Sisu: Road to Revenge

Official Australian release date: 20/11/25. Viewed: 23/11/25.
Director: Jalmari Helander
Actors: Jorma Tommila, Stephen Lang, Richard Brake, Kasper Velberg
Genre: Action / War
Rating: MA

‘Sisu: Road to Revenge’ is the somewhat-unexpected sequel to 2022’s ‘Sisu’, the Finnish one-man war film, following Aatami (Tommila). This time, it’s post-WWII, and he goes into the former-Finland part of the USSR to take the beams back to rebuild in Finland. The bad KGB guy (Brake) sends Dragunov (Lang) to kill Aatami – even though that didn’t go well last time. That’s pretty much the plot – and after a semi-peaceful first 10min, it’s all action!

The only other character who has more than 2min screentime would be one of the pilots (Velberg), everyone else is pretty much there to make up the body count. Must’ve got to at least at least 100! It’s a solid mix of ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ and ‘John Wick’. If you want inventive deaths and violence, with a bit of wry humour, this is for you.

Still amazing Aatami gets away without speaking at all. Lang is great as a bad guy (arguably worse than his ‘Avatar’ character). It has a nice foreboding score, and a rapid pace – all over in 90min – with the “chapters” to keep it moving. While not filmed in Russia or Finland, Estonia is a pretty solid double. Ridiculous ending, but what more can you expect?

Overall: Fun and crazy death-defying action.

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars

 

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t

Official Australian release date: 13/11/25. Viewed: 17/11/25.
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dominic Sessa                     
Genre: Thriller / Mystery
Rating: M

‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ is the third entry in the “lets-make-magic-cool” series, coming 9 years after the 2^nd film, and reuniting Daniel (Eisenberg), Merritt (Harrelson), Henley (Fisher) & Jack (Franco) – “the Horsemen”, as well as a nice cameo from Thaddeus (Freeman). Pretty good to get so many of an ensemble back together after 12 years! The intro/set-up to get them together also introduces the next-gen of Bosco (Sessa), June (Greenblatt) & Charlie (Smith) and is done well.

The plot this time is the original Horsemen and the new 3 being tasked with taking down the corrupt South African diamond company, led by Veronika Vanderberg (Pike), who has a lot of fun with the role and plays it with the right amount of deranged, including the accent. There’s a few good heists, fights, escapes and car chases, as well as some Bond-like country-hopping – France, Belgium, UAE. The scenes with Freeman at the historical magician chateau are pretty fun.

Feels like a lower-stakes ‘Mission: Impossible’. It definitely helped that I watched the first 2 movies a day before seeing this, so it was pretty fresh. Although, I’m sure it still works if you only have vague recollections of the original. It’s pretty quick (110min), not too serious, semi-predictable, with a minor-twist-ending.

Overall: Fun, familiar and enjoyable

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars

The Running Man

Official Australian release date: 13/11/25. Viewed: 13/11/25.
Director: Edgar Wright
Actors: Glen Powell, Jayme Lawson, Michael Cera, Colman Domingo
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: MA

‘The Running Man’ is a remake of the Arnie film from 1987. Is it needed? Probably not. Is it better than that film? Yes. The premise is the same – and still silly – with a ‘Purge’-like survival reality show where the runner can win money while being hunted by everyone. This time, it’s Ben Richards (Powell) trying to win the prize money for his wife Shiela (Lawson) and sick daughter Cathy (Benn). He’s up against ‘The Network’ and the producer of the show, Killian (Brolin) – subtle name – and Bobby T (Domingo), as well as the hunters, led by McCone (Pace). Ben gets his 12 hour head start, then has to try to survive for 4 weeks.

Powell is cementing himself as the new Brad Pitt/Tom Cruise of the 2020s, and is quite likeable here. He gets help from Molie (H Macy), Elton (Cera) & Bradley (Ezra), showing there’s still some humanity in this ‘1984’ type future. The score and soundtrack are just OK, and there’s some funny moments, but no real laughs – both a bit odd, since this is directed by Wright. Brolin, Domingo & Pace seem to relish their bad guy/dick characters

It’s another Stephen King adaption from this year (after ‘The Life of Chuck’ and ‘The Long Walk’), and while not spooky, definitely has dark and dystopian undertones. But in general, it’s a pretty straight-forward action film, with plenty of explosions and violence, but nothing too graphic. There’s some down time between all the escaping, and the ending is OK, if not perfect. Probably 20min too long, at 2 hours 10min.

Overall: Solid futuristic action

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars

Predator: Badlands

Official Australian release date: 6/11/25. Viewed: 6/11/25.
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Actors: Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Elle Fanning, Cameron Brown, Ruben de Jong
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: M

‘Predator: Badlands’ is the 6^th ‘Predator’ film, and while not a direct sequel to the excellent ‘Prey’, it fits well in the Predator (and ‘Alien’) universe, with a new take – following Dek (Schuster-Koloamatangi) as a young Predator and the film’s protagonist, out to prove himself on his first hunt on an inhospitable planet. This is great to watch, and the tables are turned from the usual premise of these films. It’s also fun to see Predators on their home planet – including Dek’s brother Kwei (Homik) and father (de Jong), as well as some new tech/weaponry.

The throat-singing music at the start and end sets a great tone and is quite unique, adding atmosphere to the sometimes desolate landscape – filmed in New Zealand. The CGI of the creatures on the planet trying to kill Dek is great and pretty inventive. Things pick up when Dek encounters a crashed and injured android/synth, Thia (Fanning), who brings great energy and almost turns the middle act into a buddy-roadtrip film! There’s still plenty of action and battles, but not too much blood or gore. It’s fun to watch Dek communicate (via subtitles) with Thia (speaking English) and grow as a character. Dek & Thia also have some nice scenes with the monkey-like “Bud”.

