While I'm not going to argue that 2021 was just as messy and soul-crushing as the year previous, there's just as much of a chance to create something funny out of our collective pain. Despite the critical beating it took, Death to 2020 was a real find for me. I laughed consistently and heartily throughout and recommended it to anyone who would listen. We have a different directors and a different lead writer here but they still find some worthwhile jokes and they play with the format enough to differentiate it from the previous one. New characters were created and they brought back enough of the old cast to keep that familiarity. Was it just as memorable? Not really, but I did get more than a few laughs out of 2021.
Some of the cast returns from 2020 and they're all consistent and funny in bunches. Samson Kayo and Hugh Grant got the most laughs out of me, I didn't like Joe Keery or Diane Morgan as much. I'm not sure if it was their performances or the material (more on that later). Cristin Milioti was more disturbing in this one (deservedly so with who she was portraying). I felt bad for Lucy Liu and William Jackson Harper, they're both talented actors but there's just little to nothing there for them. Snook Austin and Zero Fournine just feel like a knockoff characters of Dash Brackett and Bark Multiverse from 2020.
As much as I didn't like Death to 2021 as much as 2020, I don't want to criticize it too heavily. It has the same mockumentary makeup as the original, the cast is game and although the first had funnier material, I wasn't bored or annoyed by this movie. Something just didn't gel, this one felt darker and less jovial than the first entry. I can't blame the filmmakers for that, it certainly seems like the world is getting more cruel and less hopeful with each passing day. So while it doesn't fail the audience, 2021 just isn't as entertaining for whatever reason.
Death to 2021 is fine by itself and if you haven't seen the first, hopefully you'll get your time's worth out of it. But I enjoyed 2020 so much that I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. I'd recommend checking out the original instead but if you're set on a viewing, you could certainly do worse.
Some of the cast returns from 2020 and they're all consistent and funny in bunches. Samson Kayo and Hugh Grant got the most laughs out of me, I didn't like Joe Keery or Diane Morgan as much. I'm not sure if it was their performances or the material (more on that later). Cristin Milioti was more disturbing in this one (deservedly so with who she was portraying). I felt bad for Lucy Liu and William Jackson Harper, they're both talented actors but there's just little to nothing there for them. Snook Austin and Zero Fournine just feel like a knockoff characters of Dash Brackett and Bark Multiverse from 2020.
As much as I didn't like Death to 2021 as much as 2020, I don't want to criticize it too heavily. It has the same mockumentary makeup as the original, the cast is game and although the first had funnier material, I wasn't bored or annoyed by this movie. Something just didn't gel, this one felt darker and less jovial than the first entry. I can't blame the filmmakers for that, it certainly seems like the world is getting more cruel and less hopeful with each passing day. So while it doesn't fail the audience, 2021 just isn't as entertaining for whatever reason.
Death to 2021 is fine by itself and if you haven't seen the first, hopefully you'll get your time's worth out of it. But I enjoyed 2020 so much that I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. I'd recommend checking out the original instead but if you're set on a viewing, you could certainly do worse.