27.

Raya and the Last Dragon
(2021)

PG
|
107 min
|

Animation, Action, Adventure

In a realm known as Kumandra, a re-imagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization, a warrior named Raya is determined to find the last dragon.

Directors:
Don Hall,
Carlos López Estrada,
Paul Briggs,
John Ripa
|
Stars:
Kelly Marie Tran,
Awkwafina,
Gemma Chan,
Izaac Wang

Votes:
127,088

Every month, Netflix makes significant changes. Several movies leave the service, while the streaming giant adds several others to its library.

The good news is that Netflix is always adding original movies to its service, meaning they are building a library that will never leave.

However, at the same time, they are also adding classics and newer releases for at least a limited time that fans can enjoy watching anything they want.

Here at Monsters Critics, we will keep track of the latest movies added to Netflix, both originals and the best older movies, and let you know our picks for what you should find to watch each month.

Updated in January 2022: These movies were all added to Netflix in the past four months and will be updated monthly, with the best new titles to watch. This list is for those films released in September 2021 through December 2021.

Don’t Look Up (December 24)

Released in 2021, Adam McKay directed the dark comedy Don’t Look Up. The movie was almost out of place in 2021 because it was often hard to laugh at situations that are all too real.

The movie starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as two scientists who learn that a comet is racing toward Earth that could destroy all life on the planet.

The problem is that the politicians don’t care and ignore the threat while the world decides they are more interested in celebrity pregnancies and refuse to believe the scientists until it is too late.

The movie is a Netflix original and appears to be a front-runner for awards season.

The Power of the Dog (December 1)

A Netflix original movie hit in 2021 that has a chance to win a lot of awards when the Oscars comes around. This movie is a western drama called The Power of the Dog.

Directed by Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog tells the story of two brothers who meet a young woman who is raising her son alone. The brothers are Benedict Cumberbatch’s older, cruel Phil and Jesse Plemons younger, kind-hearted George.

While Phil tries to break down Rose (Kirsten Dunst), George really cares about her. This all leads to Rose’s son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) coming into the picture to do what he can to save his mother.

Tick Tick… Boom! (November 19)

Lin-Manuel Miranda made his directorial debut with the Netflix original movie Tick Tick… Boom!

The movie was based on the Broadway musical of the same name, an autobiographical stage place by Jonathan Larson. Larson was the man who created Rent, although he died before he could enjoy the praise that received.

Andrew Garfield is Larson, a man who realizes that time is slipping away and he seems to be growing further from his dreams, until the day he stops waiting and sets out to make them come true.

Minority Report (November 1)

Philip K. Dick wrote some of the most groundbreaking science fiction novels in history. He often approached issues of morality and the use of technology to break those moral codes.

Several of his stories became movies, including one that Spielberg directed — Minority Report.

The film starred Tom Cruise as a police officer in a dystopian future where technology working with a pair of precogs predicted crimes before they happened.

While the police had no problem arresting people before they ever committed a crime, when the machine claimed Cruise’s police officer was going to commit a murder, he went on the run to try to prove that he could stop the crime from happening.

Dracula (November 1)

Francis Ford Coppola created his own movie in the world of the classic Universal Monster Dracula. This was Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with Gary Oldman playing the role of the vampire.

While the cast was questionable in some areas, especially with a miscast Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, the movie was a huge success.

Dracula brought a gothic atmosphere to the story and focused more on that than the actual horror. It ended up winning three Oscars, including one for Makeup and one for Costume Design.

As Good as It Gets (October 1)

Jack Nicholson starred in the James L. Brooks romantic comedy As Good As It Gets in 1997.

This was a rare comedy for Nicholson, but it was a dry and smart comedy with Nicholson, who starred as an obsessive-compulsive novelist.

He is also misanthropic and homophobic and has to deal with the single mother (Helen Hunt) of a chronically ill son, and a gay artist (Greg Kinnear).

Nicholson and Hunt both won acting Oscars for the movie.

Gladiator (October 1)

Ridley Scott directed one of his most successful movies in 2000 with Gladiator.

The movie took place in 180 AD when a Roman war general named Maximus stood loyally by his king. However, when the king died, betrayed by his son, Maximus was reduced to slavery and eventually the role of a gladiator.

Russell Crowe starred as Maximus and eventually led all the slaves and gladiators to freedom when he challenged the new king, while also avenging the murder of his own family.

Gladiator won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell Crowe. It was also a box office success, making $457 million, the second-highest movie of the year.

Titanic (October 1)

For many years, the most successful movie in history was Titanic.

James Cameron directed the movie about the sinking of the Titanic and shattered box office records. With Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the lead roles, the movie went on to make $1.84 billion – the first movie to ever surpass a billion dollars.

When Avatar broke those records, paramount re-released the movie and pushed it to over $2.195 billion.

It also picked up 14 Oscar nominations, at the time a tie for the most ever, and won 11 of them, also a tie for the most ever.

Zodiac (October 1)

David Fincher directed the movie Zodiac in 2007. The movie followed the case of the Zodiac Killer, which never provided a killer convicted for the cold case murders.

In his movie, Fincher suggested who the killer might have been, but the movie is best known for its incredible cast, including Robert Downey Jr and Jake Gyllenhaal as the journalists covering the case and Mark Ruffalo as the detective on the case.

The movie was a minor success but remains one of Fincher’s masterpieces.

Jaws (September 1)

One of the best horror movies of all time arrived on Netflix in September 2021.

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is the movie that popularized the idea of summer Blockbusters and launched Spielberg’s massively successful directing career.

The movie was about a summer beach vacation town that refused to shut down the beaches despite a shark attack. This led to more deaths and three men were sent out to try to bring down the giant Great White Shark.

This movie resulted in business in beach towns dropping for years.

Labyrinth (September 1)

Jim Henson directed the fantasy movie Labyrinth in 1986 and it has remained a beloved cult classic since that time.

The movie stars Jennifer Connelly as a teenage girl who is stuck babysitting her baby brother. When she wishes the Goblin King would take the baby out of her life, he does.

The girl then sets out in a labyrinth full of dangerous goblins to try to save her brother from David Bowie’s brilliant Goblin King.

Do the Right Thing (September 1)

In 1989, Spike Lee created his masterpiece in Do the Right Thing.

The movie had a day in the life of a Bed Stuy neighborhood when the intense heat and racial tensions reached a peak. It resulted in a huge riot in the streets that concluded with the police showed up and choked one black man to death.

The movie picked up Oscar nominations was added to the Library of Congress in its first year of eligibility, and picked up a pristine Criterion release.

It hit Netflix in September 2021, allowing people to rediscover this masterwork.

Blade Runner (September 1)

The movie considered the seminal science fiction movie and one of the greatest in film history hit Netflix in September 2021.

Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is on the streaming giant, and it is the Final Cut, adding in what Scott created but the studio edited out in the original release.

Harrison Ford is Deckard, a Blade Runner whose job is to hunt down replicants – androids created to serve humanity. The replicants he is sent to take out are ones that have developed an advanced level of being and consider themselves living beings.

The one he hunts down in this movie is Roy Batty, played by Rutger Hauer, and the entire movie is the template for what smart sci-fi should look like.

Shawn S. Lealos

Shawn S. Lealos has been a freelance writer for 25 years, starting…read more

The Last Full Measure

Samuel L. Jackson, Alison Sudol, Sebastian Stan, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Bradley Whitford, Jeremy Irvine, Linus Roache, Michael Imperioli, Peter Fonda, Amy Madigan, Diane Ladd, John Savage

31 Jan 2020 | 1 hr 56 mins

Trailer
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Small Engine Repair

dvd Release Date: 12/21/2021
Overall Rating: 2.0 out of 4 stars
Theatrical Release Date: 09/10/2021
Language: English
Genre: Comedy/Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: John Pollono
Actors: Jon Bernthal, Jordana Spiro, Shea Whigham, Ciara Bravo, Spencer House, Josh Helman
Plot: Frank, Swaino and Packie are a trio of life-long working-class friends who enjoy cold beer, good company and, most importantly, a good life for Frank’s daughter, Crystal, who has a real shot of making a life for herself. One whisky-fueled night, Frank invites over a young man, Chad Walker, but things take a dark turn when Frank reveals his true intentions and things quickly spiral out of control.

It’s time to look back at 2021 and look at what movies dominated the Netflix top 10 charts throughout the year. Below, we’ll walk you through the movies that did the best on Netflix across the globe picking up the most points in the top 10s.

Data is sourced from FlixPatrol who collects top 10 data from around the world and then compiles the numbers to create top lists. If a movie is number 1 on a Netflix top 10 it’s assigned 10 points.

Now this data, while useful, isn’t perfect. For example, FlixPatrol is always adding new regions which adds lots of new points into the pool. Top 10s also don’t give us an overall idea of volume for any given day or month. For example, The Unforgiveable picked up more hours of streaming in its first 28 days but didn’t stay in the top 10s as long as Army of the Dead.

Plus, measuring top 10s globally often gives advantages to Netflix Original movies because they’re available globally and licensed movies may only go to a handful of regions and therefore, not register.

Netflix themselves have started releasing hourly data but alas, that doesn’t give us a full year’s worth so we couldn’t give an accurate picture of that below.

We’ve also compiled a list of the most popular Spanish shows of 2021 and Korean shows with more lists on the way.

With that preamble out of the way, let’s dive into the most popular movies on Netflix globally in 2021.

