Ben Kendrick

Unlike prior "house party" movies, Project X says nothing meaningful about its subject matter, and instead paints teens as an unlikeable and, worse yet, reckless bunch of automatons that would risk injury to themselves as well as others just for a passing glance from a pretty girl.

Halloween Ends is a satisfying enough conclusion to the H40 trilogy and, overall, the three films provide the strongest Halloween sequel continuity of the franchise's twelve post-Halloween 1978 follow-ups. For that reason, even if Green rolled the dice (and lost) on an underwhelming central premise for Ends, a satisfying conclusion to Laurie's story from Halloween 1978 to 2022 was worth any missteps that plague Kills and Ends. Still, in spite of this, it's hard to ignore that Halloween 2018 set a high bar for Green's revival trilogy - a bar that was undermined by the following chapter and is barely improved in Halloween Ends.

Ultimately, Bullet Train is one of the most entertaining and flashy films of 2022, thanks to lively performances, incredible fight setups, stylish cinematography, and punchy writing.

The movie asks a lot of questions and juggles a lot of ideas, most of them good, but key pieces don't stick their landing - undermining the overall impact of what Novak, clearly, intends to say. A missed opportunity, given that "finding your voice" is one idea that Vengeance spends a lot of time exploring.

Nope, Jordan Peele's movie about a bad miracle, offers a thrilling and humorous twist on Hollywood sci-fi - and serves as a love letter to filmmaking.

Thor: Love and Thunder is a return to form for the MCU: delivering a great solo story that is emotional, exciting, and downright funny as hell.

The result is a beautifully shot and well-acted live-action short story, but one that's missing enough connective tissue, fresh ideas, and time spent between its characters to produce a lasting feature film experience.

Lightyear is a clever expansion of Pixar's beloved Toy Story franchise - packed with fun moments, warm sentiment, and downright gorgeous animation.

Jurassic World Dominion is a messy but fun end to the Jurassic Park sequel trilogy, bringing franchise themes, characters, and nostalgia full circle.

Top Gun: Maverick is a rare sequel that is not only better than the original but retroactively makes Top Gun's story altogether deeper.