The Naked Gun

Official Australian release date: 21/8/25. Viewed: 22/8/25.
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Actors: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Danny Huston, Paul Walter Hauser
Genre: Comedy
Rating: M

‘The Naked Gun’ is a reboot/sequel to the 1988/91/94 ‘Naked Gun’ films, with Frank Drebin (Liam Neeson) playing the son of Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin. Frank Junior’s partner at the LA Police Squad is Ed (Walter Hauser), with Beth (Anderson) as the love interest, and Cane (Huston) as the bad guy. The plot’s not too dissimilar to ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’. It’s from the director of ‘Hot Rod’, ‘The Watch’ and ‘Popstar’, if that’s any guidance.

The film does a pretty good job of doing the same type of silly comedy as the originals, with lots of sight gags, absurd set pieces (the giant claw), mispronunciation and inner-monologue jokes. I did quite like the recurring takeaway coffee cup gag. Neeson plays it all very straight and is quite good, playing off his action-hero persona from the past 2 decades – also impressive since he’s now 73.

At only 75min, the film doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. It’s definitely has some laugh-out-loud moments, but maybe not as many as hoped for. Lots of smirks and little nods. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but is still good to have comedy on the big screen. The overall tone is not quite as good as the originals, but it’s definitely not going to have Neilsen rolling in his grave. The credits scene is quite innovative and fun.

Overall: Solid attempt at old-school humour

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars

 

The Life of Chuck

Official Australian release date: 14/8/25. Viewed: 17/8/25.
Director: Mike Flanagan
Actors: Tom Hiddleston, Benjamin Pajak, Chiwetel Ejifor, Mark Hamill
Genre: Drama / Fantasy
Rating: MA

‘The Life of Chuck’ – you could be mistaken for thinking this is a Marvel film – the first 4 actors we see are Marty (Ejifor), Felicia (Gillan), Chuck (Hiddleston) and Sam (Lumbly). The film doesn’t give away too much, and purposely starts with “Act 3”, building the mystery and sci-fi aspect. Marty and Felicia ground this part. We then flesh out who Chuck the adult is in Act 2. It’s then all pulled together beautifully in Act 1.

I won’t give away too much, other than to say it had the potential to be depressing, but isn’t. As it’s based on a Stephen King work, it’s closer to ‘The Green Mile’ than ‘The Shining’, if that helps. It’s interesting to see how they pull together so well the subjects of dancing, astronomy and philosophy. All the cast are strong, but it’s ~11-year old Chuck (Pajak) who really steals the show and drives everything home. He’s helped by his grandparents, with Albie (Hamill in an excellent non-Star Wars role) and Bubbe (Sara) being key players.

It's sort of a reverse coming-of-age story, and has a few smiles, but mostly leaves you with a tear in the eye. I’d say it has some similarities with ‘La La Land’ and ‘Here’, but is better than both. Quite fast-paced at 110min, with some smart cinematography and a great soundtrack.

Overall: Heartwarming tale that makes you want to dance

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

 

Weapons

Official Australian release date: 7/8/25. Viewed: 9/8/25.
Director: Zach Cregger
Actors: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong
Genre: Mystery / Horror
Rating: MA

‘Weapons’ is another above-average, not run-of-the-mill horror, from the director of ‘Barbarian’. No spoilers here, as the trailer and first 5min gives away the main premise – all 17 kids from one classroom run away from their homes and disappear one night. The only student left at school the next day is Alex (Christopher) and his teacher Justine (Garner). The film then uses a nice device of following each of the 6 main characters for about 15min, before everything coalesces for the final act.

This layering, works well, each section not giving away too much, but enough to let the audience start putting the pieces together. We follow Justine initially, who’s blamed by all the parents; then Archer (Brolin) one of the parents of a missing child, then Paul (Ehrenreich) a cop; then James (Abrams) a local junkie; then Marcus (Wong), Justine’s Principal; and finally Alex the kid. How each segment interacts is done superbly, with very limited overlap. The horror and/or gore does not necessarily escalate in each segment either.

The score and cinematography are great, and it all moves quite fast, even though it’s just over 2 hours long. Some laughs, some good tension and jumps, but noting too strenuous for too long. The final act is quite hectic and fitting – a good conclusion that doesn’t necessarily answer every question. I’m still left asking a little bit: “what were the cops doing?”! Well worth a watch.

Overall: Intriguing, well-paced thriller

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

Together

Official Australian release date: 31/7/25. Viewed: 3/8/25.
Director: Michael Shanks
Actors: Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Damon Herriman, Mia Morrissey
Genre: Horror / Comedy
Rating: MA
 

‘Together’ is a very solid horror film, nothing crazily new or too over-the-top, but very satisfying. We follow Millie (Brie) and Tim (Franco) as they leave the big city and move to a small rural town so she can teach, leading you to think this might be an ‘Evil Dead’/‘Cabin in the Woods’ situation, but it’s not. There’s glimpses of what’s to come, but everything is paced out really well and builds appropriately.

The cast is small – we meet Millie’s colleague/neighbour Jamie (Herriman) and friend Cath (Morrissey), but no-one else really has more than 5min screentime, showing how strong the leads are. The horror doesn’t get too psychological, but there’s subtle changes, interspersed with some great jump scares. It’s also surprisingly funny and has lots of humour, mostly due to Franco & Brie’s chemistry and the situations they get into.

