What’s New to Stream on Amazon Prime for February 2022

Crossing the Streams is our series of guides looking at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month. This time we’re checking out what’s new to streaming on Amazon Prime in February 2022.

Amazon Prime Pick of the Month for February 2022

Roland Emmerich has a new disaster epic in theaters, but while the charms of Moonfall notwithstanding, sometimes you want a disaster movie with human stakes. J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible (2012) has real-life emotional drama set against the devastating power of nature, and once the tsunami hits — it’s based on the 2004 incident that struck Thailand and elsewhere in the region — Bayona keeps the tension, awe, and heartache dialed all the way up. Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor play parents separated from each other and their kids when the waves hit, and a young Tom Holland is one of the kids struggling to survive. The visual effects and emotional trauma hold up, and it’s highly recommended for viewers looking for an emotional marathon.

New Amazon Original Movies

From location assistant on Tony Scott’s Man of Fire (2004) to a feature film writer/director, Analeine Cal y Mayor hasn’t taken the usual path through Hollywood. Book of Love is her latest film, and the Amazon Original Movie is a romantic comedy about two writers whose book tours collide in Mexico. Misunderstandings and international hijinks ensue, and fans of Sam Claflin and/or Verónica Echegui will want to give it a spin.

The streamer delivers a second Amazon Original Movie nestled in the rom-com subgenre with I Want You Back (premieres February 11th). My hunch is this one will be the funnier of the two, but to be fair I’m basing that solely on the lead casting of Charlie Day and Jenny Slate. The pair play two strangers, both recently dumped by their significant others, who come together for an elaborate plan designed to reunite with their respective loved ones. Will they end up falling for each other instead? Probably, this is a rom-com after all, but either it’ll be a funny ride to the expected conclusion or maybe they’ll actually surprise us and pull a My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) instead. Let’s find out together.

Action!

Look, if I’m going to highlight action movies I’m obviously going to highlight one of the absolute best. So yes, Die Hard (1988) is hitting Prime this month, and while you’ve probably seen it a hundred times it’s worth seeing a hundred more. John McTiernan directs the hell out of this thrillingly entertaining action masterpiece, and every beat continues to sing decades after its release. This is genre perfection, my friends.

The franchise is currently five films deep, but I’d argue the only sequel truly worth a damn is Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995). McTiernan returns and adds Samuel L. Jackson into the mix for an even worse day in John McClane’s life. Big action, big laughs, and one of the best action sequels ever made. The fourth film, Live Free or Die Hard (2007), isn’t as bad as its reputation suggests, but the combination of director Len Wiseman and a PG-13 rating leave it feeling vastly inferior to the two already mentioned.

I write more in detail about it here, but the short version of my review of Reacher Season 1 is that it’s exactly the adaptation fans of Lee Child’s novels have been waiting for. To be clear, I love 2012’s Jack Reacher and everything Tom Cruise is doing there, but this series — and the hulking Alan Ritchson in the lead role — captures the books far, far better. Season one tackles Child’s first novel, The Killing Floor, and with eight episodes devoted to it the novel’s story and characters are given ample space to breathe. Ritchson is terrific delivering the menace, confidence, and wit of the character, and when the action comes it’s good stuff.

Martin Campbell’s latest got lost in the shuffle last year, but The Protege (2021, premieres February 25th) is a solid little action film with a pair of memorable performances. Maggie Q takes the title role as an assassin hoping to avenge the murder of her mentor played by a terrific Michael Keaton, and while the plot is highly predictable the action and interactions between the two more than make up for it.

Laughs!

Spoof movies can be extremely hit or miss, but Black Dynamite (2009) lands every punch and kick it throws. Michael Jai White, never better than he is here, plays the title character who goes looking for vengeance against The Man using every blaxploitation trick in the book. White also co-wrote the screenplay, and it’s clear that not only is he knowledgeable in the subgenre, but he’s also having an absolute blast playing in its world. The more familiarity the better for viewers wanting to catch all the jokes, but even a casual awareness of blaxploitation tropes will allow for some big laughs.

Speaking of spoof films, Jake Kasdan’s Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) delivers a pitch-perfect takedown of biopics including 2005’s Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line — which is also new to Prime this month if you’re looking for an odd double feature. Kasdan co-writes with Judd Apatow, and John C. Reilly goes to town as the most celebrated musical legend you’ve never heard of. Add in a supporting cast that includes Tim Meadows, Nat Faxon, Margo Martindale, Kristen Wiig, Harold Ramis, Ed Helms, and many, many more, and you have a riotous good time complete with memorable songs.

If your comedic tastes run more Jewish and period-centric, you can hardly do better than the fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (premieres February 18th). Rachel Brosnahan returns as the housewife turned stand-up comic in the late 50s/early 60s, and the show continues to weave its personal character tale in and out of real-world issues and personalities. Curiously, as is often the case with fictional comedians on screen, the character’s comedy shows are far less funny than the show itself. Regardless, Brosnahan sells it all.

The Complete Amazon Prime List for February 2022

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Related Topics: Amazon Prime, Crossing the Streams

Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he's so damn young. He's our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists 'Broadcast News' as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.