By Charles Pugh

The 1980s were one of the best decades for escapist entertainment in music, television and film genres such as fantasy, sci-fi and the subject matter of this list, sports themed underdog stories. While films such as Rocky and The Bad News Bears started in the late seventies, it was the high financial success of the sequels that led to Field of Dreams, Chariots of Fire and even 90s examples like The Mighty Ducks.

One of the most important and unique examples goes back to the first Rocky film, when the director to that film, John G. Alvidsen, teamed up with future Fifth Element writer, Robert Mark Kamen, to bring a concept that the latter wrote based on his teenage years, of him learning martial arts to defend himself against bullies, that was described as “Rocky with Karate”, The Karate Kid. This list will rank all the stories of this franchise that made audiences fall in love with the “wax on, wax off” way of life, apart from the short lived animated series.

7. The Next Karate Kid (1994)

Directed by: Christopher Cain

Written by: Mark Lee

Starring: Hilary Swank, Pat Morita, Constance Towers, Chris Conrad, Walton Goggins, Sonny Trinidad and Michael Ironside

Music by: Bill Conti

Rated: PG

A decade after his adventures with Daniel LaRusso, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) travels to Boston to pay tribute to a late fellow fighter from his days in the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II, where he his introduced to the latter’s granddaughter, Julie Pierce (Hilary Swank). Despite disapproving of her bad temper and her constantly getting into trouble at school, Miyagi is impressed at Julie’s skills in karate, and decides to make her his next student, while also having to deal with another aggressive martial arts instructor, Col. Dugan (Michael Ironside)…

Regarded as the black sheep of the Karate Kid franchise due to the fact that it bombed so hard in critical and financial terms, The Next Karate Kid is so despised that not even the hit Netflix sequel series to the films, Cobra Kai, wanted to acknowledge the fact that Miyagi trained another student in his last appearance. 

However, aside from the lack of originality and a lot of pointless subplots, this stand-alone sequel isn’t the worst sequel out there, as once again, Pat Morita’s Miyagi once again saves the film, with Michael Ironside and Michael Cavalieri making for fun new antagonists. 

While Hilary Swank’s new titular character does get off to a very bad first impression, Julie does get more interesting over time and for her first performance, Swank did the best she could do with the unoriginal material.

Overall, despite not being that bad, The Next Karate Kid is definitely the weakest film in the franchise with unoriginal characters and unfunny slapstick.

Rating: 2/5

6. Karate Kid: Legends (2025)

Directed by: Jonathan Entwhistle

Written by: Rob Lieber

Starring: Ben Wang, Jackie Chan, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, Ming-Na Wen, Aramis Knight, Wyatt Oleff and Ralph Macchio

Music by: Dominic Lewis

Rated: 12A

Fifteen years after helping Dre Parker, Kung Fu master Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), now owns his own successful dojo in Beijing, but is forced to say goodbye to his great-nephew, Li Fong (Ben Wang) and his mother (Ming-Na Wen) when they move to New York City. After Li gets into familiar troubles when he crosses paths with yet another aggressive karate prodigy, Conor Day (Aramis Knight), Han goes to New York in order to help Fong defeat Day as well as recruit the late Mr. Miyagi’s best friend, Sensei Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), who, three years after his adventures with Johnny Lawrence, may know a way to combine karate with kung fu…

Despite not really leaving an impact when it came out aside from Jackie Chan’s performance , the 2010 remake of 1984’s martial arts masterpiece, The Karate Kid, ended up becoming the highest grossing instalment of the franchise, in spite of the fact that there wasn’t actually any karate in the film, focusing on kung fu instead. A direct sequel was greenlit with Chan and Jaden Smith set to return in 2014, but numerous production delays, Chan’s dissatisfaction with the script and Smith’s film career not going well, ended up pushing the franchise onto the mat. It seemed that the Karate Kid franchise’s legacy was over, until something completely unexpected in the late 2010s changed everything.

Starting off as exclusive YouTube Premium streaming series before moving to Netflix in its third season, Cobra Kai, a sequel series to the original films, was a massive success with critics and audiences worldwide, which told an epic story that tied up all loose ends of the story, gave almost every character new depths, while also introducing loads of lovable new ones and brought a whole new generation to the series. With the show coming to an end in February 2025, it is not surprising that Sony would be much more confident in bringing the films back, with an interesting twist. As they still wanted Jackie Chan in the film, they decided that the 2010 remake would be brought into the same universe as the original films, with Chan’s Miyagi-like character from the remake, Mr. Han, revealed to have been a friend of Miyagi and that he would team up with Daniel LaRusso, three years after the events of Cobra Kai.

While this does sound like a smart move to relaunch the franchise on the big screen, the problem with Karate Kid: Legends is that it plays it way too safe, reusing the same formula from the 1984 and 2010 films of a kid moving to a new location, he gets in trouble with an aggressive fighter over a girl and gets trained by a mentor to beat him in a tournament. While this formula is easy for mainstream audiences to love, and it was proven to work with the Creed films within the Rocky franchise, if anyone loves the interesting twists and subversive elements of Cobra Kai, don’t expect this here.

However, Ben Wang does make for a likeable new lead, with his subplots of him already being a great kung fu student and him teaching his skills to help his girlfriend’s father (Joshua Jackson) become better at boxing, being the best parts of this film. Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio’s Daniel, fresh off of Cobra Kai, do have fun chemistry, with the jokes regarding their approach to teaching, getting the biggest laughs. 

Overall, despite being very predictable and the questionable pace and editing of the fight sequences, Karate Kid: Legends does manage to be a entertaining return to the big screen dojo for this franchise, even though a Cobra Kai film would have been more exciting.

Rating: 3/5

5. The Karate Kid Part III (1989)

Directed by: John G. Avildsen

Written by: Robert Mark Kamen

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Thomas Ian Griffith, Robyn Lively, Sean Kanan and Martin Kove

Music by: Bill Conti

Rated: PG

Shortly after returning from Okinawa back to San Francisco, both Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his karate teacher and best friend, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), open a bonsai tree shop together after losing their homes. However, their old nemesis, Cobra Kai leader John Kreese (Martin Kove), has hired his Vietnam war companion,  a corrupt billionaire named Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), to seek revenge on the duo…

Derided at the time of its release due to the recycling of the plot of the first Karate Kid film and Ralph Macchio’s Daniel regressing as a character, the third film, as well as the final one to focus on the relationship between him and Miyagi, is not as bad as its reputation suggests.

As mentioned even by some of the harshest critics during 1989, Thomas Ian Griffith is the best part of The Karate Kid Part III, thanks to his ferocious fighting style and his hilarious over the top performance, which, despite being slight derided as being unrealistic for a billionaire to act at the time, was sadly ahead of its time, given how today’s billionaires act at the slightest moment of being criticised.

While Director John G. Avildsen, writer Robert Mark Kamen and even Ralph Macchio have not looked back fondly at the third film, the former two still manages to make this feel as emotional and well directed as the previous films, and Pat Morita is once again, fantastic as Mr. Miyagi.

Overall, despite being the weakest entry of the Daniel-Miyagi story arc, The Karate Kid Part III is not a complete train wreck, as the best parts of this franchise are still present, even if the series was running out of ideas by this point.

Rating: 3/5

4. The Karate Kid Part II (1986)

Directed by: John G. Avildsen

Written by: Robert Mark Kamen

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Nobu McCarthy, Tamlyn Tomita, Danny Kamekona, Yuji Okumoto, William Zabka and Martin Kove

Music by: Bill Conti

Rated: PG

Six months after defeating Cobra Kai, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) learns that his best friend and karate teacher, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), is heading back to his home village in Okinawa, to say goodbye to his dying father (Charlie Tanimoto). Choosing to join him on his journey back home, both Daniel and Miyagi soon find themselves in the middle of a generational conflict between the latter and his former friend, industrialist Sato Toguchi (Danny Kamekona) and his psychotic nephew, Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), who both want to settle an old debt with a literal death match…

As the wise and friendly karate master, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), was the most popular character of 1984’s The Karate Kid, it only made sense for director John G. Avildsen to focus the sequel on him. As a result, The Karate Kid Part II fully embraces the Eastern philosophy of Miyagi, and his backstory is given much more weight with the new location of his home town, offering some fantastic worldbuilding.

While a lot less focused on the karate aspect of the franchise, which does make Daniel feel like a side character at times without much to do, Pat Morita is the heart and soul of the film, with his relationships with new characters, Sato and his own love interest, Yukie (Nobu McCarthy), showing new depths to this fantastic character.

Overall, while the ending battle does feel out of place with the rest of the film’s laid back nature, as if it suddenly remembered that it was a Karate Kid film and had to quickly add in a conflict, The Karate Kid Part II is an interesting continuation of the story of Daniel and Miyagi.

Rating: 3.5/5

3. The Karate Kid (2010)

Directed by: Harald Zwart

Written by: Christopher Murphey

Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, Zhenwei Wang and Yu Rongguang

Music by: James Horner

Rated: PG

Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) has his life turned upside down when he and his mother, Sherry (Taraji P. Henson), move from Boston, America to Beijing, China. Despite forming a crush on a gifted student named Meiying (Wenwen Han), Dre finds himself in trouble with a brutal boy named Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), the toughest kung fu fighter in the ruthless Fighting Dragon dojo. Only with the help of Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), a lonely janitor with a hidden skill for kung fu, can Dre ever hope to defeat Cheng at the upcoming tournament…

Released at the height of Hollywood’s obsession of remaking and rebooting every 80s action film throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s, the Will Smith-produced update of the classic 1984 film, The Karate Kid, does manage to be one of the better ones, even if the title is a complete lie, as karate is not in this film at all.

Despite being a bit too long for a sports film and Jaden Smith’s performance as the Daniel LaRusso-type character being hit or miss, Jackie Chan does a fantastic job as the Miyagi replacement, Mr. Han. Bringing a more gruffer and younger take on this mentor role, their relationship gives off more of an older brother-younger brother approach, which is made more heartwarming when the story comes to the point of his tragic backstory.

Overall, with fantastic fight sequences, Zhenwei Wang giving an absolutely demented performance as a completely different take on the Johnny role and incredible visual presentations of China and its kung fu community, the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid (or not, since the next film, Karate Kid: Legends, reveals that the remake took place in the same universe as the original films), is a great update on the original series, with a greater emphasis on its themes and on the culture of martial arts, even in spite of the lying title.

Rating: 4/5

2. The Karate Kid (1984)

Directed by: John G. Alvidsen

Written by: Robert Mark Kamen

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, William Zabka, Martin Kove and Randee Heller

Music by: Bill Conti

Rated: 12A

After moving from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, California, teenager Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), strikes up a romance with cheerleader Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), which gets him targeted for brutal bullying by her ex-boyfriend, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). After discovering that Johnny is a part of Cobra Kai, an infamous karate group known for its brutality, Daniel receives unexpected help from his new neighbour, an eccentric, yet wise and kind-hearted Okinawan man named Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), who agrees to train him in karate for an upcoming tournament…

Although it is obvious that director John G. Avildsen decided to just take his most famous film, Rocky, make the protagonist a young boy instead of a young adult Italian man,  and switch the sport from boxing to karate for The Karate Kid, it is clear that he is an expert at making timeless underdog sports films.

Pat Morita absolutely deserved his Best Supporting Actor nomination as one of the best mentor characters in cinema, Mr. Miyagi, and his relationship with Ralph Macchio’s Daniel, is one of the most heartwarming out there, especially in several emotional plot twists. Both William Zabka and the delightfully over the top Martin Krove make for fun antagonists, though even before Cobra Kai would completely transform the character of Johnny Lawrence into a much more sympathetic one, his final actions do manage to convey a more complex character once he realises the dark truth about his master.

Overall, with a greater focus on the ideals of learning karate only for self-defence, keeping in touch with  Eastern philosophy, and a timeless underdog story about standing up to injustice, The Karate Kid is another fantastic sports film from the people that also brought the Italian Stallion to life.

Rating: 4.5/5

What, you’re wondering why there is no film at number one. That is because….

Number 1 is: COBRA KAI! (2018-2025)

Directed by: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, Jennifer Celotta, Steve Pink, Michael Grossman, Lin Oeding, Steven Tsuchida, Marielle Woods, Joel Novoa, Tawnia McKiernan, Ralph Macchio, Sherwin Shilati, Joe Piarulli and William Zabka

Written by: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, Joe Piarulli, Stacey Harman, Michael Jonathan Smith, Jason Belleville, Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus, Luan Thomas, Bob Dearden, Alyssa Forleiter, Mattea Greene, Bill Posley, Ashley Darnell, Chris Rafferty, Emily Abbott, Olga Lexell and Kyle Civale

Starring: William Zabka, Ralph Macchio, Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo, Martin Kove, Peyton List, Vanessa Rubio, Thomas Ian Griffith and Dallas Dupree Young

Music by: Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson

Rated: 15

No words, just watch the amazing show!

Rating: 5/5

By Charles Pugh.

Created in response to the popularity of the James Bond films in the U.K., along with a range of other spy and espionage films and television shows like Charlie’s Angels, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Bruce Geller’s Mission: Impossible 1966 tv series was a show that focused more on impossible heists and teamwork rather than having one man do everything himself.

After seven seasons of following the adventures of the IMF, the Impossible Mission Force and two seasons of a brief revival in the late 1980s, Paramount Pictures, which had owned the franchise for years, had long tried to make a film adaptation and were struggling to make it stand out, until they met Tom Cruise.

With his love for insane stunt work, filmmaking and a passion for the arts regardless of his own issues, Cruise transformed the franchise into one of the most successful action film series, which has lasted for almost three decades. With the story of his character, Agent Ethan Hunt finally concluded, it is time we lit the fuse and ranked all of his adventures from worst to best.

8. Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Directed by: John Woo

Written by: Robert Towne

Starring: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandiwe Newton, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Šerbedžija, Ving Rhames and Anthony Hopkins

Music by: Hans Zimmer

Rated: 15

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is given a new mission to prevent the spread of Chimera, a deadly virus, in which the only antidote has been stolen by a rouge IMF agent named Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott). With the help of his old friend, Luther (Ving Rhames), and a former flame of Sean’s named Nyah (Thandiwe Newton), Ethan must once again prove the impossible to stop the world from falling to the virus…

Face/Off director John Woo, much like what Brian De Palma did for the first Mission: Impossible film, brings his background in Hong Kong action cinema to life in the fast-pace editing and action setpieces in this first sequel, even if the plot does suffer from this as a result.

However, aside from Tom Cruise’s infamous stuntwork and a wonderful turn from the uncredited Anthony Hopkins as the head of IMF, the rest of the cast give such bland performances, that the only notable thing to say about it, was that Dougray Scott, thanks to reshoot dates for this film, couldn’t play Wolverine in the first X-Men film, which led to Hugh Jackman’s career being launched into superstardom.  

Overall, Mission: Impossible II does have it’s moments, but the uninteresting characters and lack of plot, makes it the weakest mission that Ethan ever did.

Rating: 2.5/5

7. Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Directed by: J.J. Abrams

Written by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and J.J. Abrams

Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Maggie Q and Laurence Fishburne

Music by: Michael Giacchino

Rated: 12A

Retired to a married life away from the IMF, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is pulled back into action when a failed attempt to rescue a member of his team, leads to him coming face to face with Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the most ruthless and cruel enemy that Ethan must try to outwit, while protecting his teammates and his new wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan)…

The third entry in the Mission: Impossible film series works best if one is willing to consider this film a transitional film from the earlier dated films, to the current critically praised ones. The plot does suffer from overcomplications at times, which isn’t surprising given that two of the writers would move on to other over-complicated messes like the Transformers sequels and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

However, the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman steals the show as the unhinged Owen Davian so much, that even the later films haven’t topped that aspect in how those films write thier villains. Also it’s great that Simon Pegg’s minor role in this film was greatly expanded in the following films, as his two scenes feel the closest in spirit to the original show.

Overall Mission: Impossible III is not the best film storywise, and the action setpieces aren’t that impressive when compared to the other films, but the darker tone, incredible villain and the debut of certain aspects that the later films would use to great success, helps make this mission, one of the most important ones that shaped the future…

Rating: 3/5

6. Mission: Impossible (1996)

Directed by: Brian De Palma

Written by: David Keopp and Robert Towne

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Henry Czerny, Emmanuelle Béart, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emilio Estevez and Vanessa Redgrave

Music by: Danny Elfman

Rated: PG

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), a young agent working for the IMF orgaization, has the worst assignment in his life when his mentor, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), and the rest of his team are killed and he is blamed for their deaths. The only thing that can prove his innocence is a computer file heavily guarded by the CIA, so with the help of a master hacker named Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames), and a pilot named Franz Krieger (Jean Reno), Ethan must devise a plan to retrieve the file before he is hunted down…

Although Paramount’s most critically successful film franchise contains some of the best reviewed action films of the 2010s, the Mission: Impossible films, much like the Fast and the Furious films didn’t start off that way.

The first film for example, coming of the influence of the 1960s television series that inspired these movies, angered longtime fans and the original cast over certain decisions regarding the treatment of the main character of that show, Jim Phelps. However as a film on its own terms, Mission: Impossible mostly succeeds thanks to Brian De Palma’s more stylized approach in production terms, when compared to the action-heavy focus of the sequels.

Overall, this film may not have aged well in the use of CGI setpieces such as the climatic train sequence and fans of the show may not like the treatment of the source material, but Mission: Impossible is a good start to the film series that lauched Tom Cruise into superstardom and if nothing else works, at least everyone can agree that Danny Elfman’s version of the classic theme is the best one yet.

Rating: 3.5/5

5. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendreson

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Holt McCallany, Nick Offerman, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis and Angela Bassett

Music by: Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey

Rated: 12A

A few months after IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) retrieved the key to stop the Entity, the evil AI has overpowered the world’s governments, causing mass worldwide disruption, with the aim of taking control of all nuclear weapons to trigger an apocalypse. Despite all the losses that Ethan has suffered over his near three decade long career, him, along with the likes of his teammates, Grace (Hayley Atwell), Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames),along with the now reformed Paris (Pom Klementieff) and Theo (Greg Tarzan Davis), one of the US agents originally sent to arrest him, must do everything possible to save the world one last time…

After three decades of insanity in stunts, adventure and cinematic scope, Tom Cruise’s biggest contribution to modern cinema, is finally coming to an end. While the now sixty year old pioneer will still inevitably do more stunt work to get that new Academy Award for Best Stuntwork due to take effect in the late 2020s, his most memorable character, IMF Agent Ethan Hunt’s story is set to conclude, nearly three decades after he was introduced in Paramount’s 1996 film adaptation of the iconic 1960s television show, Mission: Impossible.

While it is obvious that the original title for this last entry, Dead Reckoning Part Two, was the more accurate title, given how it directly follows up events from the previous film, concluding the open ended story that had Ethan take on both the timely threat of a Skynet-like AI and his own past, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, is a massive love letter to fans of this franchise, even if the ending could have been a bit more conclusive.

Even if The Final Reckoning sometimes has a bit more flaws than the last five films, with some really slow moments, odd editing choices and some missed opportunities to bring some non-deceased characters back, this last film does tie up some loose ends from both the first and third films, including two supporting characters that tie into the former, one which gives a joke background character a major emotional arc and the other that redeems one of the first movie’s original sins in a very unexpected way.

With the tone being a lot more sober than usual for these films, Tom Cruise gives one of his best performances as a more world-weary Ethan Hunt, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff and Greg Tarzan Davis’s characters are taken in emotional new directions, especially Ving Rhames’s Luther, a character that has been there since the beginning, who is given a very important role in the narrative. Even though Esai Morales’s Gabriel was one of the weakest characters in the previous film, it is made clear that he is second fiddle to the terrifying Entity AI, whose sheer power is made very intimidating.

Overall, despite being slightly more flawed than the last five films in the era that started with 2011’s Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a very satisfying conclusion to this era of the franchise. With all the insane stuntwork that everybody loves about these films, great performances and a gigantic scope, it was truly an honour to be part of this mission.

Rating: 4/5

4. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris and Alec Baldwin

Music by: Joe Kraemer

Rated: 12A

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has discovered the existance of a global criminal network called the Syndicate. With the IMF disbanded and the boss of the CIA, Hunley (Alec Baldwin), overseeing his allies William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) however, Ethan’s resources are limited until he encounters a former MI6 Agent named Isla Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may hold the key to stopping the Syndicate in their tracks….

Coming of the massive success of the fourth film, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation had big shoes to fill and the first director to helm two Mission: Impossible films, Christopher McQuarrie, does an amazing job in creating a visual style that feels the closest to the TV show. This isn’t surprising, considering that the main antagonists of that show, the Syndicate, are finally brought into the film universe.

Although there aren’t as many death-defying stuntwork setpieces that defined the other films apart from a cool airplane sequence, much like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, what sells this film the most is the comradeship of the team itself, as shown with the welcome return of Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), Benji’s one-liners and the tense relationship between Ethan and William.

Overall, like the last film, the villian may not be that great, but Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is still another excellent action film that once again proves that Tom Cruise is one of the best stuntman-actor who ever lived.

Rating: 4/5

3. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga and Henry Czerny

Music by: Lorne Balfe

Rated: 12A

The world’s governments, agencies and even the IMF have lost control of “The Entity”, an experimental artificial intelligence system, which has left Earth vulnerable to worldwide hacking. While Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) assembles his friends, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), to find a way to shut down the AI, a chance encounter with professional thief, Grace (Hayley Atwell) and a figure from Ethan’s past named Gabriel (Esai Morales), turns this latest mission, into a terrifying battle for the fate of the world….

Despite being around for over twenty-five years now, Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible films, based on the 1960s television series, is one of those rare action franchises, along with John Wick, that seems to get better and better with each instalment. While Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, does slightly break this trend by being not as good as the previous film, Fallout, it is only because it doesn’t tell a complete story, with the second part arriving two years later. Every other aspect of this film, is absolutely fantastic.

Tom Cruise, despite his ego and past issues, should be celebrated for being one of the most passionate towards keeping the theatrical experience alive, as along with 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, Dead Reckoning features even more insane set-pieces and stunt work than ever before, from a car chase in Venice, to an incredible climax on the Orient Express. While most of the new villain characters, apart from Esai Morales’s Gabriel, don’t get a lot to do, it is Cruise, along with his relationships with Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson’s characters that really sells the funny and emotional moments. Hayley Atwell makes for a fun new addition as Grace the thief, and returning for the first time since the original film from 1996, Henry Czerny finally returns as the uptight Kittridge, getting some of the biggest laughs of the film.

Overall, with even higher stakes than before and a timely message on the dangers of AI, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, is another fantastic and epic mission from Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie. Despite being an incomplete adventure, much like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, although Paramount only just managed to stick the landing for The Final Reckoning , they still have one of the best action-adventure franchise in the world!

Rating: 4.5/5

2. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Directed by: Brad Bird

Written by: Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Josh Holloway, Anil Kapoor and Léa Seydoux

Music by: Michael Giacchino

Rated: 12A

When the IMF is forced to disband after a failed mission leads to the bombing of the Kremlin, Agents Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and an intelligence analyst named William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), go off the grid in order to recover stolen nuclear codes, that could result in World War III in the wrong hands….

Although there was no doubt that animation legend Brad Bird, fresh off of directing The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Pixar, could breath new life into the Mission: Impossible franchise, no one was expecting the fourth film to outshine the first three films. But 2011 was a year of surprise hits from the likes of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men: First Class and this film.

Aside from the outstanding IMAX stunt-work in the Dubai scenes, what made Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the best film in the franchise at that point in time, is that it fully commits to the show’s formula of the team being the main focus and how their strengths and flaws carry out the missions, rather than focusing entirely on one person, as in the first three films.

Although it’s amazing that Tom Cruise is still doing stuntwork at his age and how he saved his sinking career with the success of this film, the team aspect of the film is what carries this film, with Simon Pegg, Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner’s characters getting as much one-liners, character development and their own action setpieces, as Cruise himself.

Overall, aside from having a less impressive villian than before, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is not only an excellent live-action debut for Brad Bird, but it is one of the best action films of the 2010s that proved that there was life in the old Cruise yet and that along with the other suprise hits of that year, that any belated sequel/prequel/reboot has the chance of being outstanding on its own terms.

Rating: 4.5/5

1. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan and Alec Baldwin

Music by: Lorne Balfe

Rated: 12A

When three plutonium cores are stolen by a new incarnation of the Syndicate called “The Apostles”, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) are forced by the CIA to allow the presence of one of their own assassins, August Walker (Henry Cavill), to make sure that the IMF recovers the bombs. With the help of Ethan’s ally, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Ethan’s team must prove to their violent new teammate, that the IMF can be relied upon again…

Of all of the Mission: Impossible films, what sets the sixth film in Tom Cruise’s most successful franchise apart from those films, is that it breaks the treads of having a different director for each film and having a story that directly follows up from the last film by having Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie, come back as director for this film to continue where he left off at the climax of Rogue Nation. This is made apparent with the return of that film’s main antagonist, Soloman Lane (Sean Harris), as a supporting villain, bringing the fan-favourite character of that film Ilsa Faust back to complete her story-arc and the new antagonists, the Apostles, mostly consisting of former Syndicate members. Along with some other references to the first and third films, Mission: Impossible – Fallout , feels like the first true sequel as the narrative builds on characters and traits introduced in the other films, rather than ditching them for new characters.

Much like the last two films that helped relaunch the fading Mission: Impossible film series, what this film gets right is the team dynamic that made the TV series unique from other spy themed shows. Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg all get their moments to shine in terms of comedy, character development and action set-pieces, and although one does wonder if his moustache was worth ruining Justice League for, Henry Cavill’s August Walker is a great new addition whose brutality makes him an interesting new counterpoint to Ethan’s more swave style of doing his missions.

Overall, Mission: Impossible – Fallout ‘s darker story that questions the role of Ethan and the IMF, the incredible last 30 minutes and the masterful job Christopher McQuarrie has done in giving each character a moment to shine, makes this not only the best film in the franchise, but also one of the best spy/action films of the 2010s alongside the last two films.

Rating: 5/5

The concept of unavoidable death is one of the most frightening concepts to have ever permeated horror cinema. Whereas slasher films like Halloween, Friday the 13th and It usually have their antagonists be visible threats where the protagonists can usually avoid, Final Destination, based on a rejected idea for an episode of The X-Files , shows that Death doesn’t need a face to dispatch its victims.

