No Time to Die (2021) review

 

Since 1962, six actors have officially portrayed author Ian Fleming’s suave secret agent James Bond AKA 007 in Eon Productions’ long-running franchise of films based on Fleming’s work, with each of them bringing their own unique spin to the title role. Up until this year, however, arguably the one thing that most of them had in common was that, unfortunately, their tenures in the role didn’t exactly end on a good note as their final films tended to be some of the franchise’s worst-received installments, sometimes for reasons that extend beyond the film’s quality. Sean Connery, for example, may have been the first and quite arguably most iconic James Bond, but his run ended in a rather bizarre way where he temporarily left the franchise after 1967’s You Only Live Twice, returned for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, then left again, and then proceeded to star in an unofficial Bond film, 1983’s Never Say Never Again, which was just a remake of his fourth Bond film, 1964’s Thunderball. During Connery’s temporary hiatus, George Lazenby took up the role, and while 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is often seen as one of the franchise’s best films, Lazenby infamously stepped away from the role after just a single film on the advice of his agent. Thus, Roger Moore ended up becoming the first ‘proper’ successor to Connery and notably appeared in a franchise-record 7 films. However, many felt that he had stayed in the role for too long to the point where, by the time that he had starred in 1985’s A View to a Kill at the age of 57, he was older than lead Bond Girl Tanya Roberts’ mother.

After Moore’s departure, Timothy Dalton was cast; like Lazenby, his tenure was another notoriously short one although, in his defense, this was mainly because the series ended up in some major legal issues after only his second film, 1989’s Licence to Kill. After that, Pierce Brosnan helped revive the franchise in the mid-’90s, with his final film, Die Another Day, notably being released in 2002, which coincided with the series’ 40^th anniversary… it also ended up being one of its worst-received outings. Thus, we now cut to Daniel Craig, the man who successfully managed to defy his biggest critics who heavily crucified his casting in 2005 because they felt that he didn’t fit the character’s long-standing image as it was both described in the books and portrayed by his five predecessors. And yet, once his first film, 2006’s Casino Royale, hit theaters, he quickly became a fan-favorite amongst critics and audiences as the series effectively rebooted itself, eschewing many of its campier elements to be more in line with the grounded spy thrillers of recent years such as the Jason Bourne franchise. In the years since, Craig has arguably maintained one of the most consistent runs of any of the Bond leads to date. Sure, his first four films were an even mix of critically-acclaimed outings (Casino Royale and 2012’s Skyfall) and incredibly polarizing affairs (2008’s Quantum of Solace and 2015’s Spectre), but overall, Craig has managed to muster a strongly positive reputation amongst Bond fans. However, by the time that Spectre was released, it was unclear if Craig was going to return for another film, especially after an infamous comment that he had made during an interview where he noted that he’d rather “slash his wrists” than do another one. Granted, he did later admit that this was simply a poor way of responding to the question in the immediate wake of Spectre’s production, but nevertheless, it did cause a bit of a scandal. Ultimately, though, Craig confirmed that he would return for one more film which, as you’ll see, ended up going through quite a lot.

After it was confirmed that Skyfall and Spectre director Sam Mendes would not return to direct a third Bond film, it was announced that visionary director Danny Boyle was tapped to direct Eon’s 25^th official Bond film with a screenplay that he had co-written with his longtime collaborator John Hodge. Had this gone through, Boyle would’ve quite arguably been the most prominent director to ever be attached to the franchise given Eon’s tendency to not rely on big-name directors, having notably turned down the likes of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson in the past. Unfortunately, Boyle ended up dropping out of the project in August 2018 due to creative differences over his and Hodge’s script. Luckily for Eon, the search for a new director didn’t end up taking too long as they ultimately hired Cary Joji Fukunaga. Over the past few years, Fukunaga has made quite a name for himself as a director thanks to his work on the likes of the 2015 Netflix film Beasts of No Nation and the first season of HBO’s True Detective. With his hiring, Fukunaga notably became the first American-born director to helm a Bond film as well as the first to also have a writing credit on the film, which he shares with series regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and, by Daniel Craig’s own request, Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. And apart from an ankle injury that Craig sustained during filming, everything seemed to be going well for what would eventually be titled No Time to Die as the film was primed for an April 2020 domestic release… and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

With theaters closing around the world due to the impact of the pandemic, MGM and Eon promptly decided to push No Time to Die’s release date back, effectively making it the first film that had to bow to the pressure of a COVID-forced delay. And sure enough, other big-name blockbusters like F9, Black Widow, and Wonder Woman 1984 were forced to move back to a later date as well. As for No Time to Die, it was clear that this was for the best to ensure a strong financial performance at the worldwide box office as it was estimated that the film would’ve lost about $300 million had it stayed in its April 2020 slot. First poised for a November 2020 release, it was then pushed back again to April 2021, a full year after its initially planned release, when it was clear that theaters wouldn’t be back in full operation by that time. But when the new year rolled around, it was pushed back again to October 2021; thankfully, though, that release date was officially locked in back in August, and thus, more than one and a half years after it was originally set to hit theaters, the grand finale to Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond is finally here. Obviously, this one’s been a long time coming, but thanks to Cary Joji Fukunaga’s brilliant direction and its many moments of powerful emotional poignancy, No Time to Die achieves a genuine first in franchise history by giving its lead actor the send-off that he damn well deserves.

In the wake of MI6’s successful capture of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), the leader of the sinister criminal organization known as Spectre, James Bond AKA Agent 007 (Daniel Craig) has begun to settle down with his lover, psychiatrist Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux). However, their peaceful lives are tragically upended when a run-in with Spectre agents leaves Bond to believe that Madeleine has betrayed him, thus resulting in him abandoning her and retiring from MI6. Five years later, Bond is approached by his old friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who requests his help in locating a kidnapped scientist, Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik). Bond soon discovers that Obruchev has been working with MI6 on an advanced nanobot bioweapon known as ‘Project Heracles’ that can eliminate any target by coding itself to their DNA. This immediately compels Bond to return to active duty, where he finds himself reuniting with his old MI6 associates (MI6 head Gareth Mallory AKA M (Ralph Fiennes), his secretary Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), chief of staff Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear), and Quartermaster Q (Ben Whishaw)) while also meeting his successor as 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). Eventually, Bond comes face to face with the true perpetrator behind Obruchev’s kidnapping, terrorist Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who happens to have a notable connection to Madeleine due to a previous encounter with her when she was younger. Thus, Bond finds himself having to reunite with Madeleine for the first time in years as he and MI6 work to stop Safin before he can unleash ‘Project Heracles’ upon the world and cause the deaths of millions.

As of 2021, No Time to Die is, officially, the longest film of the franchise with a near 3-hour runtime of 163 minutes. Admittedly, there are a few instances where you do feel the brunt of that hefty run-time, like when the film reaches its finale and it’s clear that there’s at least a half-hour left to go. Still, that doesn’t mean that the film is a slog or anything as the main plot is solidly engaging as far as premises from this franchise are concerned. And just like how Daniel Craig’s previous odd-numbered Bond films did a great job of recontextualizing the Bond franchise for the times in which they were released, No Time to Die wholly succeeds at being another attempt at modernizing James Bond. In this instance, being that this was the first Bond film released in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it goes above and beyond to combat the series’ long-standing habit of objectifying its female characters, mainly by giving them some of the most significant roles that any ‘Bond Girl’ has ever had in these films. And while I know that there are some old-school fans out there who are viciously decrying this film for being ‘too woke’, this is all just very much in line with how Daniel Craig’s Bond films have been handled. It has also helped to give them some of the most emotional narrative moments in the history of the franchise, and sure enough, No Time to Die is arguably the most emotionally driven Bond film to date, which is a fitting development seeing how it does, indeed, serve as the end of an era.

