13 Awesome Performances In Otherwise Disappointing 2021 Movies
Venom doesn't deserve Tom Hardy...
As is stated in a brilliant monologue near the end of Pixar's classic Ratatouille, greatness really can come from the most unlikely of places.
This is certainly shown by how often awesome performances can be found lurking within otherwise terrible movies. Honestly, that happens a lot more often than you might think and there have been many great examples across the last few years.
Such as: Glenn Close and Amy Adams in Hillbilly Elegy, Donald Glover in Solo, Jude Law in Fantastic Beasts 2, Michael Fassbender in Alien: Covenant, Emily Blunt in The Girl on the Train, Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day 2 and quite a few of the actors in Suicide Squad.
And 2021 was no exception. Once again, the year featured many awesome film performances that shone brightly in otherwise disappointing films. Such performances are awesome enough on their own, but when you consider that the odds were really stacked against all of these performers thanks to the inadequacy of the movie's other elements, these acting feats seem that much more impressive.
It's not necessarily recommended that you seek these following thirteen movies out, but you'll definitely be able to get at least one good thing out of them if you do...
13. Dave Bautista - Army Of The Dead
Army of the Dead is one of the very worst films of the year. An overlong, woefully misjudged and atrociously written misfire with one of the most infuriating stories in any recent horror film, this is quite possibly the worst film of director Zack Snyder's career. You'll probably yell at the screen in fury more than once, as its thoroughly idiotic characters keep making stupid decisions and getting each other killed.
The single best thing in the film and therefore its main saving grace is Dave Bautista's lead performance. He's proven himself a charismatic film star on many other occasions, such as in the Guardians of the Galaxy films and in the James Bond flick Spectre and in the lead role of Scott Ward, he once again gave a bad-ass, thoroughly entertaining performance that's so much more charming than anything else in the film.
Better still, this role also pushes Bautista as a performer since he's required to actually do a bit of emotional acting... and believe it or not, he handles these moments very well too, making this a very well-rounded performance and one of his finest to date. It's a just a shame it wasn't in a better movie.