Top 20 Films Of 2021: Part 2 (10-1)

10: The Green Knight

Arguably the best adaption of a 14th Century Arthurian poem even created, The Green Knight goes for more symbolism and thematic weight than a strong narrative. But that little pretentious part of me that still thinks Drive is the best thing since sliced bread absolutely loved it, following the strong-willed but flawed Gawain through his journey to face the titular Green Knight and the knightly vows he breaks, willingly and otherwise, as he tries to balance being a good man and a great knight. It’s a slow, methodical film but it flips the hero's journey on it head and the absolute majesty of the last 20 minutes cannot be overstated, this is a majestic film and one that revels in never taking the road you expect it to.

9: The Mitchells Vs The Machines

One of the most chaotic and oddball films I’ve seen in a long time, animated or otherwise, The Mitchells vs The Machines manages to use its madcap concept of technology turned homicidal to bring a dysfunctional family together through internet memes and the songs of Rihanna. From the word go this film is in top gear and it does not let up, the colours are vibrant, the energy is high, the humour is fantastic – I still laugh at the Roomba joke – but most importantly, the characters are all wonderful to watch. Even though all the madness of samurai mums and dumbass dogs, the flaws of this family are easily recognised and watching them come together to work through those flaws centres that madness and brings the whole thing together perfectly.

8: Shang-Chi & The Legend Of The Ten Rings

Shang-Chi had the distinction of being the first origin story for the MCU after Endgame and it delivered that new blood brilliantly, not only introducing Simu Li as the head-strong, funny, yet regretful Shang-Chi but also giving the MCU one of its best villains in Wenwu, a dangerous warlord trying to save his wife’s soul. The typical Marvel formula works as intended with laughs and thrills aplenty, but the added family dynamic between Shang, his father and his sister as well as a complete embrace of the Chinese mysticism for the beautiful finale all work to make this film stand out and bring Shang-Chi forward as a new hero to enjoy.

7: Nightmare Alley

Del Toro’s first film since his Oscar win for Shape of Water and it’s a return to his horror adjacent roots with a noir twist, and it’s fantastic. Touching upon dark mysticism, conman psyches, and the power of a good lie, the film never lets you settle on how much of what’s happening is actually supernatural and how much is just pretend, leaving you constantly unsettled by the whole thing. It also brings out a career best performances from Bradley Cooper as the enigmatic Carlise and the perfect balance he has between charming rogue and sinister huckster, his corrupted rise to riches story is familiar but it’s watching him play psychological tennis with the troubled Lilith (a wonderfully twisted role for Cate Blanchett) and how both use mind-games to stay in power that makes this such an amazingly dark film to sit through.

6: Titane

Titane was not the film I thought it was going to be, I expected a film about a serial killer with a car fetish but instead, I got a film that examined the themes of identity through the broken relationship between Vincent, a steroid-abusing fire-captain who is struggling to keep up with his younger co-workers, and Alexia, a serial-killing showgirl who pretends to be Vincent’s long-lost son in order to hide from the authorities, all while being impregnated by a car. There’s a hyper-stylish W.T.F.-ness to the whole thing and at times you’ll wonder why the film has made certain choices, but once you see the examination of trauma and the importance of family, whether it be through blood or through companionship, to heal you’ll see that despite the fucked-up characters at the heart of the story, it’s them that need the most chance to better themselves and find whatever messed-up family they can together. There is nothing else like Titane and I still find myself thinking about it months later, whether it be the ambiguous nature of how the story reveals certain truths or how damaged its two leads really are, but even if I never understood it, I enjoyed the hell out of it.

5: Dune

Villeneuve already had my ass in the seat for this one just based on his track record of being the best thing to happen to sci-fi since Blade Runner, and hearing he was tackling THE sci-fi `novel made me giddy to see what he could do. Not only is it the most technically well-made film of the year with the visual effects, cinematography and sound design being pitch-fucking-perfect across the board, Villeneuve gives this massive, lore-rich universe the time to breath and unfold itself naturally for both fans of the original story and newcomers to the Dune-verse. And that’s not even getting into the powerful acting, Chalamet and Ferguson were the two standouts as the reluctant hero Paul and his protective mother Jessica, but everyone brought their A-Game here, Isaac’s majestic Duke Leto, Momoa’s charismatic bad-ass Duncan, Skaarsgard’s vile Baron, everyone as game for this vast, dense world and everyone delivered.

