Now I realise someone is going to say, "Yeah, but what about...?" And then they'll mention Everything, Everywhere All At Once, or Nope. Sorry, but I didn't have much love for either of them. Nope was just terribly contrived, unoriginal, and not as clever as it thought it was. It reminded me,in a way, of the Abrams' directed Star Trek. He simply showed he wasn't a fan and thathe didn't really understand the Star Trek universe.
Nope showed that Jordan Peele simply wasn't familiar with SF as a genre. There was nothing new, a whole bunch of holes and poor plotting. Similar to Shyamalan's Signs. I loved Peel's other work, but this just showed he didn't get SF.
Everything Everywhere was simply a mess. Confused, pointless, and so full of plotholes you could drive an Enterprise through them. I actually got bored about three quarters of the way through. The actors' performances were good. And while I'm thrilled SF and the actors won so many awards at the Oscars, I'm really disappointed this was the vehicle.
Avatar 2 was simply what we expected. Beautifully shot, but ultimately dissatisfying and over-long.
The best SF film I saw in 2022 was Don't Worry Darling. Shades of Philip K. Dick and others. Great performances and direction, and a lot of fun. And that set design. Superb.
And if you enjoyed these other films, than I'm happy for you. But I thought they were well below average,
Here's hoping to a better year for SF in film.