Must See Movies and TV Shows of the Summer 

Staff Writer: Kaitlyn Henscheid 

Stranger Things season 4: 

Stranger Things 4 starts off where season 3 leaves off, El, Will, Jonathan and Joyce leave Hawkins and move to California. El is still powerless after losing her powers to the Mind Flare. All the Hawkins kids are split up and are starting their freshman year of high school. This season after thinking that the upside down was officially closed off for good, a new evil has come to Hawkins. Vecna the newest monster starts terrorizing and killing teens in Hawkins starting another exciting season. 

Volume one, which consisted of 7 episodes, was released May 27^th and volume 2 which had only 2 very long episodes was released about a month later July 1^st. All the volumes are now out on Netflix. 

This show is so amazing and deserves a 10/10. This season is by far the scariest season yet and had an amazing plot with lots of twists and turns. In episode 7 the realization that Vecna was one who was also Henry Creel was mind-blowing and left people stunned. The kids were constantly in danger throughout the show and the suspense and anticipation of what was going to happen was great. After waiting almost, a month for the second volume, the epic conclusion left many things hanging in the balance. Everyone was devastated when a fan favorite Eddie died trying to protect everyone. Even though his death was sad as Ariana Maniatis explains, “If he hadn’t died it might have felt as if each character had a plot armor.” Everyone is wondering what is going to happen to Hawkins, is Vecna really dead and will max wake up from her coma? Even though it left off on a huge cliffhanger there is still hope for season 5 which is supposed to come out sometime 2024. 

Thor Love and Thunder: 

In this movie Thor is moving on from his life after, Avengers Endgame, while looking to find peace. However, his search is interrupted when a new villain, Gorr the God Butcher, begins causing problems by killing gods. With the help of Valkyrie, Krog and his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, Thor and his friends embark on a journey to stop Gorr. 

This movie happens after endgame and is Thor’s fourth solo movie. The movie is a funny action-adventure movie and fun for the whole family. 

The movie was funny, entertaining and is a solid 7/10. It was cool to see Jane Foster played by Nataile Portman reprise her role as well as seeing the returning cast who played Krog and Valkyrie. The movie also introduced a bunch of new gods Omnipotence City. Avery Cauwels said, “My favorite part of the movie was getting to see the god realm, it was funny and added a lot to the story.” Christian Bale who played Gorr, did an incredible job and really sold the character as someone who wasn’t truly evil just misguided and blinded by grief. However, the only major thing it had going for it was that it was funny. The movie didn’t really play a significant role in the MCU timeline and had weird moments where they would turn a more serious situation into a comical joke. However, it was a great movie overall and a good laugh. The movie is definitely a must see, however it will be released soon on Disney plus this fall. 

Lightyear: 

In this movie the beloved character from Toy Story gets his own movie. In the beginning of the movie Buzz Lightyear is an intergalactic space ranger and is exploring a new planet, however they encounter violent vines that make the planet inhabitable. Buzz and his team then try to escape the planet, but buzz ends up crashing the ship and they are stranded on the planet. Buzz and the scientists then try to find a solution to fix the hyper speed crystal in their ship. However, every new crystal buzz test, 4 years go by on the plant when it feels like only seconds for Buzz. When he finally finds the solution to fix his ship after years of being gone, he finds that Robots have taken over the settlement. With the help of Buzz’s new friends Izzy, Darby, Mo, and his robot cat Sox, they take on the evil robots in an effort to save everyone. 

This movie is the same movie that Andy, in the original Toy Story, watched that made him want to get the Buzz Lightyear toy. This animated action adventure and great for everyone in the family and is available on Disney plus right now. 

The movie was enjoyable and deserves a reasonable 5/10. It had a pretty good plot with twists and turns. The movie is great for younger kids, but teens and adults would also enjoy it. Chris Evans, who plays the voice of Buzz Lightyear, did a fantastic job, and had some very funny moments. It also according to Olivia O’Connor, “It was sad and impactful when Buzz’s friend died and gave him some perspective on how trying to complete the mission wasn’t always the most important thing.” The animation in the movie is also incredibly good and has evolved since the first toy story movies. However, the movie didn’t have the same feel that a normal Toy Story movie would have. It would have been nice to see more characters we recognized from toy story but at the same time it was supposed to be Buzz’s origin story. Overall, the movie was well written and is enjoyable for the whole family.