8 Worst Films of 2021
The title of this blog post is misleading because I don’t believe the following films are necessarily the worst of 2021 (it’s impossible to say because there’s not enough time to watch every film that came out this year). The following movies are just the worst ones I’ve seen this year. With that being said, let’s dive right into them:
8. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
The best thing I can say about this Venom sequel is it’s blessedly short-lived (it’s only 97 minutes). While better than the first, it’s still a franchise that doesn’t have anything to offer in the sea of superhero blockbusters we see every year. Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock is boring (and annoying), Venom isn’t threatening, and the villains Carnage (Woody Harrelson) and Shriek (Naomie Harris) are underdeveloped. The film never leans into the “carnage” its title implies, instead staying safe when it should’ve went berserk. I know we’re going to get more of Venom (the post-credits scene suggests so), but I’m already tired of this franchise.
‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ is available for purchase/rent on digital platforms and home media. Read my review here.
7. F9
I’m not above the Fast and Furious franchise, and find some of them to be quite fun (Fast Five and Furious 7 are the best), but this ninth installment is too big for its own good. The return of Han is worth celebrating, and the crew blasting off into space is the kind of ridiculousness that makes the franchise so much fun, but the plot—involving a never-before-mentioned-until-now-long-lost-brother of Dom (Vin Diesel), played by John Cena—feels like it could’ve used some more drafts. It’s hard to care for Cena’s Jakob because we’re already nine films in and the films have never once mentioned him. And the franchise starts to get lost trying to copy the interconnectedness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by having everything retconned to be connected. And Diesel continues to be the worst part of the franchise, a leading man who lacks charisma and depth (the loss of The Rock is definitely felt in this franchise). The biggest praise I can give this film is the actors who played teenaged Dom and Jakob (Vinnie Bennett and Finn Cole) outshine Diesel and Cena in every aspect.
‘F9’ is available for purchase/rent on digital platforms and home media.
6. The Woman in the Window
Gaslit women is all the rage ever since Gone Girl took over pop culture, and the copycats that have come since have ranged in quality. The Girl on the Train was fine, A Simple Favor was fun, but Joe Wright’s The Woman in the Window, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by AJ Finn, is the worst one I’ve seen thus far. It’s no wonder Disney tossed this film aside and gave it to Netflix after they bought Fox, because it’s awful. Amy Adams, who deserves an Oscar already, is underserved by a manipulative and weak script that attempts to be clever but ends up feeling contrived. It’s ugly, the tone laughable, and the plot twist doesn’t feel properly set-up or earned.
‘The Woman in the Window’ is streaming on Netflix.
5. The Green Knight
It’s hard not to be excited for any A24 production, so you can imagine how disappointed I was that I didn’t like David Lowery’s medieval epic, The Green Knight. While stunningly gorgeous (it definitely needs to be nominated for Best Cinematography at next year’s Oscars), I also found it to be a bore. Dev Patel does the best he can with the underwritten role (and he looks great doing it), but alas, this is a film that looks better than it actually is.
‘The Green Knight’ is available for purchase/rent on digital platforms and home media.
4. Dear Evan Hansen
Dear Evan Hansen, about a teenaged boy who apparently isn’t gay, took the world by storm on Broadway, earning multiple Tonys, Grammys, and Emmys. It’s a no brainer that a film adaptation would happen one day. So what happened?! It’s hard for me to say since I never saw the original show, but the entire film is a disaster. It’s filled with questionable story decisions, poor casting (Ben Platt looks too old to play Dear, the role he originated), mismatched tones, unmemorable songs, and, worst of all for any musical, it lacks energy.
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ is available for purchase/rent on digital platforms and home media. Read my review here.
3. Boogie
In Eddie Huang’s directorial debut, Boogie follows a Chinese American teenager, Alfred “Boogie” Chin, who struggles to balance meeting his parents’ academic expectations and his passion for basketball. It’s a basic premise that is instantly relatable to any children of immigrants out there who feel the weight of their parents’ sacrifices on their shoulders, but the script (also by Huang) is too thin and barebones. Taylor Takahashi is also too wooden to carry or elevate the material (it’s also curious why Huang would cast a Japanese American to play a Chinese American role).
‘Boogie’ is available for purchase/rent on digital platforms and home media.
2. I Was a Simple Man
I was so excited for Christopher Makoto Yogi’s contemplative movie, but, again, this is another film that disappointed me. Set in Hawaii, I Was a Simple Man stars Steve Iwamoto as Masao Matsuyoshi, a man on his deathbed as he starts envisioning his past, including his long-deceased wife (played by Constance Wu). I really wanted to like this movie but it’s too slow, the characters are nonexistent, and we don’t know enough about Masao to care that he’s dying. The end result is beautiful movie (thanks to its Hawaiian setting) with nothing else to offer.
‘I Was a Simple Man’ is available to rent on digital platforms.
1. Needle in a Timestack
Everyone online made fun of this title but I personally think it rules Unfortunately, that’s the only thing I like about the film. Based on the short story of the same name by Robert Silverberg, Needle in a Timestack is set in world where time travel has been commodified, but only for the rich. When someone has altered the timeline, Nick Mikkelsen (Leslie Odom Jr.) finds himself no longer married to his wife, Janine (Cynthia Erivo), but to his ex, Alex (Freida Pinto). Nick journeys to undo this disruption. Needle in a Timestack has a compelling premise, but writer/director John Ridley, who won an Oscar for writing 12 Years a Slave, adapted the story into something that lacks thrills, intimacy, and care. The world is not fleshed out at all, it takes too long for Nick’s time travel to actually happen, its themes are repetitive (we’re beaten over our heads with the line “Love is a circle”), and lacks subtlety. There’s a reason this film was delayed to 2021 due to multiple re-editing, despite having been filmed in 2018.
‘Needle in a Timestack’ is available for purchase/rent on digital platforms and home media. Read my review here.