The final act with the Weyland-Yutani androids (pretty much all played by Brown) and the main bad guy/creature, the Kalisk is all done well and it’s all over in 105min. The humour was definitely appreciated and done well, but didn’t overshadow the action or story. This was a nice change from the “single Predator slaughtering people” storyline, and does well to incorporate synths, especially after ‘Alien: Earth”. Not much I didn’t like here!

Overall: Really fun addition to the series

Gav’s Rating: 4.5 stars

Good Forunte

Official Australian release date: 30/10/25. Viewed: 2/11/25.

Director: Aziz Ansari
Actors: Aziz Ansari, Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Rating: M

‘Good Fortune’ is Ansari’s directorial debut and is a nice little comedy looking at themes of having hope and living your best life. It helps that it has a strong cast, with Arj (Ansari) being helped by the angel Gabriel (Reeves) and getting a job with Jeff (Rogen), and love interest Elena (Palmer). Arj is struggling in LA, and when things don’t go well for him, the ‘texting while driving’ angel decides to help him, and switches Arj’s life with rich tech-bro Jeff’s life to see if the grass is really greener.

It mostly goes as expected, with Arj taking full advantage of the situation, but then Jeff and Gabriel falling on bad times. It’s pretty similar to ‘Down To Earth’, ‘Life Stinks’ and ‘Trading Places’. There’s some good little gags, especially as Gabriel deals with being a human. Seth Rogen is good, and has some of his usual characteristics, but you can tell he didn’t write/produce/direct this, as he’s somewhat toned down.

Solid soundtrack (including The Go-Betweens!), only 90min, and tries to balance between being a superficial comedy and a commentary on modern life and the haves vs have nots. Probably needed a bit more chemistry between Ansari and Palmer. There’s definitely some laughs, but it’s not constant hilarity – which is fine – but just felt like it was a little lacking.

Overall: Good, not great, comedy about our humanity

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars

Frankenstein

Official Australian release date: 23/10/25. Viewed: 29/10/25.
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Actors: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz
Genre: Drama / Fantasy
Rating: MA

‘Frankenstein’ is probably the 20^th remake of the early-19^th century novel & 1931 film. While we all know the broad strokes of the story, this film does a great job of immersing us in Victor Frankenstein (Isaac)’s early history and motivations, including father (Dance), mother, and brother William (Kammerer) – as well as (literally) fleshing out the story of the Creature/monster (Elordi). Still set in the 1800s, mostly in Scotland, the cinematography is great and the semi-flashback narrative works well.

This ‘Frankenstein’ is definitely not a traditional horror film, with no jump scares – yes, some gore, blood and gross moments, but nothing too gratuitous or extreme. And while Victor gets more screen time, the Creature gets his fair share and the scenes with him trying to live alone are quite touching. The core of the film hinges on their infatuation with Elizabeth (Goth), William’s fiancé and niece of Harlander (Waltz), who has a pivotal role. All the actors are strong, with Isaac doing a great job of treading the line between confident and crazed, and Elordi giving the Creature a heart.

Good to see use of makeup and not just CGI throughout. The ship set and the castle set are both impressive. It’s maybe slightly long at 2 hours 20min, but it’s Del Toro’s best film since ‘The Shape of Water’ and shares a few themes. While there’s the obvious playing God and not opening Pandora’s box allegories, there’s also the relatable themes of what it means to be human and where our individual humanity comes from.

Overall: A very enjoyable human journey/tragedy

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

Roofman

Official Australian release date: 16/10/25. Viewed: 26/10/25.
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Actors: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Peter Dinklage, LaKeith Stanfield
Genre: Crime / Drama
Rating: M

‘Roofman’ sounds like a bad superhero film, but is a true-story retelling of Jeffrey Manchester (Tatum) and his robberies, and subsequent escape from prison and hideout, defined by his charm and manners. It’s a mix of crime drama, dark comedy, with an almost rom-com in there. Set in ~2005 in North Carolina, we see Jeff rob a McDonalds via the roof, hence his nickname. His motivations are shown, but still seem a little weak.

Tatum is good and has a lot of screentime, especially when hiding out in a Toys R Us (lots of throwbacks in the film!), but love interest Leigh (Dunst) is strong too, as well as her kids Jade & Lindsay (Colias) & Dee (Moyer). There’s small roles for Mitch, the store manager (Dinklage), Steve (Stanfield) as old Army friend, and his girlfriend Michelle (Temple). There’s plenty of “why do that?” but also a bit of fun when he’s alone in the Toys R Us – what would you have done in same situation?

It ends as you would expect, and is a little longer than needed. Not as many laughs as I was hoping, and definitely not as upbeat as something like ‘Catch Me If You Can’, but still plenty of enjoyable scenes. Definitely reinforces the old adage of “life is stranger than fiction”!

Overall: Solid biopic

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars

Tron: Ares

Official Australian release date: 9/10/25. Viewed: 9/10/25.
Director: Joachim Ronning
Actors: Greta Lee, Jared Leto, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: M

‘Tron: Ares’ is the third film in the video-game/pre-‘Matrix’ series that revolves around “the Grid” (effectively cyberspace) and the competing companies controlling it, Encom and Dillinger (effectively Microsoft & Google) and their CEOs trying to take the next leap forward in AI – Eve Kim (Lee) and Julian Dillinger (Peters). I assume you don’t need to have seen the 1982 original or 2010’s ‘Tron: Legacy’, but there’s plenty of throwbacks and linkages, even if this isn’t a direct sequel.

