After a long year of quarantine and bingeing Netflix, the year is finally coming to an end. So what were Wayne Hills students’ favorite movies?

Black Widow and Shang-Chi seemed to have many people’s hearts. Black Widow explored a much-loved character previously introduced in the Avengers team. “I like Marvel movies, so it was really interesting to see a character[Black Widow] be explored,” said a sophomore named Stella Vasilopoulous. Sophomore Sarah Adawi said that Black Widow was better than most Marvel movies.

One of the newest additions to the Marvel universe, Shang-Chi was definitely an anticipated release. It introduced a totally new character to the MCU. Full of action, beautiful visuals, and a stellar soundtrack, the movie seemed to live up to the anticipation. Sophomore Faith Weisberg said, “I liked the movie-going experience with this movie… I watched it in theatres with my cousin, who made me laugh.” It seemed that Marvel had luck with many of their 2021 movies, capturing the attention of many students at Hills. Spiderman: No Way Home had incredible success, debuting at a whopping $253 million. Erica Cuciti and many others have agreed that their favorite movie was Spiderman: No Way Home. Having only debuted this last weekend it has already taken over many hearts, “I loved it! I haven’t seen many new movies this year but I think it was one of the best. It was an emotional roller coaster like all Marvel movies but it was so good I 100% recommend going to see it.” 

Others said that In the Heights, No Time to Die, and Luca were the best movies of 2021. When asked about her favorite movie, No Time to Die, sophomore Souhaila Elkhezzeni vouched for its excitement factor.“It was an action movie… what’s there to not like? It was entertaining,” she said.

Though many people were unable to watch these movies in theatres, all felt that streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ were even more appreciated during quarantine.

A sad reality many people agreed on was that 2021 had no truly good movies. “I feel that there was no movie from 2021 that was good. I think this year’s movies lacked the ‘true’ movie feeling. Some movies were certainly entertaining though, like Luca and Shang-chi,” said sophomore Noor Rana; junior Kaitlyn Cooper had to agree. Due to the pandemic, the release date of several movies was pushed back, and actors were unable to travel. 

Junior staff writer Lizzy Boulos’ favorite movie is Spiderman: No Way Home because, “It was such a good movie with lots of surprises that kept you on the edge of your seat. It was so nice to sit in a theatre with a large group and everyone is gasping, laughing, and clapping at the same time again.”

Sophomore staff writer Jieun Paik’s favorite movie is also Spiderman: No Way Home. “I really liked the movie-going experience. As a fan of spiderman, I felt like they really explored all venues of his story. And I hope that there are more even movies to enjoy in theatres for 2022.”

As 2021 comes to a close, many students share the hope that 2022 will bring even more movies. And the list of new movies coming out is ever-growing, with many things to look forward to.