2021 saw the return of movies into the theater and it came back in a big way. While movies were also being streamed on streaming services, the people that love going into movie theaters got to see some of their most anticipated films on the big screen. In 2021 we got to see the return of the MCU on the big screen, two Hollywood Titans battling it out to see who is the King of the Monsters, the final run of one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema and an animated studio continuing to show why they are the best at what they do. 2021 in film was amazing and I wish I got to watch every film this year but sadly I didn’t have the chance to watch each film to make this list possible so some movies will be left off this list as my cutoff just like last year is Christmas. Now this list was hard to make as while there were a lot of great films that I did get to see, just making the top 5 alone was hard to do. This isn’t my hardest top 10 films of the year list but there were multiple films I would had considered the best film of 2021. Here’s to 2022 in what could be an even bigger year for films. Comment below and let me know what your favorite movie of this year was and let’s countdown and rank my Top 10 Best Films of 2021.
My Top 10 Films of 2021
10. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – Phase 4 of the MCU took off this year in cinemas as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings blew everyone away with the introduction of the titled character, Xu Shang-Chi/Shaun, and his journey from his life in San Francisco to becoming the new holder of the Ten Rings. This movie really introduced us to Xu Shang-Chi very well as he is probably one of the least known Marvel Comic’s characters and to know that he will be a big part of the next phase of superheroes in the MCU is honestly pretty sweet. Sima Liu does a fabulous job as Shaun/Xu Shang-Chi and while he had some roles in television, this was technically Liu’s first feature film and honestly he knocked it out of the park. I also enjoyed the rest of the cast including Awkwafina as his best friend Katy and Tony Leung as Shaun’s father Xu Wenwu. I was shockingly surprised for Awkwafina’s character as I expected her to be the comedic relief character and while she was that type of character, she actually had more dramatic/action scenes than what I expected and she did a really great job in this role. Speaking of the action scenes, the action sequences was visually incredible. While not every action sequence/scene was visually stunning, I will say that they were pretty great and unique in their own way. The Asian culture was also represented very well in this film and this movie really took on a role in showing what Marvel can do with a not well known character and story and how they could raise the bar and make the role/story memorable and action packed. We have seen it before with the Guardians of the Galaxy and I feel like we will see it again with future MCU projects to come, as long as they have a great director in the directing chair and a great storyteller. In the end Shang Chi is a great film that if you haven’t seen it yet then take your time out of your day and watch this film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giWIr7U1deA
9. Nobody – I remember watching the trailer for this movie on a YouTube ad and was like this reminds me a lot like John Wick and I was one hundred percent right. Plus out of all the films that came out this year, this one was surprisingly better than I thought it would be. Bob Odenkirk leads this film into being an amazing action packed movie about a family man who returns to his former dangerous life. The action sequences and cinematography/editing for this film is incredible as the director Ilya Naishuller has created another incredible action movie in the 21st century. If you don’t know his past work then you should know he directed Hardcore Henry but if you do know then you know how badass this director’s cinematography and editing can be as well as how good of a director he is. As I said earlier Bob Odenkirk leads this film into greatness and he plays this role of Hutch “Nobody” Mansell in the most perfect way. Bob Odenkrik just about to hit 60 years old, kicking ass like he is a young 35 year old man and doing it in such a badass way. Nobody is a film that it’s story is bunched together with the main character’s family life, life in his ordinary job while he is also hiding his intense former lifestyle and now once again being this badass motherfucker who will kick the living shit out of you; all of this in just one movie and it properly does it well without getting lost in its own narrative. Does it add anything new into the action genre, no, but does it show some great action packed scenes, make Bob Odenkirk a badass and introduce us to a possible future franchise that can become the next John Wick or Taken, hell fucking yeah. I consider the Bus scene one of the most badass scenes in the century and probably the best scene in the entire film. If you haven’t seen this movie and you are a big fan of those action packed films than add this to your watch list and go check out this movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZti8QKBWPo
