22 Movies to See in 2022
Written by Cameron Geiser
The Batman.
Editor’s note: Cameron Geiser has compiled twenty two big scale films to check out for 2022, not in any particular order. Enjoy!
1) Jackass Forever
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t eagerly looking forward to this next outing from the Jackass crew. All of their past films have pushed the boundaries of what can be done for a good laugh. Questionable risk assessment and an increasingly large budget with each previous entry, the boys of the Jackass show have even gone so far as to homage Buster Keaton and Evil Knievel in equal fanfare. The infectious camaraderie of Johnny Knoxville and company is one that invites you to join them in cackling laughter as they try to make each other, and the audience, laugh with them. I think the world could use a little more laughter right now, a worthy cause packaged in a stupid, gross, nauseating, and heinous film. Is this an incredibly stupid endeavor that will, and likely has, resulted in broken bones and lost teeth? Yes, purposefully so, and I’ll be there in the theater for this one.
2) Death on The Nile
After the modestly successful and well cast Murder on The Orient Express by Kenneth Branagh, I expected sequels would come in due time. Here we are five years later with Death on The Nile starring Branagh once again as the world's greatest detective Hercule Poirot who must solve another murder. Sporting the best moustache in the game, Poirot has his work cut out for him this time around as he searches for clues as to who killed the young heiress aboard the vessel. The sequel boasts yet another interesting ensemble with Gal Gadot, Annette Bening, and Russell Brand just to name a few. The mystery is afoot!
3) The Batman
Matt Reeves' upcoming take on the Caped Crusader looks to blend gritty realism with an appropriately grim Gotham that bleeds atmosphere. From the trailers that have been released so far, the new film looks like it's taking inspiration from elements of the popular Batman storyline The Long Halloween. Which is excellent news if true, that story takes a relatively young Batman and throws a who's who of his most infamous villains at him with some delightfully noir-ish style. Robert Pattinson takes on the cowl for this new iteration of Bats and after the last five years of fascinating choice of roles, such as his performances in Good Time, The Lighthouse, and Tenet- he's an inspired choice to portray Bruce Wayne and his long eared alter ego. That's not to mention the cast surrounding him! Paul Dano as The Riddler, Colin Farrell as The Penguin, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, and Andry Serkis as Alfred! Now that's one hell of a cast, and it looks like it'll be a rough and tumble version of the Dark Knight this time around, and we're all better off for it. (hopefully)
4) Everything Everywhere All at Once
After the delightful strangeness that was Swiss Army Man I made a note to always be on the lookout for what the Daniels, as they call themselves, made next. Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once looks to ride the wave of popular cinema utilizing the idea of “The Multiverse” to great comedic, and likely heartfelt, effect. Michelle Yeoh is seemingly thrown across dimensions and into other versions of herself to combat some greater evil that may or may not be personified by Jamie Lee Curtis? I don't entirely know what's going on with this one, or why there are googly eyes everywhere, but that's part of the magic of what made Swiss Army Man work so well, and I'm willing to take the dive with the Daniels again, and you should too!
5) Ambulance
Now that Michael Bay has *finally* left the Transformers film series behind him, he can get back to doing what he's best at- making ridiculously over the top action thrillers. This time around, the story is simple, Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II ( who's been having an excellent last few years onscreen!) rob a bank in Los Angeles, but when their getaway goes horribly wrong, they hijack an ambulance with an EMT worker attempting to save the life of a severely wounded cop they shot in the robbery. Sweeping low angles, explosions, and high octane thrills- Bay is back at doing his thing, and it looks like a fun ride!
6) The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Okay, I recently saw this trailer before a showing of The Matrix Resurrections and it immediately won me over. Nicolas Cage plays an exaggerated version of himself who must attend the birthday party of an extremely wealthy super fan in Spain for $1 Million dollars. As Neil Patrick Harris points out, Cage needs the money, and it's a million dollars. How bad could it be? Well, that super fan is played by Pedro Pascal, who just so happens to be a prominent drug kingpin in the criminal underworld. As you may expect, shenanigans ensue.