So many cameos/supporting cast that all add something, but don’t get heaps of time = Julian’s mum, Elisabeth (Anderson), Eve’s CTO Ajay (Minhaj) & COO Seth (Castro), and obviously Kevin Flynn (Bridges), which is handled quite well. The main plot revolves around a security program, Ares (Leto) that tries to obtain “permanence” in the real-world, and his other Dillinger program Athena (Turner-Smith). Leto is actually not bad, with his still-somehow-youthful face perfect for an AI, and he has a few lines that get a few chuckles.

While there’s plenty of similarities to ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and ‘Ready Player One’, and arguably not as good, ‘Tron: Ares’ does deliver some very impressive CGI, with vivid colour, fast-paced action – especially on the motorbikes and jetski – and some engaging fight scenes. The final act set piece is pretty epic, especially when paired with the strong Reznor/Ross score. All wrapped-up in under 2 hours.

Overall: Better than I was expecting!

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars

 

One Battle After Another

Official Australian release date: 25/9/25. Viewed: 1/10/25.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti, Benicio Del Toro
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Rating: M

‘One Battle After Another’ may not be as good as ‘There Will Be Blood’, but it’s quite an accomplished effort. After the hectic, relentless 30min start that crams in a few years of freedom-fighting with Perfidia (Taylor) and Bob (DiCaprio) and lots of quick cuts, with little exposition, as we see a semi-fictional anti-immigration police-state-USA. We then move to 16 years later to follow Bob and their daughter Willa (Infiniti) in California, trying to lead a normal life, and settle into a more regular pacing.

I quite enjoy dishevelled, not-in-control/atypical hero Leo, who doesn’t have a costume changer for the final 2 hours! He’s funny without being a fool and shows good heart. Speaking of bad fashion – Lockjaw (Penn)’s haircut makes him an obvious bad-guy right from the start! Sensei Sergio (Del Toro) does his great cheeky nonchalance to perfection. And newcomer Infiniti is strong, especially in the final 30min.

I’d say it’s a mix of spy thriller, action, drama and social commentary all rolled into one. The old White men ruling the world thing is sadly not too much of a stretch. There’s not actually that much violence, even as it almost turns into a Western. The roller-coaster car-chase near the end is great to watch – and all aided by a solid soundtrack. The score is good in most parts, but sometimes purposefully off-putting. It does feel quicker than 2 hours 35min, and has a satisfying conclusion.

Overall: Enjoyable, relentless action mash-up

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

The Long Walk

Official Australian release date: 11/9/25. Viewed: 17/9/25.
Director: Francis Lawrence
Actors: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garret Wareing, Mark Hamill
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Rating: MA

‘The Long Walk’ has a premise that is simple, brutal and a bit silly. We’re thrown right in to the starting line of the long walk – an apparently, non-defined dystopian future/past, in an apparent USA (even though filmed in Canada). We meet 50 walkers/participants, one from each state, as they walk without stopping until there’s only one left. Even though the situation is made clear, it only really sinks in after the first 20min or so, when they finally show the title.

We follow a core group of 7 – Ray Garraty (Hoffman – yes, Phillip Seymour’s son), Peter McVries (Jonsson), Arthur Baker (Nyuot), Hank Olson (Wang), Collie Parker (Odjick), Stebbins (Wareing) and Barkovitch (Plummer). Good to see a bunch of young actors making a name for themselves. We don’t see all the deaths, but after a while, it’s hard not to put yourselves in their shoes – how long would I last? What would get me – lack of sleep, cramp/illness/injury, dehydration? As well as those 7 having strong character growth throughout the film, it’s worth mentioning the Major (Hamill, hard to pick in his Aviators, even at night), who is exaggerated malevolence, and Ginnie (Greer), Ray’s mum.

While it may sound boring, it’s quite engrossing, and does well to skip ahead in parts, and have the miles/days occasionally shown to keep pace. It’s relatively quick at 1 hour 45min. I haven’t read the Stephen King book, but this treads the line between horror and hope, like most of his good works do. The film sits somewhere between ‘The Road’ and ‘The Purge’, with a hint of ‘The Green Mile’. The friendship that grows between Ray & Pete is the core of the film and highlights the importance of finding light in the darkness.

Overall: Relentless, sometimes shocking, solid thriller

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars

 

The Roses

Official Australian release date: 4/9/25. Viewed: 6/9/25.
Director: Jay Roach
Actors: Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Rating: MA

‘The Roses’ is a reimagining of 1989’s ‘The War of the Roses’, which I should note I’ve not seen, nor have I read the book. We start with Ivy (Colman) and husband Theo (Cumberbatch), on a therapy couch. We then go back to when they first met, and skip to a few years later when they have 2 kids, Hattie & Roy, when Theo’s architecture dreams quite literally come crashing down. Ivy’s restaurant becomes successful, and they swap their parenting roles.

It's mostly a rom-com, with the whole mad-cap, escalating situations to try to divorce each other only taking up the last 20min or so. Colman and Cumberbatch are both good, and we probably need more screentime from friends Barry (Samberg) & Amy (McKinnon), and Rory (Demetriou) & Sally (Chao). Like most things in films, all the issues in their relationship are exaggerated, with no real unforgiveable sins committed. The house on the northern California coast does look amazing.

It's quite quick at 100min, but still drags a little in the middle. The ending is maybe not as shocking as I was expecting, but absurd enough. A few good laughs, solid performances, but given it’s from the director of the ‘Austin Powers’ films, it’s not as funny or silly as I was hoping – probably closer to Roach’s ‘Dinner For Schmucks’.

