Rampage Magazine March 2022

The Rampage

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by Warren Lester Communication • 2023 The Best Films of 2021

I am a huge fan of movies, and 2021 was an incredible year for them. Between the large amount of releases that were originally slated for 2020, as well as the ones meant for 2021, we got a ton of films. I’ve watched more than 80 releases from last year, and here I’m going to highlight just a few of the best films to come from 2021. Judas and the Black Messiah One of the earliest releases of 2021, as well as one of the strongest is easily found in Judas and the Black Messiah . This film chronicles the powerfully emotional, beautiful and tragic story of the leader of the Black Panthers, Fred Hampton, and his fall from power after being betrayed by FBI informant Bill O’Neal. This film is as frustrating at points as it is sad, seeing a group of protestors be labeled as a threat by the government and treated like dangerous criminals leading to an inevitable, but devastating conclusion. From the gorgeous camera work to the stellar performances from Daniel Kaluuya and Lakieth Stanfield, all the way to the musical score, Judas and the Black Messiah is a film you don’t want to miss. TheMatrix Resurrections In our current era of blockbuster cinema, it seems that every day there’s a new franchise film coming out. Whether it be the newest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new Transformers film, or the next Halloween movie, you can almost always expect a new film in a long running series in theaters, and with each of them you likely know what kinds of things to expect. Franchise films, especially ones that are sequels in long running series, often have elements you can expect in them, and one of the biggest elements of those are callbacks to earlier installments. Just this year we’ve had three big examples of this in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Space Jam: A New Legacy . All three of said films have their fans, and although I enjoyed one of them a fair amount all three lean on the crutch of nostalgia and often use that as an easy way to please their audiences. The Matrix Resurrections offers an alternative to this. Although this film still makes callbacks to its predecessors, they are almost entirely used to mock the idea of the big Hollywood franchise. It manages to mock and comment

on the state of franchises, while also remaining a worthy entry in its own franchise. It’s clever, fun, action packed, and easily one of the best films of the year. Zack Snyder’s Justice League

members wincing, there’s no film from 2021 I’d recommend more. Wrath of Man While we’re on the subject of brutal action films, one would be remiss to not mention Guy Ritchie’s newest film, Wrath of Man . Unlike Nobody , this film is lacking in humor, but for what it lacks it makes up ten-fold in its frankly mean-spirited brutality. Though it’s far from the most violent film of the year, Wrath of Man‘ s cold and brooding take on revenge is hard not to find engaging. This film’s two plots converge as a series of cash truck heists and Jason Statham’s character’s thirst for revenge for the death of his son cross, leading to results that are predictably not pretty. Pig A truffle hunter who lives alone in the wilderness of Oregon is forced to return to the city of Portland, which he left behind years ago after the capture of his beloved pet pig. Nicholas Cage delivers one of his greatest performances in this, as every moment of pain, depression and loss is echoed through his every expression, movement and voice. Though this was strangely billed as a goofy action revenge movie, nothing could be further from the truth. This isn’t a revenge film, or even an action film, but a film about what it means to lose something or someone so dear to you. It’s a film about loss that manages to be one of the most heartfelt and touching of the year. No SuddenMove Director of Ocean’s Eleven , Steven Soderbergh brought us quite the treat this year with No Sudden Move. Released on HBO Max, this film follows a ragtag group of criminals hired to steal and deliver an envelope without having any clue what contents it holds or who hired them. This crime noir reminiscent of those from decades past takes many twists and turns, much like Soderbergh’s other films, all of which serve to keep you wrapped up in the incredible narrative it tells. Malignant

In 2017 audiences were delivered Justice League , a film that quickly became an embarrassment to its studio. It was credited as being directed by Zack Snyder, but it was quickly revealed to the world that although Snyder had filmed most of his own version of the film, what we got was not at all his. Snyder took time off from the film due to a personal tragedy of losing his daughter to suicide, and after stepping away from the filmWarner Brothers took the opportunity to replace him with Joss Whedon, who reshot most of the film before releasing it as a tonally confused mess that audiences and critics both hated. Fans campaigned for three years before Warner Brothers finally allowed Snyder to finish his version, and in 2021 we got it. Even if this film wasn’t any good, it’s worth having out there as a true artistic vision of one man, versus a messy mix of two different tones sloppily released by a studio for a quick buck. Thankfully this film is a wonderful epic, mixing dramatic and heartbreaking tones with the right amount of fun needed for a superhero film. At over four hours in length, Zack Snyder’s Justice League goes by like a breeze and manages to be one of the best comic book films of all time. Nobody It’s important to note that this list isn’t in a particular order, because if it was Nobody would easily make the top of the list. Taking a clever and fun twist on the “unlikely action hero” trope, Bob Odenkirk stars as Hutch Mansell, an overlooked suburban dad with a dead-end job and repetitive boring life, who’s past life comes to haunt him after a series of events stemming from a home break-in and the disappearance of his daughter’s kitty cat bracelet. Mixing the comedic tone of the more goofy action films of the ’80s with the violence and action of more modern action films, such as John Wick, Nobody manages to be entertaining from start to finish. Although some of its more brutal moments will definitely leave some audience

Director James Wan has had an interesting career in Hollywood. Starting his career with the game changing 2000s horror classic Saw ,