The most-watched Netflix project, failed remakes of cult films from the past, and much more in our selection of the 10 worst films of 2021.
December is the traditional time for summing up the year. But before we tell you about the best films and series of the outgoing year, we will pay our disrespect to the frankly shoddy films that mercilessly wasted our time. Here are the 10 worst films of 2021 according to the 'After Credits' editorial team.
Red Notice
What happens when you take the most popular action stars of today, allocate a budget of $200+ million, and give a middle-of-the-road director complete creative freedom? That's right—the most-watched film in Netflix history. A shamelessly shoddy film that brazenly exploits the personas of its actors, is not funny, and is utterly unoriginal. It's almost embarrassing to criticize it for all this, but it's impossible to turn a blind eye to such a failure. It seems even Michael Bay with the same Ryan Reynolds in the frame a couple of years ago managed to spend Netflix's money more effectively. That one at least bothered with the special effects.
The North Wind
'The North Wind' is 2 hours of surrealism pretending to be a stylish fairy tale set in the backdrop of a dying house. Everything in this house is moldy and withering, symbolizing the family's decline over 30 years. Overall, the film is a collection of disjointed novellas that don't always clearly explain what they are about. The only common thread is that the characters are constantly waiting for the New Year, either about to sit down at the table, making wishes at the table, or already leaving.
The film also resembles a TV play, with all its flaws and shortcomings. Overacting by the actors, the director's (Renata Litvinova) intense self-admiration, and completely empty, unrelated lines coexist with beautifully designed interiors, excellent cinematography, and magnificent costumes. All this beauty creates the impression that it is only there to hide a completely talentless script, or even its complete absence.
Halloween Kills
Halloween here truly kills. Under its 'blade' fall not only people but also common sense, the slasher genre, an iconic hero, dialogues, storylines, and much more. The original 1978 film is considered a classic of slashers. Its entire essence lies in a game of cat and mouse, which the creators of the new film completely forgot about.
It seemed there was hope for a good film, since it was made by the people who released the decent 'Halloween' in 2018. But in the end, the entire film resembles a collection of edited deleted scenes or even a fan fiction about Michael Myers.
Useless characters, terrible dialogues that can be dissected into stupid quotes. A vague structure, and also some supernatural abilities of Myers that turn him into a super-unreal villain. The entire core of the character, the essence of his murders, logic, and style, was lost.
It's better not to mention Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis's character) at all—she should have been put into a coma. Add to this the political context, parallels with events in America, and posturing—and you have the killer of a good film. You feel no tension, no fear, no pleasure while watching. Will someone please tell them that a pile of corpses does not guarantee a decent horror?
Bloggers and Roads
A group of video bloggers sets off on a journey through Russian cities outside the two capitals. Starting their trip from the small town of Dno, they must find common ground with each other and try a bunch of new rural 'challenges': milking a cow, putting on a concert for fans on a balcony, and drinking several bottles with local drunks.
It's impossible to ignore the 'publication' of a new video by Nastya Ivleeva on the screens of CIS cinemas. But the format of 'Bloggers and Roads' has nothing to do with the word 'cinema': the film has no script, and most of the action consists of improvisation by the star personalities, which causes cringe. So after twenty minutes, watching the characters (among them the young Danya Milokhin) becomes uninteresting, and after an hour, the picture turns into a stream of absurd situations commented on in teenage slang. 'Bloggers and Roads' does not become a film project and does not need any criticism: the actors give themselves a rating of '10 out of 10' and then hint at a sequel. Will anyone need it? We doubt it.
Old
M. Night Shyamalan is a master of his craft. He masterfully buries things under a layer of interesting cinematography, decent music, and beautiful visuals. An intriguing premise, where characters end up on a mystical beach where everything and everyone ages and dies at a mind-boggling speed, is buried under unexpressive acting, script impotence, and completely illogical character actions.
The master of unexpected twists is calling us to the cinema again to surprise us. But it's hard to be surprised or even show interest while watching 'Old'.
Open materialCredit must be given to M. Night: he provided us with an ending that explains everything. However, this same ending, while closing some plot holes, simultaneously creates new ones. Why studios continue to trust the director, despite his films failing one after another, is a mystery. Although, we all understand that it's about money.
