The Naked Gun (2025) - Review: Son of a Gun

 

The law never takes a holiday. But comedic filmmaking seems to have done just that over the past decade or two. A genre that was once dominated by silly goofy movies like “Talladega Nights,” “There’s Something About Mary,” or “Ted” could gross over $300 million worldwide each easily. Now, most comedy films are relegated to streaming services or simply far smaller box office returns. A comedic draw like Seth Rogen, who used to attract worldwide returns of $100-200 million easily, now struggles to break $50 million total. Which is why a film like “The Naked Gun (2025)” can feel like such a gamble. Sure, on paper a legacy sequel IP film with a recognizable lead star should be a sure thing, but whether audiences will show up is an entirely different story.

This latest film stars Liam Neeson (“Taken,” “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”) as Frank Dreben Jr., the son of Nielson’s original character from the first three films, as he attempts to solve a new crime involving various characters across Los Angeles, including Beth Davenport, played by Pamela Anderson (“Baywatch,” “The Last Showgirl”), tech mogul Richard Cane, played by Danny Huston (“Wonder Woman (2017),” “Children of Men”), police chief Davis, played by CCH Pounder (“The Shield,” “NCIS: New Orleans”), and Dreben Jr’s fellow cop Capt. Ed Hocken Jr., played by Paul Walter Hauser (“Black Bird,” “Richard Jewell”).

A film like this needs a certain kind of comedy director. Sure, Judd Apatow or even Adam McKay can make funny films, but they’re decidedly different kinds of comedies compared to “Airplane!,” “Top Secret!”, the original “Naked Gun” or the other films by Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker. Which is why co-writer/director Akiva Schaffer (“Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” “Hot Rod”) seems borderline perfect for the pick. With a background in short form comedy skits on “SNL” as well as the same combination or sight gags, stupid, silly, and somehow still smart humor that made ZAZ films excellent, he steers the ship here excellently. His co-writers, Dan Gregor (“Most Likely to Murder,” “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)”) and Doug Mand (“Most Likely to Murder,” “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)”), work on the exact same wavelength, and the trio stuff the film to bursting with gags.

Whether it's the trademark “Naked Gun” style of wordplay and sight gags or more modern bits of action comedy and meta-movie gags, jokes fly relentlessly fast and if one flounders for you, it's almost a guarantee that another one will. Despite its short length at just 85-minutes with credits, the gag-to-minute ratio is kept exceptionally high. The end of the film does let off the gas a bit when the plot needs to wrap itself up, but then it gets right back to it with even more visual gags going all the way until the very end of the credits. There’s no snark, no sarcasm, just pure absurdism and crude humor. In an age where it seems as though the only kind of comedy that can get greenlit is the winking, self-aware “isn’t this ridiculous” kind of humor pioneered by “Deadpool,” a film this disconnected from pop culture references and a desire to seem “cool” is nothing short of refreshing.

While it's hard to compare him directly to an icon of straight-faced comedy like Nielson, Nesson certainly does a fantastic job in this film. His gruff persona allows him to play everything straight, adding to the absurdity of each passing moment. If nothing else, this is clearly the kind of comedic performance an actor can only give when he is completely and totally having a blast. Anderson is just as amusing, though the plot doesn’t give her as much material to work with. When the pair are together, they’re a great comedic match, and a bizarre sequence in the middle of the film involving them is an absurd riot. The rest of the cast are all fine, filling their roles well, essentially just existing as people for jokes and gags to bounce off for Neeson.

A new “Naked Gun” film would be a bit of a surprise, even if the state of modern theatrical studio comedies wasn’t in such a dire state. But in this current state, it's a bit of a surprise in a completely different way. Jam packed with every kind of gag imaginable, led by a pair of actors willing to commit to every single bit thrown their way, and helmed by writers and a director who know the power of a good visual gag, you’d be hard pressed to find more laughs squeezed into 85-minutes this year. 4.5/5

The Bad Guys 2 - Review: Bigger and Badder

 

DreamWorks’ last adventure with the anthropomorphic bunch of criminals-turned-heroes known as The Bad Guys hit theatres in 2022 and proved to be a great time, adding another notch to the studio’s growing belt of franchises. Now director Pierre Perifel and co-writer Etan Cohen (“Tropic Thunder,” “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”) return, joined by co-writer Yoni Brenner (“Rio 2,” “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”), to this team of lovable furry antiheroes returns with a sequel that’s bigger, badder, and choked full of even more stylish animation, heist sequences, and celebrity voice talent.

