The Top Ten Worst Movies of 2021
Zack Snyder almost deserves a pass for this year’s excellent
Justice League re-release, but the stench of Army of the Dead takes away a little bit of the goodwill Snyder earned for that better film. As it stands,
Dead is an insufferable action/ horror slog that holds no new ideas and wastes a good cast.
The original Ghostbusters was a near R-rated comedy that existed for laughs and laughs alone. It’s confounding that the son of the original film’s director chose to rip off Stranger Things and make a family flick out of this troubled franchise. It sucks, and it features one of the only bad Paul Rudd performances.
Chris Rock is a national treasure, so when he initiated Spiral, a new Saw film based on his own idea, I was pumped. I was let down, however, with a Saw movie that feels no different from its predecessors. Spiral is a tired thriller that wastes a good Rock performance on a lame and predictable plot.
The Tomorrow War is so ludicrously dumb, lazily acted, and generically plotted that I felt as though I was watching a parody. This Amazon original film doesn’t even work on that level, however. The Tomorrow War is about as forgettable and dispensable that it barely registers as a movie.
Mortal Kombat is so bland and tasteless that I almost forgot it came out this year. With a no-name cast trying their best to elevate material that feels like it was written thirty years ago, this Kombat features some grisly fatality scenes but little else. For much better kung fu thrills, see Shang Chi.
While Shyamalan is capable of great things, see Signs, The Sixth Sense, or Unbreakable for proof, he can also make pure garbage. Old is the bottom of the barrel. Featuring truly awful performances from an esteemed cast and providing much more unintentional comedy than genuine thrills, Old lacks in all areas.
Stranding a great cast in a boring and derivative detective thriller, The Little Things has little redeeming quality. Washington, Leto, and Malik all sleepwalk through their roles in a movie that is in no hurry to reach its underwhelming conclusion. Se7en for a new generation this is not.
Ryan Reynolds is a man of great talent, but his winky/sarcastic schtick is wearing thin. Now playing Deadpool at all times, Reynolds fails to surprise here at every turn. Considering that Red Notice is a terrible imitation of everything from James Bond to Indiana Jones to Tomb Raider, there is no meat on these bones.
It’s hard to believe that Marvel’s Kevin Feige thought this was a good idea. A solo Black Widow film would’ve worked ten years ago, but this Bourne- derivative spy/thriller/ comedy fails on almost every level. While David Harbour and Florence Pugh are certainly bright spots, this one is a dud.
Surprise, Ryan Reynolds plays Deadpool yet again in this laughable sequel that mines career-worst performances from Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas, Samuel L. Jackson, and Morgan Freeman. I hated each and every character, I hated the grating comedy, and I hated the formless action scenes.