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 8th,
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
AlegrÃa 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
18th 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 9th, 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.
