My Top 10 Favourite Movies of 2022

__It's the last day of 2022, which means two things. One: happy New Year's Eve.🙂 Two: it's time to look back on my favourite movies of the year, as has been a tradition of mine since 2011. You might have your own idea of what movies were released in 2022, so if you're not already familiar with the criteria I set for these lists, let me explain my own definition. I only count movies that were first released publicly (be it in cinemas or on streaming platforms) in the year in question, so no movies that haven't yet been seen outside of film festivals, and no movies that were released in another country in an earlier year.

__With that said, how was your year overall?🙂 For me, it was marked by two highlights, both at opposite ends of the fortune scale. On one hand, the PS5 been an extremely rare and high-demand item for two years, and this year I finally got one.🙂 By an incredible stroke of luck, too! (It's quite a story, but I'd rather keep the details private.) It was the same week as my birthday, so it was sort of an early present to myself.😀 On the other hand, at the beginning of October, after avoiding it for over two-and-a-half years, I tested positive for COVID-19.🙁 Thankfully, my symptoms were mild – if I hadn't tested myself, I would have thought it was just a regular cold – and I was negative again a week later. I suspect, had I not been fully vaccinated, it would have been so much worse. My prayers go out to anyone who wasn't so lucky.

__Now, going back to the subject of the movies this year offered, which is the main reason we're here… To tell you the truth, in terms of films overall, this was one of the most underwhelming years in recent memory. Just like 2020, there weren't even any movies that I liked enough to rate five stars; even the ones at the top of my list only scored an 8/10 from me, which means I'd describe them as very good but not great. This lack of anything exceptional took a heavy toll on my overall level of joy and excitement throughout the year. Other things in life may be contributing to that, but hardly any movies I saw this year did anything to help. In fact, it was so uninspiring that I started to wonder if it was even worth continuing these year-end lists. Then again, if I were still doing "top ten worst of the year" lists and actively seeking out films with a bad reputation, I think my outlook would have been far more actively bitter.

__Speaking of which, before we get to the actual list, I must give a special mention to the movie that fell shortest of the high expectations I had for it.

__I'll probably get some flak for this, but I'm giving the award for the year's most disappointing movie to The Sea Beast. This came highly recommended, but as it turned out, I simply couldn't stand it. It lost me very quickly due to haphazard storytelling: the first act jumps between scenes so jarringly that I had no idea how the events were even connected to each other. Several moments are illogical, too, like someone inexplicably surviving being dragged into the abyss. The second half goes from confusing to formulaic, but my frustration with both was exacerbated by obnoxious characters that I got truly sick of listening to. So this is the prime example of a 2022 movie that, for me, didn't live up to its popularity.

__For the record, I was also considering Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In fact, all three of this year's MCU movies were pretty lacklustre. Still better than Avatar: The Way of Water, though.

__On that cheerful note, let's start talking about the movies I saw this year and actually liked!🙂

__Now, keep in mind, this is only going by what I've seen to date. There are a few movies that I've heard good things about but haven't seen yet. For example, I didn't get a chance to see Bones and All, Violent Night, Barbarian, Aftersun, Decision to Leave or Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Films like Tár, Pearl, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Damien Chazelle's Babylon and Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans haven't been released yet in my part of the world.

__So, with that said, here are the ten instances where I'd say the year's movie output shone the brightest. These are my top ten movies of 2022…

#10 = Thirteen Lives

Another triumph from director Ron Howard.🙂 It's an intriguing drama based on the true story of the sensational efforts to rescue a group of schoolboys from a flooded cave in Thailand during the monsoon season. I like how the only perspective we have is the rescue party's, so we share their initial uncertainty that the boys are even still alive. It turns out they're in such a predicament that the plan the rescuers devise is desperately risky itself; it sounds insane at first. The production design and camerawork are top-notch, brilliantly depicting the narrowness of the caves and heightening the tension all the more.

#9 = Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

I haven't read the original book, so I looked up the plot synopsis on Wikipedia to see if this movie is more faithful than the 1940 Disney version… but it was clear from the first paragraph that it's a standalone work doing its own thing. The overall theme is mortality; it has a wonderfully creative depiction of the afterlife, and also brings up the misery that war causes, even tying it into Pinocchio's creation. The stop-motion animation, of course, is outstanding. It's undoubtedly an impressive piece, just hindered by a major pet peeve of mine: awkward social interactions where people risk sounding foolish.

#8 = All Quiet on the Western Front

Again, I haven't read the book, but I have seen the classic 1930 film adaptation. This remake is a whole different beast. While Pinocchio brings up the tragedy of war, this movie dives headlong into the brutality of it! The fantastically hard-hitting battle scenes quickly shatter the characters' idealistic view of war. Not only is it intensely bloody, but Paul seems to be perpetually caked with mud. It sags in the middle because the first time jump really threw me off, but the rest readily makes up for it. I still prefer the 1930 version overall, but this is a refreshingly different and fierce retelling.

#7 = Hustle

A basketball movie starring Adam Sandler? I normally would have avoided such a movie like the plague, but gave it a chance based on the general enthusiasm for it. And unlike The Sea Beast, that praise turned out to be justified.🙂 Like a good sports movie should, it draws in even non-fans by making the characters so likeable that their passion for the sport is infectious. And I can confidently say Adam Sandler's performance is easily one of his best, as a coach who recognises his pupil's weakness and tries to guide him through it. So this, for me, was the year's most pleasant surprise.

