Which 2022 Movies Are Worth Checking Out?
Roughly two years ago, I wrote the last top 10 most anticipated movies of the
year list I would ever write for this blog, but I didn’t know it would be my
last list of that kind when I wrote it. Something else I didn’t know as I was writing that list was a man in Wuhan,
China had contracted a virus, and that same virus would spread around the
entire world only a few months later and change everyone’s plans for 2020 and
beyond, including Hollywood’s. Nearly every single movie we thought we would
get that year became delayed because of the pandemic, and even now we are still
waiting for movies to come out that were advertised with much earlier initial
release dates.
Here’s the thing, though: 2020 was obviously not a great
year for new movies, but 2021 had a lot more to offer than I had expected when
the year started. In fact, I saw a number of new movies in the movie theater in
the second half of the year, and while some of them were enjoyable, not many
were significantly memorable, but hey, it was just nice to have theaters open
again, and there would be even more to look forward to in 2022. Or so I
thought…
This year had many new movies and way fewer delays, but it actually
turned out to be worse than 2021 for good
new movies. As I combed through 2022 releases, I discovered I actually forgot about multiple movies I saw,
which was my first sign that writing anything about the new movies of this year
wasn’t going to be easy.
So, what I’ve decided to do is go through everything I saw that
came out this year, then specify the ones that I think are worth checking out.
Jackass Forever
I thought Jackass 3D
would end up being the last time those idiots would get together to make a
movie about dumb stunts and pranks and gags, but even in their old age Johnny
Knoxville and company proved they still had some brain cells left to kill.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find it nearly as funny as Jackass 3D, and that may have something to do with being a more
mature adult now—except, it doesn’t. I still laugh myself into pain watching
the first three Jackass movies, but Forever just didn’t have the same kinds
of simple-yet-brilliant stunts and pranks taken way too far. The new younger
additions to the cast felt like they were trying too hard, the pacing of the
segments wasn’t as good as the previous movies, and in the end it just didn’t
make me laugh all that hard.
The Batman
I liked the new take on the caped crusader, and I think of
all the actors who have played the role, Robert Pattinson did the best job
balancing Bruce Wayne and Batman. I think Keaton made a great Batman but not as
good of a Bruce Wayne, I think Bale was a great Bruce Wayne but not as good of
a Batman, and I didn’t really mind Affleck as Bruce Wayne or Batman, but the
movies he found himself in were not a good showcase for him. I think the movie
Pattinson found himself in was really well realized and certainly didn’t
compromise its vision of Gotham City or the villains occupying it, but I also
found the movie to be too much.
The Batman is grim
and dark, the mystery is what drives Batman, and the characters are all
well-written and played by great actors, but it’s overly dark, the mystery is
too drawn out and not all that compelling, and there are too many characters. I
didn’t really enjoy Zoe Kravitz’ take on Cat Woman, and I thought including The
Joker at the end was pointless. I found it hard not to compare it to The Dark Knight because this vision of
Batman/Gotham adhered closer to Christopher Nolan’s than any other previous
adaptations, and despite Dark Knight
only running about twenty minutes shorter than The Batman, I would watch it ten times over again instead of watch The Batman again. The Batman was too long, too drawn out, and too inconsequential for
it to really resonate with me. I would still watch a sequel with this same cast
and crew in front of and behind the camera again, but I don’t feel the need to
revisit this one anytime soon, even though I did enjoy many aspects of it.
X
I really don’t have that much to say about this one. X was a middle-of-the-road A24 horror
movie, for me. I found it way too derivative of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to really enjoy it as its own thing. I
recognize the craft that went into making it, but the writing was too bland for
me to really care as I was watching it, and the lack of creative horror moments
left me uninterested in seeing the prequel or upcoming sequel.
Everything Everywhere
All at Once
This is the best movie I saw in 2022. Hands down. I knew the
minute it ended that it would take something seriously special to top this
movie-going experience this year. It felt like something truly original and
told a story I never could have imagined I needed to experienced but I am so
glad that I did. In terms of balancing creative use of special effects with
effective cinematography and camera work, endearing characters, bizarre humour,
clever writing, and unconventional cinematic elements, Everything Everywhere All at Once was the most fun I had at the
movies all year, and was the movie I continued to think about the longest after
I walked out of the theater. I haven’t watched it again as of writing this and
I desperately need to.
