The Hottest Releases From Disney In 2021.. So Far!

Disney have a huge monopoly on the Entertainment industry. Owning some of Hollywood’s biggest brands, studios and more. In recent months, they have also dominated to Home entertainment market, with some of the biggest releases arriving on DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K UHD! Today I am going to give you my snapshot reviews for each of these titles, including Luca, Cruella, Black Widow, Free Guy & Jungle Cruise! My general recommendation is, to pick up all of these because they are all great!

Luca – Disney and Pixar have dominated the animation genre for nearly 30 years. Each of their films goes an extra step, delivering thought provoking and heart-felt emotion that is completely different from any other film in the genre. In 2021, they have done it again with ‘Luca’. It goes without saying that ‘Luca’ is a stunning, animated flick. With beautiful locations, quirky character designs and wonderful, well-realised environments and settings that feel lived in and real. The characters are all charming, with Alberto and Luca’s relationship being one of the bets in a Pixar film in quite some time. I loved the two of them on-screen together, and found their relationship quite charming. The story itself is full of heart and will appease both younger viewers and older viewers as well. I had a blast with Luca, and would give this one a 4/5.

Buy Luca on DVD, Blu-ray & 4K UHD Here

Cruella – Disney is on a bit of a hot-streak with their live-action adaptations of their animated films, with huge successes ‘The Lion King’, ‘Beauty & The Beast’, ‘The Jungle Book’ and ‘Aladdin’ all making over $1 Billion at the worldwide box office. So, naturally, of course Disney are going to keep going with these adaptations, with their release of ‘Cruella’ in 2021. This film is visually stunning, filled with great atmosphere and wonderful costume design. The 1970s setting is utilised beautifully, with the music elevating near every scene here. Both performances from our leading women are terrific with Emma Stone and Emma Thompson proving to be electric on-screen together. The characters are really compelling as well, with both the Baroness (Thompson) and Estella/Cruella (Stone) playing cat and mouse for the last half of the movie. I am giving Cruella a 4.5/5.

Buy Cruella on DVD, Blu-ray & 4K UHD Here

Black Widow – Ever since Marvel was acquired by Disney, the studio has experienced great success with over 25 films in its cinematic universe. Black Widow was one of the founding members of ‘The Avenger’s’ with Scarlett Johansson making her debut as the character back in 2010 in ‘Iron Man 2’. Finally she has her own solo movie with 2021’s ‘Black Widow’, which experienced many delays due to COVID-19. This film is a tense, well-crafted, spy-thriller which pays homage to other films in this genre including ‘The Bourne’ franchise and the Daniel Craig Bond films. Scarlett Johansson is fantastic as the character. We know very little of her past and this film does a great job of exploring pieces here, so we know enough care, but with enough left as a mystery. The action set-pieces are large-scale and very tense and exciting. The last 30 minutes genuinely had me on the edge of my seat, which is something that does not happen regularly with these big block-buster, superhero films. The films villain is dark and quite wicked, bought to life by the immensely talented Ray Winstone, who I thought absolutely nailed the role. ‘Black Widow’ was an absolute blast. I had so much fun with this flick. I am giving ‘Black Widow’ a 4.5/5.

Buy Black Widow on DVD, Blu-ray & 4K UHD Here

Free Guy – Ever since Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2017, the company has left a lot of the films in development out of its release slate. However, the recently re-branded ‘20th Century Studios’ in 2020 has seen the release of interesting and unique films including: ‘The Night House’, ‘Underwater’, ‘The Empty Man’ and 2021s Box office smash hit, ‘Free Guy’ starring Ryan Reynolds. This video game  themed world is unique, fun and refreshing. The film sees Ryan Reynolds as ‘Guy’ a NPC (Non-playable Character), who gains sentience and joins Milly on a quest to stop a corporate giant (played by talented filmmaker Taika Waititi). I had an absolute blast with this film. Reynolds likeable persona, was the perfect choice to lead this film. He is fantastic and has such a blast with the material, showcasing his comedic chops. The films supporting cast is also fantastic, with Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, Jodie Comer and Taika Waititi, along with great cameos from Chris Evans and Channing Tatum that were a lot of fun. I had an absolute blast with ‘Free Guy’ and I think the film should serve as a template, on how to deliver a fun, energetic, video-game themed film. I am giving this one a 4.5/5.

Buy Free Guy on DVD, Blu-ray & 4K UHD Here

The Jungle Cruise – Another one of Disney’s strong suits, is to make a quality film out of an obscure idea, such as adaptation a theme park ride into a feature film. They did this to great success in 2003 with ‘Pirates of The Caribbean: Curse of The Black Pearl’ and the subsequent sequels that followed. The studio is trying their hand again in 2021 with ‘Jungle Cruise’. The film serves as an action, adventure, fantasy adaptation of ‘Disney Lands’ ‘Jungle Cruise’ ride. Starring mega stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Emily Blunt, ‘Jungle Cruise’ is probably the biggest surprise of 2021. I will be honest, I did not love the trailers to this film and found the look of the film to be very generic. Boy was I wrong. This film is full of life, with a great sense of adventure and humour that again, I wasn’t expecting. The films location is a lot of fun, Johnson and Blunt’s chemistry is off the chain. I love the two of them on-screen together and would love to see more adventures with them. The films special effects are also a lot of fun, adding to the sense of fantasy and adventure and elevating the action set-pieces. I also really loved the story. It was sweet, heartfelt and action-packed. It was exactly what I wanted from this type of movie. I had an absolute blast with ‘Jungle Cruise’ and could not recommend it any more than I already have. I am giving this one a 4.5/5.

Buy Jungle Cruise on DVD, Blu-ray & 4K UHD Here

Disney continues to produce the goods and each of these films are fantastic in their own right. I can’t wait to see what the studio has installed for us inn 2022. These great films are now available from Sanity.

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here