7) The Bob's Burgers Movie
The release date for this animated feature has been moved around for the better part of two years now, and now it's finally going to hit the silver screen later this year (barring any further national or global catastrophes). The first trailer for the animated sitcom's journey to the big screen just dropped recently, and it looks to be just as heart-warming and pun-filled as the TV series is and has been. Oh, and the film is officially classified as a musical- because of course it is. Can't wait for the number where Bob inevitably sings, poorly, to inanimate objects.
8) Dr. Strange in The Multiverse of Madness
If I'm being honest, I regularly attend each of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's films on opening weekend. It's a bit of tradition in this household, but I'm particularly enticed with Dr. Strange's second feature film because it's being directed by none other than Sam Raimi. I don't know enough about the good doctors comic book storylines to anticipate what exactly it will entail, but that's okay. I'm just excited to see what Sam Raimi can do with another big budget superhero franchise. Raimi will forever be a hero of independent film due to his Evil Dead films, and ever constant use of Bruce Campbell, but his legacy with the original Spider-Man trilogy cannot be denied either! Let's all wait and see what he can come up with just a few short months from now!
9) Thor 4: Love and Thunder
My first Taika Waititi film was What We Do in The Shadows, but the film that left a lasting impression on me was his follow up to that in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The Kiwi with a whip-snap sense of humor then went on to revitalize the Thor film franchise with Ragnarok, and this next sequel has been eagerly anticipated ever since! I don't even have to know any plot details whatsoever, my faith in Waititi's ability to knock this one out of the park is sky high!
10) Nope
Naturally, not much is known about Jordan Peele's next film, aside from it being a horror film. We do know that it stars Daniel Kaluuya, Steven Yeun, and Keke Palmer, and we've got a weird poster to top it all off. It appears to depict a cloud at night, with a kite's tail dangling from one end. That's all we've got so far, but based on his track record, I'll certainly be on the lookout for this one when it hits theaters.
11) The Flash
DC comics may forever be in the wake of the giant that is Marvel Studios, but hey, at least they go big with their superhero films. They've got nothing to lose right? In lieu of an origin story for Barry Allen, this one looks to adapt the popular comic book storyline Flashpoint, in which the Scarlet Speedster finds himself traversing multiple universes and meeting multiple versions of Batman and various other superheroes along the way. Luckily for us, this means we get two Batmen for the price of one with Ben Affleck returning to the role he's seemingly ready to abandon, and Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne from years ago. Ezra Miller's Flash has gotten renewed interest after his expanded role in Zack Snyder's version of the Justice League that came out roughly a year ago. Here's hoping director Andy Muschietti at least acknowledges those changes made for the character.
12) Creed 3
The third film following the story of Adonis Creed will be Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut. That alone would make it noteworthy and enough to merit a watch, but Creed's opponent for this third outing will be portrayed by The Harder They Fall and Loki star Jonathan Majors. Majors is set to soon terrorize the denizens of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as my personal favorite Avengers Villain in Kang the Conqueror, and he'll likely be a terror for Adonis initially as well. It'll be fascinating to see how the direct continuation of Sylvester Stallone's Rocky storyline evolves, though not much else is known at the moment. This upcoming autumn, we get to step back into the ring with Creed- and perhaps witness cinematic history.
13) Clerks 3
I’ve always held a place in my celluloid loving heart for Kevin Smith and his films, even if I don’t quite love everything he’s done. He’s shown a willingness to tread new ground in the last decade, sometimes it’s been rewarding, as with Red State, and I’d even say with the maligned Tusk- though occasionally it’s been a bit of a stinker, like with Yoga Hosers. Clerks and the adjacent Jay and Silent Bob movies have always been some of his best work though and I can’t wait to see what he’s done with those slackers the third time around.
14) Disappointment Blvd.
The next film from Ari Aster, by way of my favorite film studio A24, Disappointment Blvd stars Joaquin Phoenix and Nathan Lane in what Aster himself has described as a “Nightmare Comedy”. He’s also said the film is expected to be four hours long, but hey, who knows if that will stick. After Aster’s phenomenal first feature Hereditary, I’ll always be willing to see what the man makes next!
