These might not have made it to world’s highest grossing movies but were nevertheless successful and our very own movies to be proud of. So, let’s go....
COVER STORY
Like every year, we, very dutifully, return with our movie round-up for this year. We will discuss the highest grossing flicks that kept us entertained throughout the year. This time around we will add to our list a couple of our very own Pakistani movies, too. These might not have made it to world’s highest grossing movies but were nevertheless successful and our very own movies to be proud of. So, let’s go.
It was in 1986, when Top Gun took the cinematic world by storm. To say it was successful will be an understatement; it was a phenomenal movie. After 36 years, Top Gun: Maverick managed to do it again and remained the highest grossing movie of the year. This was the effect of the original and it also proves that no matter how many superheroes we have, how advance our technology gets, how many alien invasions we may have experienced, Maverick can steal the show. Oh, not to forget, Tom Cruise hasn’t aged a bit in these 36 years and still looks as hot as he was in the original with his aviator and leather jacket on.
The third and the final instalment in Jurassic World franchise, can we still say our love for dinosaurs is over now? What started off with Jurassic Park in 1990 entered 2022 and people still flock to the cinemas to get a glimpse of their favourite T-Rex or the rest. Starring Chris Pratt in the lead, Jurassic World explores a new threat to the remaining dinosaurs and finds out a way to peacefully co-exist.
Here we come. Of course, if we are doing a movie round-up, it can’t go on without mentioning Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now when we don’t have our (actually, you should read ‘my’) favourite Iron Man, Captain America or Black Widow, it will be Doctor Strange, Thor, Spider-Man and the rest to keep us going.
If you haven’t seen WandaVision series, then this movie will open new doors for how you look at Scarlet Witch. If you are a fan of multiverse and its complexities, then this is the movie for you.
We all love minions. There is no doubt about it. And we also love Gru, the greatest and the sweetest supervillain of all time. However, Minion: The Rise of Gru is actually the untold story of the 12-year-old Gru’s dream to become the world’s greatest supervillain and how he got there. It is a fun, cute, mischievous and, of course, full of minion madness movie that very rightly so enthralled audiences.
Writer’s confession: I didn’t watch The Batman as soon as it was released because I couldn’t wrap my heart around Robert Pattinson’s Batman. For me, I just couldn’t bear a vampire (I still think of him in Twilight terms) becoming the Gotham saviour. It was recently that I was made to watch it and man, I am so ashamed of my earlier misconceptions.
Robert Pattinson’s Batman is impeccable. He perfectly portrayed the darkness and gloominess of the character that you would actually expect from DC. The movie was gritty and thrilling. When you think it’s over, there is more. If you are one of those still recuperating from Christian Bale’s Batman, please do yourself a favour and watch The Batman to truly understand the character and its depth.
The fourth instalment in Thor franchise, Love and Thunder is the least thunderous of them all. Having said this, we do not imply that the movie wasn’t good. It was. But it lacked the magic Thor Ragnarok created for us. It replicated the same grandness of the last movie, bursting with colours and exhilarating soundtrack, but the action sequences lacked the grip we are used to from Marvel movies.
Thor: Love and Thunder had an additional Thor, a female version in the form of Jane Foster but we know that’s the last time we will be seeing her reprising her role. Christian Bale as the main antagonist was, as usual, superb. And who are we kidding? We have already started to wait for the next in series as he is amongst the few who are left from our original Avengers.
We know there are so many more releases from the year 2022 that we will mention in the end but we really need to utilize this spot for our Pakistani releases to support our industry. The Legend of Maula Jatt took everyone by surprise as it crossed the 200 crore mark at the box office, which was reserved for Hollywood or Bollywood movies till date. And it truly deserved it.
Where Fawad Khan and Hamza Ali Abbasi were at their career’s best with Maula Jatt and Noori Nat, we feel it’s important to mention Gauhar Rasheed, Humaima Malick and Faris Shafi’s performances that left a lasting impact on the audiences. The movie had fabulous cinematography, beautiful soundtrack, memorable performances, top notch action and a gripping storyline. It is one of the finest films made in Pakistan and a must watch. This will make you immensely proud of our cinema and our potential.
The scribe is a fan of both director Nabeel Qureshi and actor Fahad Mustafa. Nabeel Qureshi is our new age director who has revamped filmmaking for us. Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad highlights corruption in our society and how it is plaguing our moral and ethical values, things we used to be really proud of.
Fahad Mustafa has yet again done an incredible job with his performance of a corrupt police officer who turns clean after a series of events in his life. Mahira Khan looks fresh and absolutely gorgeous as his love interest. The storyline is solid, the script is gripping and the performances are spot on. A special mention is for the action sequences which are immaculate; though not over the top, they aren’t sloppy at all, which we believe is a win for us all.
Some other movies that are worth your time from 2022 are Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Uncharted, Black Adam, Lightyear, etc. While from Pakistani movies, we have London Nahi Jaonga, Chakkar, Ghabrana Nahi Hai, Kamli, etc.