While New Line Cinema’s franchise is the only horror series that can’t profit out of Halloween costumes due to this fact, their six films about this premise still are fondly relevant today, and here is a ranked list of the worst to the best of Death’s Games.

6. The Final Destination (2009)

Directed by: David R. Ellis

Written by: Eric Bress

Starring: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Mykelti Williamson, Nick Zano, Haley Webb and Krista Allen

Music by: Brian Tyler

Rated: 15

On a day out to a speedway, college student Nick O’Bannon (Bobby Campo) saves his friends and a group of other people from getting crushed in a freak racing accident. However, Death has other ideas for the survivors and Nick and his girlfriend, Lori Milligan (Shantel VanSanten), must find a way to break the latest chain of inevitable death…

Despite getting David R. Ellis back from Final Destination 2 to direct the fourth entry in New Line Cinema’s most cynical horror franchise, The Final Destination is such an unwatchable and annoying dud that ironically, almost killed the franchise despite being the most financially successful of the series.

Although there are problems that the stand alone sequels have that are not improved on, what makes this film the worst is that nearly every character is too unlikable to care about and the 3D effects are so poorly rendered, that it doesn’t even work as a B-Movie splatterfest guilty pleasure.

Overall, with a formula that was running stale even by late 2000s standards, PS1-level effects in the gore, and even the deaths running out of creativity, The Final Destination is proof that this franchise desperately needed new talent to, ironically, survive into the next two decades.

Rating: 1/5

5. Final Destination 3 (2006)

Directed by: James Wong

Written by: Glen Morgan and James Wong

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Kris Lemche, Alexz Johnson, Sam Easton, Jesse Moss and Tony Todd

Music by: Shirley Walker

Rated: 15

After getting a haunting vision, a young woman named Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) manages to save a group of young people from getting caught up in a roller coaster derailment, but loses her boyfriend, Jason (Jesse Moss) in the process. When the survivors start dying in similar circumstances to the Flight 180 victims, Wendy and Kevin Fischer (Ryan Merriman), a young man who also lost his partner in the accident, must team up to stop Death’s (Tony Todd) latest rampage…

James Wong comes back to Final Destination to deliver new demented setpieces for death in the first stand alone sequel for this franchise, where the tone gets more cynical than ever. While Tony Todd only voices Death instead of Bludworth, his small cameo sets the tone perfectly.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman come the closest to recapturing the energy that Devon Sawa and Ali Larter brought to the first film and for her final score for the franchise before her death later on that year, Shirley Walker ends things on a high note with creepy fairground music, fitting the tone for this film’s inciting incident.

Overall, while it is disappointing that the franchise would start getting less pleasant to watch from this point on due to the cynical and less darkly comedic nature of the conclusions (same issue I have with the Smile films), Final Destination 3 kicks off the standalone films on a creative note with great performances and gory fun deaths.

Rating: 3/5

4. Final Destination 2 (2003)

Directed by: David R. Ellis

Written by: J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress

Starring: A.J. Cook, Ali Larter, Michael Landes, David Paetkau, James Kirk, Lynda Boyd, Keegan Connor Tracy, T.C. Carson, Justina Machado and Tony Todd

Music by: Shirley Walker

Rated: 15

One year after the Flight 180 disaster, another near brush with Death, this time foreseen by teenage girl Kimberly Corman (A.J. Cook), results in her and another group of survivors of a massive traffic accident, being targeted by Death, this time, in reverse order. Along with a police officer named Thomas Burke (Michael Landes) and with the only survivor of Flight 180, Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), Kimberly must find a way to stop these new deaths…

Despite being the closest thing that this sadistic franchise got to a happy ending, Final Destination 2 still manages to up the creativity in the way that Death dispatches its victims, while also further expanding the worldbuilding regarding the way that Death operates and its relationship with humanity.

Aside from the late Tony Todd showing up for his exposition scene, the only other returning character is a much more interesting take on Clear Rivers, which Ali Larter portrays to such great effect, at least until her unsatisfactory arc conclusion. A.J. Cook and Michael Landes do manage to be likeable new leads, and even though the amount of characters are less interesting than the first film, they haven’t reached the level of hatred that some of the characters in the later sequels would be. 

Overall, while not being as fresh as the original film’s premise of the true meaning of Death, Final Destination 2 does manage to be entertaining enough for a second trip into the game of life.

Rating: 3/5

3. Final Destination 5 (2011)

Directed by: Steven Quale

Written by: Eric Heisserer

Starring: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner and Tony Todd

Music by: Brian Tyler

Rated: 15

During a company retreat, a vision seen by office worker Sam Lawton (Nicholas D’Agosto), helps him and the rest of his coworkers survive a catastrophic bridge collapse. However, when the survivors soon start dying in mysterious circumstances, Sam and his ex-girlfriend, Molly Harper (Emma Bell), along with the rest of the workers, learn that Death is hunting them down and according to William Bludworth (Tony Todd), the only way to survive is to make a difficult choice…

Although the fourth film in New Line Cinema’s Final Destination series was intended to be the last one, the high box office success convinced them to make another one, in spite of The Final Destination also having the worst reviews of the franchise.

Going back to basics with the fifth film by bringing back the Vancouver filming locations, Tony Todd’s William Bludworth and the more atmospheric horror of the first film, Final Destination 5 is a welcome return to form, even with far more creative uses of 3D in the death sequences. Nicholas D’Agosto and Emma Bell, despite not being the most memorable leads, are a massive improvement over the snore fest of leads from the fourth film.

The shocking plot twist of where this story fits into the timeline, is what fans most remember about this entry, which makes Final Destination 5, out of all the stand-alone entries in this series, to have a reason for having yet another overly pessimistic ending, while also throwing in a funny death like in the first two films.

Overall, with one of the best bridge destruction scenes in film history along with Mission: Impossible III, new worldbuilding for this universe and great and gory deaths, Final Destination 5 was a great improvement for this series, even if fans had to wait another fourteen years to see Death return.

Rating: 3.5/5

2. Final Destination (2000)

Directed by: James Wong

Written by: Glen Morgan, James Wong and Jeffrey Reddick

Starring: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke, Chad Donella, Seann William Scott, Amanda Detmer and Tony Todd

Music by: Shirley Walker

Rated: 15

After having a terrifying dream, high school student Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), manages to get a group of his friends off a plane, including an outsider girl named Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), just before the aircraft suddenly explodes in the air.  However, Alex, Clear, jock Carter Horton (Kerr Smith), his girlfriend Terry Chaney (Amanda Detmer), class clown Billy Hitchcock (Seann William Scott), Alex’s best friend, Tod Waggner (Chad Donella) and their teacher, Ms. Lawton (Kristen Cloke), all find themselves at the mercy of Death, who has sworn revenge after being cheated…

Originally planned as an episode idea for the hit television series, The X-Files, Final Destination, which also took inspiration from a real nightmare that writer Jeffrey Reddick had about the true meaning of death, is a lot more atmospheric and mysterious than the gore heavy sequels, feeling like an episode of The Twilight Zone at times.

While the insane creativity of how Death dispatches its victims is started here, Director James Wong takes a much more restrained approach to the concepts of how Death operates, which results in some truly chilling moments, especially with the opening scene and in the moments before a killing happens.

Both Devon Sawa and Ali Larter make for the best characters of the franchise, along with the late Tony Todd making his one scene debut as the mysterious William Bludworth. While a lot of the other characters do embrace the stereotypical traits that the sequels would solely rely on, some like Seann William Scott’s comedic timing and Kristen Cloke’s traumatised teacher, do make them more interesting than usual.

Overall, Final Destination is a great and haunting experience about the terrifying concept of how the simple idea of being unable to control your own death, even if some of the first film’s least popular elements would become a lot more prominent as the franchise went on.

Rating: 3.5/5

1. Final Destination Bloodlines (2025)

Directed by: Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein

Written by: Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor

Starring: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Richard Joyner, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, Gabrielle Rose and Tony Todd

Music by: Tim Wynn

Rated: 15

College student Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), after having mysterious visions of her grandmother, Iris Campbell (Gabrielle Rose and Brec Bassinger as a young woman) dying in her youth in a building collapse, finds out that these dreams are actually warnings. After discovering from Iris that her family has become Death’s latest targets after the former prevented the collapse in 1968, Stefani must find a way to survive…

After taking a fourteen year long hiatus, with a cancelled concept for a sixth film being a soft reboot that focused on EMTs, hospital staff and police and fire departments, given that they see death all the time in their careers, Final Destination has finally returned with Bloodlines.

While this sixth entry in New Line Cinema’s most pessimistic horror franchise is yet another standalone sequel to the now-twenty-five year old original that is a bit too cynical, Final Destination: Bloodlines has also gone back to the creativity that made the first two films so entertaining to watch. The death scenes that everybody loves about this gory series, are a lot more inventive and subversive than in previous films and the worldbuilding is brought full circle with a surprisingly emotional sendoff for fan favourite character, William Bludworth (Tony Todd), which results in the late Tony Todd giving one final performance as the cryptic mentor.

Overall, even with the formula starting to get a bit repetitive, Final Destination: Bloodlines opens up new possibilities for new kind of Death stories for this franchise , with new time periods, the consequences of preventing bigger mass death events and having much more likable characters such as Kaitlyn Santa Juana and Teo Briones‘s new protagonist sibling characters, ensuring that this series, unlike Death’s victims, will never stop surviving.

Rating: 4/5

We Live in Time

Directed by: John Crowley

Written by: Nick Payne

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Lee Braithwaite, Aoife Hinds, Adam James, Niamh Cusack and Douglas Hodge

Music by: Bryce Dessner

Rated: 15

Told in a nonlinear narrative, Tobias Durand (Andrew Garfield), a recently divorced cereal executive, gets accidentally injured by a young Bavarian cuisine chef, Almut Brühl (Florence Pugh) . As they end up falling in love and starting a family together, a cancer diagnosis ends up putting their relationship to the test, especially when a major opportunity rises for Almut…

After directing the excellent Brooklyn in 2015, Director John Crowley is set to rebuild his reputation even after his 2019 follow-up, The Goldfinch ended up as a massive disappointment at the box office. While We Live in Time does follow the traditional weepie formula that films like The Fault In Our Stars and Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl follow, the non-linear approach does make it stand out, in spite of how confusing some audiences may find the opening.

Both Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh carry the film as these absolutely adorable characters and while their doomed romance does lead to some contrived scenes, it is their performances and some of the episodic moments, that makes their love story work. 

Overall, while the non-linear editing and the ending could have been fleshed out better, with the latter ending a bit too abruptly to make an impact, We Live in Time is a great early Valentine’s gift, even if it doesn’t have a photobombing horse, like the first poster promised.

Rating: 3.5/5

Nosferatu (2024)

Directed by Robert Eggers

Written by: Robert Eggers

Starring: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney and Willem Dafoe

Music by: Robin Carolan

Rated: 15

In 1843 Germany, Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), is a young haunted woman, who has recently gotten over her childhood trauma, with the help of her husband, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult). When Thomas is sent to Transylvania to oversee an estate sale for the mysterious nobleman, Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), he soon discovers that his new client has dark secrets, a lust for blood and a mysterious connection with Ellen…

Interest in Universal’s classic monster films have recently grown due to the success of recent reinventions of characters like Frankenstein’s Monster, The Invisible Man and the Creature of the Black Lagoon, such as Poor Things, the 2020 remake of The Invisible Man and The Shape of Water. With even more radically different takes on The Wolf Man and Frankenstein set to come out in 2025, the first of these, is a long-awaited passion project for the acclaimed director of The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman, Robert Eggers, a remake of one of the most important horror films in film history, Nosferatu.

Regarded as the grandfather of all horror cinema, this 1922 silent film was an illegitimate adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula novel, with all the characters names changed and the location relocated from London to a fictional German 1840s town, which almost led to all the copies being destroyed, until surviving reels showed up decades later. In spite of this, Nosferatu has since become one of the most popular horror films ever made, with a Werner Herzog remake in 1979, several radio and stage adaptations and numerous parodies seen on the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants and Muppet Babies (of all things).

As Robert Eggers has established himself as one of the best modern auteurs in recent years, his gritty and unconventional approach to production design based on occultism and European mythology, is a perfect match for this type of film. The outstanding job on the Gothic village, Orlok’s castles and the surrounding countryside, makes Nosferatu one of the best looking horror films in years.

While some of Eggers’s most devoted fans may be slightly disappointed that this doesn’t offer as much surprises when compared to the off-kilter nihilism of his other films, it is clear that he absolutely loves this story, as this take, in spite of all the blood, murder and death, is the most emotional and character-driven take on the Bram Stoker vampire story.

While the likes of Nicholas Hoult, a surprisingly good Aaron Taylor-Johnson and the underrated Ralph Ineson all do fantastic jobs as their roles of the supportive husband, the cynic who loses the most and the town doctor forced to deal with supernatural trauma, the three scene-stealers are Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe and Bill Skarsgård as Ellen, Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz (the Van Helsing character) and Count Orlok the vampire. 

Depp gets one of the strongest arcs as a much more emotional take on the Mina Harker role, Dafoe brings a surprisingly emotional and sympathetic Van Helsing to unexpected depths and as for Skarsgård, he manages to make his take on a character that Max Schreck made iconic in 1922, absolutely terrifying and chilling, while also adding back Dracula’s nobleman background, along with (something that nearly all Dracula adaptations have removed), his moustache, even if it does look a bit distracting whenever he stares directly into the camera.

Overall, Robert Eggers’s version of Nosferatu, is the horror film that lovers of German Expressionism horror, gothic fiction and Hammer Horror, have waited decades for. While a lot more straightforward than his other films, Egger’s passion for this timeless story is as clear as the bite marks Orlok leaves on his victims.

Rating: 4.5/5

Babygirl

Directed by: Halina Reijn

Written by: Halina Reijn

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde and Antonio Banderas

Music by: Cristobal Tapia de Veer

Rated: 18

Romy Mathis (Nicole Kidman) may be the CEO of a successful New York tech company, but she is unable to enjoy a satisfying sex life with her otherwise loving husband, Jacob (Antonio Banderas). When Romy is chosen to become the mentor of new intern, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), she find herself drawn to him, in spite of his young age and odd behaviour…

Erotic dramas such as the likes of Basic Instinct or Indecent Proposal, or even Stanley Kubrick’s last film, Eyes Wide Shut, are hard to make nowadays, given how polarising the subject matter is to modern audiences. However, that hasn’t stopped Dutch Director Halina Reijn, from trying to bring something to this subject with her latest film. 

While Babygirl does miss a lot of opportunities to present how difficult that a relationship that came out of 1980s-1990s erotica films, can survive in the highly strict hierarchy of American businesses, it is Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson’s commitment to acting these characters out, that prevents this from being a misfire.

Overall, despite having unintentionally funny moments, like the whole idea that no one finds Antonio Banderas’s character attractive and a slightly too optimistic ending given the premise, Babygirl is an ok throwback to a bygone era of modern Hollywood.

Rating: 3/5

A Complete Unknown

Directed by: James Mangold

Written by: James Mangold and Jay Cocks

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz and Scoot McNairy

Music by: N/A

Rated: 15

In 1961, a young musician named Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet), is invited to stay with Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), a folk singer who also works as the caretaker of Dylan’s idol, Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). Throughout the next five years, Dylan goes through his album work, his relationships with his estranged girlfriend, Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) and fellow singer, Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) and his changing feelings on folk music, leading to a controversial decision during the 1965 Newport Folk Festival…

With 2025 set to kick off a long list of music biopics, including Michael, Deliver Me from Nowhere and the four-part Beatles film from Sam Mendes, it was only a matter of time before one of America’s most popular folk singers, Bob Dylan, would get his chance to shine.

With Dylan having won an Oscar, ten Grammies and worldwide fame for his music, activism and even his artwork, it is surprising, yet interesting that Director James Mangold, has chosen to not only focus on one specific time frame, his rise to fame in the early 1960s up to his infamous 1965 concert, but also to show how much of a a flawed person he was. Timothée Chalamet does a fantastic job in portraying both sides of the singer, while the likes of Edward Norton, Elle Fanning and especially Monica Barbaro, are all great as well.

Overall, while some of the musical sequences could have been better staged and the pacing does sometimes get too slow, A Complete Unknown is a great introduction to Bob Dylan’s music and folk music history in general.

Rating: 3.5/5

Wolf Man (2025)

Directed by: Leigh Whannell

Written by Leigh Whannell and Corbett Tuck

Starring: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth and Sam Jaeger

Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch

Rated: 15

Three decades after witnessing a mysterious creature in the woods of Oregon, Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott) decides to take a trip back to his home to spend more time with his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth). When they arrive, Blake is attacked by another creature and slowly starts to transform into a werewolf in front of his family’s eyes…

Five years after revitalising Universal’s Classic Monster franchises with his update on The Invisible Man, director Leigh Whannell has decided to tackle another Universal monster that has had many reworkings over the years, The Wolf Man. Much like Invisible Man, a reboot of 1941’s The Wolf Man, was originally intended to be part of the ill-fated Dark Universe, which would have had Dwayne Johnson of all people, playing the Larry Talbot role of the titular monster. However, after the first film of Dark, The Mummy, bombed both critically and financially, Universal launched another attempt in the wake of Invisible Man’s success, which at one point had Ryan Gosling attached, before he was replaced by Christopher Abbott. 

Much like Invisible Man, Wolf Man is set in modern day and uses postmodern themes of trauma to rework the story to have more emotional weight. While the original film and the 2010 Joe Johnston remake had a heavy focus on a father and son relationship, this take tries to also add the previously mentioned trauma theme, to show how the unlucky protagonist’s scars can never fully heal. However, unlike the previous film, Wolf Man doesn’t have time to fully explore these ideas, as most of the running time is dedicated to being an underwhelming haunted house scenario, with only one transformation due to the narrative taking place in one night.

While the three leads, Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner and Matilda Firth, try the best at what they are given, and they do give solid performances in the third act, the 2025 remake of Wolf Man is an overall dull affair, with OK practical effects and a decent idea. However, unlike Invisible Man’s dark themes about how far abusers will go, the themes just feel tired and repetitive here.

Rating: 3/5

Flight Risk

Directed by: Mel Gibson

Written by: Jared Rosenberg

Starring: Michelle Dockrey, Mark Wahlberg and Topher Grace

Music by: Antônio Pinto

Rated: 15

After arresting an accountant named Winston (Topher Grace) and offering him freedom in exchange for information on a crime boss, U.S. Marshal Madolyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) hires a private aircraft to take him to New York to testify. However, her pilot, Daryl Booth (Mark Wahlberg), has other plans…

Originally produced as one of the unmade screenplays of the 2020 Black List, Flight Risk was eventually picked up by Lionsgate in 2023 as controversial director, Mel Gibson’s next film.  Regardless of how awfully out of touch he has gotten socially , his skills as a director on films such as Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ and Hacksaw Ridge, couldn’t be denied.

Unfortunately, none of his technical skills are present in Flight Risk, which is just another 90s-style action thriller set in one location with a small cast, with one of the worst looking uses of CGI in how the backgrounds and in particular, a moose, look in a 2025 film.

While Michelle Dockery tries to add some depth into this, both Topher Grace as the witness and Mark Wahlberg as the antagonist pilot are really annoying characters that aren’t even fun enough to recapture the cheesiness that made 90s action films enjoyable in the first place.

Overall, Flight Risk ironically, doesn’t take any risks at all in providing anything than cheap popcorn entertainment, which definitely isn’t a bad thing, if the characters were interesting or if the direction wasn’t on autopilot (hah!).

Rating: 1.5/5

Companion

Directed by: Drew Hancock

Written by: Drew Hancock

Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén and Rupert Friend

Music by: Hrishikesh Hirway

Rated: 15

Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid), a seemingly happy young couple, travel to an isolated lake house to meet up with their friends. When Iris accidentally kills their host, Sergey (Rupert Friend), Josh reveals a dark truth about her, that forces her to come to terms with her true purpose…

As films built around social satires such as Get Out, Knives Out and The Menu are needed more than ever and having been winning praise from fans and critics, Companion, the latest film to have come from producer Zach Cregger after directing the excellent Barbarian, takes things to the next level, even if it comes from first-time director and  writer, Drew Hancock.

While the marketing and trailers may have give away too much of this film’s plot, the ideas and themes about self-identity, entitlement and how incel culture can destroy relationships, makes Companion,  an overall entertaining, yet violent anti-love story, with a great double performance by Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid.

While not as smart as those other films. Companion’s biting satire and great direction , should help win the hearts of fans of elevated horror and science fiction cinema in general.

Rating: 4.5/5

Maria

Directed by: Pablo Larraín

Written by: Steven Knight

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer, Stephen Ashfield, Valeria Golino and Kodi Smit-McPhee

Music by: N/A

Rated: 12A

Set in 1977 during the final week of her life, opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie) struggles to come to terms with her now-frail voice and her own relationships with her loyal butler and housemaid, Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino) and Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher). As she starts to hallucinate visions of herself making her own documentary with a young filmmaker named Mandrax (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Maria also remembers key events in her life that led to this moment…

Chilean director Pablo Larraín, who most recently directed the 2021 Apple miniseries, Lisey’s Story, has decided to complete his unofficial “Strong Women” trilogy, that previously consisted of 2016’s Jackie and 2021’s Spencer, with this biopic about the final week of the life of American-Greek soprano, Maria Callas, who was one of the most influential female opera singers in the twentieth century.

However, one does wonder whether Pablo should have picked another more famous female pioneer, as aside from Angelina Joliet’s striking performance as a veteran singer on her last notes, there is not much about Maria that the two previous films already brought to the big screen, which is made more obvious when Caspar Phillipson‘s John F. Kennedy, who previously appeared in Jackie, unexpectedly reprises his role here, making this an unintentional prequel/sequel to that film, even if Natalie Portman’s character doesn’t appear, in spite of Jackie’s real-life connection to Maria in history.

Overall, while Angelina Jolie is great and both Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher do get the best moments as Maria’s long-suffering butler and housemaid, Maria lacks the right notes for Pablo’s trilogy finale.

Rating: 3/5

September 5

Directed by: Tim Fehlbaum

Written by: Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David

Starring: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin and Leonie Benesch

Music by: Lorenz Dangel

Rated: 15

During the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the crew of ABC Sports suddenly find themselves in a difficult situation when a group of terrorists hold several Israeli athletes hostage. When Roone Alredge (Peter Sarsgaard), President of ABC Sports and Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) notice that their building is located near to the apartment complex where the crisis is taking place, they try to take advantage of this to cover the story live before anyone else can, which leads to tragic events, where their ethics are put to the test…

While much has already been said about the ethics of making a film about the 1972 Munich massacre during the Summer Olympics, one of the most tragic sporting disasters of the twentieth century, at the same time as the current events in Israel and Gaza, September 5, much like how Steven Spielberg’s Munich mostly focused on the consequences of the aftermath of the attacks, does manage to work as a study into how the media could have played a role in making these horrific events worse.

Taking place from the point of view of the ABC Sports Team that covered the tragic events, September 5 is extremely tense and difficult to watch knowing how this moment in history ended. While more could have been done to present a clear cautionary tale about how media reports events without thinking of consequences, the acting from the likes of Peter Sarsgaard’s Roone Arledge, Leonie Benesch‘s translator character, and especially John Magaro and Ben Chaplin as the heads of control room and operations, do manage to make this film, a powerful experience.

Overall, while it doesn’t go to the darker complexities behind the attacks like what Munich did, September 5 does manage to stand out as a chilling, yet tragic tale about the dark truths about how media reacts to unexpected news and how wrong decisions can lead to disaster.

Rating: 3.5/5

Dog Man

Directed by: Peter Hastings

Written by: Peter Hastings

Starring: Peter Hastings, Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Lucas Hopkins Calderon, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, Billy Boyd and Ricky Gervais

Music by: Tom Howe

Rated: U

In the city of OK, after a tragic accident with a unsuccessful attempt to defuse a bomb, Officer Knight (Peter Hastings) and his best friend, Greg the dog (Also Peter Hastings) undergo a life-saving operation where the latter’s head is attached to the former’s body, resulting in the birth of Dog Man. While Dog Man wins the favour of the city and his short-tempered Chief (Lil Rel Howery) with his heroics, his arch-nemesis responsible for his accident, Petey the Cat (Pete Davidson), decides to clone himself to gain better advantage over his rival. However, his new cloned son, Li’l Petey (Lucas Hopkins Calderon), has no desire for evil and starts to form a bond with Dog Man…

After bringing the fantastic Captain Underpants books by Dav Pilkey to the big screen in 2017 with Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, DreamWorks Animation have decided to adapt the author’s other most popular franchise, Dog Man, as well. Originally mentioned as one of George Beard and Harold Hutchins’s first comics in the first Captain Underpants book, before playing a major narrative role in the tenth book, Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Re-Turn of Tippy Tinkletrousers and the ending of the final book, where George and Harold decide to revive his stories, Dog Man has since nearly eclipsed the Wedgie Warrior in terms of popularity in school libraries and with children. 

With twelve books already published since 2016 and a recent stage musical, it was only a matter of time before DreamWorks Animation would return to adapt Pilkey’s new series, and much like Captain Underpants, it fully embraces the silly humor and Pilkey’s art style (only now drawn in George and Harold’s own illustration style), that made these books so popular with children.

While the story isn’t as well balanced when compared to Captain Underpants, Dog Man does manage to tell its “Robocop for kids” premise of a human-dog hybrid with enough funny and heartwarming moments, especially in the surprising arc revolving around Petey and his relationship with his kitten clone. Li’l Petey, a fan-favourite character from the books, does get some of the cutest moments, especially in his relationships between his “father” and with Dog Man. 

While the likes of Pete Davidson as Petey, Lil Rel Howery as Chief and Isla Fisher as news reporter Sarah Hatoff all give great vocal performances, Director and Writer Peter Hastings (who also served as show runner of Netflix’s The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants animated series), does make the right decision in keeping Dog Man wordless as he is in the books, making him a really entertaining silent character, much like Shaun the Sheep and Gromit.

Overall, while not as funny as Captain Underpants, Dog Man is a really cute and hilarious film that kids and fans of this franchise will love, much like the titular character’s love of tennis balls!

