2022 Movie Discussion

[The Schofield Kid]

It may be a little while until we see a 2022 release but this is the thread for discussion of the films released this year. Anyone have any upcoming films that they're really looking forward to?

[Christopher]

I'm looking forward to the new Scream movie that comes out January 14 in North America. I saw a trailer for it and it got me excited for the movie (which doesn't happen often with trailers).

[AKA23]

I don't really know much about what's coming out this year, but I have been looking forward to the new Batman movie. I'm not sure if I'll like it though. I hated Batman v. Superman, the last stand-alone Batman movie, and I didn't watch Justice League. I'm usually not one for movies based on comic books, but Batman is my favorite superhero, so I'm hoping I'll like it.

[Gant]

The last I saw of Batman was the Christopher Nolan movies which I thought were excellent

[Christopher]

AKA, did you see Man of Steel? I just realized you referred to Batman v Superman as a standalone movie. It's a sequel to Man of Steel, and then both versions of Justice League is the follow-up to that movie (the Snyder version is the best movie of any of those).

I saw the new Scream movie today after rewatching the previous four movies in the last few days. I'm glad I got myself familiar with all the movies again beforehand, but you don't have to be familiar with all of them for this movie. I like the whole series, this newest one included.

[AKA23]

AKA, did you see Man of Steel? I just realized you referred to Batman v Superman as a standalone movie. It's a sequel to Man of Steel, and then both versions of Justice League is the follow-up to that movie (the Snyder version is the best movie of any of those).

I have seen "Man of Steel". I didn't like it. I strongly preferred the original Superman film with Christopher Reeve.

[Christopher]

I've been getting pretty excited for The Batman. Like I haven't been as excited for a new Batman movie since the 1990s. I like the Nolan movies, but I can't say I was really excited about them coming out.

[LB13]

I went and watched the Uncharted movie the other day, I thought it was good fun.

[Christopher]

I've thought about going to see Uncharted. I only recently found out it's based on a video game.

[LB13]

It is, and it falls into that category of films based on popular source material (not unlike, say, Marvel and Star Wars franchises) that rely on that source material as their chief money-making factor, along with the star power of Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg and Antonio Banderas, but I found that it works in its action-adventure, jumping-from-airplanes, running-through-rooftops, sort of Indiana Jones-meets-Fast-and-Furious fashion. It reminded me of some of the 1990s action films, in that it's hardly the best movie I ever saw, but I couldn't say I didn't enjoy the ride that it takes you on. It's mainly directed at audiences who have played the video games before, but it doesn't require any knowledge of them to comprehend what's going on and is overall a good fit for anybody looking for some entertainment. Not a very good film, but fun.

[Christopher]

I saw The Batman. I liked it a lot. It's nearly three hours long, but I really wasn't much aware of the its length (except for when I had to get up at some point in the middle to leave the auditorium for a few minutes). I really liked being in this Batman world. I like most of the Batman movies that we've had so far, and this one goes near the top for me.

[AKA23]

I saw The Batman. I liked it a lot. It's nearly three hours long, but I really wasn't much aware of the its length (except for when I had to get up at some point in the middle to leave the auditorium for a few minutes). I really liked being in this Batman world. I like most of the Batman movies that we've had so far, and this one goes near the top for me.

Glad you liked this Christopher, as I know that you were really looking forward to it. I also saw this and really didn't like it, which was quite disappointing, since Batman has always been my favorite super hero. For me, both the Tim Burton Batman movies and all of the Nolan films were far superior, but it does have a very high rating on IMDB (8.5/10, I think), so most viewers were like you and not like me, which has me kind of questioning my own judgment on this. I just don't understand why people like this movie so much. Can you go into some more depth into your thoughts on it and why you are ranking it near the top?

For me, I found it to be much too long. I found the story to be highly convoluted and at times difficult to follow. The tone of the film felt far too dark and gloomy, and even visually, I found the cinematography, which a lot are loving, to also be far too dark. At times, it was actually difficult to see what was happening on the screen for me, and most of the scenes were set during the evening or when it was raining, etc.

