Best Movies of 2021: Great Movie Scenes and Moments
Continuing my look back at the best movies of 2021, I am now going to look at some of my favorite movie scenes and moments from the movies of 2021. Whether it was a masterclass scene of acting, an exhilarating action scene, or a moment of pure entertainment, these were all scenes from 2021 movies that I loved. There were a ton of movie scenes that I loved in 2021, but this group of movie scenes and moments are ones that I could rewatch by themselves. Here are some of my favorite movie scenes and moments of the year.
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
You’ve been warned.
THE BANK VAULT – ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
[Scene can be found here.]
The Escape Room franchise is quickly becoming one of the most entertaining franchises in Hollywood today. They’re like a smarter, less-gory version of Saw, featuring intricate puzzles that unsuspecting people have to solve in order to survive. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions elevates the puzzles from the first film and the bank vault scene is easily the best puzzle in the franchise.
The puzzle involves the remaining contestants trying to find the correct path across a checkered bank floor. They try and solve the path by looking at ATMs and lock-boxes, all while trying to avoid stepping on the wrong spot and having a laser cut right through them. It’s as suspenseful as it is fun and one of the most thrilling sequences in any movie in 2021.
THE FINAL DUEL – THE LAST DUEL
[Scene can be found here.]
Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel is Scott’s best film in years and one of his most interesting, as it looks at a horrible event from three different perspectives. As interesting as the narrative is, the whole film is leading up to the final duel between Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) and Scott did not disappoint. It is a brutal, bloody, expertly crafted sequence that had my heart racing. It reminded me of previous Scott action sequences in Gladiator and showed that Scott is still one of the great masters working today. The Last Duel didn’t get nearly the love it deserved when it came out, but I hope that changes with time.
JAIL CELL MASSACE – MALIGNANT
[Scene can be found here.]
James Wan’s Malignant was one of the wildest movies of 2021. It was Wan doing what he does best, while also giving us an insane body-horror movie that has the potential to become a midnight movie classic. The best scene in the movie and arguably the craziest scene in any movie I saw in 2021 was the prison scene. We find our main character Madison (Annabelle Wallis) having just been arrested on suspicion of a number of murders and kidnappings that have occurred over the last week. The scene is being crosscut with us slowly being revealed a dark secret about Madison: facing out on the other side of her head, hidden beneath her long black hair, is her conjoined brother Gabriel, who was born as a half-born child and was operated on to be locked away and hidden inside Madison, even though Gabriel shares the same nervous system as Madison. The reveal shows that Gabriel is the one responsible for all the murders and kidnappings that have taken place. After this revelation, we move back to the prison cell, where Madison is being bullied and taunted by other inmates, provoking Gabriel to take full control of Madison’s body. What comes next is a barrage of blood, violence, chaos, and masterful filmmaking by Wan. I remember seeing this in theaters and audibly saying, “holy shit!” as Gabriel tears through the inmates like nothing. This was a great twist, brilliantly made, and wildly fun moment from arguably the greatest horror director working today.
“I WAS MADE FOR IT” – NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Bradley Cooper is an actor I love and one who is bound for Oscar glory soon (it could come this year). But the final shot of Guillermo del Toro’s twisted noir Nightmare Alley might be the best acting of his career. This scene shows a once prosperous and respected man at the absolute lowest of the low in his life, and del Toro ends the movie on that shot, showing the price of greed and ego in man. In a single close-up on Cooper’s face, you see a cluster of emotions. You see a desperate man who’s crushed that his life has gotten to this point, but also a man so dazed by alcohol that he can barely speak. Cooper’s Stanton Carlisle does utter five final words, five of the saddest words a character has ever ended a movie with. After being offered a job as a circus “geek”, a person who is beaten, drugged, and trained by the circus to become a freak who eats live chickens, Carlisle slowly takes a shot of whiskey, smiles, and says, “I was made for it” as tears well up in his eyes. It’s a callback to a conversation earlier in the film and a soul-crushing ending of hopelessness. It’s an extraordinary piece of acting by Cooper, who apparently did the shot in one take, and one of the darkest ending del Toro has ever given us.
SO LONG, MR. BOND – NO TIME TO DIE
[Scene can be found here.]
There were a lot of thrilling moments in the latest entry of the James Bond franchise, but it was the quieter finale that made the biggest impact. After saving the world from a nuclear disaster, Bond (Daniel Craig) tries to flee the island he is on before it blows up. But Bond soon realizes that there is no hope and he won’t be able to get off the island, ultimately sacrificing his life to save the world. Craig does some of the best acting of his career in this deeply moving scene as Bond says his goodbyes to the MI6 agency, the love of his life, and his child.
The Craig-led Bond movies were different than other James Bond films. They were grittier, more violent, faster, and didn’t feel like just a series of spy movies, but rather a full story across all five movies, giving Bond an emotional and character arc that we had never seen before. It was a fitting end to Daniel Craig as James Bond and this section of the franchise. Craig will go down as one of the greats to ever wear the title of 007.
DAY 1 – A QUIET PLACE PART II
[Scene can be found here.]
The opening scene of John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II is an astonishing directorial effort by Krasinski. The scene shows when the creatures who now lurk on the Earth first arrived, a tense and terrifying scene that shows a seemingly quiet small-town go into complete chaos in a matter of moments.
What struck me most about this scene was seeing the maturity of Krasinski as a director. There was an assuredness to every shot and camera move in this scene and it reminded me of the raptor kitchen scene in Jurassic Park. Krasinski builds the suspense by using long takes, tracking shots, and shadows, but also knows exactly when to drop a scare in there. A Quiet Place Part II is only Krasinski’s third directorial feature, yet it shows that he has what it takes as a director and I cannot wait to see what he does next behind the camera.
SPIDER-MEN – SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Sorry for the image quality
I mean, obviously. Though there were leaks and tons of rumors that this was going to happen and it leaned hard on the side of fan service, none of that took away from how cool it was seeing all three live-action Spider-Men on screen together. When Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) came through a Dr. Strange portal created by Ned (Jacob Batalon) and met Peter Parker (Tom Holland) it was a sweet and fun moment. But watching them fight their biggest enemies alongside one another was a real treat and the main reason Spider-Man: No Way Home has been as big as it is.
OPENING – WEST SIDE STORY
Remakes are a common occurrence now in the movie world. Every year we get numerous remakes and most of them come and go without making a sound. But even before Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story came out, there was a ton of buzz around it. The 1961 West Side Story is a cinematic classic. It has been named as one of the greatest American films ever made and swept the 1962 Oscars, winning ten total awards including Best Picture. So the idea of a classic getting a remake was one thing, having it be made by one of the greatest directors to ever get behind the camera, yet one who had never directed a musical was intriguing and exciting.
When the sound of the opening whistle and snap of the Jets began, a smile arose on my face, as those two musical beats have become iconic. But as more and more Jets show up and Spielberg’s camera cranes out to give us the bigger view of the world, a chill ran down my spine. Spielberg immediately sets the look, style, vibe, and attitude of his vision of West Side Story all within the opening scene. You are getting a similar experience, but you feel and see its differences. This opening set the tone for one of the best remakes in the last ten years.
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