2022 was a great year for movies. We got several blockbusters such as Elvis, Don’t Worry Darling, and Minions: the Rise of Gru, all of which had a huge impact on the internet. To end the year 2022, we compiled some of the most outstanding movies of the year– for reasons good and bad– and surveyed students in the Hampton area on their opinions as well.

Top Gun: Maverick 

Out of our viewers only 32.7% of our audience saw Top Gun: Maverick. In our demographic, 9.6% were women and 21.2%. The majority of our viewers were in the range of 13-18. Essentially all of the viewers gave a positive response about the movie, one of the viewers said, “I feel that the directors understood that the first Top Gun couldn’t have been made better so they made the best movie without trying to top the original.” 

Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness

2022 was kind of the year for Marvel coming out with more than one movie. One of their movies, Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, grabbed the attention of 31.4% of our audience, the majority being males. The emotions for this movie were all over the place. One gentleman said, “ I stopped watching after the first 30 minutes.” A handful of people seemed to agree and said it was too long and too confusing of a movie. While some other people disagreed and said, “ it was an A+ movie.”

Thor: Love and Thunder

 Another Marvel movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, many viewers ( 31.4%) said, “it was a funny movie, but it doesn’t do anything for the progression of marvel.” Which essentially is correct because the movie goes on its own way, but you have to watch it to find out for yourself, right? 

Purple Hearts

 Military movies, especially romance movies, have always been a big hit for teen girls. The new Netflix movie, Purple Hearts, grabbed the attention of 19.6% of our viewers and every one who saw it except for one person said somewhere along the lines, “It was such a great movie, it made me cry.” 

Tall Girl 2

Netflix always seems to have good movies, but when they released Tall Girl 2, it gained about 11.8% of our total viewers. All of the responses agreed with one another and said, “ Most cringe worthy movie ever.” One viewer said, “it’s offensive to tall people.” Overall Tall Girl 2 was the most hated movie on our survey. 

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Immediately, this chaotic movie was received very well. I thought the performances were all amazing, especially from Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu. Both of their performances were unimaginably nuanced, and really displayed the turbulent and evolving relationship between an immigrant mother and her struggling daughter. It received a 95% rotten tomatoes score and an 8.1/10 IMDB score. Locally, the reception of the movie was fairly positive, “really liked this movie and I really liked the hidden meaning behind it”, “Solid movie”, but some found it too cryptic, “ not great. Very confusing but funny”. All in all, I think this was a very good movie if you want something entertaining and loud, but that has deep meaning if you look for it.

Pearl

Pearl is a cult-like slasher thriller from Ti West and Mia Goth that came out in October of 2022.  Pearl is only a prequel to a larger horror film called “X”. It received 91% rotten tomatoes score and a 7/10 rating on IMDB.  Here in Hampton, many loved the film. One person called it “slay”, and another said that the movie “was very compelling, made your mind think and ask what was happening”.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the sequel to the hit film Black Panther in 2018. The writers of the movie had a very difficult challenge, as the lead Chadwick Boseman sadly passed away in August of 2020. The movie, I believe, handled this very respectfully.  Despite this, Marvel still delivered a moving and entertaining story with lessons on morality and honor, echoing the same ideas presented in the first. The reception was fairly positive here in Hampton, with one person giving it an ”A+”, though some thought it was just “ok”.

All Quiet on the Western Front 

For those of you who did not read it in high school, All Quiet on the Western Front is a 1928 anti-war novel written from the perspective of a German soldier named Paul. It is famous for showing the disastrous effects the war had on both the soldiers and their psyche. Overall, the movie went by very quickly and the performances were spectacular, especially from Felix Kammerer as Paul and Albrecht Schuch as Katczinsky. The shock of wartime was very well contrasted with the more silent moments of the movie. All in all, it showed a very raw portrait of World War 1 life and the novel it recreated. Upon its release, the movie received a 91% rotten tomatoes score, and a 7.8/10 IMDB rating.

Bodies Bodies Bodies 

Bodies Bodies Bodies is a recent thriller starring the comedian Pete Davidson.  Thankfully, its young characters did not fall into the same cringey stereotypes that most movie writers use in an effort to relate to the audience. I thought that the movie was very funny in its absurdity and dead-pan humor, while also providing a shocking, Agatha Christie-like murder mystery. On its release, it received an 86% rotten tomatoes score, and a 6.3/10 IMDB rating.

Other popular movies this year included Free Guy, Black Phone, Elvis, and Smile. With some of the disconnect between movies and its audience, should film producers listen to their audiences more? What are some of your favorite movies?