HLS Movie Awards Top 116 Movies of 2021 Part 3! 90-71
Welcome back to HLS Entertainment! Today we are going to discuss Part 3 of the top 116 movies of 2021, this time 90-71. Part one we discussed many popular well-known movies that flopped quality wise (and box office in some cases) and part two was films that were so close to being good but just were not quite there but were still enjoyable, today's part 3 contains a lot more of that but these movies were much closer to the mark. These are movies we enjoyed very much but just something was missing from it or there were still some obvious issues. We might have loved movies you hated, or hated ones you loved, let us know in the comments or on Twitter @HLSEntrtainment or my personal Twitter @HaroldLStokes.
Now like always with every movie I am going to be putting what I personally think is the safest grading scale out there, the IMDB user rating score. Here is a simple breakdown of what their 0.0-10 grading scale means:
Now this is not a gold standard but is a good starting point, on to the movies. On to the movies!
90. Wrath of Man
IMDb Score: 7.1
This is pure dumb action. Jason Statham stars in this very bro-ey dialogue filled action movie that was well done by Guy Ritchie. This is a movie Guy Ritchie does (did) in his sleep, not lazily done but very obviously could have been MUCH better if it was a huge priority for the normally excellent writer director Guy Ritchie.
89. Halloween Kills
IMDb Score: 5.6
This was a fun new continuation of one of the king's of the slasher franchises, but ultimately felt goofy at certain points without having the excuse of it being an 80's slasher flick. We have come so far past the non self aware goofiness. Either make the towns people serious hunting him down or lean into the just weird characters of the town. They tried to find a balance and stumbled and fell as soon as Mike Meyers was near. My favorite new fact after this movie is Michael McDonald, who played Little John in this, is one of a few if not the only person to be killed on film by both Michael and Mike Meyers.
88. Gunpowder Milkshake (Netflix)
IMDb Score: 6.1
This is a movie ultimately was a fun forgettable flick that either did not have a strong story to begin with or was lost in the edit. I mean look at that cast it is incredible, how is this not immediately a new franchise? Well, when you go for a John Wick-ish type movie, but the action is good not great, it tends to not work out. I would still be excited to see more of these characters if they do a sequel.
87. Ron's Gone Wrong
IMDb Score: 7.1
I am obviously not the target audience for this movie, it felt very fun but ultimately missed on the emotional connection that turns good animation to great. Take its placement here with a grain of salt it might be much better than this, but I found it so unforgettable that I was convinced the name of it was Ron Goes Wrong and was very confused as to why I could not find the movie when searching for the movie poster.
86. Wish Dragon (Netflix)
IMDb Score: 7.2
Delightful movie, and I do not know if the Aladdin story was ripped and changed from this story originally but that is all this movie is. It is Aladdin without Robin Williams. I love Aladdin, but that is all the information you need about this movie.
85. Without Remorse (Amazon)
IMDb Score: 5.8
I do not get the low score I imagined it to be in the 6's but this is a straightforward 80's-90's revenge action movie starring Michael B. Jordan. I do not think it brought anything excellent or new to the table, that is why it is so low, but I will happily watch five more movies if they turn this into a series as the post credit scene seems to hint at.
84. Those Who Wish Me Dead (HBOMax)
IMDb Score: 6.0
This movie is about Angelina Jolie's character Hannah who is a smokejumper fire fighter coming across a young boy who is being hunted down after his father was killed in front of him. I feel like this movie could honestly go lower as I sit here and try to remember why they wanted to kill the father and son to begin with but in the end, this is a fun well-made action/thriller with a great cast you won't regret watching.
83. Stowaway (Netflix)
IMDb Score: 5.6
Stowaway is about a space mission that suddenly has a fourth passenger and now they have to decide if they were hiding by accident or on purpose and how having a fourth person effects all of their supplies as they do the math of how long they will last with an unplanned passenger. I wanted so much more thriller from this movie than it actually is. I enjoyed it but it becomes much more sci-fi adventure than thriller and they easily could have turned this into a much better movie.
82. Zack Snyder's Justice League (HBOMax)
IMDb Score: 8.1
Here comes the hate for this placement. I love DC Comics and root for every single DC movie to be great as I sit in the audience night one. Well, this was not in a theater and thank goodness with a runtime over FOUR hours. This honestly is not a film, it is a miniseries crammed into a movie. I took a stopwatch to this movie and there was a legitimate hour and a half plus that can be completely cut out without effecting the story at all. I was someone who rooted and cheered for Snyder to get to finish his vision after how WB treated him terribly during the worst time in his life. I was there watching the Man of Steel watch along when he announced it was finally happening, and I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in this final product. Instead of focusing on finishing THIS story this movie sets up about twenty more even though we all know his time in control of the DCEU is long done. That left a bad taste in my mouth for sure.