Overall: Passable rom-com-gone-wrong

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars

 

Honey Don't

Official Australian release date: 28/8/25. Viewed: 31/8/25.
Director: Ethan Coen
Actors: Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Charlie Day
Genre: Mystery / Comedy
Rating: MA

‘Honey Don’t!’ is a semi-comedic murder mystery that follows Honey (Qualley), a private investigator as she looks into a series of odd deaths connected to a church run by Reverend Drew (Evans). She has some help from Marty (Day) and MG (Plaza) from the local police. It all starts with a car crash, Cher (Abova) and some gratuitous nudity and a lot of questions.

We sort of meet some of Honey’s family, including niece Corinne (Ryder), and there’s lots of plot points set up, but not necessarily all of them followed through. While there’s some funny moments, there’s no real jokes or hilarious moments, as it tries to be more of a semi-desert, almost 70s (even though it’s modern, with mobile phones) whodunit, with the main twist being that the tough detective is played by a lesbian rather than an old man.

All the cast are good, particularly Qualley, but at less than 90min, it definitely feels like Evans, Plaza and Day are all shortchanged. While looking stylish and with a good soundtrack – and unique titles – it ends up feeling like a set-up to a TV series or multiple films, not a standalone film. It’s not bad, but just leaves a few too many things unresolved.  

Overall: Probably needed more Joel

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars

 

Primitive War

Official Australian release date: 21/8/25. Viewed: 25/8/25.

Director: Luke Sparke
Actors: Ryan Kwanten, Carlos Sanson, Tricia Helfer, Jeremy Piven
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: MA

‘Primitive War’ is a low-budget, Australian-made film, set in 1968 during the Vietnam War. The twist? There’s dinosaurs in the Vietnamese jungle for some reason! After a quick set-up where some US special forces go missing, Colonel Jericho (Piven) sends in Vulture Squad to find them, led by Sergeant Baker (Kwanten). These 7 men all head into the jungle and hang around longer than I expected! There’s a fair bit of ‘Predator’ influence at times.

All of them get some time for us to know them, primarily Baker and Leon (Sanson). They somehow run into a Russian scientist, Sofia (Helfer), who mentions multiple times how she saved their lives. It’s a bit drawn out in the middle/first hour, but we slowly get introduced to little raptors and then a T Rex to keep things interesting. It is a little long at 2 hours 10min, with some long exposition scenes and the whole wormhole plot could’ve been cut down.

Regardless, director Sparke has saved the budget for the final 45min, where it’s dinosaur overload – the CGI is pretty good, arguably more realistic than some ‘Jurassic Park’s, with feathered raptors, different looking Brontosaurus and just-different-enough Tyrannosaurs. Unlike the last 3 ‘Jurassic World’ films – and ‘65’ – it avoids the main let-down of these films, by having a good amount of violence and gore/dinosaur attacks/jump scares. The soundtrack is solid, the Gold Coast occasionally looks like it could be Vietnam, the actors are mostly OK, but we’re all here to see dinosaurs and a high body-count – and ‘Primitive War’ delivers.

Overall: Dinosaurs and high body-count, hard not to enjoy!

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars

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 

Jurassic World: Rebirth

Official Australian release date: 3/7/25. Viewed: 3/7/25.
Director: Gareth Edwards
Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathon Bailey, Marshala Ali, Rupert Friend
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: M

‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ (why didn’t they call it ‘Jurassic Park: Rebirth’, if it’s actually supposed to be a revival/return-to-form like the original?) is the seventh Jurassic film, and thankfully slightly better than the last two films (‘Fallen Kningdom’ and ‘Dominion’). We have a whole new cast, with Krebs (Friend) the shady money man funding a trip to South America (apparently Suriname, but filmed in Thailand) to extract dinosaur blood for apparently good reasons, hiring “security” Zora (Johansson), boat captain Duncan (Ali) and palaeontologist Dr Loomis (Bailey).

Director Edwards (‘Rogue One’) knows how to make it look good, but the pacing is still off a fair bit of the time. After the Snickers intro, there’s about 25min where not much happens at all – and the whole explanation for dinosaurs only being around the equator because of more oxygen and the public losing interest is ridiculous. Dinosaurs not existing in the cooler climates makes sense, but it feels like they missed a trick not exploring the spread of dinosaurs after ‘Fallen Kingdom’. There’s a whole subplot here with a civilian family of 4, and while fine, they don’t add too much to the story and often split the narrative. There’s 3 others who we don’t really even learn the names of – wonder what happens to them?

The best scene still involves a T Rex – and is taken straight from ‘The Lost World’ novel. Shows when the right amount of tension, fear and relief are executed well, it can still be great. Weird to say, but the 3 big stars – Johansson, Bailey & Ali – don’t actually feel like they have that much to do, and any character development is too forced. They’re all passable, but they’re kind of just there. It’s just over 2 hours long, and there’s some good set pieces, but it definitely doesn’t feel like that much happens or that there’s enough dinosaurs. Always tough, as the original set such a high bar. There’s just enough good moments and just enough dinosaurs to give a 3.

Overall: Maybe if this was the first film of the ‘Jurassic’ series you were seeing as a kid, you’d like it much more.