8. A Quiet Place II – 2018’s A Quiet Place was considered one of the best horror movies of the 2010’s. So how does John Krasinski take that great comment? Well of course make a sequel to your successful movie and make it just as good as that said movie. A Quiet Place II literally takes place minutes after the first movie but the opening of this film takes us to the first day these creatures came to Earth and the havoc they caused and the creation of this apocalyptic world the family lives in now. Every actor/actress in this movie is great. Emily Blunt once again kills it in the role of Evelyn Abbot but her role is kind of pushed back a bit as her daughter Regan Abbot, placed by Millicent Simmonds, kind of takes the main role in this movie. Cillian Murphy also does a fantastic job as Emmet and I mean is there any role Cillian Murphy can’t do amazing in, the guy is legit an amazing underrated actor who needs more praise. While the acting is great, the horror aspects and even the sound design is just as amazing, quite possibly even better, than the first movie. I’m not kidding when I tell you this my theater the day I saw the film was quiet as hell and you pretty much heard every sound that was being made in the film and when the film’s sound became quiet you literally felt like you were in the movie trying not to make a noise so those giant creatures didn’t come through the screen and eat you. The saying goes if it isn’t broke don’t fix it and Krasinski literally took the exact method of the first film and created a story where the family must do all that they can to stay alive, without making any noise of course. If you were a fan of the first movie then your defiantly going to be a fan of this movie and if you did get a chance to see the movie whether it was in theaters or streaming it on Paramount Plus then you know how brilliant this film is and how it continues to strengthen the Quiet Place franchise. Hell I will say it now; I would not mind one more Quiet Place film. I dipped my toes in for the first film and went all in by the end and now I want more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iXeAwsGhV0
7. Free Guy – Ryan Reynolds playing an NPC (non-playable character) in a video game action comedy movie, that’s literally all you have to do for the marketing in this movie and let the movie do the rest of the work to make it successful because oh my god this movie was freaking awesome. This movie had it all from amazing action sequences, hilarious jokes, cameos that came out of nowhere from Ninja, Chris Evans and Tina Fey to the late great Alex Trabek; yeah you can say this movie was amazing. This movie is actually very clever with its plot/story as Guy, played by Ryan Reynolds, doesn’t know he is living his life in a video game and once he begins to understand what is going on around him he does what any other video gamer would do, be the best at the video game and kick some ass. Or in this case find the girl he met on the online game and get to know her and fall in love with her. Okay that might have been me this year with the love of my life but hey we parallel and relate to one another me and Guy, without me living my life in a video game of course. This movie does a great job with balancing the real world with the video game world while also being very comedic action packed film but also being a charming love story. Fans of Ready Player One and all video games from Grand Theft Auto to Fortnite will love this movie and you will too. Plus it has a very clever concept that we haven’t really seen in the film industry so it adds something new to its film genre and also for cinema in general. It’s a movie that adds something fresh into the pile of similar films we usually get every year. You know what I’m talking about if you are a huge film nerd. Big props for Disney to be putting the film on its streaming service in February 2022 so the people that have yet to see the film can finally watch this brilliant movie. So when you watch the film I hope you don’t have a good day, but you have a Great Day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JORN2hkXLyM
6. King Richard – You know what movie really made me say: “You know what I didn’t think I need this film in my life but I really did”. If you guessed our next entry then you are correct. King Richard is a biopic of the father of Venus and Serena Williams. Okay the film is technically both a biopic for the Williams sisters and their father, Richard Williams, but it mainly focuses on the life of Richard Williams and the early success for the sisters. Will Smith puts on such an award winning performance as Richard Williams, to the point where I would consider this one of if not the best performance of the year. What I like about this film is that we watch the two sisters, Richard Williams and the entire family go from living in a not so great neighborhood in Compton, California to them moving to Florida and finding a huge success throughout the entire film. I like that we see a family do everything that they can to find success but also be there for each other, even though two of the children in the family are being raised to be superstar athletes. The film actually uses Venus’ success more and shows her becoming a huge young tennis player. Serena Williams gets her time to shine in the film as well but not as often as Venus and I understand why this is done because that’s how it was in real life for the sisters. This film is literally produced by both Serena and Venus Williams so you know that the actual events that happened in this film were real. This biopic perfectly shows the Williams family’s life while also showing their struggles of becoming successful to how far Richard Williams went to create the future Michael Jordan’s of tennis. The acting in this film was amazing, the script was phenomenal, the storytelling was a slow burn at times but it works in the very end. I would take maybe 10 – 15 minutes of this movie out because it is over 2 hours long but that’s just a little nip pick for me, but either way this movie is awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKP_0z52ZAw
