Summer 2022 was filled with a lot of great movie releases. Trying to avoid major spoilers, here is my review of some that I have watched over the summer:

Top Gun: Maverick

I have never watched the 1986 Top Gun movie, so I cannot comment on any of the “easter eggs” that might have been scattered throughout the movie, but it does a great job of filling in some of those gaps and answering the questions for an audience who may be unfamiliar with it. It is also less focused on the romantic aspect, and more focused on action.

Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, one of the Navy’s greatest aviators for more than 30 years is forced to train a detachment of graduates for a special mission from which they might not return. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, Top Gun: Maverick (IMDb score of 8.5/10) is an action-packed film that keeps you on the edge of your seat for the whole two hours. Known for his incredible but real stunts, Tom Cruise wanted the actors to deliver their lines from the cockpit of actual F/A-18 planes. The attention to detail, the simple yet convincing storyline, and the dedication of the crew and actors to deliver a film that felt real, truly elevated the standards for film-making. 9.5/10

Nope

Nope (IMDb score of 7/10) was directed and written by Jordan Peele, who is most famously known for his horror films Get Out (2017) and Us (2019). Otis “OJ” Haywood Jr. and Emerald “Em” Haywood inherited their father’s ranch, a failing business that they desperately try to keep afloat. It is not long before a strange UFO starts making an appearance above the ranch and causing trouble for the horses. Nope is a movie that takes a lot of clichés about UFOs and turns it into a unique and never-before-seen alien horror movie. This thriller has the viewer constantly wondering about the direction in which the story will go, and while the film starts slowly, the more we learn about the UFO, the more thrilling it becomes. There were some parts of the movie that felt useless to the story, in particular the “monkey” storyline, since it did not really matter much at the end of the film. The ending of the movie, especially the revelation and close-ups of the UFO, while beautifully done, felt a bit out of place with the overall arc. It is a movie that will have you talking about it for days. 8/10

Some animated gems

This summer, there were three animated movies that were released which I have enjoyed: Lightyear, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and The Sea Beast. Lightyear, directed by Angus MacLane, follows the story of marooned Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear, who has been trying to get home for years. He has to deal with Zurg’s army of cruel robots, who are trying to steal his fuel source. Fans of Toy Story (1995) got to see the origin story behind the Buzz Lightyear toy, however, the movie was criticized for including a lesbian couple who kissed on screen, and it even received a pretty low score on IMDb (5.9/10), since many viewers have called the movie boring. I personally really enjoyed it: the animation was impeccable, the story was simple yet emotional, and the sci-fi aspect was really interesting. Though not perfect by any means, it is still a fun film to watch. 7.8/10

Minions: The Rise of Gru (dir. Kyle Balda) was one of the funniest movies I have watched this summer, and probably the funniest out of all the Despicable Me films. The plot centers on 11-year-old Gru as he attempts to establish his reputation and join the Vicious 6, an exclusive organization of villains, with the aid of his minions, who are eager to see him succeed. Despite having a low score on IMDb (6.6/10), many of the individual comments were positive and gave it a score of 9/10! While the plot may not be as consistent as the other films and the villains are not as memorable, the movie was overall incredibly hilarious and super fun to enjoy on a Friday night. 8.7/10

The last gem that was released over the summer was the pirate-focused animated Netflix movie The Sea Beast (dir. Chris Williams). With an IMDb score of 7.1/10, the story is about a group of pirates who hunt sea monsters, until a young orphaned girl befriends a red sea-dragon, giving one of the hunters a paradigm-shift. The movie is very obviously inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, yet is still extremely unique and innovative, with an entire cast of diverse characters of different ethnicities and genders. The animation is incredible, the story is well crafted, and the characters are complex. 9.5/10