Honestly the only issue is that it’s a Part 1 but I’m more than happy to wait and see more of this world.

4: The Power Of The Dog

For a film that sets itself up as a dickhead cowboy being a dickhead, Power Of The Dog had me guessing where it was going throughout the whole film, at first it was about Phil the bastard gaslighting and emotionally abusing his new sister-in-law, then it was about him bullying her son, then it was about him taking her son under wing and then it became something else by the end. Perhaps most impressively though, was how director Jan Campion (a very well deserved winner for the Oscar recently) was able to take this frantic narrative and keep it anchored together through the superb performances (Cumberbatch, Dunst and McPhee all give some of their best works) and the handling of its central themes of masculinity, repression and anger.

3: Encanto

Being emotionally crippled, I’ve always appreciated a film that can get a reaction out of me and when Encanto made me cry I knew it was going to place high on this list. Even without that moment – and it’s the Dos Oruguitas scene for anyone interested – Encanto would’ve still scored high points because it’s just that good. The story of magic and the balance between gits and curses across three generations of a family still reeling with expectations and generational trauma, a host of characters all so well-defined and realised that even the smallest role is remembered fondly and some of Disney’s best song selections that not only bring colour and music into the film but actively showcase the inner-thoughts of the characters - Surface Pressure and We Don't Talk About Bruno still play in my head from time to time - to add to the running themes of the whole thing. Everything about this film works in tandem with the other to bring it all together into a bright, bold and brilliant film and one of the best of modern Disney.

2: The Suicide Squad

Right now, James Gunn can do no wrong, both Guardians films showcased his talents for chaotic comic-boom teams but his soft reboot of The Suicide Squad actively confirmed it. This is not only the one of the best movies in the DCEU but one of the most unique comic-book films ever put together, equal parts darkly hilarious, genuinely shocking, surprisingly heartfelt and utterly fucking bonkers, Gunn does not hold back to take this film into strange new places, be they thematically political and straight up comic-book weirdness, but he makes it work so goddamn well that you won’t even see where the tone faltered. Best of all is how much care and attention this new roster of characters gets – the ones that aren’t brutally slaughtered that is – this is the best kind of team film where anyone can say that any of the team is their favourite and no-one would be wrong, Elba’s reluctant leader Dubois, Cena’s jingoist dickhead Peacemaker, Dastmalchain’s troubled and sympathetic Krill, Mechior’s heartstrong and heartfelt Cleo (my personal favourite for having the most triumphant moment of the film’s insane ending), the adorable violence of Nanaue and the perfect madness of Robbie’s Harley. This is the band of misfits we needed to shake up the comic-book world and by Gunn did they do just that.

1: Spider-Man: No Way Home

I debated with myself about putting No Way Home as my number 1 film. Was I really going to have three out of the last four years headlined by an MCU movie, with 2020 only slipping free because there was no MCU movies released, allowing that aforementioned pretentious part of me to jump free for a little bit?

But then I looked at everything that No Way Home did and did right and I couldn’t find any reason not to call this an absolute triumph. Not only does No Way Home round out Peter’s trilogy with some of the harshest scenes put in the MCU to date, but it successfully closes off at least two other series by giving closure to characters we haven’t seen in years. Some like Molina and especially Dafoe slip right back into their characters to remind us why they were the original greats of the genre while others like Foxx are giving the chance to completely reinvent their characters and give them their dues. A film this immense, this expansive could’ve easily gotten too big for its own good, but the focus on Holland’s Parker, the pain, the heart and the sacrifice he goes through allows everything to stay grounded whilst the massive world is built around him, helping the film work on the micro and the macro levels as it leads into perhaps the most bittersweet ending to any comic-book film, let alone a Marvel one.

No Way Home had so much going into it but it exceeded all expectations, making something entertaining, something emotional and something excellent. It more than earns its place as the Best Film of 2021.