Rating: 3.5/5

The Brutalist

Directed by: Brady Corbet

Written by: Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

Starring: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé and Alessandro Nivola

Music by: Daniel Blumberg

Rated: 18

In the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, Hungarian-Jewish survivor and architect, László Tóth (Adrien Brody), arrives in the United States to seek his fortune. Separated from his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and niece, Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy), and being forced to live in charity housing after a failed attempt at a surprise construction job,  László gets another chance to build a massive community centre, when his work catches the eye of an arrogant industrialist named Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce)…

After years of acting in television and films such as Thirteen, Mysterious Skin and Thunderbirds: The Movie, Brady Corbet has since gone into directing the likes of The Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux, which has lead to his most ambitious project yet, The Brutalist, a tough examination of how Jewish immigrants displaced by WWII struggled when they emigrated to America after fleeing from the Nazis.

Delayed numerous times due to COVID restrictions and half of the cast (originally consisting of Joel Edgerton, Marion Cotillard, Sebastian Stan and Mark Rylance) having to be replaced due to scheduling conflicts, The Brutalist is one film that has been gaining attention at the 2025 award seasons due to its timely story about immigrant’s struggles in America and the fact that it seeks to recapture the spirit of 1950s-70s large scale epics like David Lean’s filmography, The Ten Commandments and Once Upon a Time in America, complete with overture and intervals.

As expected from a film designed to resemble those films, The Brutalist is outstanding from a filming perspective and, while not as large as the huge scale action of Commandments or Ben-Hur, the large format camera angles showing off the American landscapes, and mountains, makes this look huge in scope.

Adrien Brody is absolutely fantastic as the troubled architect, László, while the likes of Guy Pearce, Isaach de Bankolé and Joe Alwyn all give very committed performances as the industrial and human side characters. Even if she doesn’t appear in the film until the second part, it is Felicity Jones who gives the best performance as the former’s wife, especially in the final thirty minutes in an emotionally satisfying way.

Overall, while the rumours about how much AI was used in this film might hurt its chances at awards season, The Brutalist is still a very impressive piece of art that shows how unobtainable the American Dream is for most people.

Rating: 4.5/5

Captain America: Brave New World

Directed by: Julius Onah

Written by: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah and Peter Glanz

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson and Harrison Ford

Music by: Laura Karpman

Rated: 12A

Three years after defeating the Flag Smashers and finally accepting his role as the new Captain America, former Falcon Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), along with the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), are invited to the White House by the new President and Wilson’s former enemy, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford), who wants to redeem himself for his previous mistakes with the Hulk and the Sokovia Accords, by asking them to help him reform the Avengers. However, when Bradley suddenly gets framed for a terrorist attack, Wilson and Torres set out to prove his innocence, while discovering that an unresolved conflict from the Hulk and Ross’s past, has finally decided to re-emerge…

With Marvel’s Phase Five set to end in 2025 with this film, the  Daredevil: Born Again Disney+ series and Thunderbolts, one of the last projects greenlit by the Bob Chapek “make endless content” era, is yet another film that requires the audience to have watched a Disney+ series to fully understand after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Marvels (which followed WandaVision, Loki and Ms. Marvel), as well as previous films. 

However, what sets Captain America: Brave New World apart from those, despite also being a sequel to the 2021 streaming series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which saw the Falcon finally accept the mantle of Captain America after being given his shield in Avengers: Endgame, is that it is also trying to fix the concept of a shared universe that The Infinity Saga previously did extremely well.

Tying up plot threads from Captain America: Civil War, Falcon and the Winter Soldier with the return of several characters from that show, Eternals, with the much mocked dead Celestial being finally being addressed by the rest of the characters in the franchise , and most notably, finally resolving one of the last remaining plot threads from the MCU’s early films, the events of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, in which Liv Tyler’s Betty Ross and Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns (who finally becomes the fan-favourite character, The Leader), finally return to the franchise since 2008. However, as a result, this can feel less like Captain America 4 and more like The Incredible Hulk 2, costarring Captain America.

However, despite this odd premise, the acting is still as strong as ever. Anthony Mackie proves himself worthy as the new Captain America, even if he lacks the relatability of Chris Evans’s Steve Rogers, while returning faces from the Disney+ series, Danny Ramirez‘s Joaquin Torres and Carl Lumbly’s Isaiah Bradley, the latter being one of the best aspects of that show, continue their strong arcs. However, while both Giancarlo Esposito‘s Sidewinder and the returning Tim Blake Nelson make for fun villains, the worst performance comes from a new Black Widow character, Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), which isn’t made better by the obvious editing to change her into a new character after the original plans were extremely controversial (Don’t ask about it). 

However, while his CGI as the transformed Red Hulk is questionable, the best performance comes from Harrison Ford as Thaddeus Ross (previously portrayed by William Hurt in Incredible Hulk, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame and Black Widow). Having this antagonistic character going through a character study narrative about his attempts to redeem himself, even if his arc of learning to take responsibility for his mistakes, is ironically the least believable thing in a film with men with winged suits, gamma infected people and a giant robot lying in the sea.

Overall, while Captain America: Brave New World has a major identity crisis about trying to pay homage to realistic 90s political thrillers (which is impossible when it also features a giant red man and the main villain being a man with a mutated head), it still manages to be a step in the right direction for restoring the continuity that the previous films in the MCU were praised for and being another entertaining showcase for Anthony Mackie’s new Captain America to stand out.

Rating: 3/5

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Directed by: Michael Morris

Written by: Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan

Starring: Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Jim Broadbent, Isla Fisher, Josette Simon, Nico Parker, Leila Farzad, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth

Music by: Dustin O’Halloran

Rated: 15

Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger), over a decade after the events of Bridget Jones’s Baby, has been trying to raise her two children for the last four years, after an unthinkable event has tragically taken her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) away for good. On the advice of her friends, Dr. Rawling (Emma Thompson) and even a redeemed (though no less perverted) and not dead Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), Bridget decides to try and get her life back together, which attracts the attention of her children’s science teacher, Scott Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and a young man attracted to older women named Roxster (Leo Woodall)…

Ever since the first film was released in 2001, Bridget Jones’s Diary, this lovable quirky woman, created by writer Helen Fielding in the mid 1990s for a series of fictional newspaper columns before they were adapted into four books, has become one of Britain’s most popular icons alongside Doctor Who and Wallace & Gromit.

Despite the fact that the third film, 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby, made less money in other countries when compared to her home country of the United Kingdom, which has led Universal to send this last film straight to streaming in other countries, this seemingly final sendoff for Bridget, is the best film in the franchise since the first one.

Even among the fans of Helen Fielding’s character, the last book in the series, 2013’s Mad About the Boy, was the most controversial entry due an extremely upsetting premise, in which one of the most beloved characters in the series meets a shocking fate, that seemed to go against the themes of the franchise.

However, this film adaptation uses this premise to create the most emotional entry in the franchise yet. While still really funny and featuring all the quirkiness that fans love, Renée Zellweger gives her best performance as a much older Bridget Jones as she deals with being a mother and the grief of losing several people in her life. 

While stepping into the huge shoes of Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, both Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall, do manage to be interesting new love interests with quirks of their own and speaking of Grant, Daniel Cleaver finally returns to the franchise after 2004’s The Edge of Reason, providing all the laughs that can be expected for the lovable pervert.

Overall, while the premise is a lot more emotional when compared to the comedic tone of the rest of the series, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is a great sendoff (for now) for this icon’s diary entries.

Rating: 4/5

The Monkey

Directed by: Osgood Perkins

Written by: Osgood Perkins

Starring: Theo James, Christian Convery, Tatiana Maslany, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy, Adam Scott and Elijah Wood

Music by: Edo Van Breemen

Rated: 15

Ever since their childhoods, twin brothers Hal and Bill Shelburn (Both Theo James as adults and Christian Convery as children), have had an estranged relationship due to their interactions with a cursed drumming wind-up monkey toy that has left their mother (Tatiana Maslany) and countless others dead. When the demonic simian re-emerges and kills Hal’s aunt Ida (Sarah Levy), Hal and his teenage son, Petey (Colin O’Brien), must find a way to stop the monkey’s rampage…

Adapted from a 1980 short story by Stephen King, The Monkey isn’t the first horror film to admit that those musical instrument monkey toys are terrifying (as films like Monkey Shines and especially Toy Story 3 have shown). However, director Osgood Perkins, who has shot up in modern horror with Longlegs, brings this concept to insane new heights with this darkly hilarious splatter fest.

Despite completely ditching the serious tone of the short story, The Monkey does manage to to bring a Wes Anderson-like tone to this brotherhood story, with Theo James and Christian Convery doing a fantastic double performance as the two estranged brothers as adults and children. While fans of the story may not get some of the more complex themes of grief and death, Perkins’s decision to flip the tone to dark comedy, does lead to the biggest laughs in depicting who the titular toy dispatches its victims, with enough gore to rival Peter Jackson’s early films, Bad Taste and Braindead.

Overall, The Monkey is a delightfully quirky and entertaining gore fest caused by a damn dirty ape!

Rating: 4/5

Mickey 17

Directed by: Bong Joon-ho

Written by: Bong Joon-ho

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo

Music by: Jung Jae-il

Rated: 15

In a dystopian future, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), escapes Earth to participate in a space exploration expedition, led by the eccentric political leader, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), to colonise the planet of Niflheim. With Mickey taking the job of an “Expendable”, an agent that is cloned every time he dies, he slowly becomes dejected by his multiple deaths, even after he falls in love with a security guard named Nasha (Naomi Ackie). However, after unexpectedly surviving a mission, Mickey, now on his seventeenth incarnation, goes back to the ship to find that he has already been replaced by his more aggressive eighteenth clone…

Fresh off of making history at the Academy Awards in 2020 when Parasite became the first foreign language film to win Best Picture, director Bong Joon-ho has decided to go back to his Snowpiercer and Okja roots with Mickey 17, an ambitious adaptation of the science fiction novel, Mickey7 by Edward Nashton.

While sharing the same premise as Tom Cruise’s underrated 2014 film, Edge of Tomorrow in which the main character is killed and cloned over and over again, Mickey 17 stands out with Joon-ho’s skill at writing effective satire, especially revolving around the worldbuilding of how the “Expendable” program works and the inner workings of Marshall’s company. While the book was written in 2022, there are several themes and aspects of Mark Ruffalo’s unhinged performance as the antagonistic politician, that may hit a bit too close for home for some countries.

However, Mickey 17 is a film that lives or dies based on how people would respond to Robert Pattinson’s lead performances, and he has come a long way since his Twilight days, with his insane skill at switching personalities between the timid Mickey 17 and the angry Mickey 18, something to admire. While some side characters could have been given more to do, especially in the case of Steven Yeun and Anamaria Vartolomei‘s roles, it is Pattinson, Ruffalo, Toni Collette and Naomi Ackie who shine the most here.

Overall, in spite of the more satirical plot taking a backseat in the third act and some pointless subplots, Mickey 17 is another great science fiction film from one of the most prominent South Korean filmmakers in years.

Rating: 4/5

The Sloth Lane

Directed by: Tania Vincent

Written by: Tania Vincent and Ryan Greaves

Starring: Teo Vergara, Olivia Vásquez, Ben Gorroño, Facundo Herrera, Remy Hii and Leslie Jones

Music by: Ack Kinmonth

Rated: U

When a family of sloths move their food business to the animal metropolis, Sanctuary City after losing their home in a storm, they soon learn that they have to adapt to the “fast lane” environment. Laura Romero (Teo Vergara), the daughter of the family, is stuck between her duties to the restaurant and her desires to play with her new friends, which catches the attention of fast food mongul, Dotti Pace (Leslie Jones)…

Ever since 2020, Australian animation studio, Like a Photon Creative, have been making their answer to Disney’s Zootopia franchise, The Tales from Sanctuary City, a series of films about Australian anthropomorphic animals having adventures in the titular Outback animal city. 

After the likes of The Wishmas Tree, Daisy Quokka: World’s Scariest Animal and the Combat Wombat films, the franchise’s fifth film, The Sloth Lane, is a big deal for Australia’s animation industry as it is the first Australian animated film to be directed by a woman, Tania Vincent. 

While the story goes exactly the way of other films that revolve around a young protagonist having to balance dreams and family wishes, one aspect of The Sloth Lane that has to admired, is its focus on the importance of taking things slow to prepare projects as well as pointing out how food companies overuse chemicals and cultural appropriation in order to try to make it more appealing. While the antagonistic cheetah food mogul, Dotti Pace, could have been more interesting, a lot of the film’s funnier moments come from her poor decisions, which does offer some unexpected satire.

While the animation is very simplistic like the rest of the films in this series, The Sloth Lane is an unexpectedly cute and sweet film. Although it doesn’t reach the same heights as Pixar’s Coco, it also manages to tell a very interesting story about family tradition and the importance of taking time to make something special.

Rating: 3.5/5

Black Bag

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Written by: David Koepp

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page and Pierce Brosnan

Music by: David Holmes

Rated: 15

British intelligence officers George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett), are also a married couple, who have been torn apart by the former’s latest assignment. When a top secret program code named Severus is leaked, George is assigned to question Kathryn, along with four other suspects including satellite imagery specialist Clarissa (Marisa Abela) , her boyfriend Freddie (Tom Burke) , agency psychiatrist Zoe (Naomie Harris) , and Zoe’s boyfriend James (Regé-Jean Page), who all have dark secrets of their own…

Just two months after his last film, Director Steven Soderbergh, along with Mission: Impossible and Jurassic Park writer David Koepp, have teamed up for Black Bag, an entertaining and interesting look into a more serious take on how married life can complicate intelligence careers than how the Mr. & Mrs. Smith franchise portrayed this scenario.

Both Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett were both born to play shady characters and they both have fantastic chemistry as these two spies looking to one up each other, yet are undeniably attracted to each other as well. While more could have been done with the four other suspects, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris and the underrated Regé-Jean Page all manage to give solid performances, along with a great minor role with Pierce Brosnan as well.

Overall, while some of the plot elements could have been explored more given how surprisingly short this complex crime-thriller can be and having a forgettable score, Black Bag, much like Soderbergh’s Oceans films before it, mostly shines with the characters and its worldbuilding.

Rating: 4/5

Snow White (2025)

Directed by: Marc Webb

Written by: Erin Cressida Wilson

Starring: Rachel Zegler, Andrew Burnap, Gal Gadot, Ansu Kabia, Jeremy Swift, Tituss Burgess, Martin Klebba, Jason Kravits, George Salazar, Andy Grotelueschen, Andrew Barth Feldman and Patrick Page

Music by: Jeff Morrow

Rated: PG

In a magical kingdom, a young princess named Snow White (Rachel Zegler) has been living as a scullery maid in her own castle ever since her father disappeared and a ruthless queen (Gal Gadot), took the throne. When the Queen’s Magic Mirror (Patrick Page) reveals that Snow White had replaced her as fairest in the land, she desires to kill her and the young princess is forced to flee into the forest. With the help of a handsome bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), his fellow bandits and (most importantly) a group of seven friendly dwarfs, Snow White must find a way to save her people from the Queen’s wrath…

Although the quality of Disney’s now fifteen year long trend of remaking their animated films as live-action remakes has been met with several ups and downs over the years, none has been more controversial than the inevitable day when the company decided to reboot the film that started it all, 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

While several non-Disney film adaptations of the Brothers Grimm story have been made over the last few years such as 2012’s Mirror Mirror and Snow White & the Huntsman, the idea of remaking the first mainstream American animated feature (not counting lost European films and stop-motion movies such as The Adventures of Prince Achmed and Reynard the Fox), has had writers strikes, over budgeted reshoots and a massive smear campaign regarding its stars political views, most of which has nothing to do with the quality of the film, to deal with.

Thankfully, while there are still some questionable elements such as the designs of the seven dwarfs and how the editing is so poorly designed that it makes the Queen look like she is having a seizure at times, Snow White is nowhere near as bad as the likes of the 2020s Mulan and Pinocchio remakes. 

To set it apart from the 1937 film, director Marc Webb of The Amazing Spider-Man films, seeks to explore the ideals of being “fairest of them all”, with Snow White having a goal to save her kingdom from the Evil Queen’s reign. Even though the prince replacement in this film, a young bandit named Jonathan does feel a bit too similar to Eugene from Tangled, both Andrew Burnap and Rachel Zegler have adorable chemistry, with the latter, despite being a punching bag for the smear campaign, manages to give the best performance, as she is a really talented singer and dancer, as seen in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake and in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. 

Speaking of music, unlike the mixed quality of inexperienced songwriters as seen in Wish and Moana 2, both Pasek and Paul have loads of experience with The Greatest Showman, La La Land and the stage version of Dear Evan Hansen, (we don’t talk about the film), and several of their new songs, Waiting on a Wish, Good Things Grow and Princess Problems all have great quality, while also including three of the classic Frank Churchill and Larry Morey songs, Heigh-Ho, Whistle While You Work and The Silly Song. However, the less said about Gal Gadot’s number, All is Fair, despite having great dance movements from the extras, the better.

Overall, while there are numerous issues with this update, Snow White is a mostly ok retelling of Disney’s first film in which most of the backlash has been completely overblown by issues not even related to the film’s quality. It is not the best, nor the worst, and with how much people are a lot more forgiving towards the upcoming Lilo & Stitch remake, they may be willing to give this another shot when all the controversy has died down.

Rating: 3/5

The Alto Knights

Directed by: Barry Levinson

Written by: Nicholas Pileggi

Starring: Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci and Michael Rispoli

Music by: David Fleming

Rated: 15

During his twilight years, former gangster Frank Costello (Robert De Niro) reflects on his life in the mafia, mostly regarding a near fatal incident in 1957. After surviving an assassination attempt from his former childhood friend and fellow gangster, Vito Genovese (Also Robert De Niro), Costello seeks to leave behind his life of crime, but not until getting revenge on Genovese first…

Despite existing for a long time as a script titled Wise Guys, a crime biopic based on the rivalry between American mafia bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello for the last five decades, it wasn’t until 2022 that this throwback to 1960s-1970s gangster films and the likes of Goodfellas and Casino, (which coincidentally, shares the same writer for this film, Nicholas Pileggi), was finally made.

Unfortunately, the now retitled The Alto Knights doesn’t offer anything that sets it apart from those classic films, with Goodfellas being an obvious example, as that film’s screenplay was heavily influenced by the same true events. Even though the film is well shot and fans of these films will find plenty to enjoy, anyone outside the target audience that the usually reliable Barry Levinson of Rain Man and Good Morning Vietnam is trying to please, will find this mostly forgettable, with the exception of the questionable decision to have Robert De Niro play both gangsters.

Overall, despite being really well made in terms of cinematography and presentation aside from the terrible editing, The Alto Knights lacks the depth of another example of a nostalgic film that reflects on this iconic genre, The Irishman, and more should have been done to make this less dull, aside from some funny De Niro moments.

Rating: 2/5

A Working Man

Directed by: David Ayer

Written by: Sylvester Stallone and David Ayer

Starring: Jason Statham, Michael Peña, David Harbour, Jason Flemyng, Arianna Rivas and Andrej Kaminsky

Music by: Jared Michael Fry

Rated: 15

Levon Cade (Jason Statham) is a tough, but fair leader of a construction team who, despite having a hard time getting visiting rights for his beloved daughter, Merry (Isla Gie), is cared for by his friendly boss, Joe Garcia (Michael Peña). When Joe’s own daughter, Jenny (Arianna Rivas), is kidnapped by a group of Russian human traffickers, Levon must embrace his past as an ex-Royal Marine Commando, and use his insane set of skills to save her…

A year after their past collaboration on The Beekeeper, Fury and Suicide Squad director David Ayer and action legend, Jason Statham, have teamed up once again for A Working Man, along with the latter’s Expendables co-star, Sylvester Stallone, as one of the writers. Although not as insanely entertaining as the likes of the Transporter and Crank films, this fun throwback to 80s and 2010s revenge action flicks, does have some really fun moments for fans of the genre.

Statham does what Statham does best, although a few more one-liners could have elevated this to higher levels and more could have been done with David Harbour and Michael Peña‘s characters, despite their huge presence on the marketing. However the highlights also come from a surprisingly strong performance from Arianna Rivas as the kidnapped victim, especially in the third act and from Emmett J. Scanlan and Eve Mauro as a pair of villains who get a lot of fun moments.

Overall, A Working Man is another entertaining and violent punch and shoot fest from everyone’s favourite British bruiser, even though it could have used a bit more funny moments.

Rating: 3/5

Novocaine

Directed by: Dan Berk and Robert Olsen

Written by: Lars Jacobson

Starring: Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Betty Gabriel, Matt Walsh and Jacob Batalon

Music by: Lorne Balfe and Andrew Kawczynski

Rated: 15

Due to suffering from a rare condition that prevents him from feeling any kind of pain, Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid), a friendly young man, lives a lonely sheltered life as an assistant manager at a bank, until he falls in love with his beautiful coworker, Sherry Margave (Amber Midthunder). When Sherry gets kidnapped by a group of bank thieves, Nathan sets out to save her, unaware of both the massive amount of injuries he could get, and of the thieves hiding a truth that could be the one source of pain that even Nathan cannot escape from…

After a long time of being typecast as evil “nice guy” man children in Scream (2022) and Companion, Jack Quaid finally gets to show off in a protagonist live-action role that showcases, along with being a really underrated Superman in the animated series, My Adventures with Superman, how charming he can be, especially in his love story between Amber Midthunder’s Sherry.

Despite the premise of a guy that cannot feel pain, but can still die, being better explored in Kick-Ass, directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen do manage to give Novocaine, a lot of creativity in the violent action scenes and in how they portray the protagonist and his condition’s strengths and weaknesses throughout the insane situations he gets into. While not as well shot as the John Wick films, the cinematography and editing does make the fight scenes as fun and brutal as possible.

Overall, while some of the plot twists can be seen from a mile away and more could have been achieved with the premise and some of the supporting characters, including a surprisingly underused Jacob “CEO of sex” Batalon, Novocaine is a very charming and fun action flick, with a cute love story thrown in.

Rating: 3.5/5

A Minecraft Movie

Directed by: Jared Hess

Written by: Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James and Chris Galletta

Starring: Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen

Music by: Mark Mothersbaugh

Rated: PG

Ever since he was a child, an enthusiastic miner named Steve (Jack Black), has protected the Overworld, a magical realm populated by block shaped residents, animals and environments, from the evil piglin warriors led by the evil sorceress, Malgosha (Rachel House). When Steve gets captured by Malgosha’s forces, he sends the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal back to Earth, where a group of people, including a video game shop owner named Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), an animal loving real estate agent named Dawn (Danielle Brooks), and two orphaned siblings named Henry (Sebastian Hansen) and Natalie (Emma Myers), discover them and end up in the Overworld themselves…

Much like how World of Warcraft and Angry Birds dominated online gaming in the 2000s decade, the Sweden-based Mojang Studios’s Minecraft franchise, has become one of the biggest gaming phenomenons of the last decade. Originally starting as a beta build in 2009 before getting a full release in 2011, this game and its numerous sequels, inspired players to build their own block-based fantasy world, fight monsters and interact with online players to make their own worlds expand.

Although these games were designed solely for gameplay without any story, that didn’t stop the long-awaited film adaptation of Minecraft, from running into delays, departures and mixed reactions regarding how the infamous blocky designs of the games’s environments and characters, were uncomfortably too realistic, especially the blocky animals and villagers.

However, A Minecraft Movie mostly works, due to how well Director Jared Hess uses the theme of imagination and creativity to make the Overworld looks amazing, especially in scenes designed to appeal to this franchise’s themes of creativity. Even though some of the comedy from the leads, Jason Momoa and surprisingly, Jack Black as the franchise’s most successful character, Steve the Miner, can be hit or miss,  the actor’s sharp level of personality, along with the incredible production design of the Overworld, helps make A Minecraft Movie stand out from other video game to film adaptations such as The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Overall, despite having not much surprises, especially in the subplots involving Sebastian Hansen and Emma Myers’s audience surrogate characters, A Minecraft Movie is an entertaining big screen debut for this beloved (and literal) world-building franchise.

Rating: 3.5/5

Death of a Unicorn

Directed by: Alex Scharfman

Written by: Alex Scharfman

Starring: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni and Richard E. Grant

Music by: Dan Romer and Giosuè Greco

Rated: 15

While on the way to a weekend getaway with his new boss’s family, Elliot Kintner (Paul Rudd) and his teenage daughter, Ridley (Jenna Ortega), accidentally hit a unicorn foal with their car. After they take it with them to their location, they soon discover that the creature has magical healing abilities, in which the boss, Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), decides to exploit. Unfortunately, this results in the foal’s angry parents, showing up at the mansion for revenge…

While unicorns have been some of the most popular fantasy creatures in media, rarely have they been displayed as fearsome monsters, aside from Pixar’s Onward, DC’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Cabin in the Woods. Even though this latest film from A24 does wear out the joke of evil magic horses, and the CGI is absolutely awful, Death of a Unicorn does have its fun moments.

The likes of Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Richard E. Grant and an absolutely hilarious Will Poutler all give entertaining performances and the methods of “death by unicorn” get some of the biggest laughs. However, the awkward plot elements of family trauma and yet another “eat the rich” commentary, don’t always gel together, as either one of these could have made it a better comedy horror.

Overall, Death of a Unicorn is definitely not A24’s Jurassic Park, as the blending of fun gore-fest and fantasy satire, isn’t handled well. However, if one is willing to see a scenario where Sam Raimi directed a My Little Pony film, this is a close second to expressing that scenario.

Rating: 3/5

The Amateur

Directed by: James Hawes

Written by: Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli

Starring: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Juilianne Nicholson and Laurence Fishburne

Music by: Volker Bertelmann

Rated: 12A

After having his life ruined by the murder of his beloved wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), CIA cryptographer Charlie Heller (Rami Malek), despite being a timid and friendly person, wants to gain a particular set of skills in order to get revenge. Despite the rampant corruption within his own ranks and the doubts of his trainer, Robert “Hendo” Henderson (Laurence Fishburne), that Charlie has the guts to kill someone, he sets out to prove his superiors wrong, no matter how dangerous the situation is…

Based on a 1981 crime story by American novelist, Robert Littell, The Amateur is the latest attempt to launch a new action genre series for 20th Century Studios, after still producing strong entries in the Alien, Predator and Planet of the Apes franchises. Although the story does feel like an attempt to recapture what made films like John Wick and Taken work, (even though the book predates those stories by decades), the unique approach of having a man who isn’t trained in combat, and motivated by the loss of his love, does set it apart from those films.

