A Working Man

A Working Man

Official Australian release date: 27/3/25. Viewed: 31/3/25.
Director: David Ayer
Actors: Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng, Maximilian Osinski, Arianna Rivas
Genre: Action
Rating: MA

‘A Working Man’ is the second Statham-Ayer collaboration after last year’s ‘The Beekeeper’ and doesn’t adjust the formula too much – Levon Cade (Statham) is a former paratrooper and is now retired, working construction in Chicago this time, when the daughter of his boss, Jenny (Rivas) gets kidnapped. Even though he doesn’t want to get involved, he obviously does and thus begins his one-man-war against what turns out to be Russians.

Even though it’s all about Statham beating up bad guys, there’s a solid support cast – Joe (Pena) his boss, Gunny (Harbour) as his former army pal, Merry (Gie) as his daughter, Dutch (Ajufo) as the maybe-OK drug dealer, and the Russians – Dimi (Osinski), Yuri (Ninidze) and Wolo (Flemyng). All add enough to make this not one-dimensional. There’s a few breathers, but otherwise it’s Cade making his way through the ranks to find Jenny.

It feels quite quick, at just under 2 hours, and has plenty of good hand-to-hand fight scenes and the obligatory big shootout finale. It’s no ‘John Wick’, but Statham has his own style and charm, and Jenny helps by not being just a victim. Since it’s based on a series of books, not all the bad guys are killed, so I’m expecting sequels – which I’ll probably watch.

Overall: A good Statham-by-numbers

Gav's Rating: 3 stars  

Black Bag

Official Australian release date: 13/3/25. Viewed: 16/3/25.
Director: Steven Soderbergh  
Actors: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Tom Burke, Regé-Jean Page
Genre: Thriller / Drama
Rating: M

‘Black Bag’ is a tight, mostly psychological spy thriller. We have George (Fassbender) & Kathryn (Blanchett) who are married, but both work for MI6 of some British Intelligence agency. We start with a seemingly benign dinner party where we meet the other key characters and their co-workers – Freddie (Burke), James (Page), Zoe (Harris) and Clarissa (Abela). All are on the same “side”, but each have their own secrets and agendas.

Fassbender plays a similar, semi-emotionless character to ‘The Killer’ – but he doesn’t have to do any assassin work here. Overall, there’s not much action, or ‘Mission: Impossible’ style spy tropes – has more in common with ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’, as it’s all about who’s manipulating who and why. We eventually get to a potential stolen weapon, with Arthur (Brosnan) making a small appearance.

The film’s score is mostly a catchy synth number and keeps things semi-light, as the stakes seem medium, but never quite end-of-the world. Things move pretty quickly – all done in 90min – and we get to the end of a week at another dinner party, where everything is resolved. Nothing revolutionary, but engaging performances from the 6 lead actors, great London/English scenery and a little twist.

Overall: Fast, psychological spy thriller

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars  

 

Mickey 17

Official Australian release date: 6/3/25. Viewed: 12/3/25.
Director: Bong Joon-ho  
Actors: Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yuen,
Genre: Sci-Fi / Comedy
Rating: M

‘Mickey 17’ is a different type of interstellar sci-fi, as you’d expect from Joon-ho – we’re at some unspecified point in the future where humankind has the ability to travel to distance planets, as well as having the ability to back-up memories and 3D-print humans after the die. This is where Mickey (Pattinson) comes in, as he signs on to the colonisation attempt of the planet Niflheim as an “expendable”. The back-story in the first 30min of how he got to be on this distant planet is both funny and a little sad, but establishes Mickey (#17) as a naive but nice guy, in love with Nasha (Ackie).    

The film’s score is always slightly mournful, ensuring that we know the humour is a little dark or bleak. Especially when we see who is leading the expedition – Marshall (Ruffalo) and Ylfa (Collette), who both appear so fake, they come across exactly as delusional evangelical cultists. Ruffalo particularly relishes the role, and perhaps has some fake teeth in? Good to see him having fun. Timo (Yuen) is Mickey’s friend from earth, with a bit of a twist – but no where near as many twists as ‘Parasite’.

Whilst not overly original, the film doesn’t waste any effort in explain the unrealistic sci-fi components – it’s takes them as read, assuming we’ve seen these tropes in plenty of other films before. The inhabitants of Niflheim are an interesting flea/elephant/bison hybrid that seem semi-realistic, but would’ve been interesting to see them as animatronic puppets & not CGI. What’s most interesting is how you sometimes forget the different versions of Mickey are the same actor – credit to Pattinson. Ending is a slight letdown.

Overall: Slightly different, semi-bleak space comedy

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars  

 

Captain America: Brave New World

Official Australian release date: 13/2/25. Viewed: 14/2/25.
Director: Julius Onah  
Actors: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Tim Blake Nelson
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: M

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is the 4^th Captain America film, and the first Cap film post-‘Endgame’ and post-‘Falcon & the Winter Soldier’ (and the first Cap film in 9 years!) meaning it’s Sam Wilson (Mackie)’s first film outing as Captain America and not the Falcon. Giving him Torres (Ramirez) as the new Falcon/his sidekick is a nice touch. Think this is MCU film #35, and surprisingly has a lot of links back to MCU film #2, ‘The Incredible Hulk’ (the 2008 version with Edward Norton), as well as ‘Eternals’, finally dealing with the giant Celestial in the middle of the ocean.    