Worth checking out!
RRR
If you like foreign films, check it out.
The Northman
Robert Eggers’ third film kind of disappointed me, even
though I enjoyed it and found it was as skillfully made as his first two. The Northman just felt so authentic that
it was almost like watching something from the History Channel—actually, I take
that back, History Channel sucks and The
Northman was actually well made, it doesn’t deserve to even be associated
with History Channel. I just mean that it was so harsh and real sometimes that
it became a bit difficult to watch, but difficult because I didn’t find myself
that invested in the characters or story due to those elements not being
prioritized by the filmmaker. It felt very well crafted in terms of shot
composition, production value, and acting, but it’s described as “a Viking
revenge tale" and that’s all it is. That’s what you get, nothing more,
nothing less. It had some epic moments for sure, but overall, I can’t picture
myself watching it again and again in the same way I would with The Witch or The Lighthouse.
Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madness
This was one of those movies I forgot I saw…I had some hope
for this MCU Phase 4 film because of director Sam Raimi, and they kind of let
him bring his unique flair to it, but it wasn’t enough to save it. The title
character gets sidelined, which is frustrating, Scarlet Witch turns into a
villain, which I didn’t enjoy (also the fact that you had to see WandaVision before this in order to
understand it didn’t work the way I think they were hoping it would), and the
new characters were uninteresting (minus Bruce Campbell as hotdog man). It
ended in a way that felt like nothing that had just happened really mattered
all that much because everyone is so powerful they’ll just come back for the
next one, and the ending setting up yet another adventure with a new sorcerer did
not spark joy.
Top Gun: Maverick
I think everyone was surprised that the new Top Gun sequel—a sequel that very few
people asked for and felt like it came way, way too late—turned out to be one
of the best action movies since Mad Max:
Fury Road, and ended up that way because of one simple factor: excellent
real stunts without too much CGI! I saw the original Top Gun once and didn’t find it all that remarkable, and I wouldn’t
say Maverick is a mind-blowing
experience by any means, but if you’re looking for solid action scenes with
jets and characters that are more than tolerable, then it will more than
satisfy. I didn’t care about it before I heard the positive word of mouth, and
I ended up really enjoying seeing it on the big screen.
Worth checking out if you can see it on the biggest screen
possible in surround sound.
Jurassic World
Dominion
I wrote a whole Brachiosaurus-sized
review for this monstrosity of a sequel back when it came out in June, and my
opinion hasn’t changed, so I’ll link it below. I haven’t seen the extended cut
yet, but I probably will some day when I forget about how much the theatrical
version sucked. Short summary: I absolutely do not recommend checking out Jurassic World Dominion.
Review: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2022/06/jurassic-world-dominion-review.html
Elvis
I had been intrigued when I had heard about the casting
choice for The King of Rock and Roll, the relatively unknown Austin Butler, and
the director who would be helming the project, the extravagant Baz Luhrmann. I
found Elvis to be a somewhat
unwieldly music biopic in the first act, jumping around too much and rushing through
his early life, but then it hit its stride, and by the end I was fully
invested. Luhrmann did a good job directing, but it’s Butler’s performance as
Elvis Presley that makes it worth seeing. The music, too, is extremely well
done, and the movie concludes in a powerful way. I didn’t find Elvis to be a particularly fantastic
movie all the way through, but when it’s good, it’s really good, and of all the
recent music biopics of its kind in the past few years, I think it’s my
favourite one so far.
Worth checking out!
Thor: Love and Thunder
Nope
Prey
This is another movie I reviewed back when it came out, so I
won’t say as much on the latest entry in the Predator franchise, but this back-to-basics-prequel had a lot more
genuinely entertaining scenes and well-crafted moments than the previous Predator movie…and yet, despite what I
said in my review, I found I quickly forgot about it after I watched it, and
noticed a few things about it that were a little disappointing in retrospect.