Given how many actors have portrayed James Bond over the years, there’s been plenty of debate over the question of which of Eon’s 6 official leads is the ‘best’ of the bunch. And while many Bond fans usually tend to give Sean Connery that honor due to him being the first and most iconic Bond, it could be argued that Daniel Craig has managed to legitimately challenge Connery’s spot for that vaunted position. Regardless of the quality of his films, Craig has arguably been the best ‘acted’ James Bond as each of his five Bond films has done a great job of highlighting his deeply raw and emotionally vulnerable take on Bond, with his more recent outings also allowing him the opportunity to flex his comedic talents via Bond’s trademark quips. And as I noted earlier, No Time to Die pairs him with some of the franchise’s best female leads which, of course, all starts with a returning Léa Seydoux in a significantly improved turn as Madeleine Swann. Madeleine’s role (and, for that matter, Seydoux’s performance) in Spectre was one of the more polarizing aspects of what was quite frankly the franchise’s most polarizing installment in recent memory, with several critics and fans feeling that her chemistry with Craig was mediocre and that the romantic relationship between Bond and Madeleine wasn’t exactly developed properly. It’s a much different story here as Seydoux’s chemistry with Craig is much stronger and their relationship is far more pivotal to the plot, thus making it a nice bookend to Craig’s tenure as Bond as it matches up nicely with a lot of the big narrative beats that defined Bond’s similarly strong yet ultimately tragic relationship with Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.

As for the film’s other Bond girls (a term that, full disclosure, isn’t exactly a fitting way of describing these characters nowadays), despite some initial fears of her potentially being underutilized, Lashana Lynch’s Nomi is properly established as Bond’s equal as his successor for the position of 007. It also helps that Lynch has a terrific back-and-forth camaraderie with Craig whenever they’re on-screen together. And while she only appears in a single sequence in this nearly three-hour film, Ana de Armas is, as has been the case with a lot of her recent work, a major standout as Bond’s CIA ally Paloma. Then, of course, you have all the Bond franchise’s regulars, from Bond’s MI6 allies (Ralph Fiennes’ dry-witted M, Ben Whishaw’s lovably dorky Q, Naomie Harris’ spunky Moneypenny, etc.) to Jeffrey Wright’s first appearance as Felix Leiter since Quantum of Solace. Finally, we come to the latest main antagonist of the Bond series, Rami Malek’s Safin, whose role in the story has been one of the more polarizing elements of the film. From what I can tell, this is mainly because some feel that he isn’t in it that much which, admittedly, has sort of been a recent trend with Bond villains as both Javier Bardem’s Silva and even Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld had rather limited screentime in Skyfall and Spectre, respectively. For what it’s worth, though, Malek does succeed in making Safin a legitimately sinister antagonist, especially thanks to the appropriately oft-kilter vibe that Malek gives him.

For the longest time, none of the actors who have played James Bond have ever had a great final film… with No Time to Die, Daniel Craig officially breaks that curse. Aside from just being another great example of this franchise’s penchant for top-notch action set-pieces and thrilling globe-trotting adventures, No Time to Die also does a beautiful job of maintaining one of the strongest elements of the Craig-era Bond films, their strong sense of emotional poignancy. While this era of the franchise may have started with James Bond being subjected to all the character beats that made him… well, James Bond, this Bond has also undergone a noticeable evolution for a character who was once described by Judi Dench’s M (albeit back in the Brosnan era, but the point still stands) as a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” and a “relic of the Cold War”. In other words, regardless of how much it will inevitably piss off longtime fans of the franchise, No Time to Die effectively updates its main protagonist for the current cinematic landscape, thus resulting in a James Bond that no longer beds every single woman that he comes across but is still very much the coolest guy in the room. And since the Craig era was the first time in franchise history where subsequent follow-ups were true direct sequels, this allows No Time to Die the chance to effectively tie up any loose ends from the previous four films which, as a result, gives Daniel Craig’s Bond the best kind of send-off that any cinematic protagonist could possibly get.

Rating: 5/5!

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) review

2018’s Venom is easily one of the most fascinating films to come out of the superhero genre in recent years, mainly due to its overall reception. The film was primarily intended to be a more faithful take on the titular fan-favorite Spider-Man villain turned anti-hero after his live-action debut in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 (where he was forced in by executive meddling against director Sam Raimi’s wishes) left most fans underwhelmed. It was also poised to be the start of a new superhero cinematic universe based around characters from the Spider-Man mythos without having to solely rely on Spider-Man himself, especially since the current incarnation of the character as played by Tom Holland was primarily operating within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, upon the original Venom’s release, it didn’t do so hot with critics, many of whom found it to be a tonal mess that was severely hindered by the lack of a proper connection to Spider-Man. And yet, it managed to fare a lot better with audiences, who notably latched on to the unique relationship between the film’s main characters; reporter Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote that he becomes bonded to, Venom. As a result, the film earned an impressive $856 million worldwide, allowing it to become the seventh highest-grossing film of that year.

Thus, a sequel was promptly announced not long after, and thanks to the first film’s mid-credit scene that introduced the character of serial killer Cletus Kassidy (as played by Woody Harrelson), it was confirmed that the sequel would focus on another fan-favorite Spider-Man antagonist, Carnage. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley, Carnage first debuted in issue #361 of The Amazing Spider-Man in 1992 as the symbiotic ‘offspring’ of Venom. Like its parent, Carnage quickly became a popular new addition to Spider-Man’s rogue gallery and proved to be such a dangerous threat for the web-slinger that he was forced to team up with Venom to stop it on numerous occasions, including the famous 1993 story arc Maximum Carnage. As for the new film, subtitled Let There Be Carnage, a notable change in directors had to occur since Ruben Fleischer was busy working on the long-awaited follow-up to his 2009 film Zombieland, 2019’s Zombieland: Double Tap. Thus, directorial duties were taken up by none other than the widely proclaimed king of motion capture performance work, Andy Serkis. Yes, the man known for his critically acclaimed roles such as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth films and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy has recently started to establish himself as a director, having previously helmed the Robin Cavendish biopic Breathe and his decidedly non-Disney esque Jungle Book adaptation, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. And under his solid direction, Venom: Let There Be Carnage wholeheartedly embraces its predecessor’s most popular elements to deliver an all-around wackier sequel that may not win over the original’s biggest critics but, at the very least, is a lot more consistent from a tonal and visual perspective.

It has been about a little over a year since investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) became the [somewhat unwilling] host of Venom (voiced by Hardy), an alien symbiote from a far-away planet. Since then, Eddie has struggled to keep his ‘new friend’ hidden from the rest of the world, especially given Venom’s unstoppable urge to eat people. As part of his efforts to revive his journalism career, Eddie takes on the assignment of interviewing imprisoned serial killer Cletus Kassidy (Woody Harrelson), who has mysteriously agreed to talk to him and nobody else. Through their talks with each other, Eddie (with the help of Venom) manages to figure out the location of the bodies of Kassidy’s many victims, thus resulting in Kassidy being handed an immediate death sentence. Before his execution, however, Kassidy ends up acquiring a sample of Venom during a heated confrontation with Eddie that allows him to survive his destined demise as he becomes the host of the red-colored symbiotic ‘offspring’ Carnage (voiced by Harrelson). After escaping from prison, Kassidy and Carnage promptly embark on a rampage across San Francisco as the former searches for the love of his life, Frances Barrison AKA Shriek (Naomie Harris), whom he was separated from at an early age when Frances was dragged off to the local mental asylum. Thus, Eddie and Venom quickly find themselves having to work around their growing differences so that they can stop their most dangerous adversary yet.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is very much a sequel that’s fully aware of what it was about its predecessor that made it so popular and uses that information as the primary influence behind its overall direction. In this instance, director Andy Serkis and his team clearly recognized that fans of the first Venom primarily dug the delightfully twisted dark humor that stemmed from the uniquely ‘odd couple’-style relationship between Eddie Brock and Venom. Because of this, Let There Be Carnage opts to be much more comedic-oriented than its predecessor which, by comparison, attempted to find a greater balance between its humorous moments and its primarily dramatic plot beats. And while your overall mileage may vary on how effective it is as a comedy, especially given some of the incredibly ludicrous lengths that it goes to when crafting the scenarios that Eddie and Venom end up in, this does ultimately result in a far more tonally consistent sequel. It also manages to one-up its predecessor from a visual perspective as Serkis goes all-in with some incredibly eye-catching gothic imagery that improves upon the first film’s knack for sterile laboratory environments. Despite all this, however, Let There Be Carnage still has the same narrative shortcomings of the first film; in other words, a very generic plot that trades out the previous film’s straight-forward ‘stop the evil businessman’ premise for an equally straight-forward ‘stop the murderous psychopath’ plot. Part of this may be due to the film having a short 97-minute runtime which, at this point, is practically an anomaly for the superhero genre. To be clear, though, it’s not like there’s anything inherently wrong about this film having a short run-time as it helps give it consistently smooth pacing that prevents it from dragging at any point; it’s just that, narratively, it also could’ve done a lot more with certain plot-threads.