5. Encanto – Disney Animation Studios hit a homerun this year with not one but two huge animated films this year. While I did love Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto somehow managed to win me over just a bit more. Encanto follows a young woman named Mirabel and her journey to try and save her family’s magic. In the movie, everyone in the Madrigal family has a special gift/magical powers with exception to Mirabel. This movie was fantastic as the magical powers and gifts represent more than what they are showing as the characters that have these powers also have struggles that they hide with their magical powers. This film has a very serious theme hidden in the film’s narrative and the direction of this film expresses its theme so well that the viewer can possibly even relate to the theme and the characters of the film. Each character stands out pretty well and has enough time on the screen to make an impact in the film. The animation/colors of the film is very vibrant and looks gorgeous. You can tell the animators worked really hard to get the colors of Colombia in this film perfectly and the hidden details of each character in the animation are beyond incredible. The music of the film is also so amazing as the music was created by Lin-Manuel Miranda and well if you remember his work in Moana then you know that the music in this film is just as good, although I would rather listen to the Moana soundtrack over Encanto’s. This film feels like it be perfect for Broadway and I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney add this movie somehow in the parks with a musical show or even create a Broadway adaptation in the future and have Lin-Manuel Miranda put it all together. There something about this movie that made me feel what the emotions of the characters as while the characters or almost all the main characters have gifts, behind these gifts are ordinary people who are also dealing with everyday struggles and are probably hiding it and I totally relate to that theme. Just a mini spoiler but it’s on demand and streaming on Disney Plus so if you haven’t yet go check out Encanto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaimKeDcudo
4. Last Night in Soho – Edgar Wright is honestly a genius behind the camera and when he creates a screenplay. The man hasn’t created a bad film yet, at least to my knowledge and Last Night in Soho really changed the game for Wright’s career. Last Night in Soho takes us on a journey of an aspiring fashion designer who is able to enter the 1960’s and her encounters with a singer and the troubles she went through. The film begins like your average Edgar Wright films, slow character development, Wright type of humor that you would see in the Cornetto trilogy and amazing cinematography. However the film then begins to show some dark tones and slowly becomes the psychological horror it is meant to be. This movie can be quite confusing to some people but that will only happen if you don’t pay close attention to the story so if you do watch this film please pay close attention as you might miss something very important. Think of this film as Inception level of paying attention. Now while the cinematography is incredible and the directing is phenomenal, we also have the amazing performances from the cast including Thomasin Mackenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy and Terrance Stamp. Not only is the acting in this film amazing but the costume design and lighting is amazing. Honestly I wouldn’t think this film came from the mind of Edgar Wright but it is and he does a phenomenal job with the story. The film has a couple of unexpected moments that will blow your mind. This film also has its fair share of jump scares and they come out of nowhere and will shock you. This film has a lot of unexpected twists too so I hope you pay close attention to the details in the film. I’m hoping it gets nominated for a couple of awards for the Academy Awards as I think it’s that freaking amazing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB9WUIv9KH8
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home – This is the best “superhero” movie this year by far. My theater was packed for this film on a Thursday night during the pandemic and you know what I could have risked getting covid and getting sick for this film, I DON’T CARE!!! Spider-Man: No Way Home was and is phenomenal. Not everything about it was perfect as there are a couple of details I wish it included or added more into. It’s kind of hard talking about this film without talking about, well you know if you saw the film what happened so you know how awesome those moments added in to the film in general, but for others I need to be pretty chill with how I talk about the film. Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man is a solid 5/5; Holland really knows how to play this role well and each film he gets better and better with the role. The villains in the film are how you thought they were going to be, amazing and fun to see once again. Doc Ock was just as great as he was in Spider-Man 2 although I feel like he was pushed back a bit given the fact the main baddie here is Green Goblin aka Willem Dafoe, who if you ask me did a extremely better job with this film in the role than in 2002’s Spider-Man. Also Jamie Foxx as Electro was hell of a lot better than what we got from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. As for Lizard and Sandman they didn’t really add much and felt like the benchwarmers for this film. Visually this film was splendid from the cinematography to that intense scene with Doctor Strange and Spider-Man in the Multiverse. And well….I mean I can’t talk about these next moments as it is spoiler territory but oh boy I can tell you the theater reaction. They went crazy and tore the roof off. This film was made with both love and fan service while also helping the MCU Spider-Man trilogy end in an impactful way. Some even say that this is the best Spider-Man movie ever and I can’t argue with them about that opinion. But most of all this 3rd film in the MCU Spider-Man felt more like a Spider-Man movie and less of an Avengers film. Yes Doctor Strange is in it, yes Tony Stark, Captain America and Thanos are mentioned and yes bits and pieces of Avengers lore is in here but other than that this feels purely like Spider-Man and nothing else. The ending was very amazing; most of the third act was to be honest. We got great performances from most of the cast and holy shit the action scenes were top notch action scenes in the MCU. Put it up there with Civil War and even Shang-Chi and you got yourself a great action packed superhero film. This film is already at a billion in the box office and could very well reach Endgame/Avatar level of box office revenue. I salute you Marvel/Sony/Disney for putting your differences aside for a second and giving us this beautiful film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt-2cxAiPJk
2. The Mitchells vs. The Machines – Sony not only gave us the best “superhero” film this year, but it gave us the best animated film this year too. The Mitchells vs. The Machines took my heart for a while this year as I felt the emotions from the main character, Katie Mitchell, in this film. I felt the story for this film as well and I’m not going to lie I have watched this movie about three times this year and each time I laugh out loud but also shed a tear or two from the film’s main story and how well the character development is for our main characters aka the Mitchell family. Plus you know this film is going to be amazing when the new kings of animation storytelling and comedy Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are behind the producer chair. If they don’t sound familiar then just know they worked on 21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, so yeah they are kind of a big deal in Hollywood at the moment or at least the last 10 years. Anyway the film in general might be the greatest animated film to come out this year. The film is about Katie Mitchell, an aspiring filmmaker who is going to a film school in college. There is a big family dynamic in the story that I don’t want to spoil but it pretty much has to do with a father who wants to see her daughter do great things and there is tension between the two. Anyway the father decides to do a family road trip to before the daughter goes to the film school and in the middle of the trip they have to save the planet from a global uprising. Talk about a switch up from a family dynamic film to a saving the planet from evil robots type of film, but in general the direction of this film is beyond incredible as the writers and directors knew how to put two different plots of the film and make a masterpiece. The film is full with so much humor from hilarious gags to moments that will make you belly laugh and yes there was a lot of belly laughing from this film. But the film also has so much heart and down to earth moments between the family and honestly this film is so relatable to anyone who watches. The last act seems a bit much and goes on for a bit longer than it should but regardless that’s my only problem with the film. The animation in this film was very unique and interesting and I loved the little details for certain features of the characters and the setting around them. What really makes me like this film is its message and again how relatable it could be with it’s viewers. Some people might not relate but the more times I watched it, the more I began to relate more and more with the film. Plus this film feels fresh and new as while we have seen family dynamic films in the past that involve road trips, conflicts with members of the family or saving the world scenario, it feels good to have both mixed in with one another and in the end have a pretty great executed film that has both great humor and dramatic moments that will make you feel it in your emotions and trust me I felt a lot of emotions with a few scenes in this film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ak5dFt8Ar0