#6 = The Menu

A delectable dark comedy about a celebrity chef with a very special evening planned for his guests. Not only does the tension steadily increase as the evening's events intensify, but the film is also a biting satire of elitism and criticism in general. Many of the diners' comments on food are just as applicable to any form of art – including, of course, movies. Each character represents a different type of audience: you have the critics, the obsessive fan who's convinced every detail is part of the artist's overall statement, and Anya Taylor-Joy as the casual viewer who doesn't care about deeper analysis at all.

#5 = RRR

Not bad for my first ever foray into Indian cinema!🙂 It's an epic drama about two friends embroiled in a revolutionary battle. The action is gloriously over the top, and each act of violence is so potent that it lands like a gut punch. The first half could very easily have been a complete movie in itself – the midpoint certainly feels climactic enough – but it continues in a way that doesn't feel forced or unnecessary. I was pretty confused by how all the dialogue was very obviously dubbed, but I found out later that I'd seen the Hindi version (it was originally recorded in Telugu).

#4 = The Bad Guys

It's about a gang of anthropomorphic animals who've turned to crime because of how the world perceives them, becoming notorious thieves. I was on board right from the opening scene, which is a very obvious homage to Pulp Fiction.🙂 There's nothing groundbreaking about the story, but I was very much drawn into the characters' journey regardless – or, more specifically, Mr Wolf's: trying to break away from the villainous role he'd formerly embraced, simply because doing good feels good. Plus, it uses the same animation style as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Mitchells vs. the Machines, except it didn't annoy me this time!🙂

#3 = Everything Everywhere All at Once

Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn, a fatigued mother who becomes drawn into a battle to save all of existence. Her encounters with parallel universes lead to an explosion of many different genres, and a far better multiverse movie than Doctor Strange. It has many flat-out stunning edits (both audio and visual), along with irreverent humour and spectacular action scenes; it truly lives up to its title!🙂 That does mean it's a barrage of ceaseless pandemonium that I found more offputting than exhilarating, not helped by the sound system I experienced in the cinema, but thankfully it gets steadily more engaging as Evelyn's emotional journey escalates.

#2 = Top Gun: Maverick

This might be the year's definitive action movie – definitely the best, at any rate – and the latest example of a long-delayed sequel that's well worth the wait. And this is coming from someone who wasn't a huge fan of the original! Needless to say, I think the sequel is miles better. The mission is clearly defined from the start, the story and characters are more engaging, and I simply care more about what's going on, which makes the action that much more thrilling. The deft camerawork certainly doesn't hurt, either.🙂 Right down to the wire, this remained at number one on my list.

__But then, in the closing hurdles of the year, something came along to knock it off its perch.

My last-minute pick for the best movie of 2022 is… Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Hey, what do you know? Another sequel!🙂 This time, I don't think it's quite as good as its predecessor, but still works in much the same way. I obviously won't reveal any details; I think it's best you go in as blind as possible. Let's just say it still has its share of marvellously clever twists that mock genre conventions and mess with your expectations. My favourite scene is when Benoit Blanc perfectly demonstrates why he wasn't invited; he becomes the embodiment of people who spoil the movie for others. There's also a speech about disruption and picking the wrong target, which I view as Rian Johnson candidly describing his own career. I must say, considering the character of Miles Bron is an eccentric billionaire who drives his employees crazy by bothering them with new ideas, I wonder if he's meant to be a parody of Elon Musk? I don't know, but in any case, this, for me, was the most enjoyable movie I saw all year, and I don't have to think twice about giving it the gold medal. Glass Onion, my favourite movie of 2022.

Runners-up:

• The Banshees of Inisherin is peppered with bizarre moments that you're not sure if you're supposed to laugh at, and the cinematography implies that the main theme is loneliness.

• The Batman is far from the best Batman movie, because I've seen several of its ideas done before and better in other Batman stories, but it's certainly the darkest and most downbeat.

• Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons is a buddy comedy of sorts where the animation style is distracting, but the characters' personalities keep the story lively.

• The Northman fully embodies the word "savage", not just with brutal violence, but ferociously crazed performances and raucous music.

• Lightyear is not a masterpiece by any means, but entertaining from start to finish, establishing an interesting world and character arc for Buzz himself.

• Prey is a decent addition to the Predator franchise, with a much more primitive mask than the original, suggesting that the Predators have also been developing their technology.

• And Turning Red is kind of a teenage girl version of the Hulk, where her frustration mainly stems from the very relatable pressure of putting other people's happiness before her own.

__Well, that's it for 2022.

__What do we have to look forward to in 2023? Well, there are quite a few big movies on the way from either an esteemed franchise, director or studio. For example, Creed III, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Dune: Part Two, Pixar's Elemental, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, and of course those ever-present Marvel movies: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. I'll give Transformers: Rise of the Beasts a chance, too; I'm game for any Transformers movie not directed by Michael Bay!🙂 I'm also looking forward to any other, as-yet-unannounced movies that may come along and surprise me in between. On the other hand, I'm much less optimistic for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, given the usual quality of movies based on video games, and also Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, considering I'm one of the few people who didn't like its predecessor.

__However those movies turn out, I hope it's a good year for you overall.

__So enjoy the last day of this year, and I'll see you in the new one.🙂 Take care.