Nevertheless, Let There Be Carnage’s biggest selling point continues to be the humorous interactions between its two main protagonists, and Tom Hardy truly deserves a lot of credit for how utterly committed he is to the dual role that he plays in these films. He very much succeeds in making Eddie Brock and Venom perfect foils for one another, with Eddie being the good-natured but rather pathetic straight man who must consistently put up with the antics of the incredibly overeager Venom who, let’s face it, gets all the best lines (“NO ONE LIKES YOU, DAN!”). Their dynamic relationship is then perfectly complemented by Woody Harrelson’s own dual role as Cletus Kassidy and his alien symbiote partner, Carnage. Sure, the minimal plotting ends up making Kassidy your routine psychopath (with Carnage itself nearly being a non-entity, narratively speaking), but Harrelson’s appropriately creepy performance makes him and Carnage a much stronger pair of antagonists than Carlton Drake and the alien symbiote Riot from the previous film. Speaking of antagonists, there’s also Naomie Harris in an equally standout role as Frances Barrison AKA Shriek, whose sonic scream abilities provide a uniquely complicated layer to her romantic relationship with Kassidy given that symbiotes like Venom and Carnage are notoriously weak to loud noises. Unfortunately, Harris ends up being a bit underused here, and the same can be said for a returning Michelle Williams and Reid Scott as Eddie’s ex-fiancé Anne Weying and her new fiancé Dan Lewis. Granted, they aren’t completely ignored here as they do help Eddie and Venom out like they did in the first film, but in Williams’ case specifically, it does feel like a noticeable step backward for these films’ main female lead.

Back in 2018, I gave the first Venom a decently positive 3.5/5 review, and overall, my thoughts on the film haven’t changed that much since then. While I’ll fully concede that it’s far from being one of the superhero genre’s best outings, the strong humor that spawned from the interactions between Eddie Brock and Venom helped the film overcome some of its biggest shortcomings such as a mediocre villain and its mixed attempts at balancing its humor with its serious moments. And while I’m about to give its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the same exact rating, this is ultimately a case of a superior sequel. Unlike the first film, Let There Be Carnage doesn’t try to take itself too seriously and fully embraces all the wackiness that ensues from what is arguably the superhero genre’s most notorious odd couple. And thanks to solid direction from Andy Serkis, the film not only flows a lot better than its predecessor but also looks a lot better as well with some delightfully twisted gothic visuals that, speaking as someone who doesn’t read a lot of comics, feel very much appropriate for a story based around its titular symbiotes. All that said, though, this sequel does suffer from some of the same narrative issues that plagued its predecessor, and while it never overstays its welcome thanks to a shorter run-time, it still feels a bit rudimentary when compared to some of the other films from this genre. In short, Let There Be Carnage is just as much of an enjoyable popcorn flick as its predecessor was, and while Sony’s plans to develop their own cinematic universe a la the MCU have arguably yielded mixed results so far, I’ll admit that I’m still genuinely curious to see what comes next, especially given this film’s post-credit scene which, without spoiling anything, is a big one.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Films of Summer 2021 - As Voted By You!

When I decided to relaunch Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual End of Summer Fan Poll after taking a year off due to everything related to the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ll admit that I wasn’t quite sure of the kind of reaction that it would get this time. And to be clear, I don’t mean this in any sort of negative way; instead, I’m simply referring to the fact that, because COVID is still technically an issue that we’re all dealing with, not everyone has been going to see new releases at the theater. This is the reason why I decided to apply one notable loophole for this year’s event in that I would willingly accept answers from those who saw a film at their home if said film was simultaneously released in theaters and on their studio’s coinciding streaming service such as Disney+ or HBO Max. However, even after a year away, y’all came through once again to give us another great year of polling here on Rhode Island Movie Corner, with 69 votes (*cue the obvious joke from the cheekier parts of the internet*) going to 20 different films. Thus, as always, I couldn’t be more thankful for all of you who participated in this year’s event and helped to spread it around online. With all that in mind, let’s not waste any more time, especially since, given the wide array of hit releases this summer, some of you may be surprised to learn how certain films fared in this year’s poll and, more importantly, which film ended up taking this year’s crown. And so, without further ado, Rhode Island Movie Corner proudly presents the films that you, the fans, voted for as your favorite releases from the summer of 2021.

THE FOLLOWING SEVEN FILMS EARNED ONE VOTE APIECE

THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned in the 10+ years that I’ve gone through as an online film critic, it’s that the internet tends to make a big deal about certain films. On the one hand, you have films that the internet goes utterly gaga over such as Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, even if there are a few times where it feels like all the praise that these films get becomes something of a major detriment to other films. But then there are films that, even if they’re not necessarily panned by critics, become a prime source of internet mockery, which is a scenario that undoubtedly applied to DreamWorks Animation’s 2017 release, The Boss Baby. Directed by Tom McGrath (director of the Madagascar trilogy and the voice of Skipper in those films) and loosely based on a 2010 book of the same name by author Marla Frazee, the film follows a young boy who learns that his new baby brother can not only talk but is also a secret agent working for an organization that ensures that babies are the most beloved things on the planet. Upon its release, the film did incredibly well at the box office, where it managed to gross over $528 million worldwide; heck, it even managed to unseat the $1 billion grossing live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast from the top of the domestic box-office as it was entering the third week of its release. As for critics, however, they were a bit more mixed on it as they felt that the film’s script wasn’t exactly up to par with its wacky animation. But again, like I said earlier, the bigger story here is that, based on what I’ve seen online, much of film fandom has been left utterly dumbfounded by this surreal throwback to animated films of the ’50s and ’60s, especially once it managed to get nominated for Best Animated Feature at that year’s Oscars.

Nevertheless, the film’s success allowed it to become the next big DreamWorks franchise as it was soon followed by a Netflix series, Back in Business, which, at the time of this post’s publication, has been running for at least four seasons. But now we have a proper theatrically released sequel, subtitled Family Business, which was simultaneously released in theaters and via Universal’s streaming service Peacock for users operating on its paid plans. Taking place three decades after the first film, the sequel once again focuses on main protagonist Tim Templeton (now voiced by James Marsden, who replaces Tobey Maguire as the voice of the adult Tim) and his brother Ted (once again voiced by Alec Baldwin), the OG Boss Baby, who have become distant as they’ve grown into adulthood. However, when they discover that Tim’s infant daughter Tina (voiced by Amy Sedaris) is the latest to join the ‘family business’ as a member of the organization Baby Corp, the two are transformed back into their younger selves to help her deal with a diabolical plot to rid the world of all parents. Like its predecessor, Boss Baby 2 garnered a largely mixed response from critics upon its release, with most viewing it as nothing special but, at the very least, finding it to be a largely harmless affair that would satisfy younger audiences. Thus, while I’m sure that there are still some parts of the internet that are utterly befuddled by the Boss Baby franchise’s existence, it’s clear that it’s been a big hit with its target audience, especially seeing how a third film has recently been confirmed to be in the works.   

THE FOREVER PURGE

For the past decade, Universal has had one of the most popular film franchises in recent years with The Purge. Created by veteran screenwriter James DeMonaco, the Purge films take place in a dystopian future where a corrupt government enacts an annual ‘national holiday’ that allows all forms of crime, especially murder, to be made legal for one night. What started with a relatively modest home invasion thriller from 2013 has since spawned numerous sequels that have collectively grossed over $500 million worldwide and a short-lived TV series on USA Network. And so far, every installment outside of the first film has received mixed reviews from critics who feel that they’re generally entertaining but are never quite able to live up to the potential of the series’ overall premise and the surprisingly timely themes that stem from them. That latter aspect was especially relevant for this year’s fifth installment, The Forever Purge, which focuses on a group of migrants who, fresh off their efforts to cross the Mexican border, find themselves hunted by white supremacists who operate outside of the Purge’s ‘one night a year’ rules. Given recent events, many have said that this is arguably the franchise’s most socially relevant installment to date, but just like its predecessors, critics were split on how successful it was in conveying those themes. Nevertheless, The Forever Purge managed to be another hit for the franchise; sure, its $77 million worldwide gross is a series low, but to be fair, this is a COVID-era release we’re talking about. And while it was originally touted as the series’ final installment, plans have been set into motion for another film that will notably see the return of series mainstay Frank Grillo as the badass protagonist of Anarchy and Election Year, Sgt. Leo Barnes.