Gunpowder Milkshake
Remember the saying that cool guys don't look at explosions? Well, this film tries to be that cool guy, replaced by a girl in the best traditions of the fem-agenda (which is why this whole thing was started), and the explosion is your emotions of indignation after watching. And there was so much hype: an excellent cast, comparisons to 'John Wick', and neon signs in a diner...
A mysterious group of men here starts a war of criminal syndicates, while a mysterious (or not) group of women fights for screen time. Despite being promised an R rating, splashes of blood, and so on, we get a half-baked action film, an underdeveloped script, and pointless characters. And the cocktail here turned out to be more milky than gunpowder.
Black Widow
This year was a real holiday for comic book fans. Films, series, animation, games. So much came out. It's a shame that half of the projects were questionable. So the farewell to our compatriot in the Marvel cinematic universe didn't work out. You know that feeling when guests leave, and they seemed to have a good time, but you still have to wash the dishes and wipe the floor in the hallway because it's dirty? After this, the feelings are exactly the same. You wanted a solo film about Romanoff? Here you go, sign here.
We explain why 'Black Widow' turned out to be not at all the film everyone had been waiting for so long.
Open material'Can you imagine, we added Red Guardian. So what if he's a pathetic and pitiful character who did nothing in the film? What did you expect? The difficult fate of a super-soldier rejected by his own country? Sorry, he's not black, he's Russian, so here's some cranberry and mockery. By the way, you won't believe it. We couldn't come up with a good script twist for defeating the antagonist for a long time, but while watching 'Phineas and Ferb', the solution came to us somehow by itself. We think it turned out very stylish and smart. It's not for nothing that everyone loves Perry the Platypus. I wonder how he would behave in Budapest? Alright, don't argue, at least our action is top-notch.'
Tom and Jerry
Did you want to see new adventures of the childhood favorites Tom and Jerry? Well, this film isn't about them. Here, the main character is Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz), who tries to climb the career ladder through trickery. She annoyingly, too often, and inappropriately inserts the phrase 'Oh, my Gosh!', constantly widening her eyes dramatically. And that's the entire arsenal of her emotions.
The film also has a plot about the wedding of the century, which Kayla tries to save from failure. And the groom, played by Colin Jost, turned out to be no less goofy a character than the main heroine. But when the mouse and the cat appear on screen, you forget all the absurdity and just enjoy the gags, nostalgic for the original cartoon. And why couldn't the whole film be dedicated to them?!
Cinderella
Another attempt to rethink and reimagine the painfully familiar (to the point of teeth grinding) story of a girl who rose from the dirt to a high-status person. Only this time, the heroine named Ella thinks not about love, but about business. And the nice, unambitious Prince Robert is ready to help her with her career if she pays attention to him in return.
The creators tried to cram into the film, and a musical at that, all the current topics of modernity: feminism, condemnation of patriarchy, gender self-determination. All this is shown through boringly staged numbers that have no zest. It's unclear why the film uses covers of hits from different years and genres instead of original songs. And on top of that, it's seasoned with bad special effects. The result is a third-rate film that tries terribly poorly to mock the sexist stereotypes of fairy tales, but at the same time puts on a serious face.
Pierce Brosnan, Billy Porter, and Camila Cabello are the only joy of the musical, but, alas, even they are not worth the time spent.
Home Sweet Home Alone
The crown of our top 10 worst films of 2021, just in time for the New Year, is a truly incredible Frankenstein monster. Whether it's a sequel or a remake—we never figured it out. A mockery of the original, there's no other way to describe the film. Such a ridiculous, unprofessional, unoriginal, and uninteresting film that you want to turn it off almost immediately. It's as if there was no quality control from the 'mouse corporation'. Maybe with an annual turnover of 65 billion, they could have spared at least 300 dollars for an eye doctor and glasses for a couple of people on the team?
It's amazing that in 2021, Disney produced such a masterpiece. Apparently, monopolization and lack of competition are completely intoxicating. In short, if described in one sentence, this fits perfectly: 'A drunk dad let his kids play with his expensive Lego set, and they broke his Death Star and Colosseum to build a 'vroom-vroom car with a trunk', but they had no instructions, no parts, and no brains.'
On November 12, a new 'Home Alone' was released on Disney+. We tell you how bad the film is and if there is anything good in it.
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