From 'Top Gun Maverick' to 'House of the Dragon', how 2022's pop culture was one big shot of nostalgia

When it comes to pop culture, as in pretty much everywhere else, we are obsessed with nostalgia. That is not a bad thing. For humans' ability to remember events from decades ago has helped play a part in making us the dominant species on earth. Memories make humans, well, human.The studios in charge of our movies and even TV shows are perfectly aware of that, and this is why it has become so rare to see money being spent on so little original stuff. Entries in existing franchises and projects related to recognisable IPs do tend to get successful. And 2022 was no different. In fact, the first eight movies in the list of highest-grossing movies of the year worldwide are either sequels to popular movies or part of a well-known intellectual property.

Also Read:Top 10 Hollywood movies of 2022: 'Top Gun Maverick', 'Barbarian', and 'The Batman'

Nostalgia, like God, works in mysterious ways. Sometimes it makes us happy, and sometimes sad. But mostly it's both. Happy because we are watching something we loved when we were younger. Sad because we can never get back to those good old days again. The word 'nostalgia' is a compound from Greek made up of 'nóstos', which means homecoming, and álgos, which means sorrow or pain.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

2022 was chock-full of nostalgia. And that is not just limited to film. In TV, as well, shows that captured the discourse were big-budget iterations of previously established franchises. So what were the shows and movies that gave us our nostalgia fix, and how did they manage to do it? Let's explore nostalgia through both films and TV shows of 2022 briefly:

Also Read:'Avatar The Way of Water' movie review: Visually gorgeous, James Cameron's film repeats original's mistakes

'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'Avatar: The Way of Water'

Not even Tom Cruise would have imagined that 'Top Gun: Maverick' would be a success big enough to left every other 2022 film in the dust. And yet, it grossed almost $1.5 billion. Directed by Joseph Kosinski and written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie from a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, 'Maverick' was the sequel to the 1986 classic 'Top Gun' and brought back Cruise in the role of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, who is now a test pilot and flight instructor. Armed with the modern technology behind the scenes, the film was pure adrenaline rush with some of the best action set pieces in quite a while.

The film is the highest-grossing movie of 2022 globally, though the other film we will discuss, 'Avatar: The Way of Water', will almost certainly dwarf it.

'Avatar: The Way of Water’, the second film in James Cameron's science-fiction franchise and the first of four sequels, features fresh adventures for Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) a paraplegic marine who sided with the Na’vi in the conflict against humans in the original and became one of the tall, lithe, and blue-hued natives himself. He and his native wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) have children now: three of theirs and two adopted. The stakes are higher than ever before.

As the old foes at the RDA return to complete what they started in the first film with a renewed sense of vengeance, Jake and Neytiri flee their homeland with their children to protect the Omaticaya clan.

Also Read:Top 10 TV shows of 2022: 'Better Call Saul', 'Barry', 'Andor' on the list

They find themselves among the Metkayina, a water-loving Na’vi clan with a paler blue skin colour to mirror the sea. They live around a reef and have amphibious qualities, allowing them to inhabit both worlds. Initially unwilling and hostile, the leaders of the clan, Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet) eventually take the fugitives in and teach them their aquatic ways. Unbeknown to them, the Sullys have brought the war right to their shores.

The film, not surprisingly for Cameron and the franchise, is a humongous hit, and in all likelihood will end up with more than $2 billion in worldwide box office gross—and these are conservative estimates.

'House of the Dragon' and 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'

Also Read:'The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power' review: A majestic fantasy TV series worthy of JRR Tolkien

This year marked the great clash between two rival fantasy TV series. Both were prequels. While HBO's 'House of the Dragon' was a prequel to the megahit 'Game of Thrones', 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' was set thousands of years before 'The Lord of the Rings' (both JRR Tolkien tome and Peter Jackson-directed trilogy). Unlike 'GoT, the series' contenders, unlike the War of the Five Kings, are all within the same house: the Targaryens.

'House of the Dragon' introduces Paddy Considine's tragic King Viserys Targaryen I, the reigning monarch, who is good at heart but has a quality that is otherwise noble but detrimental in a king: wanting to please everybody. If you have power over millions and enforce that position with the help of armed forces, it is inevitable that you will displease several sections of your realm. He declares as his heir his daughter and then the only surviving child Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock as young Rhaenyra, with Emma D'Arcy as adult version), kicking off a chain of events that would eventually lead to the Dance of the Dragons.

Also Read:'House of the Dragon' Season 1 review: HBO pull off a worthy 'Game of Thrones' successor

After his wife dies in childbirth, the King eventually marries again to Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey as the younger version, and Olivia Cooke as the adult). She bears him children, and prodded by her conniving father Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the Hand of the King, Alicent, who was fast friends with Rhaenyra when young, grows up to be resentful of the latter's position as the future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

The stage is set for war, and this one is going to be especially fiery. Not metaphorically either. Both sides have dragons, and when dragons will fight, the realm will burn. The war does not really start until the finale, but the season features loads of intrigue, conspiracies, betrayals, and backstabbing to satisfy any fan who loves this world for precisely those things.

Also Read:Yearender 2022: Remembering the stars we’ve lost this year

Some might say 'Game of Thrones' just ended in 2019, so 'House of the Dragon' cannot be called a nostalgia piece. And you'd think that's true, except nostalgia has no relation to how old a thing it is.

With 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power', Amazon's aim was to do what HBO did with 'Game of Thrones'. Which is: to set a new bar for fantasy television and create a cinematic-level experience on the small screen. The last time the streaming service adapted a fantasy epic ('The Wheel of Time')... let's just say it did not work out so well. Amazon, due to the Tolkien fanboi that Jeff Bezos is, put an unheard-of $1.25 billion to bring this series into existence. Despite a few flaws, 'The Rings of Power' is a winner. The world-building is intimate and expansive at the same time. Even the newbies to the franchise should not have any problem following the events of the show. The major characters, a few of which (Galadriel and Elrond) would be familiar to the fans of the film trilogy, are all sketched with impressive detail. The production quality and filming in actual locations lend a sense of realness to a story that, ironically enough, comes under fantasy.

It gets the basics right when it comes to a Middle-earth adaptation. Even in the screeners I was provided with, with all the annoying watermarks, 'The Rings of Power' looked absolutely lush. Ironically, it is so good that even in its episodic form, it looks more suited to be viewed in cinemas than on TV. There are shots of imposing edifices and grand statues that tower over the mountains. There are also familiar vistas showcasing landscapes, hills, valleys, rivers, and faithful recreations of locations like Lindon -- every single frame looks stunning.

Will nostalgia-baiting continue?

As you probably know, nostalgia is not exactly a bad thing. But in films and shows, it is going overboard. Studios are refusing to spend a lot of money on original ideas. And franchise and popular IP projects meanwhile get $200 to $300 million as they have a ready-made audience. It can also make the film industry creatively bankrupt, since writers and directors, particularly those who are new and have little say in the matter, will force to write and direct projects that were made only because the previous projects in the franchise were successful. And that's not good.