After 2020 there’s nowhere for Hollywood to go but up, right? Surely we can’t go down any lower…I suppose we can stay at the bottom, though. There’s a depressing thought.

No, let’s not. Let’s be positive. Let’s hope and pray that we get all the movies promised to us this year because there are many and many of them look great. Here are just a few of the films I’m most excited about seeing, whether sincerely or ironically, scheduled to release in the second half of 2021.

This is part two in the look-ahead at the movies of 2021. You can see the previous article here, which covered the films coming in the first half of the year…

The Big Movies of 2021: January-June

Or not, because half of those movies have already been bumped to the second half of 2021.

Sigh.

JULY

TOP GUN MAVERICK

WHAT IS IT?

It’s a punchline. It’s the end of a joke about sequels and reboots. It’s the 1980’s macho-explosion with sweaty volleyball, aviator glasses, cheesy dialogue, and an absolutely incredible soundtrack. It’s going to be all of that but thirty-five years later. It’s an excuse for Tom Cruise to continue his dancing on the thin line between “stunt” and “attempted suicide.”

It’s going to be terrible.

HYPE LEVEL: 11/10

Shut up.

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I can’t wait.

SHANG CHI

WHAT IS IT?

It’s Marvel’s next new hero movie. The origins of the character are fascinating, in that he did not spring out of the mind of Stan Lee (as most of the heroes of the MCU did). Instead, back in the 70s Marvel tried to buy the rights to make comics based on the Kung Fu TV show. Warner Bros (owners of DC comics) controlled the rights, however, and didn’t want to sell to their comic rival. So Marvel instead acquired the rights to Dr. Fu Manchu and related characters (from a series of novels by Sax Rohmer). Working from the outside-in, Marvel developed a complex backstory and mythology around the Shang Chi character and even though he never reached the heights of, say, Iron Man or Thor, there is a lot of potential in the new franchise.

HYPE LEVEL: 9/10

Assuming it retains its Kung Fu roots, this can be a lot of fun, mixing MCU-heroism and old school martial arts adventures.

AUGUST

THE SUICIDE SQUAD

WHAT IS IT?

It’s a part-sequel, part-reboot of Suicide Squad, a film so frustratingly bad it managed to win the DCEU an Academy Award…because the only plausible explanation for the universe is that Loki himself is running things. In the director’s chair is James Gunn, of Guardians of the Galaxy fame. During his short hiatus from the MCU, he was hired to make this, and evidentially the work was highly rewarding, with the writer/director calling it the best story he’s ever written. The cast is big, audacious, and colorful. The teasers shown so far show Gunn’s trademark dark sense of humor on full display. All signs point to a winner.

HYPE LEVEL: 8/10

I’m hyped, but I’m also a bit wary. Warner/DC hasn’t had too many hits to build up enough goodwill, and Gunn’s non GOTG movies are hit and miss, in my opinion (if not outright terrible). I want this to succeed but I also can envision a scenario where everyone walks away disappointed. Hopefully not.

SEPTEMBER

DEATH ON THE NILE

WHAT IS IT?

It’s the expected-sequel to the mild hit Murder on the Orient Express, greenlit off the heels of the hugely successful Knives Out. If this movie is a hit somewhere in between those two films, Hollywood will surely greenlight a bunch more of “whodunit” movies in response. That’s alright with me. Death on the Nile is not as famous as Murder on the Orient Express but it’s just as beloved by Agatha Christie fans.

HYPE LEVEL: 9/10

Orient Express was wonderful. Everyone involved in that production is back, the source material is just as great, the cast is excellent. How can this fail to be at least as good?

A QUIET PLACE 2

WHAT IS IT?

It’s the sequel to the unexpectedly “better than a horror movie should be” movie of 2018. The first movie was co-written and directed and starred John Krasinski who, after The Office, has become quite the versatile man in Hollywood. Between this and Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime, he’s broken free of the typecasting.

Of course, he died in A Quiet Place so he’s just co-writing and directing this one, though I expect we’ll get some flashbacks with him in it. The bulk of the story is set after the events of the first and the monsters, who were defeated already, are apparently not going down without a fight.

Most recently it was slated for April of this year, before being bumped (again) to September. Hopefully, it happens this time.

HYPE LEVEL: 9/10

Horror sequels rarely have the same impact as the first but I’m cautiously optimistic. The first one wasn’t just “dumb plot go boo” as it had solid acting and good themes at work. If you have the components of a good movie (story, acting, editing, direction), you can survive being a sequel. I think this one will.

OCTOBER

DUNE

WHAT IS IT?

Well, it’s Dune. It’s one of the biggest, most ambitious, and debatably best-selling science-fiction works ever. Dune is the latest in a long line of “un-adaptable” books, but that was a tag previously applied to such things as Lord of the Rings, Watchmen, and Game of Thrones. Dune was tried in 1984 and it proved to be “too soon.” David Lynch was in charge then, and his ambitions simply couldn’t be achieved with the technology of the day.

The 2020 version is helmed by Denis Villeneuve, who made the incredible Arrival and the beautiful (and criminally underseen) Blade Runner 2049. The Dune series is much bigger than a single story but whether or not this becomes a film franchise to span the 20s will depend on the success of this movie. My heart says yes but my head says no. We’ll see.