1. The Suicide Squad – After the disaster that was 2016’s Suicide Squad, Warner Bros. decided to go for a 2nd attempt and this time instead of hitting a single in the outfield and getting thrown out, they hit a big home run out of the park. And who better to put behind the director’s chair to make this film incredibly amazing, why none other than James Gunn and yes his influence and filmmaking style with this film made it even more incredible than what we expected. The film is honestly amazing all over from its soundtrack and characters to its visuals and very graphic scenes and it has a ton of rated R graphic scenes. The cast is phenomenal in this film and instead of just using the same characters from the last film Gunn decided to change it up and use some not well known characters from the comic book. Seems like he has done this before but I can’t seem to put my finger on it….oh yeah Guardians of the Galaxy and we all know how successful and amazing that film was. Idris Elba as Bloodsport/Robert DuBois is something we never asked for but truly needed. John Cena as Peacemaker is honestly the greatest decision ever made, he literally makes the character feel special and I can’t see any other actor play this anti-Captain America. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is just as great as her first two times playing the role but for this one it felt a bit more. You sometimes forget Harley is psychotic and this film makes you remember that, just without Joker although he is referenced in a hilarious way. Daniela Melchoir as Ratcatcher 2/Cleo Cazo was honestly beautiful. Her character has a backsotry and angle with Bloodsport that honestly will make you feel. David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man was…interesting but also a very great performance. And of course King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone, was the most adorable character and also best character of the film, well in my opnion. He is the Groot of the team but he is also probably the most powerful member. Guy is a shark who likes to eat and just wants to make friends. Okay that’s most of the performances/characters that made this film amazing but everything else around them make this film a masterpiece. The cinematography in this film is just so fucking brilliant. There were certain scenes with camera angles or just ways Gunn filmed the scene that made me just stare and watch and realize that I wouldn’t want to change the angles or the way he is filming this. You have to watch the film in order to understand but there was a certain scene with Peacemaker where he is fighting someone and the shot of the fight is filmed with using his helmet and oh my god it was just perfection. The soundtrack for the film was pretty good as well. The musical scores of the film were fabulous and the songs picked for the film to play in the background or during certain scenes were incredible choices. Each character of the film were used in the film were used in the right way and the film’s villain or villains were incredible. I’m not going to lie but Starro as the final boss for the Squad to defeat was such an amazing choice, especially knowing it was the Squad versus pretty much a giant alien star. It could have gone bad like the original Suicide Squad film against a CGI villain but in the end it went right. Speaking of the CGI, it is also incredible visually the CGI looks better than ever and for a couple of the characters they look very real. Like I would believe that Gunn found a way to have an actual shark on set because holy fuck it looked so lifelike. And the graphics for the film is just, oh my god I need to literally review this film in the future to tell you more. Spider-man might be the best superhero film but the best comic book film goes to The Suicide Squad. I didn’t want this film to end, I wanted so much more and in the end we finally got a perfect adaptation of the Suicide Squad, at least in my opinion of course. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1EbSXxrZ34
Honorable Mentions:
Luca – Pixar continues to create beautiful animated films and Luca is another example of how amazing the company is at creating stories. It wasn’t their strongest film but it was pretty great regardless. Solid 8 out of 10 film and well worth the watch.
Judas and the Black Messiah – Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton, leader of the Black Panthers in Chicago, was honestly a stellar performance. He deserved the Oscar for sure and made this movie feel very special. I feel like this film became a bit forgotten after the awards season but regardless this film showed the serious story of the Black Panther movement but also the life of Fred Hampton. If anything this film is a great biographical crime drama that needs more apperception, even though it was nominated for six Oscars.
Raya and the Last Dragon – The animation in this film is phenomenal and the action scenes were animated so beautifully. I would have liked more world building with this film and to touch on each section of this world more but for what we got I really enjoyed. The message of this film was also done in such a great way and I’m not going to lie I thought the film was a bit long but I understand why it was. Solid animated film from Disney; it’s not one of their strongest films but it is still a solid film under the House of Mouse.
Godzilla vs. Kong – I don’t care about anyone’s opinion, I loved this film. The scenes with just the human characters might not be all that interesting but who gives a shit we have two giants battling it out to see who the real King of the Monsters is. The visual effects were amazing, especially for Godzilla and King Kong. Also the scenery and settings of the film looked incredible.
Video Version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw1Kb9QPlgw
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