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars 

 

28 Years Later

Official Australian release date: 19/6/25. Viewed: 22/6/25.
Director: Danny Boyle
Actors: Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Rating: MA

’28 Years Later’ continues the fast-zombie series, coming 23 years after ’28 Days Later’ and 18 years after ’28 Weeks Later’. We have a whole new cast, living on a small island just off the coast of north-east England, as the UK remains quarantined from the rest of the world. We meet Spike (Williams) and his parents, Isla (Comer) and Jamie (Taylor-Johnson), as Spike is now old enough to go hunting-and-gathering back on the mainland. Everything obviously goes well…

The start is a flashback to the outbreak of the rage virus and helps re-establish the infected/zombies. Then things settle into a survivor thriller, with a bit of a different pacing. The score is good, but the soundtrack is very odd and seems mismatched – I guess on purpose. The same can be said for some of the red “dream” footage and old war footage – while trying to foreshadow or illuminate history repeating, it’s a little distracting at times. Same for some of the grainer (apparently from iPhones) footage, meant to be similar to the ow-budget original film – contrasts a fair bit with the real footage.

Even though the pacing and tone is different from the other 2 films, it’s quite quick (just under 2 hours) and does a good job of setting up the imminent sequels. All the actors are good – always nice to see Fiennes, as Dr Kelson here – with the main family of 3 having plenty to work with. Some gruesome moments, but nothing as iconic as the helicopter from last time. Some questions posed, some answered and an intriguing ending.

Overall: Non-standard zombie sequel, will be back for more

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars 

Ballerina

Official Australian release date: 5/6/25. Viewed: 16/6/25.
Director: Len Wiseman
Actors: Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Ian McShane
Genre: Action
Rating: MA

‘Ballerina’, or effectively ‘John Wick 3.5’, is another stylish assassins killing assassins entry in the series. We see what shapes Eve (de Armas) as a child, ending up in the care of the Director (Huston) & the Ruska Roma. From there it’s a pretty simple training montage and learning curve for Eve. We have cameos from de-aged/hair-dyed Winston (McShane) and the Chancellor (Byrne), as well as Charon (Reddick).

De Armas is good and walks a fine line between being a kick-ass fighter/dancer with no fear, and showing some vulnerability and emotion. She certainly takes some beatings here, but dishes out even more. She doesn’t seem as invulnerable as John Wick, but since it’s the same universe, it does seem like she can take more damage/injuries than any regular human. Plenty of inventive deaths in this one, particularly a few with grenades, flamethrowers and more ice skate deaths than there’s been since ‘Sudden Death’!

Has a bit more humour and wittiness than some other ‘John Wick’s, and is relatively short at 2 hours. The final act set all in a lakeside town in Czechia is all a bit farfetched, and this is where Reeves has his cameo, but it certainly ups the ante and body count. While there’s a small, not-that-surprising twist, it all wraps up well. Wouldn’t mind seeing more of Eve & John together in additional films.

Overall: Another stylish over-the-top kill-em-all

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars 

 

Dangeous Animals

Official Australian release date: 12/6/25. Viewed: 10/6/25.
Director: Sean Byrne
Actors: Hassie Harrison, Jai Courtney, Josh Heuston, Rob Carlton
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Rating: MA

‘Dangerous Animals’ is an Australian made horror, with a refreshing take on the “killer shark” trope – that being that there’s not a specific shark that is the antagonist (like ‘Jaws’, ‘Deep Blue Sea’, ‘The Shallows’, ‘The Reef’, or ‘The Meg’), but rather sharks are just themselves, being used as the weapon of choice by a serial killer. In that respect, this has more in common with Australia’s preeminent horror series, ‘Wolf Creek’.

The start sets the scene well, and leaves no doubt that Tucker (Courtney) is messed up and unequivocally the bad guy. There’s comedic relief from Dave (Carlton) as Tucker’s boat neighbour, and we’re then introduced to American backpacker Zephyr (Harrison) and Moses (Heuston), both on the Gold Coast living up the surfing lifestyle. As Tucker’s living out his fantasies, we’re left to wonder how Zephyr will escape. There’s a good amount of tension, without being insufferable.

There’s some humour, some grisliness and blood, but noting too gratuitous, and minimal focus on sharks, who are filmed with some reverence. Lots of nice scenic shots of the Gold Coast and it’s good to see an Australian director and famous Australian actor make a local film. Courtney particularly relishes his bogan-gone-off-the-rails role, and gives a good excuse to have some Aussie classics in the soundtrack. The final act is great, and while the body count could’ve been higher, it’s a quick fun ride.

Overall: Taught & semi-plausible - more than can be said for most horror films!

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars 

The Phoenician Scheme

Official Australian release date: 29/5/25. Viewed: 4/6/25.
Director: Wes Anderson
Actors: Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Mathieu Amalric
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Rating: M

‘The Phoenician Scheme’ is a semi-crime-caper and half family drama (but not in ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ style), but all Wes Anderson. We effectively follow 3 characters – eccentric, semi-shady millionaire Zsa-Zsa Korda (Del Toro), his semi-estranged/soon-to-be-nun daughter Liesl (Threapleton) and Korda’s assistant Bjorn (Cera) as they travel around fictional Phoenicia putting together a complicated infrastructure deal.

The start is both shocking and bleakly funny, making Korda an arrogant antihero, who’s balanced out well by Lisel and her wanting to do good in the world. While supposed to be set in Syria (i.e. ancient Phoenicia), was actually filmed in Germany! It’s both nice to see famous faces, but also annoying that we don’t get to see too many actors shine, as there’s so many that want to be in an Anderson film that we get less than 10min of screentime from Hanks, Cranston, Ahmed, Dafoe, Murray, Abraham, Ayoade, Wright, Johansson & Cumberbatch.

