5. Bill And Ted Face The Music

I’m not going to lie, movie watching was done this year. If I didn’t have a lot of December year end and year beginning articles to write, I might not even have Bill and Ted Face the Music on the list. I fully expect that Spider-Man No Way Home will push this off the list. But I haven’t seen that yet.

Bill and Ted Face the Music is a fun film, it’s a good end to the Bill and Ted “trilogy” that didn’t need to be a trilogy. It follows their kids as they try and find the music again before the world ends. Because Bill and Ted haven’t written the song that is going to save the world as the first movie predicted.

In my review, and I still stand by this, I’d watch the original two over and over, but Bill and Ted Face the Music just is fine. You can see some brief thoughts on it here. The movie just seems to lose some of the heart that the other ones have, which makes sense because it’s a long time later. But the year has slim movie pickings for me.

4. Dune

Another one I’m not sure would make the list in a normal year. Granted, I think it would because it’s such a gorgeous movie. Dune is a movie a Dune fans in the best way possible. It’s also a movie for Dune fans in the worst way possible. It tells the story and stays true to the first book too a fault. I like the book, but the first part is extremely dry and it’s not even on Arrakis yet.

But they get the look right, the casting is solid, and the music is great. Once the action kicks in, the last 30 minutes of the movie, it’s really fun. I want to see the second part because even more happens there. But I’m not going to be jumping for joy for the first part. I think if I watch both together, it’ll be very long, but I’ll appreciate it a lot.

3. Black Widow

I won’t lie, it’s Marvel from here on out. Marvel is a soft spot for me, but they did a good job on all their movies this year. I don’t think they messed up any of them. Black Widow is the lowest just because it was a nice Black Widow story, but after Endgame, I don’t need more Black Widow story. And while it sets up some characters, I don’t think it sets up enough, but I do like Yelena a lot.

This is my favorite Marvel spy movie, it’s more Bond like and more my style as compared to something like Captain America: Winter Soldier. Some of that is that it has more humor in it. Some is that Winter Soldier tries to be Bourne, which I thought was just okay and isn’t my style and Black Widow tries to be classic Bond which I like more.

2. The Eternals

The Eternals might not make some people’s lists, but I really enjoyed it. You can hear my thoughts on it on the 10 Minute Marvel Podcast here. But this is a different type of Marvel film. It is building a new team. And it builds a team in a very different way. It also creates a much larger world/universe to be dealt with within the MCU.

I think that the story plays out well. While I kind of get why it can feel rushed, I think the character motivations all make sense. And when they divide as to who they stand with, it makes sense. The acting was very solid as well in this movie. Gemma Chan and Lia McHugh really steal the show, but so many of the roles are well done.

1. Shang Chi And the Legend of the Ten Rings

My Top Marvel film and top movie I saw in 2021 is Shang-Chi. Disclaimer, this is before seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home, and I don’t know what to expect from that. But Shang Chi blended so much together really well. It felt most like a Marvel film for the new character introduced. And the humor in the movie is a lot of fun. I think the humor is better than the Eternals.

Plus, the action in the film is so nice. Clearly taking inspiration from the style of other movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it is some of the best action I’ve seen. There is such artistry in how it is done and there are also some nods to anime in the fighting style at times as well.

That’s my list for 2021. The only other movie I could even consider, that I remember is the Addams Family animated film, my wife and I rented and watched the first one of those. It is a perfectly fine movie. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but I’d also not tell people to skip it. It’s just a fun, pretty straightforward, movie without many twists are great jokes.

What are the best movies you saw for the first time this year?

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Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Bill and Ted are two high school students who want nothing more than to take the world by storm with their band, the Wyld Stallyns. However, they are almost failing history, and if that happens, Ted is going to be sent to military school. Rufus, a man from the future, comes to the past to save them and give them the push they need to save reality.

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey

Back again Bill and Ted are just middling musicians and Wyld Stallyns hasn’t taken off, there’s a chance, however, as they get into Battle of the Bands. But things change again when more future people come back and Bill and Ted’s life changes most drastically. Will Bill and Ted be able to get to the battle of the bands and save the world?

Bill & Ted Face the Music

Life still hasn’t gone right for Bill and Ted. Things were going well for the Wyld Stallyns after the battle of the bands, and they had played the Grand Canyon, but that fame didn’t last and they still hadn’t figured out the song that was going to unite the world across all of space and time. And their wives and relatives are having trouble seeing the big picture. Their daughters still believe in them, but when the future begins to doubt them, will they be able to save all of reality?

Thoughts on the Films

This is an extremely silly series of films, with a lot of 80’s and early 90’s feel to it even in the film, Bill & Ted Face the Music, that came out this year. I think that makes the series work well enough. The first two are extremely entertaining, I think that it works as a series that makes little to no sense, and does some very fun things. The third one has a little bit of a different pattern to the ending, but one that works well, as well, though not really any sort of surprise to it. But they keep a similar feel to the jokes throughout all three of the films, and it works in all of them.

