What better way to farewell 2020 than a spoofy news recap? “Death to 2020” is a seventy-minute, month-by-month recap of actual footage, including talking-heads commentary from experts … except that the voice-overs and interview snippets are played by actors, hamming up like crazy. The star turn is from Hugh Grant, playing a crusty British historian who gets reality confused with Game of Thrones; every one of his appearances raises a chuckle. Samuel L. Jackson also commands attention as an aggressive newsman. Samson Kayo works well as a virus expert. Other mock contributors, even when acted well, are less successful, either unfunny or too relentless or plain silly, but all of them rustle up at least one or two amusing segments. The pace is relentless, and a recap of the year can remind us of forgotten events, but overall, Death to 2020 is an hour of entertainment that winds up as an opportunity missed.
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