Rami Malek, despite being a bit divisive in how he handled his performance, does manage to convey the feelings of a young man that feels out of place in the world he has been thrust into, and writers Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli, do manage to make his triumphs believable, even if Holt McCallany and Michael Stuhlbarg‘s more cartoony performances as the villains, do feel out of place. However, Laurence Fishburne once again steal the show with his blunt and cool mentor.

Overall, while more could have been done to make the action sequences memorable and the plot does lack any surprises, The Amateur does manage to tell its simple, yet effective revenge story, in a way that feels more natural than what is expected from this type of film.

Rating: 3.5/5

Sinners

Directed by: Ryan Coogler

Written by: Ryan Coogler

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller and Delroy Lindo

Music by: Ludwig Göransson

Rated: 15

In the Mississippi Delta around 1932, former WWI veterans and identical twins , Elijah “Smoke”and Elias “Stack” Moore (both Michael B. Jordan) return home to use the money they won from fighting gangsters, to build a juke joint for the local black community. However, as they get the help of their younger cousin, an aspiring young musician named Sammie (Miles Caton), as well as a bunch of other residents, a sudden attack by a vampire gang led by the powerful Remmick (Jack O’Connell), threatens to ruin all the twins have sacrificed…

After years of directing Black Panther films for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as successfully relaunching the Rocky franchise with 2015’s Creed and bringing one of the darkest moments in American history to life with Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler, as well as his favourite actor, Michael B. Jordan, have finally managed to direct a completely original project with Sinners, one of the most critically acclaimed horror films since The Silence of the Lambs.

While Jordan Peele also deserves credit for launching the elevated horror subgenre with 2017’s Get Out, this fresh take on Vampire mythology, by blending it with Black American history and its connection with soul music, helps make Sinners, one of the most thought-provoking portrayals of how music can transcend even death, with the theme leading to a surprisingly emotional conclusion for a film that also has a lot of vampire slaughter and blood.

As expected, Michael B. Jordan is fantastic as the two twin brothers, while the likes of newcomer Miles Caton, a insanely fun villain role for Jack O’Connell‘s vampire leader and a completely unrecognisable Hailee Steinfeld as one of the love interests, all offer award-worthy performances. Also, Ludwig Göransson once again provides a fantastic score for a Coogler film, with the blend of soul and American Southern music, at least deserving a nomination for the next Academy Awards.

Overall, Sinners is a fantastic and unique piece of horror cinema that both celebrates the connections of Black American history and its musical culture, while also containing all the bloody fun vampire tropes of the best Hammer Horror films.

Rating: 5/5

The Penguin Lessons

Directed by: Peter Cattaneo

Written by: Jeff Pope

Starring: Steve Coogan, Jonathan Pryce, Vivian El Jaber, Alfonsina Carrocio and Björn Gustafsson

Music by: Federico Jusid

Rated: 12A

In 1976, during the early days of the seven year Argentina National Reorganization Process dictatorship, British teacher Tom Michell (Steve Coogan), is hired by the Headmaster (Jonathan Pryce) of St. George’s College, to teach English for the all-boys boarding school. However, a quick break to Uruguay results in Michell rescuing a plucky Magellanic penguin from an oil spill, and unable to get rid of it when it won’t stop following him, brings it back to the school, where it changes everyone’s lives…

Being an expert of bringing comedic stories with a sad underlying theme in the background to audiences such as The Full Monty and Military Wives, Director Peter Cattaneo has once again delivered with The Penguin Lessons, a quirky man and his penguin story based on the memoirs of English professor Tom Michell and his relationship with a Magellanic penguin set during the 1970s dictatorship of Argentina.

Despite being sold as a wacky comedy in the vein of Mr. Popper’s Penguins, The Penguin Lessons doesn’t shy away from the emotional subtext of the difficulties of living under suppressive regimes, which does manage to give the main protagonist, a much more powerful arc of learning to stand up to injustice, which Steve Coogan does shockingly well despite his comedy background. The likes of Jonathan Pryce, Björn Gustafsson as a friendly science teacher and especially Vivian El Jaber and Alfonsina Carrocio as a Argentine family that befriends Michell, all get fantastic performances, and of course, the lovable penguin steals the show.

Overall, while The Penguin Lessons does end a bit too abruptly to really let the emotional story stick with audiences, it is still a cute, funny and emotionally engaging film, even if a missed opportunity of casting Benedict Cumberbatch as the main character, could have led to bigger laughs over how he cannot say the word “penguin”.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Accountant 2

Directed by: Gavin O’ Connor

Written by: Bill Dubuque

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda and J.K. Simmons

Music by: Bryce Dessner

Rated: 15

Eight years after his Living Robotics job, The Accountant (Ben Affleck), now permanently adopting his cover name, Christian Wolff, is hired by the federal agent who was investigating his previous actions, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), to investigate the murder of Treasury Director Raymond King (J.K. Simmons). However, Wolff must first patch up his relationship with his estranged assassin brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal),  as both of them are soon targeted by gangs, traffickers and a mysterious killer known as Anaïs (Daniella Pineda)…

Despite not leaving much of a impact when it was released in 2016 and coming under fire for how the subject matter of a freelance agent having hyper intelligence caused by his autism was unintentionally insensitive towards the complexities of how the condition is represented in cinema, Gavin O’ Connor’s The Accountant was successful enough to greenlight a trilogy of further adventures for Ben Affleck’s titular character, with numerous delays and a change of studios from Warner Bros to Amazon MGM, pushing the first sequel back to nine years later.

In response to some of the criticisms, Gavin O’ Connor and writer Bill Dubuque have toned down some of the first film’s realism to make Christian Wolff’s hyper intelligence more believable in a more stylistic environment by not mentioning the subject of autism at all, and have changed the tone to that of a comedic buddy action film, with Jon Bernthal’s brother character, promoted to co-lead, as the closet thing to a Batman and Punisher team up film. Both Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal get the biggest laughs when teamed up together, and their different approaches to dealing with bad guys, does lead to some entertaining and action-packed moments.

Some of the lost realism does make some of the new antagonists less memorable aside from Daniella Pineda’s new assassin character, and despite having more screentime, the also returning Cynthia Addai-Robinson is not given much to do. However, it does make The Accountant 2’s crazier moments such as Wolff’s mute assistant and childhood friend, Justine (Allison Robertson), having converted the Harbor Neuroscience treatment centre from the previous film, into a secret intelligence base operated by the young patients, along with the villain’s complicated goals, a lot easier to accept in this world.

Overall, despite having less interesting villains and some of the problems of the first film, The Accountant 2 is far more enjoyable as a result of abandoning the over-realistic approach of the 2016 film, and gives this new action franchise, a great double act in Affleck and Bernthal, which is likely to get better if the third film comes to fruition.

Rating: 3.5/5

Until Dawn

Directed by: David F. Sandberg

Written by: Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler

Starring: Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A’zion, Ji-young Yoo, Belmont Cameli, Maia Mitchell and Peter Stormare

Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch

Rated: 15

Mourning the disappearance of her sister, a traumatised young woman named Clover (Ella Rubin) and her friends, Max (Michael Cimino), Nina (Odessa A’zion), Megan (Ji-young Yoo) and Abe (Belmont Cameli), find themselves trapped in a cursed house where they are all killed by a masked inhabitant. However, Clover and her friends suddenly come back to life and realise that they are stranded in a time loop where they must survive an entire night in the house with only thirteen tries to get out…

Much like their previous attempt to branch out into feature films with 2022’s Uncharted adaptation, Sony PlayStation are once again trying to branch out one their iconic video game  franchises to the big screen with Until Dawn, based on the 2015 PS4 game and its 2024 remake.

While the premise of the videogame was to be the most authentic depiction of putting the player into a horror movie character trying to survive being trapped in a haunted house and its wendigo monsters, this spin-off, telling its own story set in the same universe as the games, takes a creative approach to the narrative. Taking inspiration from Groundhog Day, even though a horror version of this premise has been done before with the Happy Death Day films, the characters are forced to get smarter every time they are killed, making the final act really satisfying when they all get better and better at survival.

Overall, while the characters, apart from the fantastic Peter Stormare reprising his role as the franchise’s main antagonist, Dr. Hill, are mostly archetypal, the inventive kills, creative production design and the inventive execution of getting the feeling of playing a horror game, does make Until Dawn, one of Sony’s better attempts to bring their video games to cinema.

Rating: 3/5

Thunderbolts

Directed by: Jake Schreier

Written by: Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo

Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, David Harbour, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, Olga Kurylenko and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Music by: Son Lux

Rated: 12A

Over the last few years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), has secretly been recruiting antiheroes, assassins and former villains to perform black ops missions. When the former Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), tries to build up a case against her illegal methods, Valentina tries to get rid of the evidence by sending her recruits, consisting of Black Widow’s younger sister, Yelena (Florence Pugh), disgraced Captain America replacement, U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), a former enemy of Ant-Man, on a suicide mission to cover her tracks. However, these group of characters, along with Yelena’s father, Red Guardian (David Harbour) and a mysterious young man named Bob (Lewis Pullman, are much tougher than meets the eye…

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is currently in a mixed tracked record throughout both Phases Four and Five, which has been shown with both the successes of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Deadpool & Wolverine and the reshoots of Daredevil: Born Again, and the setbacks, with Captain America: Brave New World joining the ranks of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Eternals as another underperformance financially.

Now, with their final entry for Marvel’s Phase Five before the upcoming new Fantastic Four film and Ironheart series officially kick off the final phase for the Multiverse Saga, Marvel Studios have decided to take one of DC’s ideas, make a film about their anti-heroes and former villains forming a new team. Much like how DC did this premise with the Suicide Squad films, Marvel have decided to bring the Thunderbolts, introduced as a replacement Avengers team in both 1997 and 2008 in the aftermath of the Onslaught and Secret Invasion sagas, where they were eventually revealed to have dark intentions, and rework the concept to have it revolve around the MCU’s anti-heroes and reformed former villains, in one of the better films the franchise has done in a while.

Bringing in characters from some of Marvel’s less popular projects, such as Black Widow, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Ant-Man and the Wasp, along with Sebastian Stan’s ex-Winter Soldier from the Infinity Saga films, Bucky Barnes, may have sounded like a bad idea on paper, but then again during 2012, so was a film that featured a talking raccoon and tree, and director Jake Schreier of Robot & Frank and Paper Towns fame, manages to give Thunderbolts, some of the best moments in an MCU film since Guardians 3.

Being the two best characters of Black Widow, Florence Pugh’s Yelena and David Harbour’s Red Guardian, are given even more moments to shine, with the former getting her emotional character arc that was built up in Hawkeye and the latter getting even bigger laughs as the Russian Captain America. Speaking of Captain America, while still being a bit too unlikable to be considered an anti-hero, Wyatt Russell’s disgraced former Cap replacement, U.S. Agent, is given more hidden depths and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost from Ant-Man 2, is given a lot more entertaining moments as she is able to control her abilities this time. However, the best performances come from Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘s Valentina, after her brief cameos in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, whose schemes as an evil Nick Fury finally have a satisfying payoff and Lewis Pullman as new character, Bob, who gives the story a much needed boost of heart, with a great message on overcoming the pain of loss and redemption. It is also nice to see how far Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes has come, with his new role as a mentor to these people, a full-circle moment for his decade long character arc.

Overall, with a much tighter pace, a story more focused on character and themes rather than the divisive elements of most Phase Four and Five projects and a huge payoff that promises exciting things for the Multiverse Saga’s final Phase, Thunderbolts is a much needed boost of confidence and ends Marvel’s Phase Five films and shows, on a high note.

Rating: 4/5

Final Destination: Bloodlines

Directed by: Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein

Written by: Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor

Starring: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Richard Joyner, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, Gabrielle Rose and Tony Todd

Music by: Tim Wynn

Rated: 15

College student Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), after having mysterious visions of her grandmother, Iris Campbell (Gabrielle Rose and Brec Bassinger as a young woman) dying in her youth in a building collapse, finds out that these dreams are actually warnings. After discovering from Iris that her family has become Death’s latest targets after the former prevented the collapse in 1968, Stefani must find a way to survive…

After taking a fourteen year long hiatus, with a cancelled concept for a sixth film being a soft reboot that focused on EMTs, hospital staff and police and fire departments, given that they see death all the time in their careers, Final Destination has finally returned with Bloodlines.

While this sixth entry in New Line Cinema’s most pessimistic horror franchise is yet another standalone sequel to the now-twenty-five year old original that is a bit too cynical, Final Destination: Bloodlines has also gone back to the creativity that made the first two films so entertaining to watch. The death scenes that everybody loves about this gory series, are a lot more inventive and subversive than in previous films and the worldbuilding is brought full circle with a surprisingly emotional sendoff for fan favourite character, William Bludworth (Tony Todd), which results in the late Tony Todd giving one final performance as the cryptic mentor.

Overall, even with the formula starting to get a bit repetitive, Final Destination: Bloodlines opens up new possibilities for new kind of Death stories for this franchise , with new time periods, the consequences of preventing bigger mass death events and having much more likable characters such as Kaitlyn Santa Juana and Teo Briones‘s new protagonist sibling characters, ensuring that this series, unlike Death’s victims, will never stop surviving.

Rating: 4/5

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramill Tillman and Angela Bassett

Music by: Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey

Rated: 12A

A few months after IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) retrieved the key to stop the Entity, the evil AI has overpowered the world’s governments, causing mass worldwide disruption, with the aim of taking control of all nuclear weapons to trigger an apocalypse. Despite all the losses that Ethan has suffered over his near three decade long career, him, along with the likes of his teammates, Grace (Hayley Atwell), Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames),along with the now reformed Paris (Pom Klementieff) and Theo (Greg Tarzan Davis), one of the US agents originally sent to arrest him, must do everything possible to save the world one last time…

After three decades of insanity in stunts, adventure and cinematic scope, Tom Cruise’s biggest contribution to modern cinema, is finally coming to an end. While the now sixty year old pioneer will still inevitably do more stunt work to get that new Academy Award for Best Stuntwork due to take effect in the late 2020s, his most memorable character, IMF Agent Ethan Hunt’s story is set to conclude, nearly three decades after he was introduced in Paramount’s 1996 film adaptation of the iconic 1960s television show, Mission: Impossible.

While it is obvious that the original title for this last entry, Dead Reckoning Part Two, was the more accurate title, given how it directly follows up events from the previous film, concluding the open ended story that had Ethan take on both the timely threat of a Skynet-like AI and his own past, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, is a massive love letter to fans of this franchise, even if the ending could have been a bit more conclusive.

Even if The Final Reckoning sometimes has a bit more flaws than in the last five films, with some really slow moments, odd editing choices and some missed opportunities to bring some non-deceased characters back, this last film does tie up some loose ends from both the first and third films, including two supporting characters that tie into the former, one which gives a joke background character a major emotional arc and the other that redeems one of the first movie’s original sins, in a very unexpected way.

With the tone being a lot more sober than usual for these films, Tom Cruise gives one of his best performances as a more world-weary Ethan Hunt, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff and Greg Tarzan Davis’s characters are taken in emotional new directions, especially Ving Rhames’s Luther, a character that has been there since the beginning, given a very important role in the narrative. Even though Esai Morales’s Gabriel was one of the weakest characters in the previous film, it is made clear that he is second fiddle to the terrifying Entity AI, whose sheer power is made very intimidating.

Overall, despite being slightly more flawed than the last five films in the era that started with 2011’s Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a very satisfying conclusion to this era of the franchise. With all the insane stuntwork that everybody loves about these films, great performances and a gigantic scope, it was truly an honour to be part of this mission.

Rating: 4/5

Lilo & Stitch (2025)

Directed by: Dean Fleischer Camp

Written by: Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes

Starring: Chris Sanders, Maia Kealoha, Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Hannah Waddingham, Courtney B. Vance, Tia Carrere, Amy Hill, Jason Scott Lee and Zach Galifianakis

Music by: Dan Romer

Rated: U

Experiment 626 (Chris Sanders) is an incredibly cute, yet destructive alien who escapes from imprisonment by the United Galactic Federation and ends up crash landing on the Hawaiian Island of Kaua’i. As 626 chooses to disguise himself as a dog to avoid capture from his creator, Dr. Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) and Earth expert Agent Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), he soon finds himself befriending a lonely human girl named Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha), who renames him “Stitch”, much to the dismay of her struggling older sister, Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong)…

Disney’s Live Action remake train seems to have hit two massive bumps in the road in the last few months. Firstly, the amount of Disney Renaissance films left to reboot are running dry with only Hercules as the most likely candidate to be chosen (Pocahontas is too controversial to make again, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is too dark and insensitive to tackle due to the 2019 fires and Tarzan requires Disney making another deal with the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate) and secondly, the huge critical and financial failure of Snow White has led to the likes of Tangled, Robin Hood and Bambi remakes to be put on hold.

However, two remakes of two of the most popular Disney films of the 2000s and 2010s decades, Moana and Lilo & Stitch had already been filmed, with the company judging their performance as the final verdict on whether to carry on with these reboots, starting with the latter, which was originally intended as a Disney+ streaming film.

Stitch, the adorable and mischievous blue alien was one of the most popular characters ever made by Disney in the 2000s, along with the Pixar characters and Captain Jack Sparrow, with the 2002 original animated film being the first of Walt Disney Animation Studios’s films to be nominated for Best Animated Feature. His adventures with Lilo and several other humans in three sequels, three television shows, including an anime series and a Chinese exclusive one, which also includes appearances in the Kingdom Hearts games and huge merchandise success, has made him even more popular than Mickey Mouse in some countries, which makes one see why they upgraded this remake to theatrical release.

While this new take on the first film does make a lot of questionable decisions regarding the portrayal of some characters and focusing way more on comedy rather than the emotional aspects of the animated film, Chris Sanders’s return to this character is once again scene stealing, and adorable. While other previous actors such as Tia Carrere (the original Nani), Jason Scott Lee (original David) and Amy Hill (Mrs. Hasagawa in the original and the series) make fun cameos, Maia Kealoha does a great job as a more mischievous take on Lilo, even if some of her funnier traits are toned down.

However, while Billy Magnussen, Courtney B. Vance and Hannah Waddingham do make fine versions of Pleakley, Cobra Bubbles and the Grand Councilwoman, Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Kaipo Dudoit and especially Zach Galifianakis are not great choices as Nani, David and Jumba, especially the latter who is possibly the worst reimagining of a animated Disney character since the three fairies in the Maleficent films.

Overall, fans of the original films may not like this new take on a beloved animated film that has meant so much to so many people over the last few decades. However, as its own separate thing, and for those just wanting new Stitch cute moments, the 2025 remake of Lilo & Stitch is mostly harmless and entertaining for families, even if the inevitable sequels that will turn this into Disney’s answer to the Sonic the Hedgehog films, have a lot of work to do to stick to the meaning of “nobody getting left behind, or forgotten”.

Rating: 3/5

Karate Kid: Legends

Directed by: Jonathan Entwistle

Written by: Rob Lieber

Starring: Ben Wang, Jackie Chan, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, Ming Na-Wen, Wyatt Oleff, Aramis Knight and Ralph Macchio

Music by: Dominic Lewis

Rated: 12A

Fifteen years after helping Dre Parker, Kung Fu master Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), now owns his own successful dojo in Beijing, but is forced to say goodbye to his great-nephew, Li Fong (Ben Wang) and his mother (Ming-Na Wen) when they move to New York City. After Li gets into familiar troubles when he crosses paths with yet another aggressive karate prodigy, Conor Day (Aramis Knight), Han goes to New York in order to help Fong defeat Day as well as recruit the late Mr. Miyagi’s best friend, Sensei Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), who, three years after his adventures with Johnny Lawrence, may know a way to combine karate with kung fu…

Despite not really leaving an impact when it came out aside from Jackie Chan’s performance , the 2010 remake of 1984’s martial arts masterpiece, The Karate Kid, ended up becoming the highest grossing instalment of the franchise, in spite of the fact that there wasn’t actually any karate in the film, focusing on kung fu instead. A direct sequel was greenlit with Chan and Jaden Smith set to return in 2014, but numerous production delays, Chan’s dissatisfaction with the script and Smith’s film career not going well, ended up pushing the franchise onto the mat. It seemed that the Karate Kid franchise’s legacy was over, until something completely unexpected in the late 2010s changed everything.

Starting off as an exclusive YouTube Premium streaming series before moving to Netflix in its third season, Cobra Kai, a sequel series to the original films, was a massive success with critics and audiences worldwide, which told an epic story that tied up all loose ends of the story, gave almost every character new depths, while also introducing loads of lovable new ones and brought a whole new generation to the series. With the show coming to an end in February 2025, it is not surprising that Sony would be much more confident in bringing the films back, with an interesting twist. As they still wanted Jackie Chan in the film, they decided that the 2010 remake would be brought into the same universe as the original films, with Chan’s Miyagi-like character from the remake, Mr. Han, revealed to have been a friend of Miyagi and that he would team up with Daniel LaRusso, three years after the events of Cobra Kai.

While this does sound like a smart move to relaunch the franchise on the big screen, the problem with Karate Kid: Legends is that it plays it way too safe, reusing the same formula from the 1984 and 2010 films of a kid moving to a new location, he gets in trouble with an aggressive fighter over a girl and gets trained by a mentor to beat him in a tournament. While this formula is easy for mainstream audiences to love, and it was proven to work with the Creed films within the Rocky franchise, if anyone loves the interesting twists and subversive elements of Cobra Kai, don’t expect this here.

However, Ben Wang does make for a likeable new lead, with his subplots of him already being a great kung fu student and him teaching his skills to help his girlfriend’s father (Joshua Jackson) become better at boxing, being the best parts of this film. Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio’s Daniel, fresh off of Cobra Kai, do have fun chemistry, with the jokes regarding their approach to teaching, getting the biggest laughs. 

Overall, despite being very predictable and the questionable pace and editing of the fight sequences, Karate Kid: Legends does manage to be a entertaining return to the big screen dojo for this franchise, even though a Cobra Kai film would have been more exciting.

Rating: 3/5

The Salt Path

Directed by: Marianne Elliott

Written by: Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Starring: Gillian Anderson, Jason Isaacs, James Lance and Hermione Norris

Music by: Chris Roe

Rated: 12A

After being evicted from their farm, a Staffordshire married couple, Raynor (Gillian Anderson) and Moth Winn (Jason Isaacs), decide to walk the 630 mile long South West Coast Path with their remaining possessions. As their journey brings them into contact with both friendly and unfriendly strangers, Raynor and Moth, who is terminally ill with corticobasal degeneration, soon start gaining appreciation for the simple pleasures of life…

Based on Raynor Winn’s 2018 memoirs of her and her husband’s experience with homelessness as they were walking across South West Coastal England, The Salt Path may not get into the hard hitting subject matter of how government failures in provisions led to their state during the events. However, for those looking for a feel good story, this film, much like The Outrun and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, does manage to be a charming love story about a journey across the coasts.

Both Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs manage to carry the entire film with their emotional chemistry and the genuine love that their characters have for each other, does manage to make the heart of The Salt Path shine through, with Hélène Louvart‘s stunning cinematography of South West England and Chris Roe’s incredible score succeeding in making their journey look amazing.

Overall, while some of this story’s darker themes and more biting subtext on the failure of the system could have been further explored in heightening the hardships that this true story could have used, The Salt Path is a very charming love story about overcoming hardships on a seemingly impossible journey.

Rating: 3.5/5

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

Directed by: Len Wiseman

Written by: Shay Hatten

Starring: Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane and Keanu Reeves

Music by: Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard

Rated: 15

Set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) has spent the last twelve years training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma under the watchful gaze of the Director (Anjelica Huston). During one of her missions, she discovers that the Cult, an assassin society with none of the moral compass of the Roma or even the High Table, still exists. As Eve sets on her personal journey for vengeance against the Cult’s leader, The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), for murdering her father when she was young, her quest will lead her to cross paths with the likes of Winston Scott (Ian McShane), Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus), a former assassin trying to save his own daughter from the Cult and even John Wick (Keanu Reeves) himself…

In spite of the conclusion that seemed to end the story of the Baba Yaga, John Wick and his quest for vengeance in 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4, Lionsgate are not willing to let go of one of their most successful franchises to date. After officially starting the series’s venture into spin-off territory with 2023’s streaming miniseries, The Continental: From the World of John Wick and with both a film about Caine (Donnie Yen’s character from the fourth film) and an anime prequel about John’s origins on the way (along with a fifth main film, showing that Lionsgate demanded more), the franchise’s first theatrical spin-off, Ballerina, starts this new era on a very entertaining one.

Originally conceived as a original action film about a ballerina assassin’s quest for revenge by the future writer of the third and fourth John Wick films, Shay Hatten, in 2017, he made a deal with Lionsgate to convert the project into a film set in John’s universe in exchange for being allowed to write the next two films. The third film would also act as a back door pilot for the spin-off, in the scenes in which John would seek help from a different assassin organisation that specialises in undercover ballerinas being trained as killers, which would introduce their leader, Anjelica Huston’s Director and an unnamed ballerina (played in the third film by Unity Phelan), who would be the spin-off’s main character.

Although it is obvious that the much publicised reshoots of Ballerina were done to keep it in the same style as the main films, franchise co-creator Chad Stahelski and director Len Wiseman do manage to combine their different styles to create as much fun action sequences that the franchise is known for. From fights with high heels, dinner plates and some of the most inventive uses of knives, this film is a non stop treasure trove of fights and duels, even if it results in some pacing issues in the first half.

After impressing everyone with her supporting star power in No Time to Die, Knives Out and Blade Runner 2049, Ana de Armas is finally given a lead action role as the new protagonist, Eve, who really shines as a different type of assassin in a universe populated by millions of them. While new supporting and villain characters played by Norman Reedus, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Gabriel Byrne, all have their moments to shine, a lot of familiar faces from the previous films, such as Anjelica Huston’s much more developed Director from the third film, Ian McShane’s Winston Scott and having finished filming before his tragic death in early 2023, Lance Reddick’s lovable Charon, get some of the film’s best moments. And of course, whenever Keanu Reeves shows up as John Wick himself, even though a lot more scenes of him were clearly added into the reshoots, the film gets even more intense, even though he thankfully doesn’t take away from Eve’s character arc.

Overall, while not being as well put together as the main films due to the obvious re-edits, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, is yet another great example of action cinema as only this franchise can provide, with an interesting new main character and larger worldbuilding for this world of assassins and killers.

