocking you. Perhaps appropriately, the editing can feel kinda choppy, like a biopic showing snapshots of a life, but it can make the plot beats feel like they don't flow together. The ending is really limp, but Old is still well worth a watch just to see M. Night at his most unhinged.
- DirectorRob JabbazStarsBerant ZhuRegina LeiYing-Ru ChenA young couple trying to reunite amid a city ravaged by a plague that turns its victims into deranged, bloodthirsty sadists.As unthinkable as "Crossed: The Movie" is, this tribute to shock horror manages to pull it off with less compromises than you may expect. It's thoroughly nasty and unpleasant, but other than a bit of social commentary on pandemic responses, it doesn't feel like it actually has anything to say. Combine that with lots of scenes which don't actually serve a narrative purpose and instead are clearly just there to show off sadistic violence, it makes The Sadness feel hollow - it's shock for shock's sake, there's no greater purpose to it.
- DirectorRawson Marshall ThurberStarsDwayne JohnsonRyan ReynoldsGal GadotAn Interpol agent successfully tracks down the world's most wanted art thief with help from a rival thief. But nothing is as it seems as a series of double-crosses ensues.Red Notice is a lot of fun, buoyed immensely by its charming leads. Ryan Reynolds and The Rock play their usual personae, but Gal Gadot is the standout in a surprisingly-evil role. Most of the film plays out as a standard action-adventure odd-couple film, loud and stupid but a lot of fun, although there is one big narrative risk which is very interesting, but ultimately undermines the narrative and turns the ending into a wet fart right when you thought we were headed for a big, climactic heist. Still, Red Notice is quite enjoyable and well worth a watch for a lazy Sunday.
- DirectorCate ShortlandStarsScarlett JohanssonFlorence PughDavid HarbourNatasha Romanoff confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises.Black Widow is... fine. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but good God has Marvel fatigue really kicked in at this point. It doesn't do much different than any other Marvel movie and as a result it was just exhausting. The film tries to be Bourne-lite, but in doing so it strips out all the tension and it's very boring in comparison. The film is also, weirdly, more serious than any Marvel films have been since Phase 2, making it even more of a drag than it may have otherwise been. I dunno, if there hadn't been 23 movies released in this series with the same formula before this one I might have enjoyed Black Widow more, but as is I've almost forgotten it in a matter of weeks.
- DirectorEverardo GoutStarsAna de la RegueraTenoch HuertaJosh LucasAll the rules are broken as a sect of lawless marauders decides that the annual Purge does not stop at daybreak and instead should never end.The Forever Purge shakes up the franchise formula more than any other entry has, but it unfortunately keeps most of the more tired fundamentals which make this the weakest entry since the original. I like the cast and shifting from oppression of the homeless and black folks to Mexicans and immigrants was a wise move, but the film largely suffers from being a really poor horror movie and a very mediocre action movie. Like, at one point we get an extended one-take that's clearly inspired by fellow Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, but the only really impressive thing about it is that it's a one take - the scene itself doesn't actually have all that much going on, so it lacks tension and excitement.
- DirectorDarren Lynn BousmanStarsChris RockSamuel L. JacksonMax MinghellaA criminal mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in Spiral, the terrifying new chapter from the book of Saw.While Spiral is better than the last couple Saw movies we've gotten, it is a mess. I have to give it some props for ambition - it's cool to see Chris Rock in a mostly-serious role, the fact that it shines a light on police corruption is timely, it's more plot and character-heavy than Saw has been in a very long time and it reinvents iconic imagery from the franchise without feeling like it's weighed down by it. However, Spiral has some major flaws that drag it down. First of all, the script is flimsy and it gets worse as it goes along to its predictable and dumb finale. The police corruption aspect is also somehow both hamfisted and doesn't go nearly far enough - like, we get cartoonishly evil cops but it's treated like they're just bad because of one act which let them overreach and they just need to weed out the bad cops to make things okay again. The ending feels like it accidentally reinforced a ACAB message which would be appropriate, but it feels completely accidental and isn't in line with the rest of the film's handling of the police so... good job I guess? Oh, and the fact that the film doesn't dive into race AT ALL feels like a glaring omission. Again, this is still better than Jigsaw or Saw VII, but Spiral could have been one of the franchise's best with a bit more effort.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsDave BautistaElla PurnellAna de la RegueraFollowing a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.Army of the Dead has a fantastic premise, solid cast of characters and a director known for stylish action so this should be a slam dunk to be a good time, right? Well, to put it simply, no. Army of the Dead is bloated, badly-written, lacking focus and full of baffling decisions which make it far more of a slog than it should be. When it's actually being a zombie heist action film it's quite fun, but those moments are far too little in the 2 and a half hour runtime.