This is Australian director Shanks’ debut film, shot around Melbourne, and is quite assured – this is turning into a great year for Aussie horror films, following ‘Dangerous Animals’ and ‘Bring Her Back’. There’s some gruesome moments, some solid CGI and a pretty left-field ending – and all under 100min. Brie and Franco are great, as always, and it’s nice to see them acting together. Pretty much all you want in a horror film.

Overall: Fun, different horror with great leads.

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

Fantastic Four: First Steps

Official Australian release date: 24/7/25. Viewed: 25/7/25.
Director: Matt Shakman
Actors: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: PG

 

‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ is a really well-made action adventure film. It happens to be the fourth ‘Fantastic Four’ film, and 2^nd reboot, but it’s the first MCU version and the most faithful to the comics – you don’t need to have seen any of the previous films, or any Marvel films for that matter. There’s a really nice charm and style, almost Jetsons-esque, as this is set in the 1960s. It’s definitely helped by it’s really strong lead cast – Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic (Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Moss-Bachrach), with HERBIE the robot as a nice support.

The plot is quite straightforward and mostly-uncomplicated – very refreshing. The first 20min are a good introduction to the team/family without going into too much detail, done quite well as a talk show montage, and then we get straight into it. The Silver Surfer (Garner) shows up, heralding the impending arrival of Galactus (Ineson) the world-eater, setting in motion events as Reed tries to solve this impossible problem. The actual solution is pretty far-fetched, but also within the realms of comic-book-plausibility. Some good cameos – Lyonne as Rachel, Walter Hauser as Mole Man, Gatiss as Ted Gilbert.

Everything fits together so well – the score, cinematography, CGI, especially in space, the costumes and set design, complemented by the charismatic cast and their realistic banter, with a nice light tone throughout, until the final act battle with Galactus. The ending is handled well and has strong emotion. Great to see each of them use their powers, with Johnny’s fire seeming almost realistic and Sue’s forcefields being more than just shields. I quite like Ben’s beard! And the nice nod to Stan Lee with the spaceship being named Excelsior. Reed has some heart and isn’t just the typical supernerd. Mid-credits scene links to the upcoming MCU films – can’t wait to see these Fantastic Four join up with the rest of the MCU.

Overall: Expertly made comic-book fun

Gav’s Rating: 4.5 stars 

 

Friendship

Official Australian release date: 17/7/25. Viewed: 15/7/25.
Director: Andrew DeYoung
Actors: Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, Kate Mara, Jack Dylan Grazer
Genre: Comedy
Rating: M

  

‘Friendship’ is a nice, somewhat unconventional comedy, starring Tim Robinson as Craig, but it’s not as unhinged as most of his show, ‘I Think You Should Leave’. Craig lives with wife Tami (Mara) and son Steven (Grazer), in some unnamed American town in some purposeful obscure era (houses look like they’re in the 70s and there’s a wall phone, but there’s computers and mobile phones…). Craig and Tami are coming out of a difficult time when they meet new neighbour, Austin (Rudd).

Austin is charming and goes out of his way to take Craig under his wing and go on some adventures together. There’s lots of funny moments and they almost act like a young couple. It’s all a bit goofy, with Robinson’s face being so expressive and Rudd playing a slightly-skewed version of his usual characters. Something happens, and things take a turn and everything spirals out of control for Craig. He tries to get it all back, but the ending is fitting and not as clean as a regular rom-com would be!

There’s definitely lots of awkward moments, some cringes, lots of silences, with one exceptional and hilarious scene where Robinson goes through about 8 facial expressions in silence. All actors are good, the situations are odd, but the laughs are real – great to see with a crowd. Nothing too sinister and while it’s occasionally outrageous, it’s grounded in the real need for friendship.

Overall: Enjoyable and off-centre comedy

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars 

Superman

Official Australian release date: 10/7/25. Viewed: 10/7/25.
Director: James Gunn
Actors: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: M

‘Superman’ is a proper reboot, not the 9^th film in the franchise, and almost serves as a sequel to the original 1978 film. This film is up there with the original and ‘Man of Steel’, and possibly even better. That’s mostly down to Clark/Superman being played by Corenswet, who plays him excellently – not too cocky, not too serious, not too goofy. We meet him fully-formed, in his early 30s – this is not an origin film – and facing his first defeat, retreating to the fortress of solitude (which is done well), were we meet Krypto the dog, who has more screentime than I expected!

Behind the attack on Metropolis/Superman is obviously Lex Luthor (Hoult), who leans hard into the obsessive jealously and egotism, as well as a side of deranged, sometimes a bit over the-top. The Clark colleagues/friends are all well cast – Lois (Brosnahan), Jimmy (Gisondo), Perry (Pierce), Guy/Green Lantern (Fillion), Hawkgirl (Merced) and Mr Terrific (Gathegi). Because there’s so much happening and quite a few action scenes, not everyone gets a lot of screentime, with Clark’s parents Martha (Howell) and Jon (Vince) almost redundant. After the set-up, we get to see Lex’s full plan to discredit Superman, with Clark having to overcome something he can’t physically fight.

There’s a bit of “pocket universe” don’t-think-too-much-about-it stuff that’s standard in comic book films and doesn’t necessarily help anything, but the score is great, including the homage to Williams’ original, and as expected from Gunn, the soundtrack is great, with just a few great uses of songs that are not too well-known, but will become future classics now. Not too long at 2 hours, there’s some touching moments, especially with the fake countries that aren’t too dissimilar to the real world. Maybe not as much of a revelation as the first ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, this is still a really well-put-together action adventure film. I’m here for the sequels.

Overall: Optimistic, enjoyable take, with a great cast

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars