The 7 Best New Movies on Netflix in February 2022

With winter storms still sweeping through the land, it might be nice to stay in and watch some movies on your streamer of choice. While Netflix is increasingly interested in its own original films, they are still committed to bringing you plenty of classic catalogue titles, including a whole bunch in February. It was hard to pick our favorites, but we tried anyway.

Below are the best new movies on Netflix in February 2022.

The Addams Family

There’s been so much “Addams Family”-related stuff since the two original theatrical films in the 1990s (including but not limited to a Broadway show, two animated features and a forthcoming Tim Burton-directed Netflix series) that it’s easy to forget just how good they both were. The first film, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and co-written by Burton collaborators Larry Wilson and Caroline Thompson (and later re-written by Paul Rudnick), doesn’t have quite the same edge as the sequel but it did establish the world beautifully. This is thanks largely to the note-perfect cast led by Anjelica Houston and Raul Julia and including Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Carel Struycken, Dan Hedaya and Mercedes McNab and the rich production design and cinematography, which turned the old black-and-white TV show (and the even-older black-and-white newspaper strip) into a vibrant, wacky delight.

Blackhat

Criminally ahead of its time, “Blackhat,” a globetrotting cyber thriller starring Chris Hemsworth as the world’s sexiest hacker, is ripe for reappraisal. Directed by Michael Mann, a filmmaker whose works are widely discussed long after release (there’s an entire podcast devoted to his “Miami Vice” remake, seen at the time as a critical and commercial failure), “Blackhat” has some expertly staged set pieces and is filled with the kind of minutia that only Mann is concerned with. While there are some puzzling aspects of “Blackhat,” it didn’t deserve to be so universally ignored (in many countries, the film was released direct-to-video). Mann even went back and created a director’s cut, which was shown theatrically once and has since aired on FX intermittently. And while that is a fascinating curio, just stick with the real deal – if you want a muscular thriller with some great performances and truly jaw-dropping moments, “Blackhat” is for you.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Phil Lord and Chris Miller produced 2021’s animated marvel “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” for Netflix, so it makes sense that a much earlier production of theirs for Sony Pictures Animation, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” would come to the streaming giant. Lord and Miller’s first theatrical feature, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is based on the beloved children’s book by Judi and Ron Barrett and concerns an astronomical anomaly that leads giant foodstuffs to be dropped on a small town. The voice cast, which includes Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell and Mr. T, is a delight, and the unique visuals and aesthetic that they brought to the project makes it standout from other, more standardized family-friendly animation. It’s a joy.

The Devil’s Advocate

“What if a lawyer was literally the devil?” This seems to have been the jumping off point for “The Devil’s Advocate,” a bizarre courtroom drama/legal thriller that stars Al Pacino as the Prince of Darkness and Keanu Reeves as his young protégé, who he is trying to will to the dark side. The movie was supposedly challenging to make, but the final result is a total delight – a bonkers, bloody, at times shockingly sexy occult thriller. Pacino hams it up to the nth degree, particularly in the fire-and-brimstone final act, and Keanu is the perfect innocent seduced by Pacino’s bluster and the excitement of the big city. (Charlize Theron, in an early role, plays Reeves’ wife who comes undone.) There are terrific supporting performances, too, from folks like Judith Ivey, Craig T. Nelson, and real-life creep Jeffrey Jones, and some outstanding creature designs by the legendary make-up artist Rick Baker (you don’t see enough of them, but the glimpses are tantalizing). If you’re looking for a horror movie that’s not too scary, or a legal drama that has a little edge, “The Devil’s Advocate” can fill both (or either) slot.

The Foreigner

How does a movie that reunited director Martin Campbell with his “GoldenEye” star Pierce Brosnan, plus a very against-type dramatic role for Jackie Chan, that is actually really great, fail to get any attention? Well, now here’s your chance. Chan, who barely does any fighting in the movie, plays a man affected by an IRA terrorist attack and eventually tracks down the man he thinks is responsible (Brosnan). A suspenseful revenge drama with actual moral implications, it is beautifully shot by David Tattersall and has a killer score by Cliff Martinez. The less know you going in, the better. “The Foreigner” is the best kind of surprise.

The Last Samurai

Imagine if Tom Cruise starred as the Kevin Costner part in “Dances with Wolves” but instead of the American frontier it was set in feudal Japan and you sort of get the gist of “The Last Samurai.” Inspired by actual historical accounts, “The Last Samurai” is baroque and over-the-top, with Cruise delivering his all (as usual). While the movie is slightly overlong (at a whopping 154 minutes) and more than a little melodramatic (intensified by Hans Zimmer’s sweeping score), there’s still plenty to enjoy, from the cast of both English-speaking and Japanese performers (among them: Timothy Spall, Ken Watanabe, Hiroyuki Sanada, Koyuki, and Tony Goldwyn) to one of the coolest set pieces in early-2000s action movies where a bunch of ninjas face off against some samurais.

Watchmen

Damon Lindelof’s Emmy-dominating “Watchmen” TV series, now available to stream on HBO Max, brilliantly recontextualized Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ groundbreaking comic book, but his wasn’t the first take on the source material. Zack Snyder took a stab at “Watchmen” a decade earlier. His take was less an adaptation than a straight Xerox of the most arresting panels of the Moore/Gibbons original in a series of breathtaking, astoundingly expensive-looking tableaus. The cast (including Billy Crudup and Matthew Goode) are game, and there are a few sequences that will absolutely knock your socks off, in particular an extended sequence detailing the creation of the Godlike Doctor Manhattan. If you’ve only ever seen the show (and never read the comic book), this will serve as a riveting backstory. It’s also one of the most highly contentious, visually arresting comic book movies ever made.