The sequel follows the titular group reformed thieves made up of Mr. Wolf, played by Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “Galaxy Quest”), Mr. Snake, played by Marc Maron (“Maron,” “GLOW”), Mr. Shark, played by Craig Robinson (“Hot Tub Time Machine,” “The Office”), Mr. Piranha, played by Anthony Ramos (“Twisters,” “In the Heights”), and Ms. Tarantula, played by Awkwafina (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “The Farewell”), as they struggle to prove their goodness to the distrusting population as well as the Governer Diane Foxington, played by Zazie Beetz (“Deadpool 2,” “Joker”), and police commissioner Misty Luggins, played by Alex Borstein (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Family Guy”). Things are further complicated when they become entangled with a trio of criminals, Kitty Kat, played by Danielle Brooks (“Orange is the New Black,” “A Minecraft Movie”), Doom, played by Natasha Lyonne (“Poker Face,” “But I’m a Cheerleader”), and Pigtail, played by Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Bodies Bodies Bodies”), who blackmail them into performing one last heist.

Perifel, Cohen, and Brenner keep the same kind of freewheeling, charismatic comedy that helped the first film make an impact amongst DreamWorks’ other animated fare. Each moment in the film feels as though it moves with a kind of energy and attitude only comparable to the likes of the “Oceans” trilogy or other heist films of the genre. This sequel does lose some of its simplicity in the third act though, as the film feels the need to go bigger for this second adventure. It’s still a delight, and the first film also went big in its third act as well, but it robs the tale of the kind of simplicity that it had to begin with.

The vocal cast is as stellar as they were the first time around. Each performer in the titular Bad Guys are simply a ton of fun, and they have a genuine comradery and sense of banter that make their misfit family relationship immediately believable. The newcomers are also just as great: Bakalova has a big warm-hearted sense of silliness in her role, and Lyonne’s trademark raspy voice gives her character an immediate sense of coolness before she’s even done anything. Brooks, like Rockwell, has the sort of air about her that makes what could have been a paycheck role something a bit more. Like the best animated voices, even those not from career voice actors, she sinks her teeth into it and really runs away with the character.

As before, the animation is completely stellar, arguably becoming the sole reason to see the film. It feels a hair more expressive and colorful than the first film, which was already a step above in that regard. An early sequence focusing on Neon colors stands apart, and each moment is propped up by the film’s expressive use of impact bursts, speed lines, and other hand-drawn effects to accentuate the 3D animation work. It might not be as daring and experimental as the “Spider-Verse” films or even DreamWorks’ own “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” but it's still a great bit of slick, cool, sly animation thievery. Daniel Pemberton (“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7”) returns for the musical score as well and, like the animation, it works with the same building blocks while elevating them slightly, going bigger and brasher than before.

“The Bad Guys 2” is more of what came before and, like its titular newly reformed group, that’s not at all a bad thing. It takes the same slick animation, now bolstered by some even more polished work, a great script and talented voice cast and delivers another adventure that slots right alongside the first film. It doesn’t seek to reinvent the formula or world established from the first, but it does plenty well and manages to run away with 100 minutes of your time, and you’ll be none the wiser. 4/5

The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Review: Welcome to the Family

 

Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was even a twinkle in executives’ eyes, there have been “Fantastic Four” adaptations. From Saturday morning cartoons to films made by B-movie kings just to keep the rights, Marvel’s first family remains one of the most long-standing and well-known creations in comic-book history. Even if you’ve never read a comic or seen one of their previous works, you know this foursome. Now, after various studio issues and rights changes, this iconic group is finally joining the MCU in their own special, cosmic, and gloriously dated way.

Set in a retro-futuristic 1960s styled alternate universe, the film follows the titular group, made up of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), played by Pedro Pascal (“Narcos,” “The Last of Us (2023)”), Sue Storm (The Invisible Woman), played by Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman,” “The Crown”), Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), played by Joseph Quinn (“Stranger Things,” “A Quiet Place: Day One”), and Ben Grimm (The Thing), played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach ( “The Bear,” “Girls”). The quartet, assisted by their robotic companion HERBIE, must contend with a new threat from space in the form of the planet eating being Galactus, played by Ralph Ineson (“The Witch,” “The Green Knight”), and his servant Shalla-Bal, the Silver Surfer, played by Julia Garner (“Ozark,” “Inventing Anna”).

