The biggest movie and TV disappointments for 2022, from ‘The Rings of Power’ to ‘Morbius’

By Brian Lowry, CNN

The thing about disappointment is that it requires certain expectations and enthusiasm, which spares something like Mike Myers’ awful Netflix series “The Pentaverate” any further abuse (OK, maybe just a little) on this year-end list.

Still, 2022 was filled with movies and TV shows that came armed with advance recognition, committed fan bases, prior track records, or simply intriguing creative pedigrees and casts that, for one reason or another, didn’t deliver as well as hoped.

Here, then, are some of the biggest disappointments of the year, presented in no particular order, other than beginning with movies before segueing to TV. To summarize, it wasn’t a great year for antiheroes or fifth seasons of Emmy-winning dramas.

MOVIES

“Amsterdam”

The combination of director David O. Russell and a star-studded cast headed by Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington couldn’t salvage this muddled period piece, whose message about the dangers of the military-industrial complex were obscured by its uneven tone.

“Morbius”

Jared Leto looked like the right choice to play Marvel’s antihero vampire, but the anemic movie wound up sucking in more ways than one.

“The Gray Man”

Another movie whose creative pedigree and casting far outstripped its rewards, with Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas (who doubled up on Netflix disappointments with “Blonde”) teaming with the Russo brothers (“Avengers: Endgame”) on an expensive action vehicle with a malnourished story. (Notably, de Armas came close to doubling up with another Netflix movie, “Blonde,” though expectations weren’t that high, despite her own excellent performance.)

“Black Adam”

Dwayne Johnson’s star power couldn’t elevate another DC antihero, in a movie that blunted his charisma and seemingly squandered an opportunity to introduce the Justice Society of America. Despite teasing a sequel that no longer appears to be in the immediate cards.

“Pinocchio”

Even with a relatively low bar for live-action versions of Disney animated classics, this reteaming of director Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks — whose collaborations previously resulted in the likes of “Forrest Gump” and “Cast Away” — managed to limbo under it.

TELEVISION

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” (Amazon Prime Video): Here expectations play a major role, since this ambitious prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s saga (and Peter Jackson’s splendid film trilogy) wasn’t bad, exactly, just boring, especially when compared to Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. While its epic and much-discussed budget definitely translated to the screen, the characters didn’t rise to the occasion. “The Rings of Power” had its admirers, and its grandeur reflects Amazon’s massive investment in and commitment to the project. While all that made it difficult to ignore, watching it to the end provoked more ennui than enthusiasm.

“Moon Knight” (Disney+): Oscar Isaac’s multiple-personality hero might have been a tough sell under the best of circumstances, but in a mixed-bag year for Marvel series on Disney+, this was the least satisfying of the bunch, feeling unnecessarily bizarre even before they got around to the talking hippo.

“The First Lady” (Showtime): A terrific cast that included Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson as former First Ladies Michelle Obama, Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt couldn’t save this underwhelming Showtime series, squandering what could have become (and indeed, was envisioned as being) an ongoing franchise.

“The Time Traveler’s Wife” (HBO): HBO’s series adaptation of the popular book never quite overcame the “ick” factor associated with the time-traveling relationship between the principals played by Rose Leslie and Theo James, although it did give the latter an opportunity to spend an inordinate amount of time running around naked. Happily, James fared considerably better in his other 2022 contribution to the network, “The White Lotus.”

“The Crown” Season 5 (Netflix): Reloading with new players in the key roles, Netflix’s usually beguiling look into the lives of the Royal Family delivered its clunkiest season to date, taking some perplexing detours along the way. Then again, perhaps those shortcomings felt more pronounced after the Emmy-winning heights achieved in season 4.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 5 (Hulu): Hulu’s landmark series remained very much of the moment in the context of the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion rights, but the show’s downward creative trajectory since its first two seasons has sped up as it has moved farther away from the book that inspired it, juggling arcs in the US and Canada as well as Gilead. Victimized in part by a multi-season order that slowed its pace, the prospect of wrapping up the show with the sixth season offers hope of achieving greater narrative urgency and reclaiming its place among TV’s best dramas.

CNN, HBO and DC Studios are all part of Warner Bros. Discovery.

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