Bill and Ted are both very entertaining characters in these films, and the fact that they have a lot of the same talent throughout the whole thing is really interesting. They do recast a few of the characters between films, but a lot of the key players remain the same. The fact that Missy is played by the same actress throughout is a lot of fun, and kind of hilarious how they weave that story throughout the whole thing.

I do think that in order of best to worst is the order that they came out. That isn’t a knock against Bill and Ted Face the Music as much as it is a comment on how solid the first two are. They really hit the right notes for the comedy and I think that Bill and Ted Face the Music is good at hitting those notes, but can at time fall into a different type of sophomoric humor than the previous two installments. And a lot of that is just because of how much time has passed between the first two installments and the third as well, it doesn’t flow as well with the actors.

Final Thoughts

The whole of the three films are very entertaining and definitely worth checking out. They definitely need to be watched in order otherwise they won’t make any sense, so I’d skip just going for the latest and greatest. I do wonder how much I’ll rewatch Bill & Ted Face the Music, but I know that I’ll watch the other two again for sure. They definitely did a solid job, though, for taking something that has been a cult classic for a long time and giving it a fitting sequel. Definitely a trilogy of sophomoric films with a interesting twist to watch.

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Black Widow – It’s a Marvel movie, I want to see it. Now, I feel like Black Widow is probably coming out too late and the first trailer looked cool but didn’t tell me any story. But it’s the first movie in Phase 4, and I’m itching for more Marvel. I was wondering after Endgame if I wanted a ton more Marvel movies (the answer was always yes) but now with the time between Black Widow and Spider-Man: Far From Home, I’m so ready.

Eternals – What, the other Marvel movie made my list, who would have thought. I’m looking forward to Eternals even more than I am Black Widow and I have even less of an idea of what sort of story they are going to tell. The cast looks cool and the Neil Gaiman trade that I’ve read was really interesting. I’m wondering if this is going to set-up something more cosmic or earth focused, and will we get a trilogy of Eternals movies? There’s so little that I know, but I know I’m really excited for this movie.

Sonic The Hedgehog – I don’t know why, but I really am interested in this movie. Some of it was because the first trailer the Sonic looked like a trainwreck with teeth, and the new Sonic looks fun. I think this is going to be a dumb silly movie, and knowing that, I think it’s one that I might enjoy. Now, I won’t go see this in theaters, I just don’t have time, but when it comes out, I’m renting it. Jim Carrey looks over the top, and in a movie about a Sonic Hedgehog, that’s perfect. There’s something just really interesting about this movie for me.

Artemis Fowl – This movie was pushed back, it’s a bad sign. But the first book, which I read for the first time this year, was a lot of fun. I like the evil genius kid character. I like the magical world that is set-up as well. It’s not too serious, but it does a good job of also not dumbing down the plot so that it’s just a dumb kids book. With the movie, I don’t have a ton of faith that they won’t have dumbed it down, but if they keep it simply to what’s done in the book, it could be a really cool movie. Maybe if it gets glowing reviews I’d go see it in the theaters, but probably one that I’ll watch when I can rent it.

Bill & Ted Face The Music – Keanu Reeves.

Okay, I’ll give more of a reason than that, I guess. But really it’s because of him and his resurgence in the movie world. I think that the rest of the stories in the Bill & Ted world have been a lot of fun, and this looks like a silly dumb movie, like the originals, and I’m all for that. I’m hoping that they don’t change up the formula that has worked well for them, and beyond that, don’t know or care to know much more about the film. I’ll just enjoy in the fun that it has.

Godzilla vs Kong – Now, this one might have been pushed back into 2021, but the list I’m looking at still has it in 2020. But Godzilla fighting King Kong, may the best monster win, and I’m assuming they are going to team up to take down some other monster. I haven’t seen Godzilla: King of the Monsters yet, but that’s high on my list of movies to watch, and I don’t care if it’s great, and same with this movie, I don’t care if it’s great, I just want to see it. Give me monsters fighting, and I’ll be happy enough.

Dune – I feel like this is either going to be good or a train wreck, I don’t know with the story that happens in the book if it’s going to be possible to make an amazing movie from it. But I’m so curious about it. This is a movie that I might make it to the theaters to see, just because, even with my projector set-up at home, Dune feels like a big enough story that I might want to hear it with the best sound possible.

So, what films are you looking forward to. I skipped over James Bond, just am not as interested in that, and Wonder Woman 1984 is definitely interesting and I love Max Lord as a character, but DC has to prove they can turn out several good movies, and with Birds of Prey looking bad, I doubt I’ll care that much about Wonder Woman 1984.

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