15) The Northman
Robert Eggers is one of my favorite emerging filmmakers of the last decade. His first two features The Witch and The Lighthouse were sublime entries in the horror genre and now Eggers brings his talents to a Norse themed adaptation of Hamlet. The recent trailer for the film seems to continue the filmmaker’s combined style of brutality and abstraction within the historical past, and it doesn't hurt that the cast for this one is thoroughly stacked. Alexander Skarsgård headlines as the titular Northman, but Eggers has brought back Anya Taylor-Joy from his first feature, and Willem Dafoe from his last as well. Throw in Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, and surprisingly, Björk, and you've got a Shakespearean epic that looks like yet another solid entry from Robert Eggers.
16) Knives Out 2
Daniel Craig’s southern gentleman Detective Benoit Blanc from the first Knives Out is one of my favorite roles in recent memory. Thus, I was pleased-as-pie to see that a sequel coming from Rian Johnson would prominently feature Craig’s Blanc once more. The first film had quite the large cast of notable names involved, and it seems like the director is trying to outdo himself as this one includes the likes of Dave Bautista, Ethan Hawke, Leslie Odom Jr, Edward Norton, Jessica Henwick, Jada Pinkett Smith, Janelle Monáe, and Kathryn Hahn. The film will be releasing on Netflix this time around, and I'll be giving it a watch as soon as it hits the streaming giant later this year.
17) Killers of The Flower Moon
The next film from Martin Scorsese has been described as a western crime drama. It's an adaptation of a book by the same name, and it centers on a largely forgotten series of events in the early 1920s when large oil deposits were discovered under the Osage tribe's land, which they had been forced to relocate to. After the tribe started to obtain insane amounts of wealth, the FBI and a whole slew of other parties got involved. The film also sports not one, but two of Scorsese's most prominent muses in both Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. Notably, the film also includes not only indegenous cast members, but Brendan Fraser and John Lithgow as well. This one looks like another fantastic film from one of the finest directors of our time, and I can't wait to catch it at the local cinema!
18) Three Thousand Years of Longing
Written and directed by George Miller. That statement alone is enough to pique my interest, but it’s the logline that really solidified it’s entry on this list.“A scholar, content with life, encounters a Djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. Their conversation leads to consequences neither would have expected.” That and the fact that the two leads are Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba as the scholar and the Djinn respectively, count me in!
19) Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom
The surprise billion dollar hit of 2018 is getting a sequel, who would have guessed? I unapologetically love that first film. It's like a cross between Dragonball Z, Lord of The Rings, and Star Wars with a healthy dose of good-hearted camp. As with a lot of these films, not a lot is known when it comes to plotting at this time. However, I'm basing my anticipation on the fact that the first one was a lot of fun and the majority of the cast is returning, including director James Wan. Honestly, as long as they continue doing what they were doing with the first film, I'll be there to catch it in theaters!
20) Top Gun Maverick
This one was on my most anticipated list of films arriving in 2020, and it very much still is highly anticipated. The back half of Tom Cruise's career has been far better in film quality than the first half in my opinion. Which is why I think returning to one of Cruise's signature roles from that era, with the skills he's honed since then, should be a fascinating experiment of a movie. Here's hoping it's worth it!
21) Mission Impossible 7
You don't need to know the plot of a Mission Impossible movie to get excited for it. You go for the thrill of witnessing Tom Cruise literally risk life and limb for our entertainment. Each of the last four films has only improved the visceral inertia of the film series, and I cannot wait to see what Cruise and company has in store for us this time. Only time will tell if my movie pitch for a Mission Impossible film directed by Michael Bay matches up with any future plot lines. Fingers crossed for Into The Black!
22) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 1
The first Spider-Verse film not only captured the public's hearts and attention, but also the Academy Award for Best Animated Film of 2018. A few years later we've only recently gotten a short teaser featuring a continuation of the beautiful animation of that first film, but also a note that it will be the first of a two-parter! How lucky can you get? While we don't know much yet, the teaser did showcase a familiar figure to comic book aficionados with Miguel O'Hara, better known as Spider-Man 2099, who will be voiced by Oscar Isaac. The more Spider-People the better with this franchise, and by the end of the year we'll be back in theaters witnessing the next adventure of Miles Morales across dimensions!
Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.