- DirectorAndy SerkisStarsTom HardyWoody HarrelsonMichelle WilliamsEddie Brock attempts to reignite his career by interviewing serial killer Cletus Kasady, who becomes the host of the symbiote Carnage and escapes prison after a failed execution.The first Venom movie was an absolute mess. Let There Be Carnage is also a mess, but a slightly better one, maybe? The villain is ill-defined, but just a tad more interesting than the previous film's one. The plot's a bit more focused, but still weak. The one thing it really does do better than before is nailing down the weird relationship between this incarnation of Venom and Eddie Brock, and when the film is focused there, it's at it's best.
- DirectorMichael ChavesStarsPatrick WilsonVera FarmigaRuairi O'ConnorArne Cheyenne Johnson stabs and murders his landlord, claiming to be under demonic possession while Ed and Lorraine Warren investigate the case and try to prove his innocence.I liked the first 2 Conjuring films quite a bit, so I get no pleasure in saying that The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It kinda sucks. Losing James Wan was a deathblow for this film, as Michael Chaves is nowhere near as good a director. Gone is the tension, plausibility and strong characters which made the previous two films so popular, instead we get limp jump scares and scenes so bereft of tension that they become boring. Thankfully Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga's Ed and Lorraine Warren remain the cutest (and dorkiest) couple in film, for better or worse, but even they struggle to keep this script at all interesting. It's too bad, I can only hope that if the series continues that James Wan is willing to get back into the director's chair.
- DirectorJohannes RobertsStarsKaya ScodelarioRobbie AmellHannah John-KamenSet in 1998, this origin story explores the secrets of the mysterious Spencer Mansion and the ill-fated Raccoon City.I have so much I want to complain about with this movie, but I'll keep it relatively brief. An adaptation that's more faithful to the source material makes sense for Resident Evil, but there are so many bone-headed decisions made here and half-baked ideas. Tons of easter eggs and callbacks to the games, which end up serving no purpose to the actual narrative. Girlboss Claire is somehow less interesting than if she's just a normal person caught up in a terrifying situation. Leon as a washed-up failure of a cop is an interesting idea, but he is given absolutely nothing to do in the entire movie. Raccoon City as a ghost town feels like it was done to make COVID restrictions easier, but it robs the setting of the mass outbreak and chaos that makes it so compelling in the games. Resident Evil games don't exactly have great stories, but if you mash the shells of two games together, it ends up creating something even worse. Oh, and don't even get me started on the stealthiest zombies I've ever seen in a movie, dear God. The one positive I can say is that the cast are all really good, I just wish they had been given some proper material. As is, Welcome to Raccoon City's as bad as the worst Paul WS Anderson Resident Evils, which is something I never expected to have to say.
- DirectorRodo SayaguesStarsStephen LangMadelyn GraceBrendan Sexton IIIThe sequel is set in the years following the initial deadly home invasion, where Norman Nordstrom lives in quiet solace until his past sins catch up to him.Don't Breathe 2 is one of those sequels that is fundamentally flawed from conception and doomed to failure. The Blind Man is a relentless monster and trying to humanize him is an idiotic move. This would just be a boring, run-of-the-mill father revenge movie, but when you make that movie a sequel to Don't Breathe, and then strip the movie completely of tension, it leaves a far more sour taste in the mouth.
- DirectorDavid Gordon GreenStarsJamie Lee CurtisJudy GreerAndi MatichakSurviving victims of Michael Myers form a vigilante mob and vow to end his reign of terror.Oh my God this movie is awful. Like, I'm seriously finding reasons to defend Halloween: Resurrection and Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 after watching this movie, it's that bad (but hey, at least it's better than Halloween 6, right?). How does this franchise consistently manage to redefine the meaning of "suck"? It's especially disappointing considering that Halloween 2018 was really good, but this movie is an aimless, wheel-spinning, boring, poorly-edited, frustrating mess from start to finish.