We are back with the next installment of my top 25 favorite movies of the 21st century so far! Check out part one here and read on to see numbers 20 through 16.
20. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
That’s all it is, Miles. A leap of faith.
No genre has defined the 21st century more than superhero movies. From X-Men and Spider-Man to The Dark Knight, The Avengers and beyond, audiences are more familiar with superhero stories than ever before. With so many superheroes out there, it can become hard to stand out and do something new. So it’s remarkable that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was able to do just that and inject a whole new life into this genre.
The MCU had trained audiences to expect live action and a level of realism in their superhero movies. But Into the Spider-Verse used animation to bring the genre back to its roots. A theatrically released animated superhero movie was unique on its own, but the filmmakers went the extra step to make this movie look as much like an actual comic book as they could, utilizing panels, thought bubbles, and comic book-style dot animation. There hadn’t been anything like it before, and it’s still one of the best-looking animated movies I’ve ever seen.
Into the Spider-Verse also stands out by centering its story on Miles Morales, not Peter Parker. By 2018, audiences had seen three different versions of Peter Parker in live action (all with their strengths), so we were familiar with his story. But Miles’s story was new and focused on aspects of Spider-Man that we hadn’t seen before.
Not to say that Peter Parker isn’t in this Spider-Man story. There are actually two. See, Into the Spider-Verse is a multiverse story, really coming in ahead of the game compared to the MCU. And like any good multiverse story, it allows for Miles to meet different Spider-People that act as mirrors, allowing him to learn from their mistakes, to see where their similarities lie, and decide what kind of hero he wants to be.
A major theme in this movie is that anyone can be Spider-Man, anyone can wear the mask. We all have unlimited potential inside of us, and it’s up to us to take a leap of faith and come into our power.
19. Oppenheimer (2023)
Can you hear the music?
Christopher Nolan is one of the defining voices of cinema in the 21st century. He’s become a brand of his own with an astronomical hit percentage over the last 25 years. I could have easily picked any one of his movies for this list – Inception, Interstellar, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Dunkirk, Memento… all bangers.
But Oppenheimer, the three-hour Oscar winning biopic of the man who created the atomic bomb, stands out from Nolan’s incredible filmography.
On the surface, Oppenheimer doesn’t seem like a natural fit for Nolan. It doesn’t feature Batman or some strange manipulation of time. Nolan had directed historical films before, the closest relative to Oppenheimer would be 2017’s Dunkirk. But even then, Nolan still plays with time in this historical drama, folding and stretching timelines throughout the film. Nolan also moves around in time with Oppenheimer, switching between the events leading up to the Trinity test sequence and later aftereffects.
Christopher Nolan movies have always been centered around powerful lead performances, and Cillian Murphy may be the best yet. He gives a truly generational performance as Oppenheimer, bringing him to life and letting us understand his genius, his pride, his ambition, his fears, and his insecurities. Murphy and Nolan don’t deify or villainize Oppenheimer, instead they portray him as a complex, real person. Surrounding Murphy is a sprawling cast of talented actors, including Emily Blunt, Josh Hartnett, Matt Damon, and Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr.
It’s not a Nolan movie without a spectacle, and the centerpiece of Oppenheimer is the Trinity test sequence. The buildup to the big moment is electric, and you can feel both the awe and horror of this creation through the eyes of the scientists and military officers witnessing the event. And Nolan is just as adept at making scenes of men talking in rooms just as compelling as the explosion.
Of course, you can’t talk about Oppenheimer without mentioning its role in the generational-defining Barbenheimer. The two movies ended up raising each other up, creating a true cinematic event. The hype, the jokes, and the memes brought incredible success for both Barbie and Oppenheimer (it also helps that they’re both incredible movies). Oppenheimer took home seven Oscars and cemented Christopher Nolan as one of the biggest directors in Hollywood, proving that even a three-hour biopic about the man who created the atomic bomb can make nearly a billion dollars and go down in history.
18. Paddington 2 (2017)
If we’re kind and polite, the world will be right.
Paddington Bear is one of the most wholesome characters in all of cinema. As a young bear, Paddington travels to England from Darkest Peru and meets the Brown family. Paddington is a story of kindness, friendship, and the belief that we have more in common than we have that divides us. Also I would die for this bear.
In Paddington 2, Paddington finds a rare pop-up book of London that he wants to send to his Aunt Lucy back in Darkest Peru so she can see his new home. When the book is stolen, Paddington is framed and sent to prison. The Brown family tries to find the true thief and Paddington works his magic with his new inmate neighbors.
One of the aspects of the Paddington franchise that makes it stand out is its sincerity. Paddington is a kind-hearted soul that always finds a way to bring out the best in everyone. He acts out of the goodness of his heart, without expecting anything in return. Paddington takes several odd jobs in the movie to help pay for the pop-up book he wants to buy for Aunt Lucy. He’s not very good at any of these jobs, but he keeps trying, doesn’t get angry, and slowly begins to make an impact on his neighbors in Windsor Garden, bringing joy into their lives. There’s no cynicism in Paddington, and while there may be some snark and sarcasm, that’s just the British-ness of the story coming out. There’s real love and care in the making of these movies, and that shines through all of the characters.