From the moment this film was announced, the most eye-catching aspect has been the distinct visual stylings set up in this “Jetsons”-esque vision of the Four’s alternate universe. The adventure is full of bright colors, blues, and whites, punctuated by a warped sense of technology that feels both as futuristic as “Iron Man” with the sensibilities of “Leave It to Beaver.” This isn’t just surface level either, as the entire film never lets up from that visual touch. Even when venturing beyond Earth, things still maintain an overly designed level of hyper-detail that makes everything flow together. The costumes make fantastic use of the color-palette and reotr-styling, but Galactus is the visual standout, both in costume and overall visual design. Michael Giacchino’s (“The Incredibles,” “Up”) score is just as buoyant and airy as well, with the music and even instruments used feeling plucked directly out of the 1960s itself.

Matt Shakman (“WandaVision,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) makes his feature directorial debut here after a long career of television directing, and his experience with ensemble works is used here expertly. The scenes with the central foursome are all fantastic, and their individual moments to shine are also great. Johnny particularly gets some excellent moments that far outshine his previous film appearances, and anytime the group is simply together, no matter the context, they excel. Pascal is working his expected level of charm, with a lot clearly going on in his elastic genius’s mind. Moss-Bachrach is a fantastic Ben Grimm, channeling the charm and gruff but calm enforcer attitude required of the character. Kirby is turning in some fantastic work here, making Sue not only the center of the film but the best performed role out of the main four. Most surprisingly, the standouts come from Quinn as Johnny and Garner as the Surfer.

Quinn’s performance adds far more nuance to Johnny than we’ve ever seen before and his every scene with Garner is fantastic. They have a chemistry that lights up the film and their subplot is one of the most interesting things about the film. The film’s script, written by Eric Pearson (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Godzilla vs. Kong”), Jeff Kaplan (“The Last of the Great Romantics,” “Bert and Annie’s Guide to Friendship”), Ian Springer (“The Last of the Great Romantics,” “Bert and Annie’s Guide to Friendship”), Kat Wood, and Josh Friedman (“War of the Worlds (2005),” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”), manages to keep a great balance between the typical superhero fare and the family dynamic that makes the Four stand out. The focus does lean more towards Sue, Johnny, and the Surfer, but each character gets plenty of great moments to shine on their own and as a part of the group. The film’s second and third acts are borderline perfectly paced and exceptionally fun, keeping the film’s drama and excitement in equal measure. The first act is far more jumbled and awkwardly paced, and the rest of the cast outside of the Four, Surfer, and Galactus suffers from having their scenes cut to ribbons.

Natasha Lyonne (“Poker Face,” “But I’m a Cheerleader...”) shows up as Rachel, a schoolteacher who is friends with Ben, and Paul Walter Hauser (“Black Bird,” “Richard Jewell”) plays the classic Fantastic Four villain Mole Man, but neither gets a ton of room to work. Their scenes have either been almost completely cut in the editing room or just never existed to begin with. Hauser gets far more to work with than Lyonne, who is on screen for no longer than one or two minutes at most. While their characters get almost cut out of the film, numerous other scenes have bizarre editing issues. It’s not continuity or logical errors, rather there are a handful of scenes that feel like they are either cut off or begin late. It’s an ironic issue given that most modern superhero films are criticized for being far too long, but here things are so much fun and the world is so wonderful, that those shortened scenes hurt because you just want to spend more time in this tale.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is the best Fantastic Four movie by a wide margin, though that isn’t saying much. What is saying a lot is that the film itself manages to be a buoyant, lighthearted, retro tinged affair drenched in a wonderful visual design and central set of characters that makes this one of the most fun Marvel features to date. Kirby is a commanding powerhouse, and the entire cast is fantastic. It’s a shame that the film seems to be almost self-consciously cutting its supporting cast and so many scenes short just to keep the runtime under two hours. When a modern superhero film can be called a movie that you wish you had more of, you know that’s when it's truly something fantastic. 4/5

Superman (2025) - Review: A New Hope

 

In all the marketing leading up to the release of writer/director James Gunn’s (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “The Suicide Squad”) “Superman” film, the first in a new cinematic universe for DC and Warner Bros., there has been heavy use of John Williams’s theme from the 1978 “Superman” film. While some could view this as a nostalgic ploy, in reality it seems to have been something much different. While nostalgia may be an element, it's clear that the use of that music was a sign more than anything; a signal that this new version of the Kryptonian and this latest film is far closer to Christopher Reeves’s first adventure in red and blue spandex than we could have thought.