For a Batman film, I also found the plot to be quite slow moving, with much less action than I would have expected when compared to the other films in the series. In terms of Robert Pattinson's performance as Batman, which a lot of people were concerned about when he was cast, I felt that he was fine, but I did find that there was very little of Bruce Wayne in this film, and that Robert Pattinson really acted much the same portraying both Batman and Bruce Wayne, which I found to be quite odd given that the duality of the character has always been a large part of the portrayal in other films. I also found due to the dark and gloomy tone and slow plot, much less action, and relative absence of Bruce Wayne, that the film kind of lacked the fun factor that made a lot of the other movies entertaining. I did like the corruption theme, and the fact that fighting corruption in Gotham and exposing its hypocrisy was front and center. If I were to rate it, I think I'd give it a C. "Batman v. Superman" was definitely worse, and I do think that the director was successful in achieving the aesthetic that he was obviously going for, but I just didn't find the movie to be entertaining to watch.

[RAnderson87]

I've also seen the Batman few days ago. I must admit I really liked it a lot. Cinematography, music, atmosphere were fantastic. It could have been cut in few places to make it a little bit shorter, but in general I'm satisfied. The Riddler was really creepy sometimes and make a great villian. Finally something good again after the latest Spiderman movie 

[Christopher]

I like that it's a Batman detective story. I like the atmosphere, as RAnderson87 mentioned. I like that there's so much of Batman in his suit in the movie, and was also a little surprised that there's so little of Bruce Wayne. And I agree that it would be nice to see a little more of a Bruce persona. But typically the Bruce Wayne stuff is just around Alfred, with the exception of him going to the funeral, so I wouldn't expect the persona to come out much during that. This is definitely not a "ladies man" Bruce Wayne. I might go back to watch it a second time, and I will most likely buy the Blu-ray when it comes out (apparently that's going to be in June).

[LB13]

I liked The Batman, even though it might suffer a little from its formulas. Pattinson was pretty damn good in the lead I find, and I enjoyed that he and Matt Reeves took the liberty to experiment with the Batman persona. The fact that we don't see much of his Bruce Wayne makes a point I believe, that at this point in time Bruce can hardly figure out what the difference is himself. Him trying to figure it out is what the movie's about. I'm generally not the one for sequels, but I think if they want to make another one this is a pretty solid material to build from.

[Jed Cooper]

This felt like an overlong episode of Law & Order with Batman and Gordon as the lead detectives.  Not good.  I love Law & Order but also comic movies.  They don't mix well together at all.  I enjoy the over the top aspect of super hero movies because...they're super heroes!  They're supposed to do outrageous and unbelievable things I can't do.  For me, that's the point of the escapism entertainment value of them.  I don't
think comic book characters have to be closer to average people.  That's why I hated the Joker movie.  It was worse than this one.  So, maybe, hopefully the Batman sequels will be better.


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[Christopher]

Well, after all Batman is the "world's greatest detective." I haven't read lots of the comics, but from my understanding, that's something that's in the comic books that tends to be overlooked in a lot of the movie versions we've had so far.

[Gant]

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

 Definitely the best film Ive seen this year so far..  mind blowing 😁

[Christopher]

I've been hearing about that movie and finally looked it up and it does sound really good. I think I might have lost my chance to see it in the theater though--it recently left a theater that is within drivable distance to me.

[LB13]

Top Gun: Maverick! I didn't think it could be good when it was only rumored, I didn't think it could be good when it was officially announced, I didn't have any particular nostalgia for the first film, I didn't watch any of the trailers for Maverick, I didn't think it could be this good when everybody was giving in 10/10s, but goddammit, it was. It's Hollywood. The best kind of Hollywood. It's like if you take an idealized version of what old action flicks were like, engineer out all the bad parts, take away everything forgettable, and create 2 hours of your ideal action drama in 2022. To see those planes touching down, Kenny Loggins playing, names of Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris on the screen and a Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer intro -- it's a trip to the Hollywoodland which here seems as vital as ever, and the likes of Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro or Lewis Pullman are thankfully much better than simply copying the old guys; that's the thing with this movie, everything new that it does, it does with a degree of self-consciousness and freshness. The songs by OneRepublic and Lady Gaga are instantly memorable and appropriate, but they're not simply an imitation of Danger Zone. It's good for all the reasons you might've thought Top Gun 1 was, but it's not bad for all the reasons you might've thought Top Gun 1 was. And it's not happening 30 years ago -- it's happening now. It's a 2022 classic.

I recommend everybody to see it in an actual movie theater. I know it's coming out on Paramount+ eventually, but when your seat shakes as Tom Cruise is taking off, you'll know this is a movie theater experience worth going to.