Just as Norton was replaced by Ruffalo, this time General Thaddeus Ross is played by Harrison Ford, as William Hurt has now passed. The main villain is also returning from that film – Sterns (Blake Nelson), who I believe is “The Leader”, even though I’m not sure that’s ever mentioned. We also have Sidewinder (Esposito), as he’s been typecast and has to be a bad-guy in everything! The screentime is almost shared equally between Mackie and Ford, as you can tell Ford is having fun playing the new President and being in a big popcorn movie again. The plot is not bad, more of a political/conspiracy thriller (in-line with ‘Falcon & the Winter Soldier’) and less of a super-hero film, with Sam still having no powers – even though he does have upgraded wings/suit.

While no ‘The Winter Soldier’ or ‘Civil War’, this is certainly not one of the MCU’s worst – it’s <110min before credits (no mid-credits scene for some reason), has some great action/fights, some good ariel combat, a strong cast and some little jokes here and there, all while keeping the pacing up. Ford is good to watch and only turns into the red Hulk in the final 25min or so, therefore it doesn’t turn into a drawn-out CGI slugfest. While not progressing the overall MCU narrative too much, it does help set-up what’s going to happen over the next 2 years.

Overall: Enjoyable action thriller, not just CGI fluff

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars  

We Live In Time

Official Australian release date: 16/1/25. Viewed: 27/1/25.
Director: John Crowley
Actors: Florence Pugh, Andrew Garfield, Grace Delaney, Lee Braithwaite
Genre: Drama / Romance
Rating: M

‘We Live In Time’ is a very simple love story, but told in an engaging way that keeps you on your toes. We follow Almut (Pugh), a chef, and Tobias (Garfield), an IT guy for Weetabix, and their relationship – but the film doesn’t start when they first meet and, thankfully, doesn’t spend much time on the will-they-won’t-they. We then bounce around a few times and you have to figure out where in the timeline they’re at.

It's effectively just the 2 of them for most of the film, with some other supporting characters, including daughter Ella (Delaney) and Al’s sous chef Jade (Braithwaite). When they do get to the “how they met” part, it’s quite funny. There’s also a few quite intense scenes, with Pugh not afraid to get naked. While there’s some funny moments, it’s not really a rom-com, as Al gets an illness, providing the motivation and eponymous “time” that frame their actions.

Good to see it all filmed in and around London. Doesn’t overstay it’s welcome at 105min, it’s an assured film showcasing two actors at the peak of their powers, with Pugh particularly on a roll the past few years. Their chemistry is great and they bring all the emotions, which you also feel!

Overall: Touching romantic Pugh/Garfield masterclass

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars  

 

A Complete Unknown

Official Australian release date: 23/1/25. Viewed: 26/1/25.
Director: James Mangold
Actors: Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, Elle Fanning
Genre: Drama / Biopic
Rating: M
 

‘A Complete Unknown’ is not the first Bob Dylan biopic, but does a good job of just focusing on his early years as a recording/performing artist when he gets to New York, from 1961–1965. Dylan is portrayed excellently by Chalamet and you sometimes forget it’s not a documentary! We follow his first relationships, with Joan Baez (Barbaro) and Sylvie (Fanning), and arguably as importantly, how he meets his folk music heroes Woody Guthrie (McNairy) and Pete Seeger (Norton).

Director Mangold (of ‘Logan’ fame) knows what he’s doing, having also directed ‘Walk The Line’. In this film, Johnny Cash is played by Boyd Holbrook and a few great cameos. While not focusing solely on having the audience listen to Dylan songs, we do get to hear/see a few of them from this period, which is impressive if it’s actually Chalamet (& Barbaro) doing their own singing! All the actors are good, especially Norton with his prosthetic nose, and also a notable effort from Grossman (Fogler).

There’s obviously some artistic licences/liberties taken, and Dylan is left feeling as enigmatic as ever. Plenty of funny moments, and some great set design make it look exactly like 1960s New York. As good as, if not better than, ‘I’m Not There’, mostly thanks to the great acting and singing performances.

Overall: Well-made biopic of a legend

Gav's Rating: 4 stars  

The Brutalist

Official Australian release date: 23/1/25. Viewed: 19/1/25.
Director: Brady Corbet
Actors: Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Joe Alwyn
Genre: Drama
Rating: MA

‘The Brutalist’ is both a simple film and a very complex film. On one hand, it’s about a man, Laszlo Toth (Brody) immigrating from Hungary to the USA after WWII and trying to get his wife, Erzsebet (Jones) to join him in Pennsylvania where he’s designing a building. But then, at 3.5 hours, it’s also an examination of everything happening in post-war-America – racism, homelessness, drugs, religion, power and wealth inequality. It really covers a lot of ground for the perspective on the Toths – even more impressive seeing how long it take Erzsebet/Elizabeth to appear in the film!

There’s a now-novel 15min intermission, after 100min, which is good – time for a frozen Coke! – and makes the whole film feel faster somehow. While not immediately obvious, the film does turn to be about brutalist architecture when Laszlo is taken under the wing of millionaire Harrison (Pearce) and his son Harry (Alwyn) and commissioned to make his vision of an auditorium/chapel/gym come true. Even though the place Laszlo is supposedly creating his building is near Philadelphia, it’s actually filmed on location in Budapest (where the Toths have come from). Also good to see the real-life marble quarry in Italy.

It's worth noting the Laszlo’s story isn’t based on a true story, but are a conglomeration of other 1940s/1950s architects. It’s impressive that the drawings/models/designs/sets are original and not copies of real-life buildings. The film looks great, the score is good, and while some scenes may be too long (particularly a few very confronting scenes!) it otherwise moves along relatively briskly, with no subtitled years to tell us where we’re at. All the actors are captivating and their dialogue and (often questionable) decisions propel the film, with Brody and Jones both great and Pearce superb. At it’s core, the film asks – who’s actually the titular brutalist?

Overall: Won’t be surprised if this wins the Oscar

Gav's Rating: 4 stars