Set three decades after the destruction of Krypton and his arrival on Earth, the film follows the titular Superman, played by David Corenswet (“Pearl,” “The Politician”), as he attempts to balance his desire to help humanity with increasing efforts from Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Nosferatu”), to turn public opinion against him. Meanwhile, he attempts to keep his relationships with fellow Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane, played by Rachel Brosnan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “I’m Your Woman”), photographer Jimmy Olsen, played by Skyler Gisondo (“Licorice Pizza,” “Booksmart”), and the budding Justice Gang made up of Green Lantern corps member Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mr. Terrific, played by Nathan Fillion (“Firefly,” “The Rookie”), Isabela Merced (“Instant Family,” “Dora and the Lost City of Gold”), and Edi Gathegi (“X-Men: First Class,” “The Harder They Fall”), respectively. Oh, and also there’s Supe’s beloved mangy superpowered dog, Krypto.

Gunn’s vision of this new universe is immediately refreshing for numerous reasons, but the best of them is the immediacy. He understands that we know who Clark, Lex, Lois, and the rest of the gang are. We don’t need to see the death of Krypton all over again, and it means that the film we get has a greater sense of momentum right away. We can just jump straight into a tale virtually while its being told, and it makes for a more interesting story as a result. We’re forced to piece together the reality of these characters and their world, allowing us to engage with the material more easily. It also means that, put simply, Gunn can use some of the more fun elements of this world and these characters that require those built out relationships from the start.

Corenswet simply fades into the role, keeping the bright, cheery persona of the son of Krypton present, but allowing a more frustrated and emotional side to shine through. He’s a delight, and there’s a physicality and expressiveness in the action sequences that feel particularly bright as well. He has an almost cartoonish ability to seem like an impenetrable wall while also maintaining a lightness that makes you believe he cares enough to prevent a stray dog from being crushed by a building. His chemistry with Brosnan is excellent as well, and a scene between the pair of them involving an impromptu interview is one of the best in the entire film. Brosnan’s charm and attitude makes her Lois a fantastic one, and she slots right into a modern-day version of the character without losing any of her 60s go-getter charm.

The Justice Gang are an excellent bunch of cohorts to play off of Superman, given their markedly different position compared to him, and the trio of actors are excellent portrayals of them. Fillion and Merced are great, so much so that it’s disappointing they aren’t used more than they are. Gathegi completely steals the show as Mr. Terrific, full of quips and brutal smarts that means he continues Gunn’s streak of turning lesser known characters into fan favorites. Like Gathegi, Hoult is an absolute scene stealer and arguably the highlight of a film full of highlights. He makes Lex a refreshingly simply villain, someone you love to hate and who hates just because he can. There’s clearly a complexity under the surface, but he relishes playing him as a cut and dry villain with glee.

Despite having plenty going on and a game cast here to do it all, the biggest weakness of Gunn’s film is just having so much going on. It isn’t that it all feels overstuffed, as the runtime and pacing are remarkably smooth for a modern blockbuster. Rather Gunn has written himself a double-edged sword: his characters are written in such a charming way that the handful that don’t get as much screen time sting more. You want to spend more time with them simply because they come off so well. It’s not hard to see a version of the film with an extra half-hour added on simply to spend more time with Gisondo, Merced, Fillion, or other characters like Pruitt Taylor Vince (“Lady in the Lake,” “Gotti”) and Neva Howell (“Ghosts of the Ozark”) as Ma and Pa Kent, respectively, Wendell Pierce (“The Wire,” “Selma”) as Daily Planet editor Perry White, or Sara Sampaio as surprise comedic standout Eve Teschmacher, the on-and-off girlfriend of Lex Luthor.

Those characters don’t feel as though they’ve been given less time as an excuse for future installments however. Gunn’s script keeps making sure everyone ties back around to Superman’s own arc. It all comes back to Supes, and it's a remarkably focused film in that way. However, that doesn’t mean things don’t get to be just as rollicking and fun as an episode of the titular hero’s early-2000s animated television series. The gorgeous locals pop with candy-colored glee, and nothing feels drab. It’s colorful without being garish, and the entire film is lit with almost hyper realism. It feels like a living comic book in the best possible way, shot with varying calmness and excited glee by cinematographer Henry Braham (“The Suicide Squad,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”). Even the action sequences seem to be ripped straight from the thin pages of a monthly serial, with an elasticity and buoyancy that’s fitting of the superhuman nature of its lead. All the while, John Murphy (“28 Days Later,” “The Suicide Squad”) and David Fleming’s (“The Last of Us (2023),” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024)”) score rocks along with equal parts emotional strings and shredding guitars.