While it looks as stylish as ever, with great set design and score, there’s some annoying cuts and edits. It feels rushed at times, trying to get through 5 acts in the 100min runtime. While it has humourous moments, felt like it needed more proper laughs and warmth. All the actors are solid, with Del Toro having fun, but seeming to imitate how Hanks would’ve played the role at times. Pleasant ending.

Overall: Not Wes’ best or worst

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars 

Bring Her Back

Official Australian release date: 29/5/25. Viewed: 31/5/25.
Directors: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
Actors: Billy Barrat, Sora Wong, Sally Hawkins, Jonah Wren Phillips
Genre: Horror / Drama
Rating: MA

‘Bring Her Back’ is a slow-reveal horror, directors the Philippou brothers once again finding the darkness in the Adelaide hills, following their first film ‘Talk To Me’. We follow teenagers Piper (Wong), who’s mostly blind, and her brother Andy (Barrat) as they’re placed in foster care with Laura (Hawkins from ‘The Shape of Water’), and her other adopted son, Oliver (Phillips). Somethings not quite right from the outset, but it is a bit hidden to start with and is only unsettling for the first 40min or so.

The backstory is slowly given to us in glimpses, and Hawkins does well to make Laura not an evil mastermind, but rather just a terribly-misguided grieving mother. All the actors are superb, with Andy and Piper being making you really care about them and Oliver having one of the best blank stares you’ll ever see. That said, there’s a few really gruesome scenes that the camera doesn’t shy away from and make you squirm – they’ll definitely stick with me!

It's a pretty tight 1 hour 40min, and while the body count isn’t too high, the tension and shocks/grossness of most of the final 40min are very well done and make this a pretty unique Aussie horror film. The ending is mostly satisfying – looking forward to seeing what the brothers do next.

Overall: Memorable horror mystery

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars  

 

The Surfer

Official Australian release date: 15/5/25. Viewed: 25/5/25.
Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Finn Little, Nic Cassim
Genre: Thriller / Drama
Rating: MA

‘The Surfer’ is an Australian film (albeit with an Irish director and American star), set in southern Western Australia, so we get plenty of great scenery, beach vistas, Aussie soundscapes and gratuitous animal shots – I think they had everything but a koala! Cage plays the nameless “surfer” (funny when he says near the end: “I have a name”, and then you realise the audience doesn’t know what it is!), who’s been in the USA and wants to move home and take his son (Little) surfing. He runs into Scally (McMahon), a self-styled surfing guru/cult leader, who makes this more difficult than it should be.

At first you don’t like any of the locals (I swear most Aussies aren’t like this!), as what starts off as local protectionism slowly turns more sinister. There’s also a homeless man (Cassim), which sets up a nice plot twist as Cage does Cage and spends lots of time doing the wide-eyed/mouth open Cage stare, presumably due to heat stroke. There’s a fair bit of “what’s real and what’s not”, which is pretty well stitched together at the end. Basically, Cage is gaslight by Scally, his acolytes and local cop (Rosniak). Good to see Tapsell as one of the few regular people here.

It has some almost-funny moments, but mostly it’s all a bit wry. There’s definitely some gross bits, and while the tension does build, it’s not really fully as weird, violent, or chaotic as other recent Cage films (i.e. ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massie Talent’, ‘Colour Out of Space’, ‘Dream Scenario’). Score is ok, with soundtrack almost non-existent. Great to see more Australian locations on screen. Good, without being great.

Overall: Surfing is suffering (in this case)

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars  

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Official Australian release date: 17/5/25. Viewed: 17/5/25.
Director: Chris McQuarrie
Actors: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales
Genre: Action / Adventure
Rating: M

‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ is the 8^th and possibly final film in the franchise. Pretty impressive that Tom Cruise has been steadily making these for 30 years, without over-saturating the market. This is a direct sequel to ‘Dead Reckoning’, with Ethan (Cruise) in possession of the key to stop the malevolent AI called “The Entity”. This means he comes out of the shadows a bit, and interacts with the US President (Bassett) and General Sidney (Offerman).

The plot means Ethan has to retrieve something from a sunken submarine, which is arguably the tensest scene in the film, as well as possibly the most unbelievable, but is expertly done. We also get to see the team from the previous film back – long-timers Luther (Rhames), Benji (Pegg), Kittridge (Czerny), plus returnees Grace (Atwell), Paris (Klementieff) and antagonist Gabriel (Morales). The best call-back though is Donloe (Saxon) and how he’s important to the story. As much as it’s all about Ethan, it's always good to see the IMF team in action.

Similar to the last film, it’s shot around the world – London, Norway, South Africa. The stunts in the bi-planes flying over the South African coast are particularly stunning, and amazing to know that Cruise is literally hanging on those planes himself. While perhaps not as cohesive as ‘Fallout’ or ‘Dead Reckoning’, at 2 hours 45min there’s plenty of action to get through. Less espionage, and more “convince the armed forces not to blow each other up”, making sure the stakes are high. Less trademark-Tom-running than usual, but plenty of fight scenes, bomb diffusions and stunts galore.

Overall: Solid ending if it is, more great action set pieces

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars  

The Correspondent

Official Australian release date: 17/4/25. Viewed: 5/5/25.
Director: Kriv Stenders
Actors: Richard Roxburgh, Rahel Romahn, Julian Maroun, Yael Stone
Genre: Drama
Rating: M

‘The Correspondent’ is from the director of ‘Red Dog’ and ‘Danger Close’, and is based on the true story of Peter Greste (Roxburgh), the Australian journalist working for Al Jeezera in Cairo in 2013, during the Arab Spring uprising, when he & colleagues Fahmy (Maroun) and Mohamed (Romahn) get arrested. The film starts well, setting up some of the protests and why Greste is there, but not really delving much into the wider politics of what’s happening in Egypt.