OLD

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest directorial outing, Old, is very much in line with his usual tendency of doing projects with supernatural plots. Based on a 2010 graphic novel named Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, the film follows a group of people who travel to a secluded beach in the tropics but discover that, for some reason, the beach is causing them all to age rapidly. This results in plenty of solidly directed sequences that perfectly illustrate the growing tension that develops amongst the main characters as they struggle to try and escape from the seemingly inescapable beach. At the same time, though, the film also serves as a prime example of how Shyamalan can be incredibly inconsistent as a director as the overall direction feels flat, especially when it comes to the script and performances of the cast despite featuring some incredibly talented stars like Gael Garcia Bernal and Thomasin McKenzie. Ultimately, though, the film’s biggest downfall is that it suffers from some incredibly sluggish pacing, which is rather ironic for a film that’s about people who are quickly getting older. Because of all this, Old, unfortunately, ends up being another one of Shyamalan’s directorial duds. While it’s by no means his worst film, it does inevitably highlight the fact that he’s a director who’s simultaneously experienced the highest of highs… and the lowest of lows.   

STILLWATER

Stillwater is the latest directorial effort from filmmaker Tom McCarthy, who’s had a very prestigious career in the industry. After several years working as an actor, McCarthy made his directorial debut in 2003 with The Station Agent, which promptly launched the career of Tyrion Lannister himself, Peter Dinklage. This has then led to McCarthy’s involvement with other critically acclaimed projects such as Pixar’s 2009 masterpiece Up, which he had a story credit on, and his 2015 film Spotlight, which not only netted him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay but also the big one, Best Picture. As for his latest, Stillwater stars Matt Damon as an oil-rig worker from Oklahoma who travels to France to try and clear his daughter’s (Abigail Breslin) name when she’s convicted of killing her roommate. Many have noted that the film’s plot has a lot in common with the real-life scandal in which Amanda Knox was accused of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher, a charge that she was eventually acquitted from. And admittedly, this has garnered some controversy as Knox has publicly criticized the film for how it fictionalizes her story. Despite this, however, the film was solidly well-received upon its release as critics felt that, despite some of its script-based shortcomings, it did its job at presenting its relevant themes and boasted a strong lead performance from Matt Damon.

THE GREEN KNIGHT

Speaking of acclaimed directors, here we have the latest from director David Lowery, whose filmography has ranged from award-winning indie works such as 2013’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and 2017’s A Ghost Story to major studio outings like the 2016 remake of Disney’s 1977 cult classic, Pete’s Dragon. But before he tackles another major Disney live-action remake with his take on Peter Pan, titled Peter Pan & Wendy, this year gave us what is arguably his most ambitious project to date, a full-blown fantasy epic that adapts the Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Just like its source material, the film follows Sir Gawain, the nephew of King Arthur, as he embarks on a quest to confront the mythical Green Knight. The film was originally set to make its debut at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, which would’ve then been followed by a May 2020 theatrical release… before you-know-what effectively changed those plans. Surprisingly, though, this is one of those rare cases where the COVID-enforced delay ended up being helpful in the long run as it gave Lowery plenty of time to rework the film in post-production since he wasn’t exactly happy with its original cut. Sure enough, upon its release, the film proved to be another critically acclaimed hit for Lowery as critics praised it for its finely crafted modern spin on the legendary story that it was based on with strong themes, captivating visuals, and an excellent cast headlined by Dev Patel in the lead role of Gawain.

SNAKE EYES

The enduring legacy of the G.I. Joe franchise’s role in the pop-cultural zeitgeist practically speaks for itself. Not only has it been one of the most prominent franchises in the entire toy industry, but it also played a significant role in its evolution as it revolutionized the term ‘action figure’, thus helping Hasbro in the process of marketing the doll-like figures to young male audiences. Outside of the toys, the franchise has also seen a lot of success in other mediums, such as the classic animated series from the ’80s produced by Sunbow and Marvel. And in 2009, the franchise made its official live-action theatrical debut with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which was then followed by a sequel in 2013, G.I. Joe: Retaliation. While neither film was, admittedly, that big of a hit with critics (in other words, they fared about as well as the live-action adaptations of another popular Hasbro franchise, Transformers), they performed quite well at the box office, with both grossing over $300 million worldwide. For the longest time, though, there weren’t any major attempts to follow up on Retaliation outside of a long-rumored threequel named G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant. But before that project could get off the ground, a different G.I. Joe film ended up pushing on through in the form of a spin-off centered on one of the franchise’s most popular characters, the mysterious ninja warrior known as ‘Snake Eyes’.

Under the direction of Robert Schwentke (Red, the last two Divergent films) and starring Crazy Rich Asians breakout star Henry Golding in the title role, Snake Eyes explores the origins of the titular hero, specifically focusing on his journey into being accepted as a member of the mythical Arashikage ninja clan. And overall, this part of the story is well-handled and decently engaging, especially when it comes to the relationship between Snake Eyes and the man who will become his greatest rival, Tommy Arashikage AKA Storm Shadow. But when it comes to the film’s efforts to tie its proceedings into the series’ primary conflict between G.I. Joe and Cobra, that’s where it starts to falter a bit as characters like Cobra operative The Baroness and G.I. Joe agent Scarlett feel incredibly extraneous within the context of the plot. But, of course, the biggest point of debate surrounding the film… is the fact that it doesn’t exactly have the best action sequences as frenetic editing and unsteady camerawork undermine the clearly dedicated efforts of the film’s stunt team. However, at the very least, Henry Golding does continue to prove himself as a naturally charismatic leading man in the title role. Thus, while it’s far from perfect, Snake Eyes is a decently entertaining attempt at relaunching the G.I. Joe film franchise, and while it was admittedly a major flop at the box-office, only grossing about $37 million worldwide on a massive $88-110 million budget, a sequel is reportedly in the works with Golding set to return.

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN

We only had one major candidate pop up from the write-in section this year, but that doesn’t mean that the film in question isn’t noteworthy. For one thing, it’s the latest documentary from filmmaker Robert Neville, who scored big in 2018 with his Fred Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, which became the highest-grossing biographical documentary of all time (it also scored big here on RIMC’s annual poll, where it earned two votes in the 2018 event). As for his newest film, it tackles the life of one of the culinary industry’s most famous ‘bad boys’, Anthony Bourdain. Whether it’s thanks to his numerous bestselling books or the many years that he spent hosting TV shows such as Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel, Bourdain was one of the industry’s most celebrated voices. Sadly, though, his story ended in tragedy as he committed suicide on June 8^th, 2018; as such, it’s completely understandable if this new film wasn’t the easiest of watches for Bourdain’s friends, family, and fans. Ultimately, though, it was well-received upon its release, with critics praising Neville’s work in delivering another emotional, insightful, and openly honest documentary that, above all, genuinely celebrated the life of its subject. However, there was some controversy following the film’s release when it was revealed that Neville had utilized artificial intelligence to reproduce Bourdain’s voice for some audio clips. While Neville insisted that this was only used to bring Bourdain’s distinctive voice to writings of his that he had never stated verbally, many questioned the ethical nature of this decision, especially since it wasn’t publicly disclosed until after the film’s release. Still, with over $5.2 million at the box office, it’s clear that Robert Neville continues to be one of the most prolific documentary filmmakers in the industry.