What’s most interesting is that, in a Hollywood film which is meant to be the launching point of a brand-new cinematic universe, with hundreds of millions of marketing dollars pumped into it, and utilizing one of the most recognizable characters in media history, Gunn has somehow gotten away with making an exceptionally politically minded film. Plain and simple, there are pertent themes and identifiers that make this a Superman film for this exact moment, and it doesn’t appear that any of this was reined in by executives. It becomes a refreshingly honest piece of media and makes those themes stick even more than they would if Gunn had decided to dance around it all. He seems to remember that, regardless of whether the viewer is a child or an adult, the audience doesn’t like being talked down to and can recognize themes like this if they’re handled correctly. The material doesn’t dampen the morals or empathy or hope that sits at the core of the film or Superman’s character either. Rather it enhances it and makes it that much stronger, like a sweet piece of candy at the end of a long and savory meal.

Those added themes and effort to make it more than just surface level heroism speak to the extra effort Gunn puts into his projects that makes them that much better. It isn’t just that Clark and Lois’s romance is present; it's that it feels romantic and real. It isn’t just that Superman has that sense of duty and hope; it’s that it feels earnest and real. It can be easy to throw these characters on screen and call it a day, for someone to say, “I put a man in red and blue spandex and made him fly, isn’t that enough?” And for a cursory glance with half attention paid on a cable channel on a Tuesday evening, maybe that is enough. But Gunn knows that to most, these characters are real. Putting that effort in, even if the film as a result might feel like it's bursting at the seams, is the right thing to do. It feels real.

There’s a phrase that’s come about recently to describe a subgenre of media that, while it’s always existed, has become more prevalent in recent years. “Hopepunk” has been used to describe works as recent as “Free Guy,” “Wall-E,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and “Isle of Dogs” and as timeless as “The Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars.” The idea that, against radical violence and hate, sometimes hope is the punk rock response. James Gunn’s “Superman is, if nothing else, the perfect embodiment of this. It doesn’t wear its heart on its sleeve so much as it has armor made of it. The film’s central message of hope and empathy beats true throughout a fun and fantastic adventure that keeps things just campy enough without sacrificing any sense of self-seriousness. Corenswet is a perfect Clark and a better Superman, and Gunn’s entire ensemble is electric. The script is packed tight with nuance and timely themes that nevertheless feel right out of the golden age of Superman’s best comic book years. There’s a lot here, maybe too much, but it's clear that every character, moment, and fight are there for one reason: to further Superman’s arc and journey. You will believe a man can fly. 5/5

Jurassic World: Rebirth - Review: New Age, Same Stuff

 

It’s hard to believe but there was a period where, like other classic blockbuster franchises, we didn’t have a “Jurassic Park” movie every few years. But ever since “Jurassic World” stomped into theaters back in 2015 with a record-breaking global opening weekend of over $500 million, Universal has been dead set on making sure this series continues on no matter what. And after 2022’s lucrative dud “Jurassic World: Dominion,” they’ve returned to the well with an all-new cast and an all-too familiar premise with “Jurassic World: Rebirth.”

Set over a decade after the events of “Jurassic World” and well into the time when dinosaurs have begun to re-roam the Earth again, the film follows covert ops expert Zora Bennett, played by Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story,” “Jojo Rabbit”), as she’s recruited by pharmaceutical exec Martin Krebs, played by Rupert Friend (“Pride & Prejudice (2005),” “Anatomy of a Scandal”), to lead a secret mission to Ile Saint-Hubert to extract the DNA from three living dinosaurs to synthesize into a drug to prevent heart disease. Her team consists of nerdy paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis, played by Jonathan Bailey (“Bridgerton,” “Wicked (2024)”) and team leader Duncan Kincaid, played by Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight,” “Green Book”). While on the island, they also run into a shipwrecked family consisting of father Reuben, played by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (“A Man Called Otto,” “The Magnificent Seven (2016)”), his daughters Teresa and Isabella, played by Luna Blaise (“Manifest,” “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”) and Audrina Miranda respectively, and Teresa’s boyfriend Xavier, played by David Iacono (“The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “Dead Boy Detectives”).

