Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Ranking the five best movies I watched in 2021

2021 was the first time in over ten years that I did not keep track of all the movies I watched. A lot of things played a factor in this, but – okay, let’s be real. It’s impossible to watch movies when you have an active toddler who is always tearing up the house and getting into everything. The free time I did have was mainly dedicated to TV shows and gaming – and that doesn’t leave a whole lot of room to watch movies.

Still, I am not going to let this break the tradition of my year end movie rankings. It makes things a little tougher, as I am struggling to remember everything I watched last year. And it also makes things less exciting as, since I barely watched any movies, I have a much smaller pool to pick from. As a result, I am only going to rank the FIVE best movies I watched in 2021. If I suddenly remember something later – too bad so sad. I will not be coming back to edit this. Without further ado, let’s get started.
 

#5:
What Happened to Monday


This movie is set in a dystopian future where, due to food and supply shortages, people are limited to having only one child. This causes problems when identical septuplet sisters are born. After the mother dies in childbirth, the babies’ grandfather takes them into hiding, where he raises them. They are all named after one day of the week and the rules are that only one can leave the house at a time, the day of their namesake (Monday can go out on Mondays, Tuesday can leave on Tuesdays, etc). In addition to this, they all have to dress/act exactly the same when they go out – as if they were one person. When Monday never comes back, this sets off the events of the film. The sisters have to *carefully* head out and investigate her disappearance. The tone of the movie changes at this point, turning into a fast paced, explosion-a-minute action thriller where several of the sisters are killed off.

I like the concept of the movie, but the reason it doesn’t rank higher is because I expected more than just an explosion/chase filled movie that jumps from one action set piece to the next. I felt no emotional connection to the characters. Couldn’t even tell half of the septuplets apart. Didn’t care when some of them died. It had some nice twists at the end of the movie, but ultimately there was just something about this film that felt a little bit flat to me.

Luckily it didn’t have much competition in 2021 as far as making the top 5. What else was I going to put here, Virtuosity? Double Dragon? Nah.
 


#4:
Sonic the Hedgehog


This movie was a pleasant surprise. I expected it to be terrible, but it was actually a lot of fun. This is something I could see myself showing to my son in a few years when he’s old enough to enjoy movies. It’s fast paced, it’s funny, and the non-Sonic characters are a lot more lovable and integral to the plot than I’d anticipated. Jim Carrey does a good job as Robotnik. James Marsden shines as Sonic’s human companion. Don’t come into this expecting a cinematic masterpiece, but if you have an open mind and are easily entertained you might find yourself just as surprised by this movie as I was.



#3: 
Black Widow 


I’m shocked that I liked this as much as I did. I’ve never had much interest in Black Widow as a character, as I find her one of the more boring Avengers. Also, she’s dead. Why would I have any interest in the backstory of a dead character?

All those concerns quickly went out the window as I started watching this movie. It made me appreciate Natasha in a way that I never had been able to before. The movie’s fun, it’s exciting, and probably the most important of all – it was the first thing I had seen in a movie theater since 2019. Just being back in those seats again with a big bucket of popcorn in my lap and my feet propped up felt so good. I was able to lose myself to the movie and dive into it in a way that I had almost forgotten about. If you haven’t seen this movie and you’re on the fence about it (probably with the same concerns I had coming in), do yourself a favor and give it a shot.

  
 

#2:
Spider-Man: No Way Home


It may seem a little clichéd to have two Marvel movies so high up on this list, but nothing was going to keep No Way Home out of one of the top spots. I watched this film in late December, and after a year of mediocre movie-watching this title was everything I could have asked for, and more. Like Black Widow, I also saw this one in the movie theater. And also like Black Widow, it was a terrific experience. I came into this movie relatively unspoiled, and although I knew that there were likely going to be crossovers with other Spider-Man films, I didn’t know it would be to this extent. It was such an absolute treat seeing Doc Ock, The Green Goblin, Electro, and  all the alternate Spider-Men all brought together for one film. Whatever I was expecting from this movie, I wasn’t expecting enough. It was absolutely fantastic and as it stands, one of the best MCU films ever made.

It also raises a lot of questions and opens a lot of doors for the future of the Spider-Man series as a whole. I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens from here.


#1: 
Looper


The premise of Looper is that in the future, law enforcement technology is so advanced that there is no way to murder anyone and dispose of bodies anymore without getting caught. So what do criminals do? They send people into the past to be killed and disposed of. The person in the past doing the killing is a “Looper.” When the Looper’s contract is up, they get to enjoy a life of retirement for 30 years before they are snatched and tossed into the past – only to be killed by their younger selves. That’s what happens in this movie, but with disastrous results. Joseph Gordon Levitt is the main character and he comes face to face with his future self (played by Bruce Willis). Bruce escapes and attempts to change the future, resulting in all kinds of chaos going down.

I saw this movie a few years ago and it did not impress me. I’m not sure what prompted me to give it another go, but I am VERY glad I did. This is such a fun, complex movie. I love time travel and all the problems it can cause, so this was right up my alley. I can’t figure out why I didn’t like it in the past, but I absolutely loved it this time around. The dark atmosphere, the sense of urgency, trying to wrap your head around the time travel mechanics. It’s such an engrossing film and it had me absolutely glued to my TV the whole time I was watching it.
 
I kept flip flopping between Looper and Spider-Man in my head. This may be the closest finish in the history of these rankings. Down to the very end. Looper wins it.

So there you have it, folks, the abridged 2021 version of my yearly movie rankings. Pretty fun, huh? Don’t worry, I will try to do better for you next year. 2022 is already off to a rousing start as I have watched classics like The Next Karate Kid and Graveyard Shift! Yes, this ranking will be epic once again next year, I can feel it already!

 

Dishonorable mention:
Cyborg
Double Dragon
Virtuosity
The Last Airbender




Past movie rankings:
2014 Rankings:

2015 Rankings:
2015 Movie Ranking: #50 to #36

2016 Monthly Rankings:

2020 Movie Rankings:



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