Summer movie review — an industry in limbo

After the non-existent summer movie season of 2020, it seemed like any assortment of blockbusters in summer 2021 would be a welcome sight to the COVID-ravaged cinema landscape.

As it turned out, this summer felt even stranger than last year. Some big titles opened exclusively in theaters (“F9: The Fast Saga,” “Free Guy,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), others exclusively on streaming (Pixar’s “Luca,” Amazon’s “The Tomorrow War”) and a few in theaters and at home at the same time. In that third category, some streamed for free as part of a monthly subscription plan (HBO Max’s “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” “The Suicide Squad”) while others cost an additional fee (Disney Plus’ “Cruella,” “Black Widow” and “Jungle Cruise”).

Phew. It was honestly hard to keep track of everything, and the emergence of the Delta variant hindered the ability to gauge whether any of the hybrid release strategies would be viable in non-COVID times.

Disney especially continues to tinker with its release strategy, offering hybrid releases one week (“Jungle Cruise”) followed by a theater-exclusive the next (“Free Guy”). In those two examples, both films seemed to be successful on their own, with the studio already announcing sequels to both. Another major hybrid release for Disney, the Emma Stone-led origin tale “Cruella,” also apparently earned enough to result in a sequel commitment.

But theater owners and Scarlett Johansson really don’t like the hybrid model, with the argument being that making something readily available at home cripples box office and encourages piracy. Johansson made waves by suing Disney over the muted grosses for Marvel’s “Black Widow,” even though, by comparison, its domestic box office performance largely matched that of a theater-exclusive “success story” like “F9: The Fast Saga,” which made its way to premium video-on-demand just 31 days after its theatrical release.

Regardless of their complaints, it’s obviously better for audiences to have more choices in how to view content, especially during a period when some aren’t comfortable sitting in an enclosed theater with a deadly virus spreading around. And in-part because kids under 12 are still not eligible for vaccination, the major studios either delayed their big family titles (“Minions: The Rise of Gru”) or made them available at home in some way (hybrid releases like “Space Jam,” “Boss Baby: Back in Business” and “Paw Patrol: The Movie” or home-exclusive titles like “Luca” and Netflix’s acquisition of “Vivo”). That strategy won’t change soon, as Paramount already canceled the September release of “Clifford the Big Red Dog” and Sony looks poised to sell its “Hotel Transylvania” to Amazon.

Recent box office success for “Free Guy” and “Shang-Chi” likely signal a more normal fall season of theater-first releases otherwise, though expect those big titles to hit home video sooner than ever before. Disney’s titles will arrive in some form on Disney Plus after just 45 days. Universal’s slate of movies have been arriving on premium video-on-demand within just 17-31 days. Warner Bros. titles will continue to be day-and-date on HBO Max through December, though the studio announced a 45-day theater exclusive window for their slate of 2022 films.

Paramount will opt for a 45-day window as well before movies filter over to its Paramount Plus streaming platform (their “A Quiet Place: Part II” followed that model after a successful box office run in May). However, the studio recently delayed its two biggest fall titles, “Jackass Forever” and the already super-delayed “Top Gun: Maverick” into 2022 because of COVID concerns.

No doubt “Shang-Chi” had a terrific opening weekend, but if its second-weekend gross collapses like “Black Widow” did, a few other big titles might change course (most notably, Disney’s other Marvel release, “The Eternals”). For what it’s worth, titles like the long-delayed James Bond entry “No Time to Die” and the “Venom” and “Spider-Man” sequels still seem poised for theatrical release, but everything remains fluid.

Oddly, even as I personally felt excited for the return of blockbusters, the 2021 summer slate ended up being as creatively-stagnant as many pre-COVID summers. “F9: The Fast Saga” was the most bloated and tedious entry in the entire franchise, and “A Quiet Place: Part II” did little to justify its existence beyond repeating beats from the first movie. “Black Widow” started strong as a thoughtful character study before losing itself in Marvel third-act explosive nonsense, and “Jungle Cruise” played like a pleasant-if-forgettable “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel. I just watched “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” and I don’t remember what it was about, and the less we say about “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” the better.

Even the blockbusters I liked weren’t exactly novel creations. I guess I appreciate “The Suicide Squad” for not being nearly as bad as its predecessor, and, while admire “Cruella” for a lot of things, I’m still unsure if we actually needed a “101 Dalmatians” prequel in the first place.

That being said, this summer proved the value of the theatrical experience for me, albeit in an indirect way. My three favorite titles of the season — the Nicolas Cage oddity, “Pig,” the medieval head-trip, “The Green Knight,” and the joyous musical, “In the Heights” — captivated me while I watched them from my own couch. But in all three instances, I wished I had seen them in theaters, with “The Green Knight” and “In the Heights” especially begging for the biggest screen available.

Unfortunately, the movie industry limbo will likely continue for at least a few more months. Local surges of the virus will make any reasonable person at least think twice about sitting in a crowded theater.

By the time the pandemic ends, what will the theater vs. streaming landscape even look like? Netflix alone appears intent on making what seems like 100 movies every year all by themselves. Can hybrid models exist without piracy concerns eating away millions of dollars of profit? Industry juggernauts like Disney may not be finished experimenting, especially as they continue to commit themselves to the growth of their streaming service.

Whatever happens, be prepared to continue being confused about where and when to watch the newest movies.

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Tyler Wilson has been writing about pop culture for Inland Northwest publications since 2000, including a regular column in The Press since 2006. He can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.