The selection of movies was unexpectedly manageable in 2020. Nevertheless, some of the strips knew how to inspire – or maybe not.
What began the 2020 cinema year promisingly. January was only a little over two weeks old when a hot contender for this year's Oscar started running in the form of the war film "1917". Admittedly: The first flop of 2020 was just two days in coming – the poor new edition of "Charlie's Angels" with Kristen Stewart (30) started on January 2nd. Nevertheless, Hollywood and Co. had a lot to do with us in the past twelve months. But then Corona came.
After only three months and one major exception, we were denied blockbusters. "Bond" slipped into the year 2021 on a not so secret mission, as did the Autoraser from "Fast & Furious", the Jetraser from "Top Gun: Maverick" or the fantasy world of a "Dune", to name just a few. And yet, in its greatly shortened year in cinema, 2020 offered a lot of variety on the screen – in terms of content and quality. Here are the five best and worst films of the year.
These films were inspiring
"1917" January 16
At the beginning of the year, "1917" broke the horror of an incredible global conflict (World War I) down to the smallest possible level. Based on the story of suffering of two faces that are still refreshingly fresh in Hollywood, director Sam Mendes (55) achieved a masterly level. He suggested that individual fates such as those of the fictional soldiers Blake (Charles Chapman, 23) and Schofield (George MacKay, 28), whose war trauma the viewer only witnessed for a ridiculous 119 minutes, really happened millions of times over the years – and this in current wars still do. Only "Parasite" probably stood in the way of "1917" winning the Oscar for "Best Film".
"Bad Boys for Life," January 16
The third part of the "Bad Boys" series, for which the fans of Will Smith (52) and Martin Lawrence (55) had to wait a full 17 years, was the financially most successful Hollywood production of the entire year. The basic tenor of the slapstick action: Good mix of old warriors and new stars, who sometimes exaggerate it badly during a riot (like its predecessors), but are moody.
"Jojo Rabbit", January 23rd
A boy of the Hitler Youth who has the Führer as an imaginary friend, who absolutely wants to be the best Nazi and has to find out that his own mother is hiding a young Jewish woman in the house. That sounded pretty presumptuous at first glance. But Taika Waititis (45) adaptation of "Jojo Rabbit", based on the novel "Caging Skies" by Christine Leunens (55), turned out to be an astonishingly touching comedy in a daring setting. It was rightly recognized with the Oscar for "Best Adapted Screenplay".
"The Gentlemen", February 27th
With "The Gentlemen", fans of Guy Ritchie (52) were offered the weird, angry and hilarious entertainment with which the British filmmaker once started his career. Like "Bube, Dame, König, grAS", "The Gentlemen" may be unnecessarily complicated, but Ritchie somehow gets the curve again at the last moment. The film about self-made drug lord Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey, 51), who wants to withdraw from his illegal business, was worth it just to see Hugh Grant (60) in an unusual, wonderfully played role as an opportunistic disgust.
"Tenet", August 26th
As the only big blockbuster contender, Christopher Nolan's (50) "Tenet" dared to go to the cinemas, which were only half full due to Corona, in August. Although the courage was only rewarded to a limited extent, it was always an important sign. Especially since the film, in addition to a charming bromance between John David Washington (36) and Robert Pattinson (34), also had unprecedented viewing values. Nolan's latest prank on time inversion is one of those films that gives you more the more and the more often you deal with it.
These films disappointed
"Charlie's Angels", January 2nd
Triple female power in a fresh guise, that's what the 2020 new edition of "Charlie's Angels" by Elizabeth Banks (46) was supposed to deliver. Instead, it was largely agreed that the plot was a bit forgotten when the action sequences were constantly strung together. That could have worked if most of the punchlines hadn't also punched huge air holes at the same time.
Birds of Prey, February 6th
First of all: Harley Quinn's (Margot Robbie, 30) solo adventure in the DC universe called "Birds of Prey" was a significant increase in quality compared to "Suicide Squad" – but that wasn't difficult either. With its hyperactive style, the film by Cathy Yan (37) did itself a disservice. What is even more tragic is that the film showed quite a bit of potential. But so the "Birds of Prey" made quite a crash landing.
Call of the Wild, February 20
Harrison Ford (78) proved that even a Harrison Ford (78) cannot save a film with the adventure flick "Call of the Wild" in February. The story of the Klondike gold rush, told from a dog's point of view, is actually supposed to showcase the beauty of nature. In the film by Chris Sanders (58), this, like the four-legged hero of the story, mostly came from the computer. Probably one of the reasons why after "Call of the Wilderness" no cock crows and the film flopped at the box office worldwide.
Guns Akimbo, June 25th
The plot: "Harry Potter", guns are screwed onto the hands and the wimp is sent into a deathmatch. The wacky action flick "Guns Akimbo" with Daniel Radcliffe (31) was one of the first films ever to be shown after the first lockdown in Germany. Jason Lei Howden's work quickly turned out to be a film that the world really hasn't been waiting for. Too garish, too would-be "crank", too obscene-pubescent and all in all simply embarrassing.
"After Truth," September 3rd
The fan fiction to a fan fiction – this is how the "After" series came about. And similar to "Fifty Shades of Gray" and its template "Twilight", the books by Anna Todd (31) also matured into a multi-part film version of the (hot) love between the innocent Tessa Young (Josephine Langford, 23) and the tattoo rebel Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin, 23). But the second part of the series called "After Truth" did not result in more than a half-baked collection of moments of foreign shame.