With the world finally returning to a somewhat normal version of what it was before COVID-19, 2021 has been a year of ups and downs. Following suit in the entertainment industry, there have been many hits and misses that have left audiences both stunned and confused. 

Featuring both Dwayne “The Rock”’ Johnson as well as Ryan Reynolds, Netflix’s “Red Notice” carefully combines the major characteristics of comedies, dramas and action movies. This movie highlights the struggles a team, composed of an infamous art crook and an FBI agent, face as they find themselves on a quest to retrieve Cleopatra’s gold eggs. Up against the greatest art thief in the world, played by Gal Godet, the two navigate the intricacies of their mission alongside their growing friendship. Despite being described by some viewers as one of Netflix’s better movies, it has a rating of only 36% on Rotten Tomatoes as well as many critic reviews noting that “the plot is lazier than the performance” of the actors (Shawn Edwards). All in all, this would be a miss on Netflix’s behalf. 

Another movie released this year that features “The Rock”’ is Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” which incorporates real-life historical concepts and figures alongside the fantastical aspects of the Disney story. Determined to find a mythical tree whose flower petals have healing properties, Dr. Lily Houghton, played by Emily Blunt, hires a skipper of the Amazon River to navigate the mighty terrain in search of her desirables. With one critic describing the movie as “full of Indiana Jones and Sunday comic strips humor, but with Disney DNA,” it makes sense as to why it holds a Tomatometer score of 62% (Fausto Fernandez). With that being said, Disney earned a hit with this adventurous, family-friendly movie. 

While it may be a surprise to some viewers, “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things,” which was released on Feb. 12, 2021, scored a whopping 76% on the Tomatometer scale. This sci-fi drama with a few traditional romcom elements mixed in, focuses on two teenagers who are stuck in a 24 hour loop, meaning they relive the same day over and over again. Despite having such a high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this film is quite slow and lacks wonders in many essential aspects. With one film critic being as harsh as saying that “it attempts to be mind-blowing, but it comes off as someone trying too hard in a high school philosophy class instead,” it can be concluded that this movie falls somewhere in between the two categories of hit or miss (Sean Price).