It’s all filmed in Australia, as we don’t see much of Egypt, due to mostly being inside prison blocks. The film only follows Greste, often consciously claustrophobically so, as he tries to comprehend what’s happening to him and how to navigate his way out, without compromising his journalistic integrity. Having Fahmy and Mohamed in the same predicament, albeit not foreign nationals, helps him share his burden at times, but also adds complications.

Part courtroom drama, part psychological horror, it’s a slow-burn at 2 hours, with a mostly-happy ending – even if it’s mostly inexplicable as with the initial arrests – that’s sobered by the on-screen statistics that close the film. All the actors are good, with Roxburgh carrying the weight of the situation on his face and shoulders, and Kate (Stone) fleshing out some of his past guilt in flashbacks of his time with her in Mogadishu.

Overall: By no means fun, but well-made true story

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars 

Thunderbolts*

Official Australian release date: 1/5/25. Viewed: 30/4/25.
Director: Jake Schreier
Actors: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: PG

 

‘Thunderbolts*’ is a great MCU film, probably mostly due to it mostly being a non-Super Hero film, and thus feeling more grounded and (semi) realistic. Even though this film follows ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, other than a few mentions, it’s not a direct sequel – almost-required prior viewing are ‘The Falcon & the Winter Soldier’ and ‘Black Widow’. The heart of the film’s plot is following Yelena (Pugh)’s search for meaning and family, and dealing with her past. It doesn’t help that she’s working as an off-the-books operative for Valentina (Louis-Dreyfus), head of the CIA.

It's a good set-up how Yelena, Ava/Ghost (John-Kamen), Antonia/Taskmaster (Kurylenko), Bob (Pullman – looking like his dad), John Walker (Russell – not looking that much like his dad) and Alexi/Red Guardian (Harbour) end up together, and how they overcome their initial instincts to fight each other. Bucky/Winter Soldier (Stan) has a significant role, as does Val’s offsider Mel (Viswanathan) – as they all find something they’ve been missing when they all come together, no matter how begrudgingly. Without any spoilers, the set-up of “The Sentry” and then the unveiling of his powers is handled well, with a bit of an ‘Inception’ vibe.

It's quite quick – under 2 hours (before the credits), with both mid- and post-credits scenes worth staying for, and the black and white newspaper titles are great. The story of the “Thunderbolts” name is good and builds naturally – and I won’t delve into the “*” here, other than to say it’s obvious in hindsight. While it has some dark moments – deals with depression quite well – there’s still plenty of jokes and fun moments. Very strong performances elevate this film, Pugh and Pullman in particular, with neither playing a stereotypical part. Bring on Phase 6!

Overall: Great misfits saving the day against all odds

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

Warfare

Official Australian release date: 17/4/25. Viewed: 26/4/25.
Directors: Ray Mendoza & Alex Garland
Actors: D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, Cosmo Jarvis
Genre: Action / Drama
Rating: MA

‘Warfare’ is based on a true story and follows a squad of US Navy Seals in Iraq in 2006. The film takes place over a short period, <12 hours, and after a funny intro, we get introduced to the characters – primarily Ray (Woo-A-Tai, from ‘Reservation Dogs’), Elliot (Jarvis, from ‘Shogun’), Sam (Quinn, from ‘Stranger Things’), Frank (John Smith, from ‘Sharp Objects’) and Erik (Poulter, from ‘We’re The Millers) – as they hole up in a house in an Iraqi town in support of a larger operation. Nothing happens for 30min, so we get to learn something about most of them.

Then things start to escalate, and holding position quickly turns to trying to evacuate. This is all close-quarters, tightly filmed fight scenes, with no real respite. When things explode, we hear the ringing in the ears/semi-silence, and stay with the squad as they deal with the aftermath – there’s no edits to later on, just the reality of the moment. Some interesting war tactics I’d not seen before, including the “show of force” from the planes and how they use the tanks.

This is a tight 95min – lean and nothing wasted. It’s not a typical war film – there’s no central protagonist, no hero’s journey, no glorification. It’s all just dirt, explosions, and pinging bullets. Closest film I can think of to this is ‘Black Hawk Down’. The ending is good, as the entire battle is effectively pointless – which is the point, as arguably all war is. Good performances from the cast, who come across as both young and out-of-place – like that entire war was.

Overall: Gritty and realistic war day-in-the-life

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars   

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Official Australian release date: 27/3/25. Viewed: 20/4/25.
Director: Peter Browngardt
Actors: Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Fred Tatasciore
Genre: Comedy / Sci-Fi
Rating: PG

‘The Day the Earth Blew Up’ is apparently the first fully-animated Looney Tunes theatrically-released film ever (i.e. no live action Michael Jordan or Brendan Fraser here), which is hard to believe seeing as Looney Tunes have been around for 95 years! This is a kids film, but very much aimed at adults who grew up watching Looney Tunes too. We follow Porky Pig (Bauza) and Daffy Duck (also Bauza) as they try to get jobs, then try to stop a zombie outbreak, then try to stop an asteroid – yep!

The film mashes together a lot of inspirations – ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, ‘Dawn of the Dead’, ‘Armageddon’ – as it effectively has 3 distinct acts to make it to the 90min runtime, a lot different to 6min shorts! The montage of baby Daffy & baby Porky being adopted by Farmer Jim (Tatasciore) is funny and heart-warming and grounds the film – “sticking together” becoming a theme, figuratively and literally. The zombies are kid-friendly, being turned by chewing gum and say “chew”, not “brains”. Petunia (Milo) comes in to help them with the gum issue. A preposterous premise, even more so when we find out the purpose behind it!