THESE NEXT THREE FILMS EARNED TWO VOTES EACH

JUNGLE CRUISE

Outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, there haven’t been a lot of attempts at producing film adaptations of iconic Disney rides. Prior to this year, the last major attempts were from back around the time that the first Pirates film came out with 2002’s The Country Bears and 2003’s The Haunted Mansion… and admittedly, both of those films were major critical duds. But now we have a film adaptation of the world-famous Jungle Cruise which, at the end of the day, clearly followed in Pirates’ footsteps when it comes to crafting a more expansive story around its source material’s simple premise of a riverboat cruise through the jungle led by a skipper known for their utterly corny puns. And just like the Pirates films, Jungle Cruise does a great job of maintaining that classic ‘old-school adventure film’ aesthetic and atmosphere even if the plot in general is rather standard as far as the genre is concerned. Still, the film benefits nicely from the excellent lead duo of Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, and fans of the ride will undoubtedly love all the neat little nods to it… although it is rather ironic how several of these references were recently taken out of the ride to address its most dated aspects (Trader Sam, native head-hunters, etc.). Ultimately, though, while I can’t exactly say that it’s the most standout adaptation of a classic Disney Parks ride, Jungle Cruise does succeed in being a good old-fashioned popcorn flick. Plus, given the recent announcements that a sequel is in the works, it’ll be genuinely interesting to see where this new Disney film franchise goes from here.

FREE GUY

One of the many things that I feel that these annual polls have proven is that, for the most part, you can never go wrong with a good crowd-pleaser, and for many people, one of the most surprisingly effective examples of that from this year’s summer slate was director Shawn Levy’s latest, Free Guy. A full-on love letter to gaming and one of this summer’s rare non-IP blockbusters, the film stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular Guy, a good-natured bank teller who discovers that he’s a non-player character (AKA an ‘NPC’) in a massively popular open-world video game. When he learns that the game is about to be shut down by its developer in favor of a sequel, he teams up with Millie (Jodie Comer), a programmer whose vital role in the game’s creation went uncredited, to save his world and friends from being destroyed. Whether it’s the multiple cameos made by popular gamers/streamers or some pitch-perfect representations of online gaming, Free Guy clearly made a considerable amount of effort to present a significantly accurate take on the industry. But above all, the best part about this film is that it has an incredibly good heart to its proceedings with an endearing cast of main protagonists and the very definition of a feel-good ending. Case in point, this is one of the rare instances where Ryan Reynolds’ trademark brand of crude and snarky humor isn’t as prevalent as it is in something like the Deadpool films, thus showcasing the genuinely great range that Reynolds has as a comedic talent. Not only that, but he’s backed by a fun supporting cast that includes the likes of Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, and a scene-stealing Taika Waititi. And so, because of all this, Free Guy is easily one of the best ‘feel-good’ films of the summer which, if you ask me, is always great to see, especially given how utterly chaotic things have been recently.

CANDYMAN

For the past several years, Jordan Peele has been one of the most prominent creative voices in the horror genre, where he’s made a name for himself as a filmmaker known for making horror films with strong social commentary. As such, it makes perfect sense that he’d play a major role in reviving a classic horror franchise that’s similarly well-known for its significant social themes, Candyman. To be clear, though, the new Candyman is NOT a Jordan Peele directed feature as he’s only a writer/producer on it; instead, that honor goes to Nia DaCosta who, thanks to this film’s success at the box office, became the first Black female director to have a #1 stateside hit and is now hard at work on the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel. And given what we got from this film, it’s easy to see why she’s becoming a prominent player in the industry as this new Candyman fully showcases her directorial talents. Not only does she deliver some stunningly artistic horror sequences, but she also does a wonderful job of respecting the gothic atmosphere of the original Candyman film from 1992 while also finding great ways to update the story of one of the horror genre’s most famous ‘urban legend’ slashers for a new generation. Add in some strong performances from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris as well as the emotional weight of recent racial injustice-based tragedies that clearly impacted this film’s plot and you have one of the most well-directed and thoroughly engaging horror films in recent years.

FOUR FILMS EARNED THREE VOTES EACH

PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE

In 2013, Nickelodeon debuted the latest addition to its Nick Jr. lineup, PAW Patrol, which follows a young boy named Ryder and a team of talking dogs who work together as a search and rescue unit in their hometown of Adventure Bay. Calling this show a success… would be a massive understatement. To date, there have been over 190 episodes produced (with a ninth season on the way) as well as a highly successful toy line that helped establish the series’ creators, Spin Master, as a prominent player in the toy industry. And while the show has admittedly faced a bit of controversy in recent years over its ‘positive’ portrayal of the police in the wake of recent race-related incidents, that hasn’t completely stopped it from arguably being the current flagship series of the Nick Jr. programming block, following in the footsteps of classic Nick Jr. programs such as Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer. Anyway, now we have the series’ first feature film, which sees Ryder and the gang travel to the nearby Adventure City to deal with its corrupt mayor, their longtime rival Mayor Humdinger. Released simultaneously in theaters and on the Paramount+ streaming service, the film managed to do quite well at the box office, where it has earned over $103 million worldwide on a modest $26 million budget. And as for the critics, many of them have agreed that, at the end of the day, the film is practically guaranteed to be a hit with those who have made the series the massive success story that it is.

WRATH OF MAN

A remake of the 2004 French thriller Cash Truck, Wrath of Man notably sees director Guy Ritchie reunite with one of his most frequent collaborators, Jason Statham. Ritchie and Statham both made their feature-length debuts with the 1998 smash hit Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The two of them then proceeded to team up again for 2000’s Snatch and 2005’s Revolver before both going on their separate ways career-wise. But now they’re back together again, with Statham starring as an armored truck driver whose mysterious past is called into play when he thwarts a bunch of robbers. With a solid $104 million run at the box office and mostly positive reviews from critics, who felt that Ritchie’s strong direction helped the film to overcome its bare-bones plot, Wrath of Man proved to be another recent success story for Guy Ritchie. As I noted in the 2017 edition of this poll, Ritchie’s directorial career has seen both its ups and downs as he’s been responsible for major hits such as the Sherlock Holmes duology… and devastating commercial flops like King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. And yet, now that he’s fresh off a $1 billion grossing live-action Disney remake with his take on Aladdin, it seems like Ritchie’s luck has been changing as of late, especially since his recent outings have allowed him the opportunity to return to his roots as a director of slick, hard-edged crime dramas. Case in point, Ritchie and Statham will be back at it again next year with the spy thriller Five Eyes.

HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD

In 2017, director Patrick Hughes’ action-comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard, starring Ryan Reynolds as a professional bodyguard named Michael Bryce who finds himself forced to protect the world’s most notorious hitman, Darius Kincaid (played by Samuel L. Jackson), became an unexpected smash hit at the box-office. Sure, some of this may have been due to it being a late August release, which has often been considered a ‘dead month’ as far as summer blockbusters are concerned, but to be fair, it was also only the third film that year to be in the #1 spot at the domestic box-office for three weeks in a row. If anything, it seems like the film managed to be a genuine hit with audiences, namely due to the dynamic comedic chemistry between two of the most prominent stars in the industry; thus, it’s easy to see why a sequel was announced the following year, which ultimately came out this year as Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. As the title suggests, this film gives Darius Kincaid’s wife Sonia (played by Salma Hayek) a more prominent role as she drags a reluctant Michael out of his self-imposed vacation to help her and her husband stop Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Papadopoulos (Antonio Banderas) from launching a terrorist attack on Europe. Upon its release, the film admittedly didn’t do so well with critics, who felt that it was far too run-of-the-mill as an action-comedy, and it also didn’t do as well as its predecessor financially as it just missed out on matching its $70 million budget at the box-office. Still, seeing how this film managed to earn one more vote than its predecessor did in the 2017 edition of this poll, it’s safe to say that these two films clearly have their fans.