Rating: 3.5/5

How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

Directed by: Dean DeBlois

Written by: Dean DeBlois

Starring: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Ruth Codd, Peter Serafinowicz and Murray McArthur

Music by: John Powell

Rated: PG

In the Viking village of Berk, it’s the rule to kill or be killed by dragons that motivates the residents in their daily lives. Hiccup (Mason Thames), the outcast son of the chief, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), shoots down the most dangerous breed of dragon, a Night Fury, but cannot bring himself to kill the beast. While the young Viking is enrolled into lessons on dragon-slaying, he slowly starts to form a bond with the strange dragon and names him “Toothless”. But fellow student, Astrid (Nico Parker), starts having suspicions about him…

It was only a matter of time. Fifteen years after Disney kicked off the live-action remake train with Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, the day has finally come that other mainstream American animation companies would try to make their own live-action reboots, and of course, DreamWorks Animation is first out of the gate. However, rather than start off with either Shrek or The Prince of Egypt (which may be due to the fact that the latter already has three live-action adaptations of the same story), DreamWorks has decided a very ironic choice, in which the original came out on the same month as Alice, their 2010 masterpiece, How to Train Your Dragon.

With all three films in the original animated trilogy being regarded as some of DreamWorks’s best works, all being nominated for Best Animated Feature in their respective years and having loads of television spin-offs, short films, a live arena show and recently, a whole area in Universal’s new theme park, Epic Adventures, the studio is playing with literal fire by risking the legacy of the 2010 film, which is why this 2025 remake doesn’t change anything about the original story.

While on paper, this would sound just as bad as Gus Van Sant’s 1990s Psycho remake or Disney’s 2019 version of The Lion King, thank goodness the original co-director of the first film and director of the sequels, Dean DeBlois, manages to make the best of a bad situation, by making the experience every bit as epic and compelling as the animated film. Unlike the two previous remake examples that lacked any wit or ruined character arcs and moments from the originals, this take on How to Train Your Dragon gets everything right, from character development, subtlety, visual design and even a majority of the acting.

Gerard Butler, reprising his role from the animated films, does a fantastic job as Stoick, while the likes of Nick Frost, Julian Dennison and even both Mason Thames and Nico Parker do manage to be fantastic depictions of Gobber, Fishlegs, Hiccup and Astrid. Toothless the dragon once again steals the show with his adorable and hilarious moments, while John Powell’s incredible music that made these films so special, is fantastic to hear again, especially in the Forbidden Friendship and Test Fight moments that have become the best scenes of the film.

Overall, the only problem of the 2025 remake of How to Train Your Dragon is that absolutely nothing is changed from the original to make it different from the 2010 film. However, Dean DeBlois worked his butt off to make this as faithful and as fantastic to the animated films as possible, with nothing being ruined. That, and the fact that he also has no desire to have this replace the original, does earn him so much respect, even if the nightmares of live action takes on Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar, will forever haunt my dreams if this becomes successful.

Rating: 4/5

Elio

Directed by: Adrian Molina, Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian

Written by,: Mike Jones, Julia Cho and Mark Hammer

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brandon Moon, Brad Garrett and Jameela Jamil

Music by: Rob Simonsen

Rated: PG

Elio Solis (Yonas Kibreab), a young lonely boy raised by his Air Force Major Aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña), desperately wants to be abducted by aliens to fill in for the absence of his deceased parents. When his dream comes true after he is mistaken for Earth’s ambassador by the alien residents of the Communiverse, a galaxy where aliens share their ideas, Elio soon finds himself getting involved with a conflict with the warlord, Grigon (Brad Garrett), which gets more complicated when he ends up befriending the warlord’s much friendlier son, Glordon (Remy Edgerly)…

With the future of original animated features on the line, as in a post-COVID box office environment, sequels, prequels and IP based films are the only ones that can turn a profit due to choosier audiences, Pixar Animation Studios is currently focusing less on originality than planned due to most of their films in the 2020s being sent straight to streaming, or underperforming in the box office in the case of Lightyear and Elemental.

Although new sequels to Toy Story, The Incredibles and Coco are on the way in the aftermath of the success of Inside Out 2, Pixar still has three original films coming out, with the first of these, Elio, being one of the most interesting projects due to its much publicity regarding its production issues.

Originally planned for release in early 2024 from Coco co-director, Adrian Molina, an original sci-fi alien film loosely based on his childhood experiences in living at a military base and eventually becoming a student in animation, with the titular character’s new life among friendly aliens being a metaphor for this,  huge problems with the story caused it to be delayed a year, with Turning Red director Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian, who directed the first Sparkshort film, Burrow, taking over.

While some of the changes are obvious, including the awkward way Elio’s mother was reworked into his aunt, Elio still manages to preserve Molina’s story, while also being a fun sci-fi family film, that has the usual Pixar heart that people love about their films. Much like how Pixar depicted the Buzz Lightyear elements of the Toy Story franchise and how they created a stunning romance in a Close Encounters-style world in WALL-E, Elio’s more insect based look for the aliens in the Communiverse, does make this more cartoony worldbuilding, look very appealing and colourful. While more risks could have been done with Elio’s self contained journey, as it is obvious that the film was supposed to end in a completely different way, it does have the right amount of heart and newcomer Yonas Kibreab does give him a lot of personality.

Overall,  in spite of having odd pacing and underdeveloped themes as a result of the heavy retooling that it went through, Elio is a very entertaining and funny film that only Pixar know how to provide, with fantastic animation and likeable characters.

Rating: 3.5/5

28 Years Later

Directed by: Danny Boyle

Written by: Alex Garland

Starring: Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Edvin Ryding, Jack O’Connell and Ralph Fiennes

Music by: Young Fathers

Rated: 15

Twenty-eight years after the attempt to rebuild British society failed due to a new outbreak of the Rage Virus, the rest of the world has completely given up and have left the United Kingdom in permanent isolation as they resume normal lives. Spike (Alfie Williams), a young boy who lives with his family in one of the numerous small human communities across the smaller islands in Scotland, is sent on a coming of age ritual to the mainland, where he and his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), discover that the zombies have slowly started to evolve into more intelligent beings…

Credited for relaunching interest into the zombie subgenre to a point that hadn’t been seen since the George Romero days in the 60s and 70s, Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later in 2002, provided audiences with brand new ideas such as zombies that could run fast, as well as telling a powerful story about found family as a group of human survivors bonded during a zombie outbreak, in which the influences of these ideas can be seen in the likes of Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, The Walking Dead and The Last of Us.

After a pretty entertaining non Boyle stand alone sequel, 2007’s 28 Weeks Later and several comics and graphic novels, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have finally returned to the series with 28 Years Later. Despite being delayed for years due to complications with the rights with 20th Century Fox, the franchise was bought by Sony in 2024 and this long awaited new story about isolated zombie infested Britain (you sure this is fiction?), is a great return to form for this potential start of a new trilogy, in spite of getting extremely weird at times.

Even though the new set of characters, a family carving an new normal with other survivors on a nomadic island community, aren’t as interesting as the strangers that are forced to work together in the first film, newcomer Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, all manage to give fantastic performances, even if the majority of the latter’s arc is clearly being saved for 2026’s The Bone Temple. Ralph Fiennes, Edvin Ryding and a completely crazy Jack O’Connell’s cameo, also get moments to shine, despite the latter seemingly out of place for this type of franchise, especially in what his character means for this new trilogy.

Overall, with a welcome return to the original premise of Britain being alone with a zombie outbreak (Boyle seems to have retconned the previous film’s ending), great acting and solid worldbuilding for this franchise apart from the completely bonkers ending twist, 28 Years Later is a great return for the series that made zombies popular again.

Rating: 4.5/5

Jurassic World Rebirth

Directed by: Gareth Edwards

Written by: David Koepp

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Ed Skrein

Music by: Alexandre Desplat

Rated: 12A

Five years after the events at Biosyn, the dinosaurs have had trouble adapting to Earth’s climate and have since retreated to tropical areas and countries closer to the Equator, as they are similar to their natural habitats in prehistoric times. Meanwhile, Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), an ex-military operative, is hired by a pharmaceutical executive named Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), to join with a student of Alan Grant, Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) on an expedition to a former InGen base on the Atlantic island of Ile Saint-Hubert. With the task to retrieve blood samples from three different dinosaurs from the land, sea and air, Zora, Henry, Martin and their team leader, Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) embark to the base, where chance encounters with more dangerous breeds of dinosaurs, as well as a stranded family, will force them to find their place in this new phase of human and dinosaur history…

For over a decade now, ever since the franchise was successfully relaunched in 2015, Jurassic World, formerly known as Jurassic Park, has become one of Universal’s biggest franchises along with Fast & Furious and Despicable Me. Even though 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion was originally announced as the final film in the story of the living dinosaurs, yet another billion dollar gross, along with the franchise’s recent successes on Netflix with the Chaos Theory animated show, merchandise and with the incredible Live Experience exhibitions, has resulted in yet another resurrection with this new film.

Much like how 2015’s Jurassic World acted as a soft reboot to the original trilogy by being a direct sequel to the 1993 film, Jurassic World Rebirth is completely different from the last three films by having an entirely new cast of characters and minimal references to the previous storylines, with even the huge events of Fallen Kingdom and Dominion being largely written off. While the decision to go back to the formula of the first four films of humans escaping from a dinosaur island does sound like a downgrade, Director Gareth Edwards from The Creator, Godzilla and Rogue One fame, does manage to adapt his gritty sci-fi filming style  make the dinosaurs feel scary again, along with the returning writer from the first two films, David Keopp.

Swapping one MCU star for another, Scarlett Johansson as new lead. Zora offers her level of charm to her ex-military character, while the likes of Rupert Friend, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali are all welcome additions to this franchise. As for the true stars of this franchise, the dinosaurs, a lot more attention is given to other species such as Titanosaurus and others  as the T-Rex and Velociraptors are surprisingly downplayed here, even if the decision to feature another genetically engineered species, the D-Rex, does feel like slight desperation.

Overall, while still falling behind on some of the franchise’s best moments, Jurassic World Rebirth is a good step in the right direction for this series, although further evolution is required to avoid future films in this series to reach some of the lows of the last two films.

Rating: 3.5/5

F1: The Movie

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski

Written by: Ehren Kruger

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon,Tobias Menzies and Javier Bardem

Music by: Hans Zimmer

Rated: 12A

A wisecracking American racer named Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) has lived a carefree nomadic lifestyle as a racer-for-hire for the last three decades, after a crash that ended his career as a a Formula One driver in 1993. However, Sonny is persuaded by his old Lotus racing teammate, Rubén Cervantes (Javier Bardem), to help the APXGP, currently the lowest ranked team in Formula One, win at least one of the remaining nine Grand Prix races of the F1 season to save the team from closing down. Sonny must now try to win his teammates’s trust, including a hotheaded rookie named Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) and the team’s technical director, Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), in order to turn the team’s fortunes around…

Although there have been great examples of films based on racing culture such as Ford v. Ferrari, Rush and Senna, none of them have had the same impact as how huge the Formula One racing series has been on this sport. With names such as Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and the already established Ayrton Senna all owing their careers to this massive establishment, one would expect that a film directly based on the Formula One brand, would either be a biopic depicting its origins or told the history of some of these big names in racing history.

However, Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski has decided to use the F1 races as solely the setting of a classic rags to riches tale about a washed up former racer finding new purpose in life as a teacher to a younger generation of racers. Much like how Kosinski brought new life to aerial combat for Maverick, him and his cinematographer Claudio Miranda, make every race sequence stunning to watch, complete with sharp turns, pit stops and insane crashes to go with the excellent score from Hans Zimmer.

While Brad Pitt gives out his usual charm to stand out , and the likes of Kerry Condon and Javier Bardem all have their moments to shine, the question about whether the real F1 stories and their influence on this history of professional racing  might have made this  film even better than the fictional one focused on here.

Overall, despite the missed chances to really explore the impact that the racing organisation had on popular culture, F1: The Movie is a fun sports film with likeable characters and outstanding cinematography in the race scenes.

Rating: 3.5

Superman (2025)

Directed by: James Gunn

Written by: James Gunn

Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion and Isabela Merced

Music by: John Murphy and David Fleming

Rated: 12A

For the last few centuries, Earth has been both threatened and protected by numerous gods, aliens, monsters and beings with incredible abilities known as metahumans. In the past three years, the city of Metropolis has been protected by the most friendly and welcoming of metahumans, Superman (David Corenswet), one of the last survivors of the planet Krypton, who works undercover as reporter Clark Kent for Daily Planet news, with the occasional assistance of his girlfriend and fellow reporter, Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). However, when Superman’s arch nemesis, the deranged billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), reveals a devastating truth about the former’s origins, the young superhero, alongside Lois, a group of fellow metahumans consisting of the arrogant Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), the fearless Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and tech genius Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and a cute , yet unruly super-dog, Krypto, must prove to the world that Superman can be trusted…

Out of all of recent events in superhero cinema history, no film since the conclusion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Infinity Saga era, Avengers: Endgame, has had a bigger landing to stick than this hugely important film for Warner Bros and for DC Entertainment. 

After over a decade of the infamous attempt for the latter to try and copy the MCU with the DC Extended Universe films that began with Man of Steel in 2013, the poor box office performance of 2022’s Black Adam proved to be the final straw, and despite the demand from certain corners of the internet to keep the “Synderverse” films (the ones directed by Zack Snyder) and the fact that five more films, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Batgirl, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom had already been filmed, the new leadership at Warner Bros. Discovery decided to start over DC’s films, by bringing in James Gunn and Peter Safran as the new heads of DC, to make a brand new series of films and television shows starring new takes on these iconic characters.

After getting a brief glimpse into this new incarnation of DC’s universe with the first season of the animated series, Creature Commandos, James Gunn brings all the talent that he brought to the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and from the previous DC series’s 2021 film, The Suicide Squad (along with some of its events as seen in both Commandos and with certain cameos in this film), to reimagine the most iconic superhero in history, Superman.

After years of underwhelming entries that either were poorly made (Superman III and IV: The Quest for Peace), tried to copy too much from the iconic 1978 Richard Donner film (Superman Returns) or caused some of the most toxic and dangerous fandoms to exist (Snyder’s films), Gunn’s new take, while being as messy as Krypto the dog at times in terms of narrative, is one of the best films that have prominently featured the almost nine decade long franchise.

With one of the most fantastical takes on the DC universe on the big screen after years of trying to chase the Dark Knight trilogy’s realism, James Gunn’s Superman is great at establishing a world in which kaiju attacks and alien invasions are treated as an minor annoyance to Earth’s citizens and that “meta humans” such as space cops, woman bird warriors and large mechas, have already been known for centuries, with Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced and especially Edi Gathegi getting great moments as other superheroes in this film.

However, the film doesn’t forget that Superman is the focus, with the emphasis on his kindness and compassion setting him apart from other superheroes and David Corenswet does a great job in bringing back the humanity of this beloved character. While one major plot development is a major risk, it does help in making the character’s background and character development be the strongest representation of the franchise’s themes of what it means for a superhero to be humanity’s best representation of good. Rachel Brosnahan nails the feisty, yet strong character of Lois, Skyler Gisondo is possibly the best big screen version of Jimmy Olsen so far and, while it is heartbreaking to accept that we are never going to get the Clancy Brown take on the character as seen in the 90s-2000s animated shows, Nicholas Hoult shines as the most evil and realistic version of Lex Luthor to date.

Overall, despite being a bit overstuffed at times, James Gunn’s Superman starts the new era of DC cinema on a very high note. With films and television shows based on Supergirl, The rest of the Green Lantern Corps, The Authority, Booster Gold, Swamp Thing and Clayface, (along with a slower build up to a new Justice League team with a new Batman and Wonder Woman) on the way, the future looks far better for DC in a long time, especially if Krypto becomes the official mascot for this new series with all his naughty antics.

Rating: 4/5

Smurfs (2025)

Directed by: Chris Miller

Written by: Pam Brady

Starring: Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Natasha Lyonne, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingdam, Alex Winter, Ryan Clark, Kurt Russell and John Goodman

Music by: Henry Jackman

Rated: U

In a small village where friendly small blue creatures called Smurfs live and work and play, the most helpful of them, Smurfette (Rihanna), tries to help No-Name Smurf (James Corden) find his purpose. When their leader, Papa Smurf (John Goodman) gets kidnapped by Gargamel the evil wizard’s even worse brother, Razamel (both J. P. Karliak), the two Smurfs set off across the universe to find the former’s long lost brother, Ken (Nick Offerman), who knows the true purpose of the Smurf’s existence…

Although Peyo’s comic strip characters, The Smurfs, have been huge pop culture icons ever since they started off as supporting characters in the former’s Johan & Peewit series in the late 1950s, aside from the iconic Hanna-Barbera television series that shot them to superstardom in the 1980s, these characters have struggled to find new audiences in the last few decades.

While Sony Pictures Animation’s two live-action adaptations in the early 2010s were financially successful, they were both reviled by critics, which led to them making a better received animated reboot in 2017, Smurfs: The Lost Village, but that ended up losing money. After producing a new animated series in 2021 that continued the story of Lost Village, both Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the franchise a year later, with this new reboot set to kick off a new series of films about these iconic characters.

Unfortunately, while some ideas, such as a Smurf with no name trying to find his purpose are interesting, Smurfs is unfortunately, even worse than the franchise’s worst products, with terrible acting and some of the most confusing worldbuilding for a franchise aimed for younger audiences, all because Paramount desperately wants to make this their Spider-Verse franchise. While the idea of exploring the past of Papa Smurf and Gargamel the wizard may sound appealing to fans, their new family members don’t offer much as doppelgängers with differing personalities, apart from Nick Offerman’s slightly interesting Ken.

Despite all the advertisements pushing so hard that Rihanna’s new take on Smurfette was a major focus , she isn’t even the main character, with James Corden providing yet another unfunny leading role as No-Name Smurf, even if he is slightly more tolerable in this than in the Peter Rabbit films. Aside from several cool moments that switch animation styles in the third act, the animation is very poorly rendered as it desperately tries to emulate Spider-Verse’s style, only with all the wrong linework and overuse of color rendering.
Overall, this latest failed attempt to rework the Smurfs for modern audiences, along with terrible acting from the likes of Amy Sedaris, Jimmy Kimmel and J.P. Karliak, once again proves that it is maybe time to try and bring back other popular European comic strips for a change, as the new Asterix show is currently doing well on Netflix and the sequel to The Adventures of Tintin desperately needs to happen sooner than later.

Rating: 1.5/5

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Directed by: Matt Shakman

Written by: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser and Ralph Ineson

Music by: Michael Giacchino

Rated: 12A

Located light years away from the Sacred Timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Earth-828 is a 1960s retro-futuristic version of Earth that is protected by a family of four superhero scientists, The Fantastic Four. These heroes consist of Reed Richards/ Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), the smartest man who can stretch his limbs, his wife, Sue/ Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), who can turn invisible and project force fields, her younger brother, Johnny Storm/ Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), who can fly and turn himself into flames and Reed’s best friend, Ben Grimm/ The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who is a transformed rock creature with incredible strength and an even bigger heart for both his family and for fights. However, as the group prepare for the upcoming birth of Reed and Sue’s first child, a massive threat comes in the form of the planet devouring god, Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his herald, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), who offer an ultimatum that if refused, could result in Earth becoming the god’s new energy consumption…

Despite the characters of the Fantastic Four being credited for officially beginning Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s golden age for Marvel Comics in 1961, as the group’s unconventional relationship as a family rather than a team, would be the stepping stone that would lead to the creation of Spider-Man, the X-Men, and all the Avengers apart from Captain America, Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and The Thing have had worse luck on the big screen than Doctor Doom’s attempts to conquer the world.

There was the infamous 1994 Roger Corman produced film that never got officially released, the 2005-2007 duology from Tim Story that have their fans, but aren’t really considered great and of course, the 2015 disaster that was Fan4stic, that nearly led to the characters being killed off in the comics permanently. However, much like the X-Men, Marvel Studios officially got the rights back to the characters after Disney purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019, and although it looked like bad luck for the team again three decades in a row, due to being released in a time where some audiences are getting tired of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, The Fantastic Four: First Steps has finally given Marvel’s First Family, the film they have deserved for a long time.

In the most standalone and creative film in the franchise’s entire filmography since the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, First Steps, being the first film of Phase Six which will end the Multiverse Saga, serves as a possible blueprint for the franchise’s future after Avengers: Secret Wars. Being set on a completely separate reality from the one featured in all the previous films, a 1960s version of Earth where the titular team are the only heroes around, allows for a heartwarming story about family that doesn’t require binge watching countless films or tv shows, while also being incredibly creative as a result.

The fantastic (pun intended) production design of this Jack Kirby inspired world and the callbacks to 1960s Space Age artwork, does draw a lot of comparisons to Pixar’s 2004 film, The Incredibles, (that has long been joked as the only true Fantastic Four film), especially with both films having the same composer, Michael Giacchino, who gives First Steps, one of the best soundtracks that the films have had in a while.

While a lot of the plot elements do rehash aspects from 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, (both being based on the Galactus arc from the comics), Galactus is finally given the respect he has long deserved, with Ralph Ineson being absolutely terrifying as this merciless planet eating god, who is no longer a space fart cloud. While the unconventional portrayal on the Silver Surfer is only there just to give the Human Torch a character arc, Julia Garner does offer a seductive and interesting take on this character.

As for the four titular characters, Vanessa Kirby is the stand out as the best version of Sue Storm, who undergoes pregnancy, motherhood and being one of the bravest people in the world for standing up to a all powerful deity to protect her family and baby. Both Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach nail the comedic banter between Human Torch and the Thing with excellence, while being slightly less immature than past depictions and while Pedro Pascal may give one of his weaker performances, he does succeed in highlighting the flaws of Reed’s total dedication to science and being the smartest one, better than any version of the character, animated takes included.

Overall, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, along with Thunderbolts, is proof that Marvel Studios might finally be getting back to making consistently great films again. It starts off the final Phase of the Multiverse Saga on a high note, and has finally broken the three decade long cinematic curse that has haunted these characters for so long.

Rating: 4.5/5

The Bad Guys 2

Directed by: Pierre Perifel

Written by: Ethan Cohen and Yoni Brenner

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, Maria Bakalova, Zazie Beetz, Richard Ayoade and Alex Borstein

Music by: Daniel Pemberton

Rated: PG

Despite having saved the world from Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), the former “Bad Guys”, Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), have had a hard time trying to get people to forgive them for their past crimes. When they end up framed again by a new set of thieves, the “Bad Girls”, consisting of Kitty Kat the snow leopard (Danielle Brooks), Susan the raven (Natasha Lyonne) and Pigtail the boar (Maria Bakalova), Wolf and his friends are forced to take one last heist to protect the reputation of their only ally, Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz)…

After being one of the best films that DreamWorks Animation had made in a while as well as being the rare post-COVID original animated film to turn a profit (even if it was based on an already popular children’s book series), The Bad Guys launched a brand new franchise for the house of Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon.

After several holiday specials on Netflix, Wolf, Snake, Tarantula, Shark and Piranha have since become some of the most popular characters of DreamWorks Animation, and it was only a matter of time before they came back for another big screen heist. Much like the first film, The Bad Guys 2 is yet another superbly animated outrageously funny film, that comes the closest to capturing the spirit of being a modern day Lupin III film, only with anthropomorphic animals.

Speaking of the animals, the five titular characters are once again, so entertaining to watch and listen to, with Craig Robinson’s Shark and Anthony Ramos’s Piranha being as funny as ever, Marc Maron’s Snake getting an extremely funny romantic subplot with one of the new characters, and Sam Rockwell’s Wolf getting even more emotional depth. Even Awkwafina’s Tarantula gets some fantastic moments, and the likes of the also returning Diane Foxington and even Alex Borstein’s cop character, Misty Luggins,  all get great character arcs.

The animation once again, pushes the Spider-Verse style that made the first film so compelling to watch to new heights, with car chases, elaborate heists to find out information about “MacGuffinism” (the funniest joke in the film) and a third act set in space, all being incredibly fantastic to watch. 

Overall, even if the new Bad Girls characters could have been given more depth and some plot elements from the first film are repeated, The Bad Guys 2 is a great new adventure for these lovably mischievous characters and since the franchise is based on numerous books, the material is all there to give them as much heists or missions as they could possibly want for a very long time.

Rating: 4/5

The Naked Gun (2025)

Directed by: Akiva Schaffer

Written by: Dan Gregor, Doug Mand and Akiva Schaffer

Starring: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand and Danny Huston

Music by: Lorne Balfe

Rated: 15

Over three decades after being born from Lt. Frank Drebin and Jane Spencer, Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson), has been serving Police Squad even more incompetently than his long-deceased father. In between his usual arrests, coffee breaks no matter where he is and occasional worshipping of his dad’s portrait, (which everyone does to all the original members, apart from you know who), Frank Jr is asked by mystery novelist, Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), to investigate the murder of her brother and the connections it has to industrialist Richard Caine (Danny Huston) and his new “P.LO.T. Device”…

One subgenre that has been long dormant for over a decade has been the spoof-comedy, at least, in theatrical form. While the likes of Mel Brook’s filmography, the first three Scary Movies and the subject of this writing, the Zucker and Abrahams classics such as Airplane!, Top Secret and the Naked Gun trilogy have been regarded as comedy classics, the insane drop in quality by the infamous Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer’s Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie, killed the entire genre in the late 2000s.

However, there were plans to bring back the latter example of the good spoofs previously mentioned, Naked Gun, (that started life as a feature expansion of the Police Squad television series), one in 2009 that would have brought back Leslie Nielsen for one last time and another attempt by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane in the 2010s. The latter attempt would lead to Seth remaining on as a producer, before handing it over to the Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer, to bring this hilarious franchise back to life with this legacy sequel.

While lacking some of the charm of the original trilogy, this new Naked Gun, like how the original parodied 1960s-1970s cop shows, offers hilarious spoofs of 90s action flicks and modern franchises like Taken, Mission: Impossible and Die Hard, while not being afraid to get as unapologetically silly as possible, with all the iconic sight gags being as funny as ever, (including the addressing of the elephant in the room regarding one of the cast members of the trilogy).