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it and would still recommend it, but I
don’t know if it was exactly the gritty reinvention the franchise needed, and I
definitely think a number of people out there overhyped it by saying it was the
best Predator movie since the original,
with some even claiming Prey to be
better. It is not better than Predator or even Predator 2 in my opinion, but it is a damn fine Predator movie.
Review: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2022/08/prey-review.html
Do you have Disney+? If so, check it out.
Don’t Worry Darling
I didn’t review this one, but I still don’t have much to say
about it. The drama behind the scenes of the making of this thriller was
ultimately more interesting than the big twist of what is really going on in Don’t Worry Darling. It was a concept that
I don’t think reached its full potential, and even though it was well directed
by Olivia Wilde and well-acted by the two leads, Florence Pugh and Harry
Styles, it didn’t really end up being something that stuck with me. I wouldn’t
really recommend checking it out, but I think if it’s something you were
curious about, you probably already saw it.
Halloween Ends
Glass Onion
Finally, I’m back to talking about a good movie! Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is the
second movie to feature Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc trying to solve
a mystery amid a wonderful ensemble cast. It’s not really a sequel to Knives Out—in fact you could watch this
movie without seeing Knives Out and
understand it perfectly—but compared to writer/director Rian Johnson’s first
film in this rather interesting series, I didn’t love it quite as much, just
because it lacked that relatable familial content and traded it up for some
less realistic plot elements. Glass Onion
has quite a different mystery at its core.
For the first act I was bored and uninterested in the
characters. Then, act two rewinds to earlier, we see a setup that we were
missing before, and we see alternate perspectives of scenes we’ve previously
been in, which all builds up the understanding and mystery and makes the whole
thing better, then the third act is wonderful and entertaining and funny and in
the end I loved it, and it actually made me want to see it again to see if act
one would be better with the understanding of what is actually going on. It
still felt odd that so much was withheld initially to make the movie better
later on, but I applaud Rian Johnson for making a second unique and
tightly-plotted mystery with a bunch of great actors.
Worth checking out!
Avatar: The Way of
Water
After thirteen years of waiting, the long-ago-promised
sequel to Avatar finally arrived in
theaters, but did it live up to the hype and anticipation? Well, I was eager to
see the first sequel writer/director James Cameron had made since Terminator 2 (which was over three
decades ago) but how could something live up to such a long build up? Simple:
it just can’t. Avatar: The Way of Water
surprised me in two big ways: it was an absolute technical marvel, somehow
surpassing the already incredible motion capture performances from the first
one, and the flawlessly blended CGI environments and creatures and vehicles,
and the awe-inspiring designs for everything. But, that was kind of where the
surprise and joy ended for me.
As a sequel, it tries to go deeper into the characters and
personal conflicts instead of bigger in scale, so Way of Water is not as epic as the first Avatar, nor is it as immersive in the same way (though still
incredibly immersive) or as magical. It tries to focus more on family drama while
also delivering brutal action and swift sequences, but doesn’t do this as
successfully as I had hoped. Ultimately, the story was not something I found
myself very invested in, and for all the characters we follow along the way, I
didn’t connect with many of them—and that wasn’t just because they were blue
aliens. I’ll save diving in any deeper (no pun intended) and just conclude with
this: if you were already excited to see Avatar:
The Way of Water before it came out, then you’ve probably already seen it
or made plans to see it, but if you don’t have those fond memories of the first
movie and were iffy on seeing the sequel, I actually would not recommend it. With its excessive three-hour runtime and
overindulgence in James Cameron-isms, I don’t think it’s on the same
you’ve-never-seen-anything-like-this-before-level the original was on. You have seen something nearly exactly like
this before. Way of Water was
impressive and I liked it, but I don’t think it’s quite the same kind of
theatrical experience that has to be
seen like the first movie was.
There you have it: out of all those movies, I would really
only recommend six of them. I’m hoping 2023 has more great new films to offer,
since none of the ones I had hoped would be great in 2022 really panned out—not
even Avatar: The Way of Water,
unfortunately. Here’s to a better year for going to the movies. My fingers are
crossed!
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