F9: THE FAST SAGA

While the Fast and Furious series has easily been one of the biggest film franchises of the past several decades… it’s also admittedly become a prime source of internet mockery, namely due to its unabashed efforts to continuously up the ante on its over-the-top action sequences with each subsequent installment. And yet, based on what I saw when I went to see F9 in IMAX (partially due to it featuring a preview of the next Jurassic World film), it’s clear to me that this series is still doing quite well with audiences as there were quite a lot of key moments in the film (namely, the return of series mainstay Sung Kang as fan-favorite Han Lue) that earned a considerable amount of applause from the crowd that I was with. To be perfectly blunt, I hadn’t seen that kind of audience reaction towards these films since 2013 when I saw Fast and Furious 6 with an incredibly enthusiastic afternoon matinee crowd. In other words, say what you will about these films and how ridiculous they can get, but overall, I do think that F9 was a pivotal return to form for the series and one that it desperately needed after some of the questionable narrative decisions that were made in 2017’s The Fate of the Furious. Much of this is thanks to the return of the series’ longest-tenured director, Justin Lin, whose strong direction helps to revitalize many of the elements that have made the franchise’s more recent outings so successful, especially the unmistakably tight-knit family dynamic that’s shared by the main protagonists. In short, yes, these films are incredibly goofy and consistently defy all sorts of logic with every new plot development… however, they’re also a lot of fun to watch for those exact same reasons. And seeing how Justin Lin is set to return for what is slated to be the last two installments of the series, I’d argue that the Fast and Furious franchise’s grand finale couldn’t be in better hands.

TIED FOR FIFTH PLACE, WITH FOUR VOTES EACH

IN THE HEIGHTS

It’s great to see that the film adaptation of In the Heights managed to do quite well in this year’s poll considering that, unfortunately, it didn’t do too hot at the box office, where it wasn’t able to make back its $55 million budget. There have been several theories as to why this happened, which range from it being a bit too obscure of a musical compared to something like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s other career-defining hit, Hamilton, to its simultaneous theatrical/HBO Max release. Heck, for all we know, the controversy that it wound up in when it was released where it was accused of lacking Afro-Latino actors could’ve potentially factored into its financial underperformance. Well, whatever the reason, I truly hope that this doesn’t end up defining the film’s legacy as it’s an effortlessly heartwarming watch. Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ love letter to the former’s old stomping grounds of Washington Heights is brilliantly translated to the big screen by director Jon M. Chu with top-notch musical numbers and a delightful cast headlined by Hamilton breakout star Anthony Ramos in the lead role that Miranda originated on Broadway. The themes that it celebrates are the very definition of universal (e.g. the strength of one’s community) and the main protagonists are so lovable that the story doesn’t even need to have any sort of antagonist. With all this in mind, this is one of those cases where, if you ask me, it’s practically impossible not to love what is easily one of the best musical adaptations to date.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD

Speaking of films that quite frankly didn’t deserve to underperform at the box office, some folks may have been a bit skeptical about the idea of doing another Suicide Squad film after the first attempted film adaptation in 2016 ended up being a considerably underwhelming disappointment despite all the hype leading up to its release. But when you watch The Suicide Squad, you’ll quickly understand why it was necessary as it once again highlights what happens when the DC Extended Universe isn’t trying so hard to be the antithesis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whereas the first Suicide Squad film was hindered by the same kind of tonal and visual issues that plagued many of the early DCEU films, The Suicide Squad achieves a far more consistent mix of strong emotional moments and laugh-out-loud gags in what is easily a far more visually appealing film compared to its downright ugly looking predecessor. It also does a much better job of capitalizing on the concept of a squad of supervillains sent out on missions where they aren’t expected to survive as it isn’t afraid to kill off some of its main characters and fully embraces its R rating in a way that legitimately works for a film from this genre unlike something like the ‘Snyder Cut’ of Justice League. To put it simply, The Suicide Squad is another masterpiece from writer/director James Gunn who, just like with his Guardians of the Galaxy films for the MCU, wholly succeeds in making us care about a bunch of characters who aren’t necessarily heroic by giving them excellent bits of character development.

IN FOURTH PLACE, WITH FIVE VOTES

A QUIET PLACE – PART II

The highly anticipated follow-up to John Krasinski’s critically-acclaimed horror-thriller A Quiet Place was easily one of the most prominent ‘delayed releases’ that came into play because of COVID-19. To put this all into perspective, the film was only a few weeks away from its originally intended March 18^th release date last year when the situation with COVID was officially deemed a pandemic. And yet, when it was finally released this past May, a time when most theaters weren’t exactly back in full operation, it managed to be one of the most successful blockbusters of the COVID era. Its worldwide box-office gross of over $297 million isn’t that far off from its predecessor’s $350 million-plus haul and it also ended up being one of the rare cases of a sequel that managed to fare nearly as well as its predecessor did with critics, and in a lot of ways, it’s easy to see why. Outside of a few underdeveloped plot threads (e.g., the group of violent bandits that the main protagonists encounter at a marina), A Quiet Place Part II does a great job of expanding upon its post-apocalyptic world while still managing to balance all that with the strong emotional beats that gave the original a powerfully poignant narrative hook. Krasinski once again delivers some incredibly well-directed sequences of pure tension and the breakout star of the first film, Millicent Simmonds, shines even greater in the sequel, where she’s upgraded into being the main protagonist. Thus, while its script may not be as finely polished as its predecessor’s, A Quiet Place Part II is still very much a well-made horror film that showcases why strongly written characters can often be a major factor behind the genre’s greatest outings.

IN THIRD PLACE, WITH SEVEN VOTES

BLACK WIDOW

As I’ve noted in the past, MCU films always tend to do great in these annual polls of ours, which can best be summed up by Avengers: Endgame’s utter dominance of the competition in 2019. And while Marvel Studios’ sole summer release of 2021, Black Widow, didn’t end up taking the #1 spot in this year’s poll, it still did incredibly well for itself, which makes sense given that it was the first MCU theatrical release in nearly two years. Yes, like many of the other films that we’ve covered in today’s post, Black Widow was hit hard by the pandemic, which forced Marvel Studios to push back all their upcoming releases. Thankfully, the delay wasn’t a complete loss for them as they were able to kick-start Phase 4 on the best note possible with their line of well-received Disney+ shows such as WandaVision and Loki. But on July 9^th, the MCU made its triumphant return to the big screen with a film that was practically a decade in the making: the long-awaited solo outing for the MCU’s original lady Avenger, Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow. Sure, its simultaneous release in theaters and as a Premier Access release on Disney+ may’ve led to an intense [and currently ongoing] lawsuit from Scarlett Johansson that, spoilers, we won’t be addressing any further here today, but it still managed to pull in a thoroughly decent $378 million run at the box-office and, true to franchise form, was well-received by critics.

Sure enough, Black Widow is yet another MCU film that delivers on everything that the franchise is known for, from its top-notch action sequences to the instantly quotable bits of humor that never take away from the story’s big emotional moments. Case in point, given everything that the film delves into regarding Natasha’s history with the Black Widow program, Black Widow is easily one of the darkest and most emotionally driven installments of the MCU, thus paving the way for one of its most cathartic finales where she’s able to stop it once and for all. However, there are a few minor plot-related shortcomings here and there that, if you ask me, may have been a byproduct of the film’s extended development history. In other words, things like the less significant roles that the villains play in the story (including the film’s controversial take on fan-favorite antagonist Taskmaster, even though said interpretation makes sense for this story) make this Phase 4 post-Endgame release feel like it came from the time when the MCU was overseen by its overbearing Creative Committee. And yet, as was often the case with MCU films that didn’t exactly have a standout villain a la Thanos or Killmonger, this doesn’t end up hindering the film entirely thanks to all the other great things about it, especially the addition of Florence Pugh as Natasha’s ‘sister’ and fellow Black Widow, Yelena Belova. Simply put, Pugh is one of the best additions to the MCU’s legendary ensemble in recent years as she instantly proves to be a natural fit when it comes to her handling of the franchise’s trademark humor and emotional poignancy. And so, with all that in mind, it shouldn’t be that surprising to find that Black Widow is the latest success story for a franchise whose impact on the industry is so significant that, quite frankly, it could be argued that they’re practically incapable of making a ‘bad’ film at this point.