Handled with the near impossible task of filling into Leslie Nielsen’s shoes, (as well as the rest of his tear-away clothes), Liam Neeson is absolutely the right choice for the son of the iconic Frank Drebin, as his sheer commitment to embracing the outrageous antics, is one to be admired. Pamela Anderson does manage to be a good successor to Priscilla Presley’s love interest role, even though it leads to a side-splitting sequence involving a snowman and a log cabin and the likes of Paul Walter Hauser and CCH Pounder, all manage to be great new additions to the antics of Police Squad.

Overall, while not all the jokes land, the 2025 take on The Naked Gun, is one of the funnier comedies out there and a great tribute to the work of Leslie Nielsen. With a sequel to Spaceballs finally coming and the Scary Movie franchise about to return, maybe it is time for spoofs to finally come back to the big screen instead of being stuck on streaming platforms.

Rating: 3.5/5

Freakier Friday

Directed by: Nisha Ganatra

Written by: Jordan Weiss

Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Manny Jacinto, Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Rosalind Chao, Ryan Malgarini, Christina Vidal, Haley Hudson, Stephen Tobolowsky and Lucille Soong

Music by: Amie Doherty

Rated: PG

Twenty-two years after her body swap experience with her mother, Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis), Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan) is now a successful music producer, but hasn’t played with the Pink Slip band for sixteen years, after she became a single parent to her own daughter, Harper (Julia Butters). When history repeats itself by Harper falling out with Anna after she gets engaged to Eric Davis (Manny Jacinto), who just happens to be the father of the former’s worst enemy at high school, Lily (Sophia Hammons), another trip to the fateful restaurant that caused the previous experience, causes yet another body swap curse. With Anna stuck in Harper’s body and Tess stuck in Lily’s, the two future stepsisters decide to use the former’s adult appearances to sabotage the wedding…

Back in the ancient days of the pre-2010s decades, long before Disney would be in a never ending cycle of remaking their animated films into live-action, people tend to forget that the company already had a long history with original live-action content dating back to the 1950s such as Old Yeller, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise . Even more shocking to believe in these days, is the fact that there was a previous era, throughout the 1990s and 2000s decades, where Disney also remade a lot of the comedies made back then, with the likes of Homeward Bound, The Parent Trap and Flubber, all doing well theatrically. 

One of the most successful of these, the 2003 remake of Disney’s 1976 body swap comedy, Freaky Friday, has since become a nostalgic classic on its own right, thanks to the heartwarming and hilarious mother and daughter story and two of Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis’s best roles in their careers. As Disney does seem to be running out of ideas for live-action remakes, this legacy sequel, does manage to be charming and funny enough for them to consider bringing these old franchises back for a new audience, considering how this would have, in the past, have been sent straight to streaming if it wasn’t for the huge streaming success of the Enchanted and Hocus Pocus sequels.

While Freakier Friday does repeat a lot of the first film’s plot elements, complete with 2020s humor and a dash of the Disney direct-to-DVD sequel formula from the sequels to The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp and The Little Mermaid, in which the main character, now a parent themselves, ends up repeating their own parent’s mistakes, the hilarious moments between Lindsay and Jamie, when they are playing younger people. are still fantastic and funny to watch. The former in particular, given what she has gone through in the last two decades, is welcomed back with open arms, and let’s hope that her comeback leads to much happier days for her.

Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons do also manage to capture the mature side of Anna and Tess trapped in new younger bodies, even if some opportunities for funnier jokes are missed. Even though a majority of the other returning characters are only here for cameos, one hilarious subplot from the first film regarding Chad Michael Murray, gets an unbelievably funny payoff, which gets the biggest laugh of this film.

Overall, while not offering much surprises in this new story, Freakier Friday is a welcome and refreshing reminder that Disney’s live-action comedy legacy should not be overlooked and it is also an entertaining return for these lovable characters.

Rating: 3.5/5

Weapons

Directed by: Zach Cregger

Written by: Zach Cregger

Starring: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong and Amy Madigan

Music by: Ryan and Hays Holladay and Zach Cregger

Rated: 18

In the small town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, at exactly 2:17am, nearly every child from Justine Gandy’s  (Julia Garner) class, runs into the night and vanish without a trace. A month later, Justine, Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), one of the missing children’s parents, Justine’s ex-boyfriend and local police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), James (Austin Abrams), a young drug addict, the school Principal Miller (Benedict Wong) and the only remaining child of Justine’s class Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), have their own personal experiences with this mysterious case, leading to shocking revelations…

After proving himself with his surprisingly great debut, Barbarian, director Zach Cregger, has once again made it clear that he is another fantastic new voice in horror cinema, with this amazing experience in both mystery and dark social satire. Much like Barbarian, Cregger uses the Rashomon plot structure to tell six different perspectives revolving around different characters, as they try to solve a case of a mass disappearance of children in their town, while also throwing in a lot of themes revolving around trauma and occultism, to make Weapons a truly haunting film.

While some characters such as Benedict Wong’s principal and Austin Abram’s young criminal could have used a lot more depth, Julia Garner, Josh Brolin and Cary Christopher’s character stories are the highlights in this anthology of perspectives. Even though the final act does lead to some unintentionally funny moments, Cregger’s script is still incredibly good at keeping both the suspense and unraveling threat intact as his characters try to solve the mystery.

Overall, along with Sinners, Weapons is another example about how well original horror stories can be told, if driven by as much passion and enthusiasm as these two excellent films.

Rating: 4.5/5

KPOP Demon Hunters

Directed by: Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans

Written by: Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans

Starring: Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong and Lee Byung-hun

Music by: Marcelo Zarvos

Rated: PG

For centuries, talented Korean singers have been defending humans from demons by the power of their music. The most recent ones are K-pop girl group, Huntrix, consisting of Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), who dedicate their lives to protecting their fans. However, when a dark secret from Rumi threatens to complicate their mission, things are made worse by the arrival of the Saja Boys, a demon boy band group sent by demon king, Gwi-Ma (Byung-hun Lee), as part of a new strategy to defeat them…

While people have to wait two more years to see the conclusion of the Spider-Verse trilogy, Sony Pictures Animation have at least three original films on both streaming and theatrical, to keep animation fans entertained with their new status as one of the best studios around.

The first of these, KPop Demon Hunters, is a wonderful and unique celebration of Korean culture and demon mythology, with the animated dance and fight sequences still pushing the boundaries of what animation can do. While a lot more anime inspired than Spider-Verse, directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans (director of Wish Dragon), find a way to make each sequence stand out in colour, expressive character animation and in how unapologetically comedic it is.

While one major plot twist could have been saved for the third act, it does manage to be a good message about how flaws shouldn’t be hidden in order to truly stand out, even if some of the worldbuilding of singers fighting demons could have been explored more. Arden Cho, May Hong and Ji-young Yoo do manage to bring so much personality to their titular singers, and the likes of Ahn Hyo-seop, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong and Byung-Hun Lee, all provide great side characters as well.

Overall, despite some messy worldbuilding that has room to be explored in a sequel, KPop Demon Hunters is another visual delight from Sony Pictures Animation, even if they may be relying too much on Netflix these days.

Rating: 4/5

Nobody 2

Directed by: Timo Tjahjanto

Written by: Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, Colin Salmon and Sharon Stone

Music by: Dominic Lewis

Rated: 15

As a consequence for his actions against the Russian mafia, Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) has been forced back into his former job as an assassin until his missions can repay his debts. Wanting to get closer to his family, Hutch arranges for a family vacation to his favourite place in his childhood, the Plummerville amusement park. However, Hutch soon discovers that the place is not as friendly as he imagined, especially when he gets on the wrong side of a ruthless bootleg kingpin, Lendina (Sharon Stone)…

Despite suffering from numerous delays as a result of the COVID pandemic, 2021’s Nobody, a film about what would happen if an former assassin like John Wick did succeed in having a family, but still was drawn back to his past, did manage to be a decent enough hit for Universal and it was successful enough to become another action franchise with this sequel.

While abandoning some of the “John Wick, but more realistic” tone of the first film, Nobody 2 does exactly what the poster suggests it would be, be an insanely entertaining and violent action movie that also happens to feel like watching a National Lampoon Vacation film if it was rated R.

Bob Odenkirk, as usual, proves himself as one of the best action faces out there after years of experience with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and other returning faces, such as Christopher Lloyd, RZA and even Connie Nielsen’s wife character, all get their moments to shine. 

Even though some of the new faces such as Colin Hanks, John Ortiz and even Sharon Stone’s new antagonist could have been given more attention, the insanely well choreographed action, including a Home Alone-style theme park climax, as well as the much more heartwarming message about appreciating family, makes Nobody 2, an overall, slightly more enjoyable experience than the first film.

Rating: 3.5/5

Materialists

Directed by: Celine Song

Written by: Celine Song

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Marin Ireland and Zoë Winters

Music by: Daniel Pemberton

Rating: 15

Former actress Lucy Mason (Dakota Johnson), has made a name for herself as a highly successful matchmaker for a dating company in New York City, even if she doesn’t believe in genuine love herself. After seemingly finding the perfect partner from her descriptions, a financier named Harry Castillo (Pedro Pascal), Lucy soon finds her beliefs being challenged, especially when her ex-boyfriend and former acting partner, John (Chris Evans) renters her life and she makes a terrible decision regarding one of her clients…

After proving herself with the Academy Award nominated Past Lives in 2023, writer-director Celine Song returns with another deconstruction of love stories with Materialists, only this time, being a sharp criticism about how online dating companies can sometimes be seen as an attempt to capitalise human relationships, rather than help them find genuine love.

While the film doesn’t go fully into this theme much like how Past Lives examined long-distance relationships, Materialists does manage to explore the clichés of romantic comedies within the context of realism, even if some tonal inconsistencies does slightly derail its vibe, especially in one of the subplots revolving around the darker aspects of online dating. 

The three main leads do manage to give this a lot of charm though, with Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro “appears in everything now” Pascal giving their characters a lot of personality and, if anything, cinematographer Shabier Kirchner deserves an Oscar nomination for making the city of New York feel like its own character in a city with endless relationships.

Overall, while not as substantial as Past Lives, Materialists does offer up a thoughtful character study about the true meaning of love and is a great showcase about how impressive of a director that Celine Song is.

Rating: 3/5

Grand Prix of Europe

Directed by: Waldemar Fast

Written by: Kirstie Falkous, John T. Reynolds, Jeffrey Hylton and Ben Alexander Safier

Starring: Gemma Arterton, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Hayley Atwell, Rob Beckett, Colin McFarlane and Lenny Henry

Music by: Volker Bertelmann

Rated: U

Edda (Gemma Arterton) is a young mouse who works her father (Lenny Henry)’s theme park, but dreams of becoming a racer like her idol, Ed (Thomas Brodie-Sangster). During preparations for the upcoming Grand Prix of Europe, Edda accidentally causes an accident that leads to her switching places with Ed, who must overcome his shallow attitude towards others, in order to help her win the tournament…

Developed as a film based on one of the largest independent theme parks in Europe, Germany’s Europa-Park, as part of their fiftieth anniversary celebration, Grand Prix of Europe is also the first animated film to star the park’s mascots, Ed and Edda, in this racing film for children.

While thankfully not as cynical in promoting its source material as something like Surf’s Up 2: Wavemania or Space Jam: A New Legacy, Grand Prix of Europe is unlikely to interest anyone over the age of twelve, despite having ok animation and well shot race sequences. However, the voice acting from the likes of Gemma Arterton, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Hayley Atwell and even Colin McFarlane as a memorable crow character, and a slightly interesting mystery subplot, does keep it from being boring for its target audience.

Overall, despite being very nicely animated and being a great film to introduce kids to the world of racing, only with animal characters, Grand Prix of Europe doesn’t offer much else for older viewers.

Rating: 3/5

The Life of Chuck

Directed by: Mike Flanagan

Written by: Mike Flanagan

Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mia Sara, Carl Lumbly, Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay and Mark Hamill

Music by: The Newton Brothers

Rated: 15

Told in reverse chronological order, Chuck Krantz (Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay as a teenager and Benjamin Pajak as a child), thinks about an apocalypse while on his deathbed, attends a street dance nine months before his final moments and during his childhood, is torn between his duties to his grandfather, Albie (Mark Hamill) and his desire to dance…

The first of a numerous new set of Stephen King adaptations set to come out in 2025, The Life of Chuck, based on one of four short stories published in If it Bleeds, a 2020 collection in which another one of the stories, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone was adapted into a Netflix film during the same year of publication, is one that has been a bit divisive.

While the reverse chronological order of this film, along with a very confusing first thirty minutes with an overwhelming depressing tone, definitely won’t appeal to everyone, director Mike Flanagan does manage to prove himself a worthy candidate for bringing King’s story to life, after doing a great job with Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep.  

While not getting as much screen time as the marketing would suggest, Tom Hiddleston does a great job at portraying Chuck’s character, especially during the second story, where the dance sequences and street dance vibe, makes it one of the most pleasant sections of the film. However, it is Benjamin Pajak as Chuck’s ten year old self, that gets the most amount of development, with Mark Hamill and Mia Sara as his grandparents, also managing to make their characters memorable, especially during the film’s most emotional moments regarding the film’s themes on life and death.

Overall, while lacking the spark that made Stephen King’s other non-horror films such as Stand By Me, The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption work, The Life of Chuck does manage to be an interesting and emotional meditation on life and man’s relationship with the universe, with impressive visuals and memorable side characters played by the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Carl Lumbly and Annalise Basso, even if Nick Offerman’s narrator does get a bit annoying at times.

Rating: 3.5/5

Caught Stealing

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Written by: Charlie Huston

Starring: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Bad Bunny, Griffin Dune, Carol Kane and Tonic the Cat

Music by: Rob Simonsen and Idles

Rated: 15

Set in the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the late 1990s, Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) is an ex-baseball player who works as a bartender, while having a relationship with a paramedic named Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz). When Hank’s British Punk neighbour, Russ (Matt Smith) asks him to look after his cat, Bud (Tonic the Cat), a series of crazy and violent events leads to Hank finding himself on the run from numerous criminal gangs who seek to possess a key found in the cat’s litter box…

While moving away from the psychological realism that has defined Darren Aronofsky‘s filmography such as Black Swan and The Wrestler, Caught Stealing, based on the first of a trilogy of novels by screenwriter Charlie Huston, does manage to be a fun crime thriller, even if the tonal whiplash is distracting.

Feeling more like a Guy Ritchie film than an Aronofsky one, Caught Stealing does manage to capture the high energy and violent chaos that defines the former’s best works. The likes of Regina King as a hard nosed detective, Matt Smith as an insane punk drug addict and especially a double Kingpin act of Vincent D’Onofrio and Liev Schreiber as two Jewish gangsters, all manage to feel right at home in the environment of late 90s inner-city New York, despite some serious moments being undercut by poorly placed jokes.

However the two best actors come down to Austin Butler’s protagonist, which proves how much the actor has improved in the two years after Elvis, and of course, Tonic the cat gives one of the best performances as the lovable MacGuffin, Bud. 

Overall, while some fans of Darren Aronofsky‘s films may be put off by this film being more mainstream friendly than his other works despite all the brutality of gang warfare and numerous deaths, Caught Stealing is a darkly fun and entertaining crime caper that thrives on the skills of the committed cast and the surprisingly emotional subtext regarding trauma and how people who suffer from it are treated by the public.

Rating: 4/5

The Roses

Directed by: Jay Roach

Written by: Tony McNamara

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Belinda Bromilow, Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou and Kate McKinnon

Music by: Theodore Shapiro

Rated: 15

Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch), a successful architect and Ivy (Olivia Colman), an aspiring chef, have been happily married for a decade with two children and after opening his dream museum, Theo gives Ivy the spare money to open her own restaurant. However, after Ivy’s career suddenly becomes more popular and Theo loses his job after being sued for poor building management, both of them slowly start to turn against each other…

Being the second adaptation of Warren Adler’s 1981 anti-marriage satire, The War of the Roses after the iconic 1989 Danny DeVito film, The Roses only uses the premise of a once happy couple turning murderous towards each other, to go into a much more comedic take on this set-up. 

While some purists may bemoan the lack of the biting messages of the book and 1989 film, both Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman are two of the best British thespian actors around, and The Roses takes full advantage of their wit and charm, to make their hilarious chemistry and insults  so funny to listen to and watch.

Even though this movie doesn’t fix the original film’s problems of trying to get audiences invested into “rich people problems”, especially when a working class version of this story does have potential to be the best version out there, the slapstick and the one-liners from the two leads are so funny, that one doesn’t even notice that Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon are an awkward double replacement for the DeVito character from the original film. 

Overall, despite lacking the cautionary tale aspect of the source material, The Roses is an utterly hilarious and still slightly darkly entertaining laugh fest, thanks to the talents of Cumberbatch and Colman.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Conjuring: Last Rites

Directed by: Michael Chaves

Written by: Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldbrick

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Steve Coulter, Rebecca Calder and Elliot Cowan

Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch

Rated: 15

Five years after the Arne Johnson trial, paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), have retired from taking cases due the former’s heart condition being worse than expected. While preparing arrangements for their daughter, Judy’s (Mia Tomlinson) wedding, a tragic event leads the Warrens to take up one last case, where the Smurl family from Pennsylvania have been haunted by a demon who has a personal vendetta against the Warrens themselves…

After twelve years at being Warner Bros’s third cinematic universe style franchise along the DC Extended Universe and the MonsterVerse of Godzilla and King Kong, The Conjuring universe is set to end its main series, even though both another prequel and a television series are also on the way.

Being very loosely based on the careers of Ed and Lorraine Warren and their supposed role in paranormal investigations, while the first two Conjuring films under James Wan’s direction were very solid in balancing both scares and historical events, all that went out of the window into more fantastical aspects with the Annabelle and Nun spin-offs, and this fourth main series film is no exception, being very very very loosely based on the 1974-1989 Smurl hauntings.

However, if one is willing to accept this as no longer historical representation and as purely entertainment horror, The Conjuring: Last Rites does manage to be a mostly fun finale to these characters, with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga giving their best performances as the Warrens, and Director Michael Chaves, despite his presence feeling overused in his third Conjuring universe film in a row (fourth if you count the now retconned The Curse of La Llorona), getting much better at staging the iconic jump scares and atmosphere building that this franchise was built on.

Overall, despite being so far removed from the franchise’s previous intentions that a third Nun film being a crossover with the Annabelle doll is more likely than not, The Conjuring: Last Rites does manage to be a mostly entertaining sendoff for the Warren era of this series.

Rating: 3/5

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle

Directed by: Haruo Sotozaki

Written by: Ufotable

Starring: Natsuki Hanae/ Zach Aguilar, Akari Kitō/ Abby Trott, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka/ Bryce Papenbrook, Hiro Shimono/ Aleks Le, Takahiro Sakurai/ Johnny Yong Bosch, Saori Hayami/ Erika Harlacher and Akira Ishida/ Lucien Dodge

Music by: Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina

Rated: 15

After witnessing the noble sacrifice of their leader, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, Tanjiro (Natsuki Hanae and Zach Aguiler), Zenitsu (Hiro Shimono and Aleks Le), Inosuke (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Bryce Papenbrook), and the rest of the Hashira and Demon Slayer Corps, are suddenly trapped into the lair of the ruthless leader of the demons, Muzan Kibutsuji, an endless dimension known as The Infinity Castle. As the groups are separated to fight the battles of their lives, three separate factions , consisting of Tanjiro himself and Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka (Takahiro Sakurai and Johnny Yong Bosch), Zenitsu by himself and the Insect Hashira, Lady Shinobu (Saori Hayami and Erika Harlacher), find themselves facing major turning points in their lives. The former in particular,  finally coming  face to face with the murderer of Flame Hashira Rengoku, Upper Rank 3 Demon, Akaza (Akira Ishida and Lucien Dodge)…

As Ufotable’s insanely popular anime adaptation of the manga series, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, ended its fourth season on a major cliffhanger, the studio decided that the penultimate arc of the source material, Infinty Castle, was so large, emotionally powerful and action focused, that a simple fifth season wouldn’t do it justice. As a result of this, they have decided to adapt this arc into a three part trilogy, being the anime equivalent of how Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was put together.

Unlike the past two theatrical movies that this franchise has produced, the first part of Infinity Castle is thankfully, a real movie and not a compilation of previously released episodes. Although people who have never watched an episode of Demon Slayer should stay away from this, for people who have kept up with this franchise from beginning to end, they will have their patience rewarded with the incredible animation, fight sequences and emotional payoffs to numerous arcs for several characters, while also having a lot of heartbreaking scenes that haven’t been seen since the Mugen Train film.

Overall, while the overuse of flashbacks for this first part of this three part story does slow the pacing down, the outstanding animation, incredible moments of character development and shocking moments, are absolutely worth seeing on the big screen, makes Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, a fantastic experience for fans of this franchise and anyone looking for incredible big screen anime action.

Rating: 4.5/5

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

Directed by: Simon Curtis

Written by: Julian Fellowes

Starring: Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Paul Giamatti, Elizabeth McGovern, Penelope Wilton, Dominic West, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan

Music by: John Lunn

Rated: PG

Two years after the death of Dowager Countess Violet Crawley, the residents of Downton Abbey are facing difficult times over the recent divorce of Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) and money losses caused accidentally by the returning Harold Levinson (Paul Giamatti). As Robert (Hugh Bonneville) and Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern) are forced to come to terms with Mary’s rise to become Downton’s heir, all their friends, family and staff must do everything they can to make sure the Abbey will always be there, no matter how hard changes can be….

While it looked like the long-running television series, Downton Abbey, was set to conclude in 2015 after six seasons, ITV’s most popular show in decades came back in 2019 with a theatrical film that was also set to be a last hurrah for the Crawleys and their friends. However, that film’s financial success led to a sequel in 2022, A New Era, which bid farewell to the show’s most popular character, Dame Maggie Smith’s Violet Crawley, and with Smith herself passing away in 2024, the show’s creator, Julian Fellowes, along with New Era director Simon Curtis, have made the decision to end the franchise for real this time with this third film.

While people who haven’t watched the series still might find themselves lost in terms of understanding the development that these lovable characters have built for six television seasons, people who have only seen the first two films, will find a lot to enjoy with Mary’s arc coming full circle as the new head of the Abbey and how the other characters come to terms with the changes that the 1930s bring. 

However, for those who have been there since the beginning, they will absolutely love the experience of saying goodbye to characters such as Hugh Bonneville’s Mr. Crawley, Jim Carter’s loyal Mr. Carson, Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael as the two Crawley sisters finally becoming the women they were meant to be and all the lovable antics of the residents and staff. While some arcs could have been better developed, The Grand Finale does manage to end things on a high note, especially with how it addresses how the absence of Violet (and Maggie Smith in general), means that things will never be the same again.

Overall, with the impressive period details that has defined this franchise and the lighthearted antics of characters that fans and viewers have loved for a decade and a half, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, if this is truly the last story of the Crawleys and company, is a great ending for one of the most popular television shows in the last decade.

Rating: 3.5/5

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Directed by: Kogonada

Written by: Seth Reiss

Starring: Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie, Kevin Kline, Lily Rabe, Jodie Turner-Smith and Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Music by: Joe Hisashi

Rated: 15

Two lonely people named David (Colin Farrell) and Sarah (Margot Robbie), unexpectedly find themselves paired together by a mysterious car, whose GPS (Jodie Turner-Smith), offers to take them on a “Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey”. Finding magical doors that lead them to reconnect with moments in their lives, David and Sarah soon learn unexpected truths and traumas about each other…

Another screenplay that was auditioned off to distribution on the 2020 Black List, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey was picked up by Sony and Columbus and After Yang director, Kogonada in 2024, which has led to this interesting romantic fantasy, even if the premise could have been improved on.

The idea of a Monsters Inc. or Portal scenario with doors that can lead to different realms, only in a romance story that could have been done by Charlie Kaufman, sounds like a fantastic idea on paper. However, the heavy focus on childhood trauma, makes one wonder if this would have been better as an animated film, with the visuals having no restrictions on making the abstract themes stronger.

While some have lambasted the fact that Burger King product placement is what kicks off the plot, both Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie do have great chemistry and moments together and apart, even if some might read it as a crack pairing between the Penguin and Harley Quinn.

Overall, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is a heavily flawed, yet visually appealing and emotional film that mostly gets thanks to the strength of its two main characters and some interesting themes on redemption and love.

Rating: 3/5

The Long Walk

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Written by: JT Mollner

Starring: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Joshua Odjick, Judy Greer and Mark Hamill

Music by: Jeremiah Fraites

Rated: 15

Set in an alternate reality dystopian timeline in 1970s America, as punishment for rebellion in a war twenty years ago, one teenage boy from every state, is selected to participate in “The Long Walk”, a brutal competition where they are forced to walk endlessly, where people who lag behind are shot dead until one remains. During this year’s competition, two young men named Raymond “Ray” Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) and Peter McVries (David Jonsson), bond over their hopes and aspirations, while under the brutal eye of the ruthless Major (Mark Hamill)…

Although Carrie was Stephen King’s first published novel that started his legendary career as one of the most influential writers of the modern age, it wasn’t his first story that he started writing. Beginning development in the late 1960s before it finally found a publisher in 1979, The Long Walk was one of the first mainstream novels to take the human-hunting for sport premise that was established in The Most Dangerous Game, and turn it into a powerful commentary about human nature, that the likes of Battle Royale, The Hunger Games and even another King novel, The Running Man, have also done.

While proposed film adaptations from George Romero, Frank Darabont and New Line Cinema over the last three decades came and went, it wasn’t until 2024 that Lionsgate finally succeeded in bringing King’s first story to life, in possibly one of the best films based on his works, for a long time.

Despite the bleak premise of boys being forced to walk to literal death, and the ending feeling like it was changed at the last minute due to real world events, The Long Walk is an incredibly compelling and surprisingly emotional take on this story, with the bonds that the boy characters being incredibly powerful, especially with the chemistry between Cooper Hoffman and the rising star that is David Jonsson. In his second Stephen King film in a row, Mark Hamill brings his Joker chops in making the Major one of the most vile and evil characters in King’s entire universe, even if he could have gotten a bit more time to shine as a memorable antagonist.

Overall, the memorable characters, brutal storytelling, Francis Lawrence proving that his Hunger Games work made him the perfect director for this material, and Jeremiah Fraites’s incredibly tense score, makes The Long Walk, one of the biggest surprises of the year and one the best examples of how to bring King’s work to the big screen.

