Well, it’s a new year….again. It’s definitely for the best this time…I hope. 2020 has been nothing short of a dumpster fire as I noted in my review of 2020. With a pandemic that’s ravaged the entire world, everybody has been affected by it to one degree another. Some got hit worse than others, obviously. With lockdowns affecting nearly every single industry and aspect of our daily lives, it’s been very difficult to know when things would begin to get better. For fans of movies and the theater-going experience, 2020 has been a total calamity with theaters shutting down for most of the year. While things seem dark for the industry, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Viable vaccines for the COVID-19 virus are on their way, and it is expected that most, if not all people will be vaccinated by the end of summer. While 2020 has been the roughest and darkest year we’ve had in a long time, there were some bright spots, especially in the film world. Now, for this list, I will obviously be talking about the movies that I saw this year, in both theaters and direct-to-video. I was going to do a Best/Worst list of movies for last year, the amount of movies released last year hasn’t justified creating two lists. So, with this one, I will be discussing some of the most noteworthy films that I’ve seen in 2020. Some are going to be good, while some are going to be pretty bad. So, let’s dig in to this thing, shall we?
The Invisible Man
After the colossal disappointment and self-sabotaged Dark Universe that Universal Pictures was touting with The Mummy back in 2017, here we are with an extremely low-budget thriller inspired by the original Invisible Man film from the 30s. Instead of following a man who takes a potion to become invisible and becomes insane by it, the new film follows Elisabeth Moss’s character as she escapes an abusive relationship from her husband. Learning that he apparently committed suicide, she begins to be haunted by some kind of invisible presence that may or may not be her husband. This is an incredibly solid little thriller that more than makes up for the disaster that was The Mummy. Made for a scant $7,000,000 dollars, The Invisible Man surprised a lot of people at the box-office, both critics and audiences alike. The film brought home nearly 150 million bucks world-wide. For a low-budget film that’s an enormous success, and I would argue that The Invisible Man was the most financially successful film of 2020. It’s an awesome little movie that while it doesn’t do anything completely new, what it does bring is really solid thrills. This one comes highly recommended.
Underwater
Here’s another surprise that 2020 gave us. Underwater follows a group of underwater miners/researchers as their deep-sea station is falling apart. While trying to escape the destruction, the remaining crewmembers discover that they aren’t alone at the bottom of the ocean. If the plot sounds familiar, that’s because Underwater is very much like movies such as DeepStar Six, Leviathan, The Abyss, and other undersea creature features. This is a movie that hits the ground running and doesn’t stop. While the film was completed several years ago, it sat on the shelf until January of 2020. I don’t know why, this is actually a pretty solid little action-thriller. Kristen Stewart actually does an outstanding job as the main lead, while being backed up by the likes of Vincent Cassel and T.J. Miller. If you like those underwater monster movies, this one is right up your alley.
Tenet
I’m not even going to try and discuss the plot of this movie. There’s a lot of twists and turns, and the overall story gets kind of convoluted at times, at least until about the half-way point when you start figuring out what’s actually going on. Tenet is an interesting film from an interesting director, Christopher Nolan. While I’m not going to say that Tenet is one of Nolan’s best movies, it is by far his most ambitious to date. It’s essentially his take on a spy thriller. Having watched it a second time, I have to marvel at the technical brilliance that’s on display here. Nolan uses nearly every practical camera-trick in the book to distort reality, while using CGI as little as possible. Some of the stuff that you see here, you wouldn’t believe isn’t CGI. While the film is two and a half hours long, it goes by pretty quickly. It’s a solid ride from beginning to end.
Color Out of Space
I have to give Nicolas Cage credit: He’s nothing if not entertaining. The guy’s been on a bit of a comeback streak over the past couple of years. First, with Mandy and now with Color Out of Space. Cage gives nothing less than 150 percent to any role that takes on. Color Out of Space is based on HP Lovecraft’s short story about a family that encounters a mysterious meteor that drops out of the sky. The meteor has a bizarre effect on the land and animals around the farm, eventually infecting Cage’s character and his family. I’ve been a huge fan of HP Lovecraft-inspired movies, but I’ve only recently started actually reading his work. It’s crazy stuff, dark and twisted. Color Out of Space is one of the most visually distinctive horror films that I’ve ever seen. The cinematography is outstanding and the use of colors is genius, especially towards the end of the film. It gets pretty gory, but you can’t help but keep your eyes glued to the screen.