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Top 5 Netflix Movies in 2021 According to the Top 10s

Note: Data correct as of December 29th.

1. Red Notice

Number of points: 25,588

With the cast headlined by Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot, it should be no surprise that Red Notice pulled in the numbers for Netflix. Not only has it surpassed Bird Box in having the most hours viewed on Netflix (364 million in first 28 days vs 282 million) it also performed well in the Netflix top 10s with it still picking up points over 46 days after its initial release.

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2. We Can Be Heroes

Number of points: 25,311

Releasing in late 2020, We Can Be Heroes was incredibly sticky in the top 10s particularly in the early stages of 2021. The kids movie has now featured in the movie top 10s for over 214 days in respective countries top 10s.

As we’ve seen with titles like CoComelon, a good kids title can be rewatched over and over again and that was very much the case for We Can Be Heroes.

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3. Army of the Dead

Number of points: 18,888

One of two Zack Snyder movies released by Netflix in 2021 both existing in the new zombie universe which kicked off in July with the Blockbuster, Army of the Dead.

The movie now ranks tenth in Netflix’s most popular films within the first 28 days picking up 186.54 million hours viewed.

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4. Wish Dragon

Number of points: 16,953

One of three Sony animation pickups Netflix made in 2021 was Wish Dragon, the delightful animated title directed by Chris Appelhans. The movie lingered in the top 10s for almost 100 days around the world hence managing to beat out The Mitchells vs. The Machines and Vivo.

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5. Army of Thieves

Number of points: 15,081

The second Zack Snyder-produced movie of 2021 managed to get up to position 5 after its debut towards the end of October. What’s interesting is that Army of Thieves scored on average 290 points per day while in the top 10s compared to Army of the Dead’s 205 suggesting that there was a big audience towards the beginning of the movie’s life on the service.

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Full Top 50 Movies in the Netflix Top 10s for 2021

1. Red Notice (25588 points)
2. We Can Be Heroes (25311 points)
3. Army of the Dead (18888 points)
4. Wish Dragon (16953 points)
5. Army of Thieves (15081 points)
6. The Mitchells vs. The Machines (14902 points)
7. Fatherhood (14660 points)
8. The Guilty (12930 points)
9. Yes Day (12809 points)
10. The Unforgivable (12635 points)
11. Love Hard (11782 points)
12. Outside the Wire (11661 points)
13. Love and Monsters (11582 points)
14. Kate (11224 points)
15. Vivo (11037 points)
16. Minions (10972 points)
17. He’s All That (10222 points)
18. Sweet Girl (10051 points)
19. Back to the Outback (9931 points)
20. Blood Red Sky (9757 points)
21. Major Grom: Plague Doctor (9642 points)
22. My Little Pony: A New Generation (9615 points)
23. The Forgotten Battle (9321 points)
24. The Kissing Booth 3 (9219 points)
25. To All the Boys: Always and Forever (9058 points)
26. Thunder Force (8842 points)
27. Fast Furious Presents: Hobbs Shaw (8637 points)
28. I Care a Lot (8610 points)
29. The Woman in the Window (8547 points)
30. 365 Days (8488 points)
31. The Harder They Fall (8433 points)
32. Afterlife of the Party (8172 points)
33. The Secret Life of Pets 2 (8161 points)
34. The Last Mercenary (8132 points)
35. A Boy Called Christmas (8045 points)
36. Finding ‘Ohana (7939 points)
37. Night Teeth (7824 points)
38. Fifty Shades of Grey (7760 points)
39. Resort to Love (7711 points)
40. News of the World (7600 points)
41. Gemini Man (7472 points)
42. Things Heard Seen (7396 points)
43. Awake (7217 points)
44. Venom (6928 points)
45. Deadly Illusions (6900 points)
46. Below Zero (6828 points)
47. The White Tiger (6755 points)
48. SAS: Red Notice (6709 points)
49. Fear Street: 1994 (6653 points)
50. Spider-Man: Homecoming (6465 points)

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Top 10 Most Watched Netflix Movies in the first 28 days

How many Netflix movies released in 2021 have made it into the top 10 hourly viewed list? Three.

Red Notice takes first place with The Unforgiveable and Army of the Dead also managing to take places 9 and 10 respectively.

1. Red Notice – 364,020,000 hours
2. Bird Box – 282,020,000 hours
3. Extraction – 231,340,000 hours
4. The Irishman – 214,570,000 hours
5. The Kissing Booth 2 – 209,250,000 hours
6. 6 Underground – 205,470,000 hours
7. Spenser Confidential – 197,320,000 hours
8. Enola Holmes – 189,900,000 hours
9. The Unforgivable – 186,900,000 hours
10. Army of the Dead – 186,540,000 hours

What were your favorite Netflix movies of 2021? Let us know in the comments.