Rating: 4.5/5

The Smashing Machine

Directed by: Benny Safdie

Written by: Benny Safdie

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten and Oleksandr Usyk

Music by: Nala Sinephro

Rated: 15

During the late 1990s, mixed martial arts fighter Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson) rises through the ranks of unrestricted wrestling tournaments to get labelled as “The Smashing Machine”. After losing a match in the 1999 Pride Fighting Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Mark struggles with his wounded ego and his inability to communicate with his girlfriend, Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt), which effects his abilities as a fighter, especially as the world changes around him…

After getting humiliated by the less impressive box office numbers on one of the last attempts to keep the DC Extended Universe films alive, 2022’s Black Adam, Dwayne Johnson has decided to try to offer an olive branch to the critics, by playing a more “prestige” role than the family friendly comedies that have overshadowed the former wrestler’s career. 

This would be seen in The Smashing Machine, a biopic based on the career of MMA fighter, Mark Kerr, which is based on a 2002 documentary which focused on his setbacks at the 1999 and 2000 Pride Fighting Championships and his relationships with his girlfriend, Dawn Staples and fellow fighter, Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader). While this adaptation doesn’t go into the further context that the documentary already explained, Director Benny Safdie does do a decent job at showing the struggles of this side of the wrestling industry, and at getting a much more darker performance than mainstream media is used to seeing from Johnson.

While the pairing of Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt makes one wonder if this is a dark ending to Jungle Cruise of all things, both actors do manage to showcase the flaws of Kerr’s viewpoint of the world, which leads to some incredibly tense moments. Even though Johnson’s desire to get recognised as a potential Best Actor nominee for the next Academy Award season is admirable, it does fall apart slightly, when a certain moment happens in the third act, which downplays a lot of what the marketing team have tried to sell this film as.

Overall, despite having questionable choices in the narrative and lacking more important elements from the documentary, The Smashing Machine does manage to take the Rock’s acting to new heights, even if he has a long way to go to catch up with John Cena and Dave Bautista’s much more interesting acting careers.

Rating: 3/5

Tron: Ares

Directed by: Joachim Rønning

Written by: Jesse Wigutow

Starring: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson and Jeff Bridges

Music by: Nine Inch Nails

Rated: 12A

Fifteen years after Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) sacrificed his life to prevent the digital world of The Grid from coming into Earth, his fears have become reality as Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the grandson of Kevin’s old nemesis, Ed, has created his own, more aggressive version of The Grid and has succeeded in bringing living programs from there, to Earth as high tech soldiers, but only for about twenty-nine minutes at a time. With Kevin’s son, Sam, leaving ENCOM in the hands of one of a young woman named Eve Kim (Greta Lee), while grieving the loss of her sister, she has discovered a permanence code built by Kevin, that could allow a program to live on Earth permanently. Julian sends his most powerful program, Ares (Jared Leto) to capture Eve, but the young program soon finds itself attracted to her and to life in general…

Long before their purchases of both Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm, The Walt Disney Company, apart from Lilo & Stitch, the Buzz Lightyear aspects of the Toy Story franchise and 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, had always had trouble at making original science fiction movies successful at the box office.

However, another notable exception to this has been the Tron franchise, even if both the original 1982 film and its 2010 legacy sequel, Tron: Legacy, only just barely turned a profit on the big screen. The first film has a massive cult following as the first film about video games and is regarded as one of the most important films that pioneered visual effects along with Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park, and Legacy also took full advantage of the late 2000s resurgence of 3D cinema that was started with Avatar, to become one of the best looking live-action films that Disney has released in years. 

With (of course) loads of video games, including several appearances in Kingdom Hearts, comics and impressive rides at both Walt Disney World and Shanghai Disneyland, a third film was planned to be released as far back as 2014, as a direct sequel to Legacy called Tron: Ascension. However, the box office failures of Disney’s big budget sci-fi films Mars Needs Moms, John Carter and Tomorrowland, killed the project, though Disney had another idea for a standalone sequel, that in hindsight, wasn’t the best idea for returning to The Grid.

While less can be said about Tron: Ares’s heavy reliance on Jared Leto, (especially given Leto’s recent sexual misconduct allegations), his acting is surprisingly lifeless given the over the top acting that he usually shows. His arc is basically a less interesting rehash of the T-800 from the first two Teminator films of a synthetic person learning how to be human, complete with his own Sarah Connor, Greta Lee’s Eve, which has already been done in the last film, with Sam and Quorra from Legacy.

As expected from the Tron franchise, the visuals are absolutely stunning and creative, with the Dillinger version of The Grid world, being a lot more scary and brutal than usual and the concept of bringing the humanoid programs, light cycles and iconic block ships, is used to full advantage, especially in the climax. However, Evan Peters and Gillian Anderson could have been developed further as the living relatives of the first film’s Ed Dillinger (played by David Warner in the 1982 film), especially when Ares doesn’t even take advantage of the renewed popularity of Cillian Murphy, when he played another of Ed’s children in the previous film, by bringing him back and it is obvious that Jeff Bridges return as a ghost of Kevin Flynn, was clearly added in at the last minute, as he doesn’t do much. 

Overall, despite still looking incredible and having a great soundtrack from Nine Inch Nails, Tron: Ares is a sloppily edited and poorly executed standalone sequel, that makes one wonder why they didn’t just continue where Legacy left off, even if this film thankfully doesn’t completely ruin that film, with an interesting sequel hook, even if this is unlikely to lead into another film.

Rating: 2.5/5

Night of the Zoopocalypse

Directed by: Rodrigo Perez-Castro and Ricardo Curtis

Written by: James Kee and Steven Hoban

Starring: Gabbi Kosmidis, Scott Thompson, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Pierre Simpson, Heather Loreto, Christina Nova and David Harbour

Music by: Dan Levy

Rated: PG

Gracie (Gabbi Kosmidis), a young timber wolf, is bored with her life of constant rules about staying weary of her neighbours, the rest of the animals at the Colepepper Zoo and theme park. When one of the cute white rabbits eats an alien meteor, it becomes infected with a zombie virus that quickly spreads to the other animals, and Gracie must team up with a bunch of other animal survivors, including a mysterious mountain lion named Dan (David Harbour), in order to find a cure…

Originating as a concept for an adult-aimed graphic novel about a kid getting trapped in a zoo during an animal zombie apocalypse by Hellraiser creator, Clive Barker, Night of the Zoopocalypse would eventually be reworked over the last decade throughout several Canadian animation studios, to become what is basically, an introduction to George Romero zombie films for kids.

Despite still being family friendly, as seen with the hugely stylistic rubbery character designs, this film’s music and visual style, feels like it has been made by either the already mentioned Romero or John Carpenter, with the heavy use of those film’s cinematography and use of electronic synthesizers in the score.

Overall, despite having an overly cartoonish style that might not be  for everyone and the family friendly tone keeps it back from embracing the insanity of the source material, Night of the Zoopocalypse is a mostly fun and entertaining kids’s introduction to the zombie apocalypse subgenre.

Rating: 3.5/5

I Swear

Directed by: Kirk Jones

Written by: Kirk Jones

Starring: Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson and Peter Mullan

Music by: Stephen Rennicks

Rated: 15

When accepting his 2019 MBE award from the Queen, John Davidson (Robert Aramayo), a Scottish campaigner for awareness of Tourette’s syndrome, thinks about his life. After getting diagnosed with the condition in his childhood, John, throughout the 1980s to early 1990s, lives a lonely life with his mother (Shirley Henderson) in Galashiels, Scotland. However, a chance meeting with his friend’s ill mother, a mental health nurse named Dottie Achenbach (Maxine Peake), leads to John moving in with her, getting a job and most important, realising that curing people’s lack of awareness for Tourette’s, rather than the condition itself, might be achievable…

Best known for directing the first Nanny McPhee film, director Kirk Jones brings one of the most important life stories about recent medical history, to emotional heights with I Swear, based on the life of Tourette’s Syndrome campaigner John Davidson. While this biopic does surprisingly glance over Davidson’s contributions to the 1989 BBC documentary, John’s Not Mad, this film does manage to be one of the best of the recent load of British biopics that have come out over the last decade.

Despite having a lot of heartwarming moments expected from these types of feel-good British true stories, I Swear doesn’t shy away from both the heartbreak and brutality that people suffering from Tourette’s or other mental conditions, before the condition was properly understood by the medical community , went through, while also not being too sentimental about it. Robert Aramayo is absolutely fantastic as John Davidson, while his bond with Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan’s characters, gets some of the funniest and most emotional moments of the entire film.

Overall, despite having a slightly drawn out ending, (though understandable, given how quickly advancements in medical treatments can change someone’s life unexpectedly), I Swear is a fantastic, brutally honest, heartbreaking and emotionally hilarious film, that should definitely be recognised for its emotional maturity, no matter the amount of swear words attached.

Rating: 4.5/5

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie

Directed by: Ryan Crego

Written by: Mike Lew, Rehana Lew Mirza, Adam Wilson and Melanie Wilson LaBracio

Starring: Laila Lockhart Kraner, Gloria Estefan, Logan Bailey, Donovan Patton, Tara Strong, Eduardo Franco, Secunda Wood, Juliet Donenfeld, Jason Mantzoukas and Kristen Wiig

Music by: Stephanie Economou

Rated: U

Gabby (Laila Lockhart Kramer), is a fun loving teenage girl who enjoys having adventures with her best friends, a group of cat themed toys that can come to life, thanks to the magic of a dollhouse that her grandmother, Gigi (Gloria Estefan) gave to her, and a pair of magical cat ears that can temporarily shrink and transform herself into a living toy as well. When Gabby accidentally loses her dollhouse while on a vacation to visit Gigi in the city of Cat Francisco, she, along with her sidekick, Pandy Paws the cat panda (Logan Bailey), set out to rescue the Gabby cats from Vera (Kristen Wiig), an eccentric artist, who wants the house as a collectible…

Not counting the direct to video prequel to The Prince of Egypt, Joseph: King of Dreams, the live action How to Train Your Dragon remake, or anything made by their television division such as Orion and the Dark or the infamous Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate, DreamWorks Animation have finally made to their fiftieth feature film. However, while their eternal rivals, Walt Disney Animation Studios, celebrated their fiftieth film with the excellent Tangled in 2010, this milestone film for the house of Shrek, Po, Toothless and the Penguins of Madagascar, is a very odd way to celebrate this milestone.

Much like 2021’s Spirit Untamed, Gabby’s Dollhouse is based on one of DreamWorks’s most successful Netflix shows, only this time, it’s their first film aimed entirely for the show’s intended preschool audience, much like the Paw Patrol films. Created by two of the co-creators of Blue’s Clues, Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey, this show, based on combining three of their favourite topics, cats, miniature dolls and dollhouses, this show  was one of DreamWorks’s first live action/animation hybrid projects that is currently on its eleventh season and is set to get its own themed area in the upcoming Universal Kids Resort Park. 

As a film aimed exclusively at the show’s target audience, Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie does manage to offer the bright animation and songs that young kids who love the show, will also love too, complete with audience participation moments. However, aside from some funny moments from Kristen Wiig’s new villain character and a subplot involving a new toy character, there isn’t much to recommend for anyone over the age of ten. 

Overall, while children will enjoy the songs and character antics that have kept the show going for so long, Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie can only be recommended to families with younger children, as anyone over that age, will not get anything out of this, aside from a toned down theme that the Toy Story films did better and some unintentionally funny moments from the audience participation gimmick.

Rating: 3/5

Black Phone 2

Directed by: Scott Derrickson

Written by: Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill

Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davis, Demián Bichir, Miguel Mora, Arianna Rivas, Anna Lore and Ethan Hawke

Music by: Atticus Derrickson

Rated: 18

Four years after escaping and bringing an end to the infamous masked child murderer, The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), Finney Blake (Mason Thames), is still struggling with the trauma of his kidnapping and has become a recluse from his family. When Finney’s sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), and her ability to see visions, starts having nightmares about their late mother, Hope (Anna Lore), she, Finney, as well as the brother of the late Robin, Ernesto (Miguel Mora), go to her former Christian summer camp, where they discover that not only has the Grabber returned in the form of a ghost, but his connections to both the location and their own family, runs deeper than expected…

The 2022 adaptation of the short story, The Black Phone, which was written by one of Stephen King’s own children, Joe Hill, ended being another major success at the box office for both Universal and Blumhouse Productions. While the first film managed to be an effective, simple ghost story about escaping from a deranged masked child killer, this sequel goes for a more action heavy and world-building approach, similar to the change in atmosphere from Alien to Aliens or Evil Dead II to Army of Darkness.

Despite some hard to believe retcons and the addition of even more supernatural elements to a story where the only aspects of the previous film was the voice of the dead children guiding Finney, Black Phone 2 does manage to be an effective continuation of both Finney and Gwen’s character arcs, with the latter getting most of the attention this time.

Despite his new powers making him too similar to Freddy Kruger, Ethan Hawke’s Grabber is once again, absolutely terrifying and deranged as ever, with Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw giving incredible performances as well.

Overall, despite losing a lot of the original film’s atmosphere, Black Phone 2 is a very interesting and entertaining sequel.

Rating: 3.5/5

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Directed by: Scott Cooper

Written by: Scott Cooper

Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham and Odessa Young

Music by: Jeremiah Fraites

Rated: 12A

After reaching the end of his 1981 concert tour, Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) and his long-time manager and producer, Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong), rent a home in Freehold, New Jersey, to lay low while thinking of new single or album ideas. Struggling with memories of his alcohol addicted father (Stephen Graham), and his early life in a working class background, Bruce decides to take his next tracks in a completely unexpected direction, one that would lead to the creation of the Nebraska album…

After the award nominations that 20th Century Studios received for A Complete Unknown, a different type of music biopic that focused on one event in Bob Dylan’s life rather than his entire career, they have decided to do a similar thing with this Bruce Springsteen focused film.

Much like A Complete Unknown, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is focused on a single defining moment in the American songwriter’s life, instead of his whole story, which is the creation of the 1982 Nebraska album and the singer’s struggles with depression during this period. 

Director Scott Cooper, best known for Crazy Heart and Hostiles, does manage to tell this story about the struggles of retaining creativity and the true meaning of what songs mean to people, as shown with Jeremy Allen White’s powerful performance as the young singer, even if the tropes of the full music biopics, are still present here. 

While the likes of Stephen Graham and Odessa Young’s father and girlfriend characters, go through the exact arc one would expect about tortured artistic souls, the performances from the actors save it from becoming too predictable. However, Jeremy Strong’s take on Jon Landau and brief appearances from Paul Walter Hauser as a sound engineer, manage to get strong material out of this film, even if people who don’t care about this album’s history, might not get much out of this.

Overall, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere does have strong acting and some powerful moments and messages regarding the cost of creativity and artistic perfection. However, this will mostly appeal only to music biopic enjoyers, Bruce Springsteen fans, and ones who absolutely love the Nebraska album out of his entire music collection.

Rating: 3/5

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc

Directed by: Tatsuya Yoshihara

Written by: Hiroshi Seko

Starring: Kikunosuke Toya/ Ryan Colt Levy, Reina Ueda/ Alexis Tipton, Fairouz Ai/ Sarah Wiedenheft, Tomori Kusunoki/ Suzie Yeung and Shogo Sakata/ Reagan Murdock

Music by: Kensuke Ushio

Rated: 15

Shortly after the events of the first season, Denji (Kikunosuke Toya and Ryan Colt Levy in English), a young man who shares his body with Pochita, a chainsaw devil creature that enables him to transform into the powerful Chainsaw Man, is reassigned to a different position in his work with the Devil Hunters. As he tries to come to terms with his feelings of his attractive boss, Makima (Tomori Kusunoki and Susie Yeung in English), Denji suddenly gets distracted by Reze (Reina Ueda and Alexis Tipton in English),a beautiful girl who he starts dating. However, her dark secrets soon threaten the whole of Japan…

After the record breaking success of the two Demon Slayer films in the last five years, anime television adaptations (which are also based on popular manga franchises), have gotten bigger audiences than ever before. With Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia and Spy x Family all getting major successes on both the small and big screens, it was only a matter of time before Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man, would finally make his big screen debut, three years after the first season aired in 2022.

While a lot more alienating for anyone not familiar with the show or manga, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, keeps the show’s fantastic fight sequences and love of ripping apart enemies intact. While the premise of a group of hunters trying to stop evil forces, does make this feel a bit too alike to the Demon Slayer franchise, only with more realistic character designs and hornier humor, the loveable characters and tragic love story, does make this standalone film, a lot more accessible than expected for newcomers.

Overall, while slightly less mainstream attractive than the massive impact that Demon Slayer has had, (especially given how bleak the show’s future arcs get), Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, is a great showcase for fantastic animation and great characters, as shown with how much the anime industry has gotten even larger over the years.

Rating: 4/5

Regretting You

Directed by: Josh Boone

Written by: Susan McMartin

Starring: Allison Williams, McKenna Grace, Dave Franco, Mason Thames, Scott Eastwood, Willa Fitzgerald and Clancy Brown

Music by: Nathaniel Walcott

Rated: 15

Morgan Grant (Allison Williams) and Jonah Sullivan (Dave Franco), have always had a thing for each other, but for the last seventeen years, have been living their own separate lives, with Morgan marrying Chris (Scott Eastwood), the person who got her pregnant, and Jonah marrying Morgan’s sister, Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald). When tragic events bring them closer together, Morgan is forced to also deal with the stormy relationship she has with her now teenage daughter, Clara (McKenna Grace), who has feelings for local cinema worker, Miller Adams (Mason Thames)…

After the controversial production of the last Colleen Hoover film adaptation, It Ends With Us, one would think that Regretting You, another adaptation of one of her books, would be just another romantic comedy aimed for the Nicholas Sparks crowd, with a fitting director, Josh Boone of The Fault in Our Stars, making this easier. However, the insanity of this film, is something that needs to be seen to be believed.

While it is true that this type of film is made for a very loyal demographic that are a lot more forgiving of these types of love stories, Regretting You is unexpectedly complicated to follow, with borderline laughable dialogue and with so much unintentional incest implications, that the fact that this film also contains Paramount’s most shameless use of product placement, is just a minor issue here.

While all of these actors have done better work elsewhere, Allison Williams, Dave Franco, McKenna Grace and Mason Thames, are so flat here, that it becomes even easier to “press out” the rest of the issues here. It doesn’t help matters that Clancy Brown is given absolutely nothing to do, as the only interesting subplot revolving around his character’s ill health, gets completely dropped.

Overall, while Regretting You does look solidly made, and Nate Walcott‘s score is really good, everything else is way too cheesy and unintentionally funny, even for these types of romance book adaptations.

Rating: 1.5/5

The Choral

Directed by: Nicholas Hytner

Written by: Alan Bennett

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Roger Allam, Mark Addy, Alun Armstrong, Robert Emms, Jacob Dudman, Amara Okereke and Simon Russell Beale

Music by: George Fenton

Rated: 12A

Set in 1916 Yorkshire, the fictional town of Ramsden is having trouble finding singers for the local choral society, due to most of the men being sent off to fight in the trenches. When Dr. Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) is hired as the main master of ceremonies, he turns the head of the society by allowing teenagers too young to fight, to join the group, while also deciding to do a Percy of Edward Edgar’s (Simon Russell Beale) The Dream of Gerontius, only with updated visuals to reflect the uncertainty of their lives…

After the unpleasant experience of the 2022 film adaptation of Allelujah, playwright Alan Bennett, has decided to bring his favourite director, Nicholas Hytner, who successfully managed to bring The Madness of King George, The History Boys and The Lady in the Van, to life on the big screen, back to adapt a new script of his, The Choral.

While thankfully not containing any tonal whiplash plot twists like last time, this film doesn’t shy away from the emotionally powerful themes that has defined Bennett as a writer, showing the loss of innocence as the young people of this village are sent off to fight, despite learning to put aside differences as part of this singing group. While some may turn their noses at how accurate it is to real life, especially with how a certain real composer is represented, The Choral is at its strongest when it focuses on how the singing changes the young characters, especially with Jacob Dudman and Amara Okereke’s characters.

Ralph Fiennes once again proves how great he is at emotional characters with the art-loving Dr. Guthrie, the likes of Roger Allam, Mark Addy, Alun Armstrong and Robert Emms all get great moments as the society’s leaders, and Simon Russell Beale also gets a fantastically hammy performance as a composer who loves his music too much, that he won’t allow anyone to change it. 

Overall, while The Choral does lack some of the gritty elements that make films set in World War I stand apart from the usual WWII films that take up space every awards season, the acting, the powerful themes and the singing performances, makes this a great step in the right direction for Alan Bennett.

Rating: 3.5/5

Predator: Badlands

Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg

Written by: Patrick Aison

Starring: Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Elle Fanning, Reuben De Jong, Mike Homik and Alison Wright

Music by: Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch

Rated: 12A

Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), is a runt among the Yautja Predator tribe of Yautja Prime, who embarks on self-imposed exile to hunt the most dangerous creature in the universe, after his brother, Kwei (Mike Homik), gives his life to save him from his cruel father, Njohrr (Reuben De Jong). When Dek arrives on the alien infested planet, Genna, the only area where the legendary Kalisek monster resides, Dek is forced to team up with Thia (Elle Fanning), one of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s humanoid androids, in order to claim his trophy, while Tina’s “sister”, Tessa (Also Elle Fanning), seeks the beast for the company’s dubious goals…

Out of all the 20th Century Fox sci-fi franchises that Disney acquired in 2019 when they finalised their deal to buy the studio, the Predator series seems to be on the most exciting path. While the Avatar films are set to become box office behemoths no matter what, and some good aspects have come out of the otherwise divisive Alien projects, both the 2022 Disney+ film, Prey, and the recently released animated anthology movie, Predator: Killer of Killers, have taken these elite hunters to new heights never before seen in the mainstream entries.

Director Dan Trachtenberg, who is responsible for directing both these films, has quickly become one of the best directors working on this franchise in years, and he has pulled another hat trick with Predator: Badlands, the first theatrical film for these infamous hunters since 2018’s The Predator, and the closest one to hint at a potential revival of the Aliens vs Predator concept that dominated the 1990s.

Taking inspiration from the Dark Horse Comics, books and video games that came out during this time, Badlands finally gives fans of the franchise, the much more complex world-building of the Predators that showed that they are much more than just human hunters, unlike their Xenomorph enemies. While this film isn’t the first one to depict them as  protagonists (2004’s Alien vs. Predator film), Dek’s biblical-like coming of age arc may be a bit off putting for anyone who has only seen the films, but it does manage to be very interesting and surprisingly emotional, especially in the friendship he forms with Elle Fanning’s entertaining Thia, who also gives a fantastic villain performance as her evil android “sister”, Tessa. 

Despite having a 12A rating, that doesn’t mean the franchise’s love of gory kills isn’t there, it is just because that since this is also the first film in both the Predator and Alien franchises with no humans, all the characters either bleed green or white blood (the latter being seen numerous times with Alien’s android characters). Speaking of Alien, as mentioned before, there are so many elements from those films, the power suits from Aliens and the evil Weyland-Yutani company and their androids, that it is clear where the future of this franchise is going. 

Overall, despite being a lot more comedic than the previous films, and going in a direction that some may find odd, Predator: Badlands is yet another entertaining and exciting entry for this franchise from Trachtenberg and his crew. The hunt has never been this successful in a long time for these hunters, and it may lead their future  into the direction that fans of the comics and books, have wanted for ages.

Rating: 4/5

Pets on a Train

Directed by: Benoît Daffis and Jean-Christian Tassy

Written by: David Alaux, Jean-François and Éric Tosti

Starring: Wyatt Bowen, Chimwemwe Miller, Tristan D. Lalla, Angela Galuppo, Mark Camacho and Bruce Dinsmore

Music by: Le Feste Antonacci

Rated: PG

Falcon (Wyatt Bowen), an orphaned racoon raised by a pigeon named Rico (Mark Camacho) and a group of fighting rats, steals food from the city to help him and his fellow urban wildlife survive. On Christmas Eve, Falcon thinks that he has hit the jackpot when hired by a badger named Hans (Chimwemwe Miller), to break into a train for what he thinks is a massive food heist. However, Falcon ends up getting betrayed and trapped on the train with a group of pets, and he must work with them in order to save themselves from certain death…

Blending the animal antics of Over the Hedge with the premise of the Denzel Washington Die Hard on a train film, Unstoppable, Pets on a Train, or Falcon Express, does exactly what it promotes on the posters, be an animal version of these types of escape heist action films.

While the English dubbing of this TNT Productions French film is just awful, with the lip syncing of the dialogue being inexcusable in this age of great dubbing on anime films, the character animation and train action sequences are quite impressive, while also being a fun introduction to this genre for younger kids.

Despite being way too similar to RJ’s arc in Over the Hedge, (which is oddly fitting, given that Bruce Willis voiced him in that film), Falcon does get some of the funniest moments, especially in his interactions with the pet characters, especially the tough German Shepherd cop stand in and the chihuahua obsessed with 4chan. 

Overall, while the premise could have been better, given how much European animated films absolutely love train sequences, Pets on a Train is a fine and enjoyable ride, even if it is from the studio behind the terrible Jungle Bunch franchise.

Rating: 3/5

The Running Man (2025)

Directed by: Edgar Wright

Written by: Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright

Starring: Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Jayme Lawson, Sean Hayes, Colman Domingo and Josh Brolin

Music by: Steven Price

Rated: 15

In a dystopian era, the United States has become a totalitarian police state where corporations have bought the government, abuse the lower classes and keep their higher ranking citizen distracted by FreeVee, a streaming service that focuses on violent reality shows. In the midst of this, a struggling blue-collar worker named Ben Richards (Glen Powell), is convinced by FreeVee’s executive producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to participate in their most popular show, The Running Man, in which participants have to travel across America for thirty days, while avoiding being killed by hunters, in exchange for prize money to help his family. However, when Ben starts to play, he soon discovers that that media’s propaganda have labelled him as a dangerous criminal for higher ratings, and now he must escape his fate…

While Stephen King has long wanted another adaptation of his 1982 dystopian satire about America’s obsession with capitalist television culture, The Running Man, after previously not liking the loose 1987 film adaptation which turned the story into an Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick with his trademark puns, a new take on this story is more relevant than ever, given how much of its predictions have come true.