THIS YEAR’S RUNNER-UP, WITH EIGHT VOTES

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY

A lot of you might find this to be the most surprising result of this year’s poll given this film’s overall reception, but from my perspective, this all makes a lot more sense than you’d think. Speaking from experience as a Team Member working at the Universal Orlando resort, I’ve seen guests of all ages wearing clothing from this film’s merchandise line on an almost daily basis even months after its release. Thus, if you ask me, this shows that, at the end of the day, the long-awaited follow-up to the 1996 smash hit Space Jam successfully managed to win over a considerably large audience… even if it ultimately fared just as well as its predecessor did with critics (in other words, not well). Now sure, just like the original, Space Jam: A New Legacy can often go to some incredibly ludicrous lengths with its narrative; in fact, it even manages to one-up the previous film in that regard with all the crossovers that it makes with various Warner Bros. properties, including ones that aren’t exactly geared towards its target audience. And yet, also like the original Space Jam, A New Legacy is a relatively harmless watch with fun visuals that also proves that LeBron James is a genuinely solid screen presence in the wake of his breakout performance in 2015’s Trainwreck. In short, A New Legacy is one of those films that I feel has gotten a bit too harsh of a bad rap from its biggest critics. Sure, it’s far from perfect but you could say the same thing about the original Space Jam, a film that is still fondly enjoyed by many of those who grew up with it (myself included). And despite all the flak that the new film has gotten from both critics and some surly fans of the original, it’s clear that it’s managed to live up to its New Legacy subtitle by being a massive hit with its target demographic.

AND FINALLY, WE COME TO THIS YEAR’S GRAND CHAMPION, WHICH DOUBLED SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY’S TOTAL WITH A WHOPPING 16 VOTES. THIS PLACES IT JUST THREE VOTES SHY OF AVENGERS: ENDGAME’S 19-VOTE RECORD THAT WAS SET IN 2019 BUT ALSO PUTS IT FOUR VOTES AHEAD OF THE 12-VOTE PERFORMANCE OF THE PREVIOUS RECORD-HOLDER, 2018’S BLACKkKLANSMAN. AND WHILE I USUALLY REFER TO THESE #1 FILMS AS THE KINGS OF OUR ANNUAL POLL… WELL, THIS YEAR WE HAD OUR FIRST QUEEN…

CRUELLA

In many ways, it’s easy to see why this unique new spin on one of Disney’s most iconic villainesses proved to be such a big hit with audiences. A stylish comedic crime thriller centered around a strong female lead (as portrayed by one of the most charismatic actresses in the business), Cruella opted to go the same route that 2014’s Maleficent went by crafting a more sympathetic take on its title character rather than maintaining her traditionally villainous portrayal from previous films and media. Sure, this probably didn’t go over too well with those who haven’t been keen on Disney’s recent line of live-action re-imaginings of their animated films, but thanks to strong direction from Craig Gillespie and a Grade-A performance from Emma Stone as Cruella, it all comes together incredibly well. For starters, this new version of Cruella ends up being a natural fit for the film’s setting of 1970’s London and the punk rock movement that defined a good chunk of that era as it gives her plenty of opportunities to be the rebel that she’s known for being, albeit as more of an anti-hero in this instance. Not only that, but it’s also a lot of fun to see her go toe-to-toe with the film’s actual main antagonist, the Baroness, who’s very much the equal of the villainous incarnations of Cruella and gleefully played by Emma Thompson. Add in an equally great supporting cast, incredible costume design, and a positively rocking soundtrack and you have a thoroughly engaging crowd-pleaser that was clearly a lot of fun to work on for everyone involved. And while its $233 million run at the box-office may not seem as noteworthy compared to some of the other films from this summer (most likely due to its simultaneous theatrical and Disney+ Premier Access release), I strongly believe that it still played a considerably huge role in helping theaters get back on track this summer.

And that concludes the 2021 installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual End of Summer Fan Poll. Once again, I want to express nothing but gratitude for everyone who helped to revitalize one of this site’s longest-standing traditions after we were sadly forced to cancel last year’s event. Case in point, whereas last year presented an unclear future for the theatergoing experience, this year has proven that it clearly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Cruella (2021) review

We’ve seen plenty of iconic Disney villains throughout the studio’s extensive filmography, and yet, there are arguably none who are more famous than the villainess of Disney Animation’s 1961 outing, One Hundred and One Dalmatians: the fashion-obsessed heiress turned sinister dognapper Cruella de Vil. Ever since the original film’s release, Cruella has been regarded as one of the most famous villains in cinematic history and this status was thoroughly maintained in 1996 when 101 Dalmatians became one of the first Disney animated films to get a live-action remake. In said film, Cruella was portrayed by the legendary Glenn Close, and while the film itself wasn’t as well-received as its animated counterpart, Close’s performance was widely regarded as its greatest highlight, promptly earning her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical. She then proceeded to reprise the role in the film’s 2000 sequel, 102 Dalmatians, and while that would basically be it for the 101 Dalmatians live-action film franchise at the time, plans were set into place for a prequel film based entirely around Cruella herself in 2013. And while this did mean that Close wasn’t going to be reprising her iconic role, she still ended up being involved with the project as an executive producer. Thus, Emma Stone took on the role for this new film, which is the latest from director Craig Gillespie who, like previous directors of the live-action 101 Dalmatians films (Stephen Herek and Kevin Lima), has done a bunch of films for Disney in the past such as 2014’s Million Dollar Arm and 2016’s The Finest Hours. And thanks to his strong direction and a top-notch lead performance from Emma Stone, Cruella is a strikingly stylish and edgy new take on the story of its titular villainess.

Growing up, Estella Miller (Emma Stone) was known for being quite the troublemaker which, in her eyes, may have made her responsible for the death of her mother Catherine (Emily Beecham) at a luxurious party hosted by ‘The Baroness’ (Emma Thompson), the owner of one of the top fashion houses in London. Now orphaned, Estella ends up taking on a life of thievery alongside her newfound friends, Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) Badun. Eventually, her creative sensibilities manage to attract the attention of the Baroness, who promptly hires her as one of her new designers. But while Estella steadily works her way up into being one of the Baroness’ key assistants, she soon discovers that the Baroness has come into possession of a necklace that had been given to her by her mother but had been lost on the night of her death. Now realizing that the Baroness was the one responsible for her mother’s death, Estella, with the aid of Horace and Jasper, promptly embarks on a plot of revenge. Adopting an old persona of hers from childhood, she becomes the rebellious Cruella de Vil and begins to pull off a series of publicity stunts to one-up the Baroness, thus locking the two of them into an intense rivalry that only proceeds to get more complicated once Estella uncovers the Baroness’ darkest secret.

Cruella very much follows in the footsteps of 2014’s Maleficent by presenting a story where the main antagonist of one of Disney’s classic animated films is portrayed in a more sympathetic light as they enact their revenge against those who wronged them. Granted, it’s not like the film makes her a full-on protagonist or anything; in fact, I’d even argue that this one gives its title character more opportunities to be a devious renegade. But overall, the version of Cruella seen in this film doesn’t seem like she’s destined to become as villainous as she’s known for being in other films. Thus, just like Maleficent, I think it’s safe to say that this take on the character hasn’t gone over well with everybody, namely due to the attempt of trying to humanize a character who, at least in other films, wanted to kidnap puppies and kill them for their coats. However, given the context of how this story plays out, it isn’t too big of an issue in the long run because turning Cruella into a rebellious antihero fits perfectly with this story’s 1970’s London setting. And thanks to Craig Gillespie's visually-driven direction, the film excellently captures the punk rock aesthetic of the time, which is only strengthened further by other great elements such as the incredible costume design done by two-time Oscar winner Jenny Beavan and a rocking soundtrack full of classic tunes. Really, the only things that hold this film back are relatively minor at best such as it being perhaps a bit overlong at a little over two hours and some rather predictable final plot twists that reveal the true connection between Cruella and the Baroness.

As noted in the intro, Glenn Close’s performance as Cruella in the 1996 live-action 101 Dalmatians film and its 2000 sequel, 102 Dalmatians, is so iconic that she’s arguably the definitive incarnation of the character for at least one or two generations. As such, one can only imagine the pressure that Emma Stone was under to deliver a version of the character that was just as memorable by comparison… and yet, she fully succeeds in doing so thanks in large part to her indisputable on-screen charisma. She also works incredibly well with Emma Thompson, who basically serves as this film’s version of the kind of villain that Cruella is in other films as the Baroness, a role that Thompson gleefully revels in. And really, it’s simply a delight to see these two go to war with one another over the course of the film’s proceedings. The two Emmas are then backed by some terrific supporting turns from Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser as Cruella’s famously bumbling sidekicks, Jasper and Horace. The laid-back persona that Fry brings to Jasper makes him the most grounded member of the group and the one who keeps Cruella from going too far with her actions while Paul Walter Hauser, as is basically expected from him at this point, makes Horace one of the film’s best sources of comedic relief. And while they admittedly don’t have as much to work with by comparison, Mark Strong and Kirby Howell-Baptiste turn in solid work as well as John, the Baroness’ valet, and this film’s interpretation of the 101 Dalmatians franchise’s primary matriarch, Anita Darling.  