The cast of Paddington 2 is a true delight. Ben Wishaw provides the voice of Paddington, infusing him with such warmth and wonder. Sally Hawkins is Mary Brown and is the anchor of compassion throughout the movie, and Hugh Bonneville and Julie Walters (yes, Molly Weasley herself) get to be wonderfully charming and funny.
But the real star of Paddington 2 is Hugh Grant, who plays the villainous Phoenix Buchanan. This may well be his greatest performance to date. He’s clearly having so much fun in this role, getting to be over-the-top and silly while also bring a meaningful menace to Paddington.
The first Paddington movie leans on the fish (or bear)-out-of-water aspects to find humor and drive Paddington’s journey. Paddington 2 takes our beloved bear into much darker territory, allowing his hopeful and pure worldview to really be challenged, to make mistakes and learn new ways to bring out the good in others. He still finds a way to show us that there’s more to others than what’s on the surface, that even a gang of prison inmates can still have hopes and dreams and may not be as bad as they seem.
Throughout the first two Paddington movies, Paddington does his best to be a good friend and neighbor, while inadvertently causing some chaos along the way. The finale of Paddington 2 shows us the meaning of community as the residents of Windsor Garden come together to thank Paddington for all he’s done in the most beautiful way. The last few minutes of this movie are overflowing with hope, love, and joy, never failing to bring me to tears in the happiest way imaginable.
17. The Departed (2006)
I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.
Martin Scorsese’s epic crime drama is basically two games of cat-and-mouse, only there aren’t any mice and instead, it’s just two cats chasing each other with fake mice tied to their tails.
Saying Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest directors of all time still somehow feels like an understatement. He’s brought us some of the most thoughtful, intense and incredible movies of the last 50 years. The Departed is certainly one of his best, popular, and most acclaimed films – and the only one that won him Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars (the man has also directed Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, Killers of the Flower Moon, and many other masterpieces).
The Departed stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon as two double agents in the middle of a war between the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish Mob in Boston. DiCaprio is a cop who goes under cover with mob boss Frank Costello (played by a spectacular Jack Nicholson), while Damon works as Costello’s spy inside the police department. The two weave through a web of deception to discover each other’s identity, feed secrets to their respective sides, and survive.
Pairing DiCaprio and Damon as foils of each other is a stroke of genius. Both actors have so many similarities in their age, looks, and career up to this point that enhance the connection between their two characters. Their entwined story starts them both as overly confident hotheads and then pushes them both to the brink. They slowly lose their grip on the situation, becoming more stressed, anxious and paranoid as they circle each other, desperately searching for the other to save themselves.
The Departed is a bleak movie, but there are two shining lights that make this endlessly enjoyable and unintentionally funny. First is the various Boston (or I guess I should say Bahston) accents. Really great work from everyone, especially anyone who has to say the word “microprocessors.” Secondly, the movie is an incredible representation for the flip phone and how cathartic it could feel to slam one shut after a phone call. If The Departed was made today, it just wouldn’t have the same impact hanging up with smartphones.
And boy, those final 10 minutes are breathtaking.
16. Past Lives (2023)
You make my world so much bigger and I’m wondering if I do the same for you?
Confronting your past can be a scary thing. Thinking about choices you’ve made over the years and considering the alternative paths you could have taken can overwhelm you. Would the person you were five, 10, 20 years ago recognize who you are today? If someone from your past suddenly came back into your life, would that change anything?
These questions lie at the heart of Past Lives, a story of what-ifs, possibilities, and human connection. Our protagonist, Nora, emigrated from South Korea to Canada when she was 12, leaving behind Hae Sung, a boy she had a crush on. The two come in and out of each other’s lives over the next two decades in a dance of maybes and second chances to discover what their relationship really means and the impact they’ve had on each other over the years. In many ways, they’re always those 12-year-olds, but they also grow and mature into complex adults.
For Nora, Hae Sung represents a connection to her Korean past, something she feels she’s lost after moving to Canada and then to New York. He represents home, but he also represents the things she left behind to pursue the life she wanted.
For Hae Sung, Nora is the girl who got away. He’s kept her up on a pedestal for so long, spending decades imagining what their life could have been together. It’s all still possibilities for him, and he hasn’t been able to grow past those dreams.
And then there’s Arthur, Nora’s American husband. When Hae Sung comes back into Nora’s life, Arthur understands the connection they have and what he brings out in her. He represents a life Nora had before they met and a shared culture that he can’t provide. There’s a nagging feeling that Nora is more whole with Hae Sung.
Nora and Hae Sung’s story is simultaneously so personal and universal. We all crave connection, to find someone who can know the true us. Writer and director Celine Song fills her three main characters with such life and warmth, giving them wants and needs, hopes and fears that we can all understand.
Past Lives is stunningly tender and quiet, but there’s an emotional tension that keeps you on the edge of your seat until its final seconds. The dynamics between the three main characters are just as captivating as any action movie. It’s funny, sweet, painful, and real. Past Lives will break your heart and put it back together, all in an hour and 45 minutes.
Five more movies on the list of the 25 best of the century so far. Be on the lookout for the next five coming soon!
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