Game over
They won! That team! But more importantly, we witnessed one of the most compelling half-time shows for years, the first time that hip-hop (with a little help from R&B) took centre stage at the year’s biggest concert.
The combination of Dr Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Mary J Blige (with a little from 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak) proved to be a winner, taking us all back to the early 2000s with some throwback hits before bringing us back to the almost present thanks to Kendrick. There were also some never-not-needed jabs at the NFL and police brutality thanks to Eminem and Dr Dre.
The ads were curious. A lot of nostalgia cameos, as expected, but also a strange collection of sign-of-the-times ads with electric cars, hi-tech at-home Covid testing and, most controversially, cryptocurrency all getting a showcase.
The commercials can be topped next year, easily, but that show will take some beating.
Updated
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Despite all of the pre-release fun-poking (fans ripped the character design in the trailer so much that Paramount tweaked it for the actual movie), 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog became one of the year’s biggest, and sadly only, hits with $319m worldwide. The inevitable sequel is being rushed out this April and a headache-inducing Super Bowl spot, introducing new villain Knuckles voiced by Idris Elba, does little to explain the appeal to OG game fans who wisely skipped the last film.