81. Godzilla vs. Kong (HBOMax)
IMDb Score: 6.4
Dumb fun big screen action. I respect that this series knows exactly what it is doing, it is not some masterpiece of filmmaking and does not try to be. Just grab a big thing of popcorn, sit back and enjoy this fun giant kaiju spectacle.
80. The Woman in the Window (Netflix)
IMDb Score: 5.7
A movie that should have ended 15 minutes earlier than it does and has already had a spoof released (also put out by Netflix "The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window) it is a fine crime mystery thriller that really needed to decide if it wanted to be a thriller or an art house flick.
79. Cherry (AppleTv)
IMDb Score: 6.6
Another movie that seriously needed some editing. Complete control by the directors is amazing but it can often end up resulting in bloated films like this and the previously mentioned ZSJL. This movie follows Cherry, Tom Holland, as he goes from dropout to falling in love before becoming an army medic and returning with PTSD that turns into drug addiction and a life of crime. There is just SO much happening in this movie, I feel like it could have been really interesting miniseries, but something has to be done to this movie to make it better than just good.
78. Palmer (AppleTV)
IMDb Score: 7.3
A very paint by numbers story that you will guess correctly as it goes along that somehow still holds on to the audience by having some genuine heart touching moments. I am very pro us getting more actor Justin Timberlake. We know Timberlake can be charming, but this movie lets him show off a bit wider range of acting than I have seen him do previously.
77. Ride the Eagle
IMDb Score: 6.4
Even though this feels like an obvious Covid movie with very little cast and crew it still finds a way to be charming and heartwarming story of Leif, Jake Johnson, who was left a conditional inheritance by his estranged mom dies. She leaves him a list and a video to complete of chores, life lessons, and just things to do.
76. The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)
IMDb Score: 6.3
I am a sucker for the music biopic. I am that audience, I will see them all. This movie follows legendary singer Billie Holiday as she was subject of a targeted case by the Federal Department of Narcotics. Rarely have I seen such a big gap between how good the star of the film is, Andra Day, and how bad the rest of the movie is. Andra Day's performance is worth the price of admission, but the rest of the movie just is not that good.
75. Malignant (HBOMax)
IMDb Score: 6.3
Annabelle Wallis plays Madison a victim of abuse who starts having gruesome visions and dreams starting with the brutal murder of her abusive husband. She comes to find out these dreams are very much reality, and she tries to uncover their mystery. This movie had its moment in the sun as it was talked about constantly on social media very positively before turning into bashing the film for certain "goofy" aspects.
74. Kate (Netflix)
IMDb Score: 6.2
This is how you do a John Wick "rip off". I loved this fun just brutal at times action movie. Kate is an assassin who was poisoned and has 24 hours to live, but before she dies, she plans to get revenge on whoever poisoned her. Please someone get Mary Elizabeth Winstead in a consistent action franchise, she does great work every chance she gets but they never go anywhere, I would be down for prequel movies of her and Woody Harrelson's Varrick doing missions together.
73. Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard
IMDb Score: 6.1
Dumb fun action. If you enjoyed the first this sequel is for you, I think the main drop off from the first movie to this one is the action isn't quite up to the first and the cheese gets laid on thick in this movie.
72. The Tomorrow War (Amazon)
IMDb Score: 6.6
Want an action sci-fi flick that is well made and leans into sci-fi/horror tropes? This is the movie for you. Plenty of actors with incredible comedy chops that liven up the movie. The Tomorrow War follows Chris Pratt's Dan Forester who is a former Green Baret turned biology teacher who is drafted into this war against aliens in the future.
71. 8-Bit Christmas (HBOMax)
IMDb Score: 6.7
Neil Patrick Harris stars and narrates this movie about the ultimate Christmas present that everyone wanted as a child, the newest video game system. NPH plays adult Jack Doyle as he tells his daughter about when he was a kid in the 80's and all he thought about night and day was getting his very own Nintendo. This movie follows young Jack Doyle and his friends as they go on their daily quest to try to figure out how to get their own Nintendo Entertainment System.
Thank you so much for reading! Please be sure to follow me on Twitter @HaroldLStokes and let me know what you think about the ranking!