The animation is great – very nice to see traditional 2D animation – the jokes are sometimes juvenile and faux extreme violence, as is standard for Looney Tunes, with the exaggerated situations, emotions and explosions all part of the charm. We took ages 3, 5, 7 and 9, so it wasn’t too scary, even though the advisory is: “mild crude humour, science fiction themes and animated violence” – fair. Daffy & Porky work well together, but I was hoping for a Marvin the Martian and Bugs Bunny cameo. Hopefully for the next one! Lots of laughs, with the best joke being Daffy’s “do you have any idea how hard it is for male ducks to lay eggs?”

Overall: Fun, absurd, alien Daffy & Porky adventure

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars   

Sinners

Official Australian release date: 17/4/25. Viewed: 17/4/25.
Director: Ryan Coogler
Actors: Miles Caton, Michael B. Jordan, Delroy Lindo, Jack O’Connell
Genre: Horror / Drama
Rating: MA

‘Sinners’ starts in a church, but doesn’t spend too long explicitly focusing on religion, god and the devil – but does explore these themes in the semi-segregated world of 1932 Mississippi. We start with Sammie/“Preachers Boy” (Caton) and then are introduced to his notorious cousins who have just returned from Chicago – twins Smoke & Stack, both played by Jordan, who clearly relishes the run he gets to have. He plays them both subtly different enough that you can tell who’s who.

It all occurs in one day, with the first hour setting the scene well, as we’re introduced to ex-girlfriends – Mary (Steinfeld) and Annie (Mosaku) – plus Slim (Lindo) and Cornbread (Miller), who are brought in to help Smoke & Stack open up their “Juke” bar. Key to everything is Sammie, his guitar and the blues. We’re then introduced to Remmick (O’Connell), who is a charming Irishman, hiding a sinister secret.

I won’t spoil the twist, but it doesn’t take long for the film to turn to a horror, and does well to start off with a bit of tension and suspense and then go full blown bloody action/fight/gore. Holding it together is the great soundtrack and score, with the music great throughout. Just over 2 hours, but never boring - solidly wrapped up, some great scenes. Stay after the initial credits, as there’s a ~5min final scene.

Overall: Different take on a standard horror trope

Gav's Rating: 4 stars   

Novocaine

Official Australian release date: 3/4/25. Viewed: 15/4/25.
Directors: Dan Berk & Robert Olsen
Actors: Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Betty Gabriel
Genre: Action / Comedy
Rating: MA

‘Novocaine’ is a fun take on the “one-man-fighting-lots-of-baddies” genre, with Nate (Quaid) having a “genetic disorder” which means he can’t feel pain (but he can still bleed a lot!). The film has a nice first act, establishing Nate Cain (hence the nickname) and his unique existence as an assistant bank manager, his gaming friend Roscoe (Batalon) and romantic interest Sherry (Midthunder).

It all kicks off when Nate’s bank is robbed by Simon (Nicholson) – a very dislikable villain, well done – and Sherry kidnapped, so Nate takes it upon himself to rescue her. Detectives Mincy (Gabriel) and Coltraine (Walsh) have nice cameos, but otherwise we pretty much follow Nate as he chases and gets beat up by 3 bad guys – and finds inventive ways to not die! The injuries start off plausible, and get progressively worse and worse.

It’s pretty fast-paced at 110min and the added love story is nice – we need more Midthunder ‘Predator’ films – and Quaid seems to be having lots of fun, although I’m sure most is stunt doubles, and his character isn’t too different from Hughie in ‘The Boys’. Good score and soundtrack – if you like ‘John Wick’ and ‘Nobody’, you’ll like this, but it has much more humour. I laughed quite a few times, but there’s still some pretty graphic/bloody moments too! Predictable ending, but solidly done.

Overall: Fun, bloody take on the action hero

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars   

  

Dog Man

Official Australian release date: 3/4/25. Viewed: 5/4/25.
Director: Peter Hastings
Actors: Pete Davidson, Isla Fisher, Lil Rey Howery, Ricky Gervais
Genre: Animation / Comedy
Rating: G

‘Dog Man’ is in the school holidays with the nephew and nieces – surprisingly better than I thought it would be! The other surprising bit – I didn’t realise it’s actually supposed to be a dog’s head on a man’s body! Very fast-paced start, as we’re introduced to the animation style, Dog Man (director Hastings puling double-duty and vocalising Dog Man’s barks/howls), his boss, the Police Chief (Howery), reporters Sarah (Fisher) & Seamus (Boyd) and the bad guy, Petey the cat (Davidson).

The plot is quite simple, similar to ‘Despicable Me’ in parts (and Godzilla!), as Petey creates Lil Petey and starts to develop a heart – but not before multiple attempts to hurt Dog Man, where he’s thwarted, in montage. There’s a fun little backstory to Flippy the fish (Gervais), before he becomes key to the final act – always good to hear Gevais’ voice! Lots of visual gags, not least the descriptions on the building – I assume these are borrowed from the books.

At a tight 85min (plus the 5min ‘Bad Guys’ short film at the start), it’s pretty vibrant and funny, with quite a few laugh-out-loud moments for the adults (I loved the “yippee-ki-yay-flippy” joke) and lots of silly jokes for the kids. Importantly, there’s plenty of heart thanks to Lil Petey and Dog Man and their “do-gooding”, and Petey’s arc. Not the best kids movie ever, but enjoyable.

Overall: Bumped up from a 3, as the kids said 4 stars.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars  

 

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