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

I know this: Even if the movie is a flop, commercially, Denis Villeneuve will make an excellent film. He’s the exact right person to tackle the project and I can’t wait to see what he does.

NO TIME TO DIE 007

WHAT IS IT?

It’s James Bond!

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

It’s directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who helmed every episode of True Detective’s (stunning) first season. It’s also got Rami Malek playing the villain who may or may not be Dr. No. It’s going to be great. If you like James Bond, it’s going to be great.

This movie has been delayed more times than I can count. Most recently it was slated for April but now it’s set for October. We’ll see.

HALLOWEEN KILLS

WHAT IS IT?

It’s the sequel to the sequel of the original that pretended like all the original sequels never happened. In the previous film, Michael Myers died in the most “this guy is really dead for real” way possible. He was burned alive in a building as sealed-shut as Fort Knox.

Naturally, he’s alive and back for more.

HYPE LEVEL: 8/10

The last one was a great coda and would have been a great end to the franchise. Will this spoil the moment or provide an actual “great end” to the franchise? We’ll see but I don’t have as much enthusiasm for it as I did the previous.

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO

WHAT IS IT?

It’s the next Edgar Wright film. That’s all I need to know.

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

It’s an Edgar Wright HORROR film! Hard not to be hyped. Plus it has Anna Taylor-Joy, who was mesmerizing in The Queen’s Gambit. It was supposed to come out this spring before getting pushed to October. A pattern is emerging.

NOVEMBER

ETERNALS

WHAT IS IT?

It’s Marvel’s next mega-hit film. In canon, they were created to be the original defenders of Earth and their story spans eons. Whether or not this becomes a franchise unto itself or serves as a suitable launching pad for Richard Madden’s Ikaris will depend on how many hundreds of millions the film makes.

HYPE LEVEL: 9/10

The premise doesn’t appeal to me as much as an MCU Fantastic Four movie does, but I never doubt Kevin Feige.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 7

WHAT IS IT?

The latest in the long-running film franchise. There’s no plot synopsis released as of yet, but this isn’t the kind of film series that relies on the audience knowing the story beforehand. All you need to know is there will be scenes of Tom Cruise running, yelling, leaping, running, falling, hanging, running, and nearly dying. The plots are secondary in these movies, and the movies are always excellent (with the exception of part two).

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

It’s hard not to be pumped when a film series has a track record like this. The past three in particular have been some of the best action-spy movies…ever. If this one even comes close to those it’ll be worth the wait.

DECEMBER

SPIDER-MAN (MCU) 3

WHAT IS IT?

It’s the next Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movie. This will be the young actor’s sixth film as the wallcrawler, meaning he will have played the role in more movies than the previous two actors combined. This is also his third starring role as spidey, a feat only matched by Tobey Maguire. Let’s hope this “Spider-Man 3” is better than the last one (there’s no reason to doubt Kevin Feige or Jon Watts). The previous movie left things in an absolute mess for Peter Parker. Would fans of the character have it any other way?

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

The MCU Spider-Man has been one of my favorite characters in the Disney playhouse. I’m excited to see where they take the hero in what will certainly be a big, character-upending story.

BLACK ADAM

WHAT IS IT?

It’s DC’s next big comic book movie, a quasi prequel to Shazam, a vehicle for megastar Dwayne Johnson, and the introduction of a comic book character that’s arguably as layered and versatile as Marvel’s Dr. Doom. Black Adam can be a pure villain, an anti-hero, or a pure hero. He can tussle with Shazam, Superman, Green Lantern, the whole Justice League, or—as in this movie—the old Justice Society. If the movie’s a hit, and if DC is smart, they will start building Black Adam up as a Thanos-type villain, big enough to appear in multiple movies and require a major team-up to take down. Then again…

HYPE LEVEL: 7/10

…DC is not smart, and even with Dwayne Johnson’s star-power, there’s no guarantee of anything. My hype is restrained because Wonder Woman 1984 gets worse after each viewing, and I wouldn’t recommend watching it more than twice. Who knows, maybe Zack Snyder’s Justice League will reinvigorate my interest in the DCEU.

That’s where we are now. That’s what we’re putting our hopes in.

* * * * *

So there’s the second half of 2021. Anyone want to take bets on whether or not they all release on time?

Here’s to seeing movies…somehow, someway, somewhere.

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The Big Movies of 2021: July-December

JULY

TOP GUN MAVERICK

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 11/10

SHANG CHI

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 9/10

AUGUST

THE SUICIDE SQUAD

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 8/10

SEPTEMBER

DEATH ON THE NILE

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 9/10

A QUIET PLACE 2

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 9/10

OCTOBER

DUNE

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

NO TIME TO DIE 007

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

HALLOWEEN KILLS

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 8/10

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

NOVEMBER

ETERNALS

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 9/10

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 7

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

DECEMBER

SPIDER-MAN (MCU) 3

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 10/10

BLACK ADAM

WHAT IS IT?

HYPE LEVEL: 7/10

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