My Top 5 Best Films of 2021

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5. Dune: Part One– A fantastic-looking film that starts off strong but ends up feeling like it just goes on forever before stopping abruptly to set up a sequel.

4. Black Widow– While it hurts the plot a bit knowing how Natasha’s story ends, the scaled-back approach that focuses on family works well. But the over-the-top sky battle at the end is too much mindless action and takes away from this personal story approach.

3. The Suicide Squad– A fun dark-comedy with characters that work even though they shouldn’t. A tendency for style over substance hurts the final product.

2. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings– A solid origin story that has great action sequences and a lot of heart but suffers from on over-stuffed finale.

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home– It brings together elements from past and present Spider-Man films in a satisfying way but does suffer from a few tonal shifts and a few stretches where it almost grinds to a halt.

My Top 5 Worst Films of 2021

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I’m pretty picky about the films I see, so the this is really more a list of my least favorite films of the year.

Honorable mention: The Matrix: Resurrections: Actually worse than some of the other films on my list, but I knew going in it wouldn’t be any good. (I didn’t bother seeing in theaters and just watched it on HBO Max.) A few films made this list because they were major letdowns.

5. Venom: Let There Be Carnage – Tom Hardy once again gives his all to make Venom and Eddie Brock work, and Carnage has his moments, but it’s not enough the other lackluster characters and mediocre plot.

4. Ghostbusters: Afterlife – After a goofy opening sequence, the film introduces some intriguing characters, only to mostly ignore all but one of them and then basically go into rehashing the plot of the original film.

3. F9– While the returning cast still has great chemistry and John Cena is a decent addition, the action has become so cartoony that putting a car in space is more believable than most of the other action sequences.

2. Snak Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins– It starts off as a grounded film about a man with a lot of childhood baggage, but quickly loses credibility when all the magic ninja stuff and unnecessarily over-the-top production designs are introduced.

1. Mortal Kombat – A great opening sequence and R-Rated Fatalities give hope of a video game adaption that honors the source material. But weak fight scenes, dialog and plot details that border on camp start to derail the film early on.

Movie Review: The King’s Man

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Advertised as an action-packed prequel to “The Kingsman” featuring colorful characters and cool-spy tech, this film is kind of a slow-moving World War 1 period piece that lacks direction or much of the fun stuff that was expected. The foundation of Kingsman spy agency could’ve been an interesting concept, but it’s pushed to the background for too much of the film, and a lot of it happens off-screen. The plot is just a tale of the first World War, but they add in some Bond-like villains that are pulling all the strings from behind the scenes. And they’re too concerned with keeping a lid on the man running thing’s identity just to set up a mediocre twist. While Mathew Vaughn’s previously directed “Kingsman” films have featured inventive and kinetic actions sequences, things fall pretty flat here. Action is scarce, and while there are a couple of good fight scenes, nothing stands out as being memorable. That goes for the characters as well. The acting is strong, but nobody really connects much with the audience. (With maybe the exception of Rasputin, who’s probably way too over the top, but at least makes an impact.)

** out of *****

Movie Review: The Matrix Resurrections

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After a nearly twenty-year absence, “The Matrix” franchise returns and the film doesn’t just struggle to get out of the trilogy’s shadow, it intentionally spends a lot of time in it. The latest movie in the series is part sequel, part meta-commentary, and part love letter to the originals. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really succeed at any of these. The sequel aspect is on the messy side, with a hodgepodge of new characters, old characters, and old characters played by new actors. Aside from Neo himself, nobody particularly stands out. (New characters fall flat, and the new actors are hit and miss taking over fan-favorite characters.) The meta portion of the film drags things down somewhat but has some interesting concepts that ultimately gets pushed aside for the more tried and true formula. And while some of the nostalgia factor is necessary, it’s kind of gratuitous and makes you pine for that groundbreaking first film. This is where the new film fails the most, as it really brings little new to the table. The action and effects are serviceable, but there’s nothing memorable here. They do introduce some interesting concepts that gel nicely with the end of the last film, but at the end it basically rehashes what they’ve already done.

**

TV Review: Hawkeye (Season 1)

**This review contains some spoilers**

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As the final Avenger to get a solo project, Clint Barton struggles with his time in the spotlight to get out of first gear, but great characters, strong acting and a bit of fun allows “Hawkeye” to be an entertaining ride.

The show’s biggest weakness is the lack of a clearly defined plot. Is it about solving the murder of Armand? Clearing Kate’s name? Getting back a mysterious watch? The show never quite figures that out. Clint is constantly calling home to let his wife know that he’s going to need more time, but there’s never a moment where the audience knows what he needs to do so he can move on. There’s a lot that happens because of the events in the first episode that keeps our heroes on their toes, but it’s too vague on where they need to go next. Fortunately, Clint and Kate work so well together that none of that matters most of the time.

While it would’ve been nice to get more of Hawkeye’s backstory, the show does fill in some of the remaining gaps in his early interactions with Black Widow. This relationship comes up a lot, and we see how her death still affects him. We also see a lot more of him dealing with being a family man and a superhero. This isn’t an original concept, but Jeremy Renner’s acting completely sells how emotionally crushing it is to have to make his family take a back seat. We also get to see a lot more of the tactical side from the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but he really doesn’t get a ton of action sequences. Luckily, Kate Bishop gets quite a few of her own. Kate is instantly likable thanks to a memorable origin and how she uses her quick thinking just as well as her bow and arrow. Hailee Steinfeld nails the character, and while she has the cockiness of a Jessica Jones, Steinfeld also displays her vulnerability and inexperience.

Most of the side characters fail to make all that much of an impact. Maya has an incredibly moving back story, and is introduced as a badass, but her revenge arc has a too-quickly resolved ending. And without her superpowers from the comic book, her only other interesting character trait is her deafness. Kazi is fine for the role they designed for him but is seems like he’s watered-down from his comic incarnation as well, not to mention having poorly defined allegiances. Kate’s mom, Eleanor, spends so much time being mostly a secondary character that her obvious plot twist lacks much of a punch. Clint’s wife Laura quickly goes from supportive spouse to being someone that knows way too much about the spy-business to just be a simple housewife. Unfortunately, we don’t get a big enough payoff to her story. Another character without a payoff his Jack Duquesne. Known in the comics as The Swordsman, he used here as nothing more than a red herring. However, his goofy cluelessness becomes pretty endearing by the end of the season. Ultimately, it’s two guest characters that stand out the most. Yelena shows up late in show’s run, and steals every scene she’s in. While most of this is played for laughs, she does have a chance to be a badass and still have some emotional moments. And when the Kingpin finally shows up, Vincent D’Onofrio is just as intimidating here as he was in the “Daredevil” series. But the fact that he’s not revealed till the final episode keeps him from fitting into the show’s narrative properly, and the way he’s portrayed as being at super-human levels of strength and durability makes him feel too much like a monster and not a regular man.

In general, there are not a lot of standout action sequences, although there are a couple of memorable moments. The show looks fine overall, and there is some creative camera work at times, but overall, the cinematography is kind of bland. The special effects, like the other Disney+ show is movie-quality, although that doesn’t mean it always looks top-notch.

“Hawkeye” finally gives the spotlight to an Avenger that spent a lot of time on the borders of the bigger stories. While the street-level threat is perfect for a character like Hawkeye, the poorly defined plot keeps the show from getting much traction. But great chemistry between the leads, and some strong guest appearances, make it all worthwhile.

*** out of *****