Even though the popular British auteur, Edgar Wright, still doesn’t fully adapt the source material’s bleak edge, (which is understandable given the fact that the book’s climax involves a plane crashing into a building), his new take on The Running Man does remain faithful to the creative worldbuilding and the much larger scope of the titular game being played across the whole of America , when compared to the limitations of the 1987 film confining it to one city. However, fans of Edgar Wright’s insane skill at smart comedy, especially with the Cornetto trilogy and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, does manage to fit into this story well, especially in the insane kills and great visual representation of this dystopia.

Glen Powell is fantastic as a much more grounded take on Ben Richards, Josh Brolin steps into Richard Dawson’s shoes with sinister edge and the likes of Lee Pace, William H. Macy, Daniel Ezra and Michael Cera, all manage to be fantastic and quirky supporting characters, even if Emilia Jones feels a bit miscast. 

Overall, although purists of King’s story may weep at how this still doesn’t adhere to the bleak narrative of the book, Edgar Wright’s take on The Running Man does work as a fully developed and updated take on the satire and dark comedy that defines this story, as well as being another entertaining thrill ride on its own terms, as only Wright can provide.

Rating: 4/5

Christmas Karma

Directed by: Gurinder Chadha

Written by: Gurinder Chadha

Starring: Kunal Nayyar, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Boy George, Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, Mia Lomer and Eva Longoria

Music by: Gary Barlow, Nitin Sawhney and Shaznay Lewis

Rated: PG

Mr. Snood (Kunal Nayyar) is a bad tempered businessman who hates the holidays, his employees and refugees, despite being one himself who fled to the United Kingdom during the 1970s expulsion of Indians from Uganda. When his long deceased business partner, Jacob Marley (Hugh Bonneville), comes back to warn him about eternal suffering if he doesn’t change his ways, Snood is pulled into a magical adventure with the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Eva Longoria), Present (Billy Porter) and Future (Boy George), to remind him of his roots, in order to find redemption…

The horrible events of recent years have made people sadly realise something that was previously thought impossible, even during holiday season, that, despite being the most beloved and adapted Christmas story in history, A Christmas Carol is a work of fiction, made more apparent by the unforgivable actions of today’s Scrooges. 

The idea of another modern day adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic in the vein of the beloved Scrooged, would seem impossible today, given how 2022’s Spirited already did a hilarious parody of the formula and as mentioned before, at how today’s idea of a Scrooge, are unredeemable, inhuman monsters. However, the director of Bend it like Beckham and Blinded by the Light, Gurinder Chadha, manages to make this impossible feat work, even if this far from the best modern Christmas Carol. 

Kunal Nayyar’s take on a Scrooge that is  motivated by trauma rather than greed and a former refugee that forgot about his roots, does manage to make this version very believable and sympathetic, especially in the tearjerking takes on the Christmas Past (based on the 1970s displacement of Indians from Uganda) and Future sequences. 

While some casting decisions such as Boy George as Future and a completely unrecognisable Hugh Bonneville’s Jacob Marley, are not very good, Christmas Karma does deserve some credit for finally giving Billy Porter and Danny Dyer, performances that I actually enjoyed, even if the former’s take on Present, is a bit too over the top.

Overall, despite a lot of unfunny moments and a question of whether this would have been better if they fully committed to the Bollywood approach with an all-Indian cast, Christmas Karma is a mostly harmless and slightly clever version of this endlessly adapted story.

Rating: 3/5

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t

Directed by: Ruben Fleischer

Written by: Michael Lesslie, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese and Seth Grahame-Smith

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Lizzy Caplan, Rosamund Pike and Morgan Freeman

Music by: Brian Tyler

Rated: 12A

Over a decade after the last performance of the Four Horsemen magicians, three young magicians, Charlie (Justice Smith), Bosco (Dominic Sessa) and June (Ariana Greenblatt), perform tribute performances of their heroes, continuing their work on robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. However, one of their performances catches the attention of the Horsemen, Daniel (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt (Woody Harrelson), Jack (Dave Franco) and Henley (Isla Fisher), and through the intervention of the mysterious Eye organisation, both groups are hired to perform a heist on the corrupt businesswoman, Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike), while also dealing with their own personal reasons for separating…

Nine years after the last film in one of Lionsgate’s most underrated franchises, Now You See Me, these “Robin Hood” magicians have come back at a time when their exploits are needed more than ever, with this long delayed third film. With Venom and Zombieland director, Ruben Fleischer taking the reigns for Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, he makes this less complicated than the first two films, even if the magic is still as incomprehensible as ever, if you stop to think about it for a second.

While this third film follows the formula of a legacy sequel, with the original Horsemen (including Isla Fisher finally returning after her absence in the second film) training a new generation of outlaw magicians, the third film still has a lot of the inventive uses of magic in heists that fans have loved about this series. Even if some of the plot twists feel a bit stale this time, the new faces of Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt, along with an incredibly hammy Rosamund Pike, manage to bounce of well with Eisenberg, Harrelson, Fisher and Franco.

Overall, despite having the same issues with the rest of this franchise and being a bit too heavy on exposition, Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, is a slightly better performance than the first two shows, even if it runs a few less surprise cards than before.

Rating: 3.5/5

Frankenstein (2025)

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Written by: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen, Charles Dance and Christoph Waltz

Music by: Alexandre Desplat

Rated: 15

In the 1850s, a Royal Danish Navy expedition to the North Pole discovers a wounded, traumatised man named Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac). As he is slowly dying of his injuries, Victor proceeds to tell the sailors the story of his life as a scientist , his relationships with his abusive father (Charles Dance), and his brothers’s fiancé, Elizabeth (Mia Goth), and the creation of a creature (Jacob Elordi), made from reanimated body parts. However, halfway through the story, the Creature himself intervenes, and proceeds to continue the story from his own perspective…

Much like his Academy Award winning animated adaptation of Pinocchio, Guillermo del Toro has had another passion project that he has wanted to bring to life for decades, (literally, in the case of the subject matter), his own take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus.

Although not the first adaptation of the 1818 classic novel to stick more closely to the source material than either the Universal films or the Hammer Horror movies, (Kenneth Branagh’s 1994 adaptation comes to mind), it is clear how much Del Toro loves this story, while also making it surprisingly emotional at times. He once again nails the gothic production design of the castle and visuals, as he did in Crimson Peak and Pinocchio, even if the creature looks a lot less scary than in previous versions. 

Speaking of the character, as expected from nearly all his films that contain themes that humanise monsters, Del Toro makes The Creature (not a monster in anyway in this version), the most intelligent and most sympathetic version of this character, who only attacks in self defence and doesn’t drown children. This is made fantastic by Jacob Eldori’s incredible performance, and much less terrifying makeup, even if some have complained that he looks a bit too attractive. 

As for Victor, while some may take issue with his depiction mixing in elements from Peter Cushing’s evil take on the character in Hammer, it does work in depicting the themes of traumatic parenthood passing down from generation to generation, much like in Pinocchio and Pan’s Labyrinth.

While Mia Goth’s less passive take on Elizabeth and Christoph Waltz Victor’s benefactor, all get fantastic moments, the other best performance comes from David Bradley as the iconic blind man, whose relationship with the creature, is the best version of this iconic subplot from the book. This ultimately to an unexpected resolution that highlights the importance of letting go of past trauma, that gives this version of Frankenstein, the closes thing to a bittersweet, yet uplifting conclusion to this very dark story.

Overall, despite the last act feeling rushed when compared to the rest of the film, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is one of the best new takes on this iconic story in decades and yet another beautiful and gothic masterpiece from this fantastic storyteller.

Rating: 4.75/5

Wicked: For Good

Directed by: Jon M. Chu

Written by: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox

Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh, Colman Domingo and Jeff Goldblum

Music by: John Powell and Stephen Schwartz

Rated: PG

Five years after discovering the terrible truth about the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) continues trying to save the oppressed talking animals, even though her reputation has been tarnished by the lies of the Wizard and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). As her best friend Galinda (Ariana Grande), is now established as “Glinda the Good”, and Elphaba herself as “The Wicked Witch of the West”, their already fractured relationships between themselves and their friends, Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), Boq (Ethan Slater) and Nessarose (Marissa Bode), are torn apart even further, when an iconic house from the human world drops in, setting their destinies in stone…

While the second act of the 2003 stage musical, Wicked, based on a 1996 revisionist story by Gregory Maguire that reframed the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the framed and much less Wicked Witch of the West, is often regarded as the weaker half of the show, it still managed to have incredible moments and songs, much like the second part of this two-part film adaptation.

Director Jon M. Chu and the writers of the show, Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, fully expand on the shorter and rushed second act of the source material with better character development and pacing, with Ethan Slater and Marissa Bode in particular, getting much more depth in their tragic character arcs as Boq and Nessarose.

While not going as twisted as the stage musical in how certain scenes are shot, the PG rating of Wicked: For Good is the first one in a long time that actually feels earned, especially in the much sexier take on As Long As You’re Mine and the much more brutal versions of No Good Deed and March of the Witch Hunters. However, even though the show’s second act is infamous for how awkwardly the events of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz are crammed into the story, Wicked: For Good only fixes a few things, such as how the Cowardly Lion (Colman Domingo) is used and in making The Wizard’s arc come full circle.

However, the incredible performances of both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as the two witches of Oz, was, and is still, the best things about these two films, with the former’s No Good Deed being just as intense and compelling as Defying Gravity, and the latter taking centre stage as someone who has to finally earn her title as a true “good witch”. And of course, the iconic For Good song, is still as emotional and tearjerking as ever, even if it is clear that Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible cannot sing to save her life and was only put in these films to get butts in seats. 

Overall, despite inheriting a lot of problems from the second act of the show, Wicked: For Good did the best job it could have done in completing this long awaited adaptation, that will be a staple of being rewatched over and over again in double bills and sing-a-long screenings!

Rating: 4/5

Nuremberg

Directed by: James Vanderbilt

Written by: James Vanderbilt

Starring: Rami Malek, Russell Crowe. Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Richard E. Grant and Michael Shannon

Music by: Brian Tyler

Rated: 15

In the aftermath of the death of Adolf Hitler and the end of the Second World War, United States Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson (Michael Shannon), starts making plans for a military tribunal against the surviving members of the Nazi High Command for their crimes. Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), an army psychiatrist, is hired by Jackson in order to investigate the highest ranked Reichmarshall of Hitler’s inner circle, Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe), and see if he can get information that could guarantee for all of them to be hanged. However, Kelley soon discovers a much more darker truth about the Nazi’s motivations and why they were so willing to serve Hitler in the first place…

While films and television shows about the 1940s Nuremberg trials that successfully prosecuted  most of the surviving members of the Nazi High Command, such as 1961’s Judgement at Nuremberg, and the 2006 documentary miniseries, Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial, have been made, the story about the psychological pain of Douglas Kelley, and how his interrogation of these people led to him discovering a truth that he was silenced for trying to spread, seems more timely than ever, especially in this film’s haunting ending.

Even though director James Vanderbilt (previously a writer on The Amazing Spider-Man films and Zodiac), does admittedly treat Nuremberg as Oscar-bait at times, especially with some of the dialogue and unintentionally funny cutaways, it does make this film more appealing to mainstream audiences that most modern biopics struggle with.

The likes of Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, Leo Woodall, John Slattery and Colin Hanks are all solid as well. However, it is Russell Crowe’s performance as Hermann Göring, that truly makes Nuremberg worth watching, switching from seemingly charming from one minute, to immediately flipping to being utterly sinister once the Nazi’s worst crimes are discovered during the trial, which makes the message of the film, as well as the final reveal of what happened to Kelley, even more powerful and haunting.

Overall, despite some odd pacing and questionable editing, Nuremberg is an underrated and powerful biopic about the importance of seeking justice, while also being aware of what can drive someone psychologically, to either commit evil or support it from the stands.

Rating: 4/5

Zootopia 2

Directed by: Jared Bush and Byron Howard

Written by: Jared Bush

Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Shakira, Idris Elba, Patrick Warburton, Quinta Brunson, Danny Trejo, Alan Tudyk, Nate Torrence, Don Lake, Bonnie Hunt, Maurice LaMarche, Macaulay Culkin, Brenda Song and Jenny Slate

Music by: Michael Giacchino

Rated: PG

Some time after taking down Dawn Bellwether (Jenny Slate), Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), have now become official partners in the Zootopia Police Department, but their clashing personalities causes Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) to consider splitting them up. As Zootopia prepares to celebrate its centennial anniversary, both Judy and Nick end up getting framed by the corrupt Lynxley family (David Strathairn, Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song), after Bogo accidentally gets bitten by Gary (Ke Huy Quan), a scared pit viper who is the first reptile to have appeared in the city for a century. Desperate to prove their innocence and to show that a fox and bunny cop can work together, Judy and Nick must team up with Gary, Pawbert (Andy Samberg), the outcast youngest son of the Lynxleys and a conspiracy theorist beaver named Nibbles Maplestick (Fortune Feimster), in order to discover a hidden truth about the origins of the city…

Although it wasn’t surprising that a sequel to Walt Disney Animation Studio’s highest grossing non-Frozen or Moana film, 2016’s Zootopia, would happen, given its billion dollar gross and its win for Best Animated Feature in 2016 at the Academy Awards, directors Jared Bush (who is now the new head of Walt Disney Animation Studios) and Byron Howard, once again prove, why they are the best directors working there after giving us Encanto and the first Zootopia, and the former being the writer of Moana and the latter, co-directing Tangled as well, with this fantastic continuation.

Much like Pixar’s Inside Out, out of all of Disney’s new franchises, Zootopia has the most potential for being a continually evolving series, with the concept of an all-animal planet with more animal populated cities, and the crime-mystery subgenre of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde solving more cases as partner police officers, being ideas that are too good to pass up. Zootopia 2 expands the city with the addition of reptiles and marine mammals, especially in the new location of Marine Marsh, and the lovable new characters such as Gary De’Snake, who is as charming as the incredibly likability of his voice actor, Ke Huy Quan, and a cowboy plumed basilisk voiced by Danny Trejo.

As expected, the animation of both the backgrounds and characters is still as beautifully rendered as ever, with the city’s new locations busting with creativity and as many animal puns as possible and the character animation being as stylised and bouncy as ever, with the huge amount of old and new mammal and reptile characters, especially with Gary’s use of his snake body.

While both Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman are still as lovably chaotic and charming as Judy and Nick and the likes of Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg and an always hilarious Patrick Warburton, provide voices to a whole host of new mammal characters, the best performance comes from David Strathairn as the sinister Milton Lynxley, who is a far better and more intimidating return to pure evil villains, alongside his son and daughter, after the botched attempt with Wish, due to how realistic of a threat they represent to the main characters.

Even though the political subtext of the first film may have fallen apart due to the strange execution of the predator vs. prey subplot and how it doesn’t hold up well to comparisons to real life problems, Zootopia 2’s message on the evils of the 1% and how whole communities can be erased from history due to manipulation, is a lot easier to understand, especially in the stakes and the role of the reptile community in the city. 

Overall, the great messages, creative animation and unforgettable characters of the first film, are back with full force with Zootopia 2. While more could have been done with some of the returning side characters from the original (with the exception of Shakira’s Gazelle providing yet another great song), this is a fantastic return to Disney’s animal city and another funny and heartwarming adventure for Judy and Nick!

Rating: 4.5/5

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

Directed by: Emma Tammi

Written by: Scott Cawthon

Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Freddy Carter, Theodus Crane, Wayne Knight, Teo Briones, Mckenna Grace, Skeet Ulrich, Megan Fox and Matthew Lillard

Music by: The Newton Brothers

Rated: 15

Two years after defeating William Afton (Matthew Lillard), the serial killer who created and enslaved the possessed animatronics of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio) and Afton’s traumatised daughter, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), are trying to move on with their lives. However, the town has became obsessed with the folklore surrounding the restaurant, and Abby is missing her friends, the ghost children who possessed the animatronics, which is fully taken advantage of by Charlotte Emily (Audrey Lynn Marie), another murdered child ghost, who has her own plans for Freddy, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy…

Despite getting terrible reviews in 2023, the fans of Scott Cawthon’s Five Nights at Freddy’s video game franchise, flocked into the first film adaptation to make it one of Blumhouse’s most successful horror films of all time. With the gory adventures of Freddy Fazbear, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy being all over books, comics and merchandise, as well as loads of sequels, it wouldn’t be a surprise that these killer robots would be back on the big screen soon, even if people who didn’t like the first film, should clearly stay away from this.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has a fun premise on paper, the animatronics leaving the restaurant to cause havoc in the town. However, despite the insane possibilities of this idea and the talents of the Jim Henson Creature Shop always being reliable in making these killer robots look so appealing to both fans and newcomers, the pacing is so slow, that it takes over an hour, before a majority of the crazy kills that has defined this franchise ,ever take place. The only exceptions to this are dedicated to exploring the backstory of a new animatronic, or with the returning Abby hanging out with Chica, who now has a much more “grown-up” robot body, and of course, has the voice of Megan Fox.

Huge amounts of exposition aside, anyone who isn’t familiar with at least two games in this series, will find themselves completely lost over the rules of how the new animatronics run and who the new antagonists are. The returning faces of Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail and Piper Rubio, don’t get anything new to work with, aside from the always entertaining Matthew Lillard making a few cameo appearances. However, it is always nice to see Wayne Knight and the latter’s Scream co-star, Skeet Ulrich, back on screen.

Overall, fans of this franchise should get a kick out of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. However, the slow pacing and unimpressive story almost entirely relying on exposition, makes this almost unwatchable for anyone not familiar with this series.

Rating: 2.5/5

Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025)

Directed by: Mike P. Nelson

Written by: Mike P. Nelson

Starring: Rohan Campbell, Ruby Modine, David Lawrence Brown, David Tomlinson and Mark Acheson

Music by: Blitz//Berlin

Rated: 18

Ever since witnessing his parents getting murdered by a man in a Santa Claus suit, Billy Chapman (Rohan Campbell) has entered into a binding “Santa Clause” agreement with the spirit of the previous wearer, Charlie (Mark Acheson). Every December, in the days leading up to Christmas Day, he must kill one “naughty” person as punishment for their misdeeds, or else have someone else die with no control. However, Billy’s latest job gets complicated when he falls in love with a beautiful store assistant, Pam Sims (Ruby Modine), while he is dealing with some of the worst people imaginable…

Serving as the second remake of the 1984 Christmas slasher film, Silent Night, Deadly Night, after the 2012 reimagining, Silent Night with Malcolm McDowell in a leading role, this latest take on the fun concept of a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus, is a lot more darkly comedic than previous entries in this franchise.

Despite having a lot of the creative holiday themed kills that this franchise is known for, Director and writer Mike P. Nelson, reframes the premise as an oddly sweet story, by making it clear that Billy Chapman is a vigilante who only kills the worst of humanity, and focuses more on his bond with his ghost mentor, Charlie, which leads to some surprisingly heartwarming moments out of incredibly dark plot twists. However, this franchise’s love of insane gore is still intact, despite one scene ripping off one of the highlights of Kingsmen: The Secret Service.

Even if some of the comedic moments don’t work, both Rohan Campbell and Ruby Modine have absolutely adorable chemistry together, with their surprisingly emotional love story having one of the most satisfying payoffs in a long time.

Overall, despite being a lot more funny than the previous films, this latest remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night is an outrageously entertaining gorefest, even if other franchises have already worn out the “evil Santa” premise to death.

Rating: 3.5/5

Fackham Hall

Directed by: Jim O’Hanlon

Written by: Steve and Andrew Dawson, Tim Inman and Jimmy and Patrick Carr

Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Radcliffe, Katherine Waterston, Emma Laird, Tom Goodman-Hill, Anna Maxwell Martin, Sue Johnston, Tom Felton and Damian Lewis

Music by: Oli Julian

Rated: 15

For generations, the high class Davenport family have ruled Fackham Hall, but have recently lost all their male heirs to the Titanic,  Hindenburg disaster, wars and having their privates struck by lightning. When a young thief named Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) ends up getting a job at the hall, the growing feelings between him and the Davenport’s youngest daughter, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), is made complicated by her sister, Poppy’s (Emma Laird) recent elopement to a peasant, and her intended husband, Archibald (Tom Felton), has his eyes set on Rose..

As the long departed subgenre of parodies is finally starting to come back after 2025’s successful relaunch of The Naked Gun and with new Scary Movie and Spaceballs films on the way, it is vital that new comedies can keep coming out, in order to get this type of comedy back to its heyday with the late Leslie Nielsen and Airplane!

Fackham Hall more than lives up to its premise of being a savage parody of the costume dramas of Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, with a bit of Agatha Christie spoofing as well. While the usual sight gags revolving around signs, silly names and the problems with Downton Abbey’s tropes are still here, this film’s surprises just keep getting more daring and funny, especially in the last act’s Agatha Christie tribute. 

Overall, while it may take a while to find its place among some of the funniest films out there, Fackham Hall is a very entertaining sendup of the costume period genre, even if not all the jokes hit the spot.

Rating: 3.5/5

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Directed by: James Cameron

Written by: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Britain Dalton, Jack Champion, Edie Falco, David Thewlis, Jemaine Clement and Kate Winslet

Music by: Simon Franglen

Rated: 12A

A few weeks after the tragic loss of their eldest son, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and the rest of their children, including their adopted daughter, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and her human friend, Spider (Jack Champion), are struggling to cope with the loss, while also preparing themselves and the Metkayina tribe, for the expected retaliation from their enemy, Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and the rest of the RDA. When escorting Spider back to the Omatikaya clan for safekeeping (and due to Neytiri‘s growing rage against all humans), things are made even worse when the family learns that Quaritch has gained a new set of allies in the form of a more aggressive Na’vi tribe, The Ash People, and their leader, Varang (Oona Chaplin). Spider has also gained the power from Kiri’s growing connection to Pandora’s deity, Eywa, to breathe naturally on Pandora without a mask, which leads Jake to consider an impossible choice…

Although he has recently been rethinking his lifelong dedication to staying on Pandora for at least five films, one cannot deny the dedication that James Cameron has shown to the Avatar franchise, no matter what its harshest critics have said. Both the original 2009film and its first sequel, 2022’s The Way of Water have each grossed over 2 billion dollars worldwide, both have continued to break new grounds in CGI and IMAX 3D and the numerous books, comics, video games and attractions at the Disney parks all continue to be popular with general audiences.

The third film, filmed back to back with Avatar: The Way of Water (making this, as a lot of the footage was shot between 2017-2020, one of the longest time gaps between production and post-production for a mainstream film), continues Cameron’s visual storytelling winning streak to full effect. The backgrounds of the forests and oceans of Pandora, including the new locations of the charred Ash tribe and the industrial bleakness of the RDA city, are still fantastic to watch on the biggest screen possible, and regardless of the writing quality, it is always admirable that James Cameron’s auteur vision of this world, is still kept intact in an era of committee filmmaking and AI slop.

Unfortunately, while the writing has never been Avatar’s strongest aspect, Fire & Ash does repeat a lot of plot elements from the first two films, even if this film is technically, a more direct sequel to the second film. While some unresolved plot elements from Way of Water, such as Jake’s surviving younger son, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and his friendship with the Pandora whale, Payakan, and Kiri and Spider’s growing relationship, get great payoffs, others feel like missed opportunities, in particular, Neytiri and her struggles with grief. Also, Sam Worthington gives probably his worst performance as Jake Sully, with some plot twists making him really unlikable, in spite of the theme of broken family trying to make his arc work. Also, more could have been done with the concept of Na’vi antagonists, as aside from Oona Chaplin’s Varang, the Ash people only serve as more troops of Quaritch and the RDA.

However, speaking of Quaritch, Stephen Lang gives his best performance as the franchise’s main antagonist, who gleefully hams it up as the most entertaining character in this franchise, who gets a dark version of Jake’s arc from the first film, especially with him forming a relationship with Varang. 

Overall, while Avatar: Fire & Ash is certainly James Cameron’s weakest venture to Pandora so far, the incredible visuals, the great characters introduced in the previous film still being the most interesting ones in the franchise and the epic scope as only Cameron can provide, is still worth watching on big screens, that one does still hope for the planned fourth and fifth films to still happen, even if a new voice may be required.

Rating: 3.5/5

The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants

Directed by: Derek Drymon

Written by: Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman

Starring: Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Regina Hall, Sherry Cola, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence and Mark Hamill

Music by: John Debney

Rated: PG

Now finally tall enough to ride his favourite roller coaster, SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) sets out to conquer his fears, after hearing stories about how his boss, Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), used to be a swashbuckling hero before becoming head of The Krusty Krab restaurant. When a long-time rival of SpongeBob, the ghost pirate captain, The Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill), takes SpongeBob and his best friend, Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke), on an adventure through the underworld, Krabs, along with Squidward Tentacles (Rodger Bumpass) and Gary the Snail (Also Tom Kenny), sets out to save them from the Dutchman’s true intentions…

Much like Netflix’s two spin-off movies about Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) and Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants was originally conceived as a film focused on Nickelodeon’s famous sponge’s boss, Mr. Krabs. However, it was eventually reworked as the fourth main film in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise, while also bringing a fan-favourite character from the show, The Flying Dutchman, to the big screen for the first time.

In SpongeBob’s first theatrical release for a decade, (2020’s Sponge on the Run was originally intended for cinemas before COVID ruined everything), Search for SquarePants does admittedly rehash loads of plot lines from both classic episodes, such as the one where SpongeBob and Patrick are too scared of theme park rides, and even from the first 2004 film and the stage musical, where SpongeBob wants to be taken seriously in spite of his childish behaviour. 

However, for a film based on a very long running franchise, this fun pirate adventure does have a lot of laughs and very funny moments that this series is known for. The CGI animated look that started with Sponge on the Run, is fully mastered here in how zany the character animation is, and the voice-acting feels a lot more passionate when compared to how off the franchise veterans, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke and Rodger Bumpass have sounded in the spin-off features. However, Clancy Brown’s Mr. Krabs finally gets a very entertaining story, despite the fact that it contains loads of events that classic fans will roll their eyes at. Although it is sad that the Dutchman’s original voice, Brian Doyle-Murray was replaced, at least Mark Hamill has a long career in voice-acting already, and he gleefully gives this ghost pirate captain, a lot of personality.

Overall, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants may not be the film that long-time viewers will like, but for newcomers to Nickelodeon’s Bikini Bottom adventures, for families and for anyone looking for a good laugh, the yellow sponge’s fourth cinematic adventure, is a lot of bubble-blowing fun.

Rating: 3/5