Jiu Jitsu
…and with that, we go from one of the best movies of the year, to one of the worst of the year. Jiu Jitsu ladies and gentlemen. This movie follows an amnesiac, who happens to be a great fighter, as he escapes a mysterious alien that shows up every 6 years to challenge Earth’s best fighters. The movie is as ridiculous as it sounds. There is so much here that is just plain bad, yet for some reason, I actually had fun watching this movie. Don’t get me wrong, the movie earns the 3 out of 10 rating that I gave it, but having watched it again, it’s just really damned goofy. Nicolas Cage is…well…Nicolas Cage and he makes it worth watching. Some of the action is decent enough, but wow. The visual effects are incredibly awful and the acting, outside of Nicolas Cage, is pretty bad. Still, if you’ve a couple of buddies and some beer, this is one is good for a Mystery Science Theater 3000-style commentary.
Wonder Woman 1984
This one hurts. A lot. This one hurts because there’s a good movie in here somewhere. The problem is that the director/writer Patty Jenkins fell into the trap of throwing too much stuff at the audience. There’s a lot of plot points and loose threads that don’t get tied up. They could’ve easily taken the Cheetah storyline and made THAT a movie or focused specifically on Maxwell Lord. But when you throw so much stuff in there, not a lot of it will stick. It sucks because the first Wonder Woman is a fantastic film. WW84 isn’t without its merits: Gal Gadot has settle wonderfully into her role as Diana/Wonder Woman and her chemistry with Chris Pine is as strong as ever. Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig put in some really good performances. Sadly, the film is let down by all the extra stuff and an unnecessarily long run time. At two and a half hours, WW84 is just too damned long, and there’s not enough Wonder Woman action in the film to justify it.
Antebellum
Antebellum is one of the many movies that were forced to go straight-to-VOD because of the pandemic. It’s a shame, because this is actually a pretty effective little horror film that tackles racism head-on. Yeah, people aren’t a big fan of having their noses rubbed into the subject matter, but it needs to happen, because it’s a real issue. I’m going to spoil the plot here, because there are a number of twists and turns that make for a compelling narrative. While some of the writing is a little off, the overall film hits all the right notes because of the strong performances here. Janelle Monae absolutely nails the dual role of Eden/Veronica. In fact, the first two acts of the film are some of the best I’ve seen in years.
The Debt Collectors
Some of the biggest surprises in movies don’t always hit the big screen, at least not here in the states. Debt Collectors is a sequel to The Debt Collector which came out a couple of years ago starring Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor. It was the fourth or fifth collaboration between Scott Adkins and director Jesse V. Johnson, and it was a decent little romp that had as much action as it did humor. The chemistry between Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor is one for the books. These two play off each other so well, that I think they belong on the list of all-time great on-screen duos. The sequel takes that aspect to a whole new level. It’s bonkers in all the right ways.
Sonic The Hedgehog
I never thought I would say this: Sonic The Hedgehog is literally better than any comic-book movie released this year. Yeah, a video-game movie that’s better than Wonder Woman 1984. Sonic is simply a charming little movie that’s being enjoyed by a lot of people, especially kids. It’s family-friendly, it’s got decent visual effects, and it’s got Jim Carrey. I’m talking vintage Ace Ventura-style Jim Carrey. His over-the-top antics as Doctor Robotnik are hilarious. He steals the show whenever he’s on screen. Don’t get me wrong, the chemistry between Sonic and James Marsden’s character is pretty good, but when Carrey shows up, it’s HIS. Sonic is an inoffensive little film that ended up being a lot of fun.
Well, those were some of the most noteworthy movies to come out of 2020. 2020 is a year that for many was wrought with pain and misery, but there were some bright spots here and there. Some of the movies on this list were pretty good while others weren’t nearly as memorable. Here’s looking forward to 2021 and some of the good stuff that I hope it brings. If everything works out, 2021 is going to be a HUGE year for movies, because everything got delayed. I’m hopeful.