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