Ah, April – August movies. With the stuffy “prestige” films a month away, these summer movies are usually designed for pure audience entertainment. That means awesome special effects, explosions galore, endless jokes, and just smiles all around. But with at least 5 streaming services, and the movie theatres, I took the liberty of distilling the glut into the 10 most exciting films to see over the next 5 months.
I’ve also come with warnings: 3 movie pitfalls to tread VERY cautiously around before seeing the films below.
Sequels to stale franchises: Like all movie years, 2022’s summer has its fair share of downward trending franchises. Maybe wait for the reviews before you see the new Fantastic Beasts, Young Guns, and Jurassic World films.
Condescending Animation: Not all animated films can be Turning Red. Sometimes they cater to stupidity and make kids dumber. This year, those films might be The Bad Guys (I liked it better when it was called Wreck-It-Ralph), Paws of Fury, and DC League of Super Pets.
Old Guy Flicks: Sure, we all loved the Liam Neeson run. And Bruce Willis too: truly unfortunate what happened to him :(. And…Zac Efron. But let’s face it…they are past their movie primes with their new releases. Sorry Zac…but let’s be honest with ourselves here.
Alright, caution over. Let’s throw it to the wind with the Honorable Mentions: these should be exciting, but just missed the cut:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2…yeah, I couldn’t believe it either, but I was charmed by the first, and the shock is now replaced by anticipation! We might finally have a video game movie that can usurp the 1995 Mortal Kombat’s 1 spot, though Shang Tsung might have something to say about it.
But the 10 films below should make your heart skip a beat, and get you a little excited for the fun times awaiting you at the movies this summer!
I never watched an episode of Downton Abbey, but I totally dug the movie sequel to the series, and had no problems diving right into the world of British manners, secrets, and elegance. A new era looks to be as much of a delight as the first movie, as we prepare for the move from England to the South of France. I am already giggling at the abject horror on the face of Michelle Dockery and Hugh Bonneville as they catch their first glimpse of French people on a beach. It should be a rollicking fun time.
The thought of putting a Thor movie on this list would have been stupid until Ragnarok and Taika Waititi got involved, and completely 180ed the course of Marvel’s weakest franchise. Waititi, and Hemsworth are both back, Natalie Portman returns as well, Sprinkle in a little Christian Bale and the Guardians of the Galaxy crew, stir with what apparently is one of the great Thor comic book tales, and we might have a bonafide top tier Marvel movie on our hands.
This Elvis biopic has the highest variance of possible outcomes on this list. Baz Luhrmann is directing; when he’s bad, his movie sucks, and sucks hard. But when he’s good, you’re talking Top 10 movie of the year type stuff. Either way, this movie is probably going to be something to remember, which is why I’m so giddy for it. Best of luck Austin Butler; I’m rooting for you and your hip gyrations!
At some point, every kid flirts with the concept of space travel, and what it might be like to be an astronaut. Those thoughts were front and center in 1969 in Houston, where a 10 1/2 year old boy imagines what the future might look like with all that was going on in that time and place. And who better to tell stories about time and the human experience than the master of those films, and one of my Mount Rushmore directors, the great Richard Linklater? Something this personal to Linklater (he was 9 at the time) is bound to be at least enjoyable, but it’s very possible this is downright special too.
The Robert Eggers fans in my life LOVE that guy and his beautifully directed films. I think he’s pretty overrated, but his type of thriller horrors are not for me. But I’m feeling pretty good about his genre switch to adventure epic, where I think his brilliant vision and style might give the relatively dead movie genre some exciting new life.
Other than superhero movies, there’s an action movie champion open right now. And apparently Brad Pitt decided it was his time to lay claim? Sweet. He was one of the best parts of The Lost City, and now, he’s in this exciting film where the pitch alone just makes you giddy: “multiple assassins on a bullet train”. Pitt’s supporting cast is also excellent, featuring Sandra Bullock, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Shannon, and Hiroyuki Sanada among many others. I think I just did what Jonah Hill just said.
While Thor will be a continuation of a great movie, this Doctor Strange sequel has a chance to really be something different for Marvel. They’ve never really tried to make a horror movie yet, and the storyline the trailer sets up really makes it feel like we’re gonna get real scared and weird with this one. So, a horror comedy movie huh? That means welcome back to superhero movies Sam Raimi! The Evil Dead 2 brilliant director couldn’t be a more exciting choice to direct this eye popping feast on the senses, that hopefully is going to blow people’s minds.
Written and directed by Jordan Peele. Nuff said. Obviously details are scarce, but Daniel Kaluuya, Steven Yeun, and Keke Palmer are involved, and the trailer gives me the same excitement Get Out and Us provided. I know Candyman was overhyped, but Peele only produced and kinda wrote that one. When he’s hands on, I trust in the process.
Nicholas Cage vacillates between serious film and loony film. Since he last did a serious film, I’m beyond excited to see this looney farce. Cage is playing an amplified version of himself, caught in a Deadpool like meta commentary on his career and fame. The trailer is stupidly delirious. And the early review hype is very, very strong. Worst case scenario, we’re getting unhinged meta Nic Cage, that’s probably going to be as funny as this SNL sketch, maybe moreso.
Please, Hollywood! PLEASE finally release this! This was scheduled to probably come out in 2020, and it’s been a miserable, delayed 2 year process. That’s because the studio wanted to release this movie on the biggest screens possible. Every trailer so far justifies that decision; I cannot WAIT to see those aerial maneuvers in the military aircraft. So bring on Tom Cruise, shirtless dude volleyball, homoerotic male bonding, and that Top Gun theme. Bring BACK….THAT LOVIN FEELING!