As we conclude this review, I should probably preface this final section of it by admitting that, regardless of my overall thoughts on the film, Cruella will always be in my good graces since it was the first film that I was able to see in a theatrical setting in more than a year after everything that happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, though, this is not just a case where I’m simply being sentimental about how I first viewed it as the film itself is a highly entertaining comedic crime adventure that prides itself on its incredibly stylish visuals and costuming and then proceeds to back it all up with a genuinely unique way of reimagining the story of one of Disney’s most iconic antagonists. Sure, it may go against the traditional ways in which Cruella de Vil has been portrayed on film before, but thanks to Emma Stone’s outstanding performance in the title role (not to mention an equally terrific supporting cast), it still works in a way that doesn’t end up betraying the source material. Simply put, the enthusiasm that the cast and crew clearly must have had for this material couldn’t be more apparent in a film that also manages to have the kind of edge to it that you normally wouldn’t get from a Disney production. With all that in mind, it’s easy to see why this has managed to be the very definition of a crowd-pleaser that was recently confirmed to be getting a sequel. And while it’s currently unclear as to what route it’ll end up taking, perhaps they can go with the suggestion that was made during an interview that the two Emmas had with Rotten Tomatoes and make it a Godfather II-style prequel/sequel that could potentially see Glenn Close returning to play an older Cruella.

Rating: 4.5/5

And don’t forget to vote for your favorite theatrically released film from the summer of 2021 by going to the link below. Voting ends September 15^th!

Click Here to Vote in the 2021 installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner's Annual End of Summer Fan Vote

Announcing the Triumphant Return of Rhode Island Movie Corner's Annual End of Summer Fan Poll

Around the tail-end of August 2014, I decided to try something out here on this site, mainly because I figured that it would be something fun to do during a stretch of the year where, as far as new film releases are concerned, all the major summer blockbusters have come out but we’re not quite at the point yet where we’re getting the most notable fall/winter releases. Thus, I went for the simple but effective concept of holding a poll that would allow you all, the readers, to vote for your favorite new release of the summer, and once the polling process was complete, I would then publish the official ‘results’ post that would go through all the films that earned votes. This officially marked the beginning of a new Rhode Island Movie Corner tradition as I would continue to hold this event every year… except for last year. Yes, thanks to 2020 being the infamously terrible year that it was, I was forced to cancel last year’s event since all the big summer releases got pushed back to this year and, for the most part, theaters didn’t properly reopen until August. And while I did toy with the prospect of doing an alternate poll based around the varied content that we all watched during times of quarantine, I ultimately decided to wait a year and see if things managed to improve in any significant way for me to do this properly in 2021. Cut to 2021 where, despite the continued threat of the coronavirus, the theatergoing experience has managed to make a considerable comeback and we were finally able to see a good chunk of the films that were originally set to come out last summer. Thus, without further ado, I’m happy to announce the glorious return of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual End of Summer Fan Poll that allows you to vote for your favorite film from this past summer.

For those who are new to this site, here’s how it works. At the link provided below, you’ll be directed to the poll that I’ve set up where you can select your favorite summer film out of the numerous options provided. As is always the case with this event, I try to cover as many of the summer’s wide releases as I possibly can when creating the list of options, which means that, for all you newcomers out there, I will warn you right out of the gate that there are quite a lot of films to choose from. So, with that in mind, I apologize in advance if this all seems a bit too daunting at first. However, that doesn’t mean that I’ve included every new theatrical release from these past few months; as such, if you don’t see your favorite film on the list, I’ve also included a ‘write-in’ section where you can highlight anything that I missed. Ever since I started this annual event, I’ve used the website SurveyMonkey to create the poll, but since the end of the 2019 event, the site has undergone some changes that severely limit the number of responses that a poll can receive for users who aren’t on one of the website’s paid plans. And since I only really used the site for this annual poll in the first place, I figured that it wasn’t worth it for me to sign up for one of these plans if I wasn’t going to use it for anything else. As such, I’ll now be holding the poll on Survio which, to my knowledge, allows for, at the very least, a considerably larger number of poll responses for anyone who’s not on one of their paid plans. That said, though, if this poll does end up reaching Survio’s response threshold for free accounts, I’ll be sure to keep you all posted and respond to the situation accordingly to prevent any delays to the polling process.  

Finally, though, I should probably address the elephant in the room that is the fact that, given everything that’s been happening with the COVID-19 pandemic, not everyone has been going to the theater. While I myself am properly vaccinated and, thus, feel comfortable enough to see films in theaters, I fully recognize that not everyone out there feels the same way, and to be clear, I’m not holding that against any of you if that’s your current stance on the matter. As much as I prefer seeing films in theaters rather than just watching them at home, believe me when I say that the last thing that I want to do right now is bully folks into doing something that they personally believe to be an unsafe process given the current global situation. With that in mind, though, I must note that for this poll, we’ll only be focusing on films that have been released in theaters and will not be accepting any write-in answers that name films that were solely released via streaming services or On-Demand. However, there will be one exception that I’ll be making to this ground-rule since several of the big releases this summer were simultaneously released in theaters and on streaming services. Some Disney films, for example, were released as a paid ‘Premier Access’ release on Disney+ while Warner Bros.’ entire 2021 slate has been simultaneously released in theaters and on their streaming service, HBO Max. As such, if you’ve watched any of these films at home rather than at the theater, it’s totally fine for you to vote for them regardless since both options were readily available. And so, with all this background information out of the way, I couldn’t be more excited to revive this classic Rhode Island Movie Corner tradition and am looking forward to seeing what film will end up taking the grand prize.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

!!!VOTING ENDS SEPTEMBER 15^TH!!!

But before we conclude today’s post, let’s take a trip down memory lane to honor this event’s previous winners… especially seeing how it has been a year since I’ve done this. This is…

RHODE ISLAND MOVIE CORNER’S END OF SUMMER FAN POLL HALL OF FAME

*The inaugural installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s End of Summer Fan Poll ended with an exciting three-way tie as 2014 audiences gave five votes each to the indisputable tearjerker that was the film adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s rare ‘superior comedic sequel’ 22 Jump Street, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest smash hit of the year, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

*Conversely, there was practically no contest when it came to the 2015 edition of this poll as Mad Max: Fury Road, a film that has regularly been touted as one of the greatest films of the 2010s, earned a whopping 10 votes, which was more than double the number of votes that were earned by either of that year’s runners-up, Trainwreck and Straight Outta Compton.

*2016’s event saw a genuinely unexpected tie occur between the MCU’s Phase 3 kick-starter Captain America: Civil War and the raunchy matriarchal comedy Bad Moms, both of which ended up earning nine votes apiece.

*Enduring film fan favorite Christopher Nolan was the king of 2017’s poll thanks to his utterly suspenseful and, even when under a PG-13 rating, incredibly intense war flick Dunkirk, whose 8 votes managed to overtake fellow Warner Bros. release Wonder Woman by just a single vote.

*While 2018’s summer slate was largely dominated by the highly anticipated Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel Studios’ epic crossover feature was ultimately beaten in that year’s poll by director Spike Lee’s culturally relevant dramedy BlacKkKlansman, the true story of former police officer Ron Stallworth’s efforts to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. At the time, the 12 votes that it earned were an event record.

*But in 2019, Marvel Studios finally had their first undefeated champion (as far as this annual poll is concerned) as the grand finale of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, Avengers: Endgame, not only became the highest-grossing film of all time (at least until James Cameron’s Avatar regained the top spot this year) but also managed to surpass the record set by BlacKkKlansman the year before by securing a staggering 19 votes.

*And, of course, in 2020… there was no winner because there was no event. Thankfully, though, this outcome will not happen again this year.

WHO WILL WIN IT ALL IN 2021? STAY TUNED!