Given his experience playing with large scales in previous works, it's no surprise that director Gareth Edwards (“The Creator,” “Rogue One”) has an excellent handle on the chaos as it unfolds in this tale. His film has a very clear-sighted vision, ditching any semblance of shaky-cam effects or muddied action. It’s a gorgeously shot film as well, that plays with camera angles in plenty of ways that would make Spielberg proud. The musical score from Alexandre Desplat (“Little Women (2019),” “Fantastic Mr. Fox”) maintains a playful tone, mixing in well-trodden themes from previous “Park” films while still mixing in new material throughout.

Davis Koepp’s (“Spider-Man (2002),” “Jurassic Park”) script, meanwhile, is a less than excellent affair. While the moment-to-moment dialogue is fine enough, with a handful of clunkers thrown in, the overall plotting is nothing the series hasn’t seen before. It’s fine enough, but it feels as though it’s a stitched together movie made from chunks of previous films. It doesn’t mean they don’t work, but there’s a pervasive feeling of deja vu throughout the whole picture. Johansson is great, but feels like a female version of Chris Pratt’s character. Ali is great, but he feels like a slightly more sane version of Bob Peck’s character from the original film. Bailey is one of the film’s largest saving graces; his charism and genuine interest in the dinos and material shine through and deliver one of the best characters in the series. But at the same time, there are clear and obvious shades of both Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler in his character that are hard to overlook.

Worse than that, the family sharing the film’s spotlight are unfortunately just plain boring. Anytime the film cuts away from the main team to them, the tension dissipates, and their scenes feel as though they have zero consequence on the overall plot. They’re performed fine enough, and Garcia-Rulfo is doing some great work with a fairly generic character, but so much of their screen time is spent wondering what the other, more interesting and complex characters are up to. 

But does any of this really matter? This is, at the end of the day, another “Jurassic World” movie. If it delivers the dinos, then the audience will come, and they’ll enjoy it. There is certainly fun to be had as the film does deliver the goods. A moment in the middle of the film involving Bailey’s character and a Titanosaur is moving and wonderful. The entire last thirty minutes inside of an abandoned company town are a lot of fun. But it's all grizzly, bloody, mean fun. The whimsy of the original film and even the first “World” film are completely gone. The fun of the parks and seeing humans interact with dinosaurs is completely absent, save for the one scene with Bailey. The dinosaurs are also borderline alien at this point, with most being bizarre hodgepodges waved off as “mutations” without their own names. It just feels disheartening to see a series that used to be about science gone wrong combined with the joy of the Jurassic age turned into a glorified kaiju film series.

This latest film opens with some text describing a world “disillusioned with dinosaurs” and it feels as though the filmmakers are as well. “Jurassic World: Rebirth” is a film that can’t be called bad, but nothing about it stands apart. Koepp’s script is a stitched together combination of various other elements from other films in the series with a boring familial subplot for good measure. The technical elements are great, and Edwards clearly has a directorial passion that equals that of Bailey’s excellent character. But for a series that started with one of the greatest blockbusters of all time, it's disheartening to see it come to this. It is still a massive step up from “Dominion,” but the film executives were so concerned with whether or not they could keep the series going, they never stopped to think if they should. 2.5/5

Sorry, Baby - Review: How to Get Over a Bad Thing

 

Is it possible to talk about a topic without actually talking about it? Without naming the elephant in the room? Some might think that’s virtually impossible; how could you get into the nitty gritty of how something could truly affect someone without even calling it what it is. Whether intentional or not, writer/director/actor Eva Victor’s (“Boys Go to Jupiter”) directorial debut presents an answer to that idea, while also delivering a calm, deeply empathetic, unexpectedly candid meditation on change and growing up.

“Sorry, Baby” stars Victor as Agnes, a graduate student living in New England with her best friend and fellow student Lydie, played by Naomi Ackie (“Mickey 17,” “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”). Agnes finds herself the star pupil of her professor Preston Decker, played by Louis Cancelmi (“A Murder at the End of the World,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), and when discussing her thesis at his house one night, she is assaulted by him. Years later, Agnes is still living at the same house as in college, now teaching at her old school as a part-time professor, attempting to grapple with Lydie’s move to New York, her slowly changing life, her next-door neighbor Gavin, played by Lucas Hedges (“Lady Bird,” “Manchester By The Sea”), and whether she wants to address the “bad thing” that happened to her.

Victor is, quite literally, the soul of this entire project. What they’re able to do with this script is an unbelievably tricky tonal balancing act. There are fantastically funny bits of dry and dark humor throughout, set up in such a way that feel perfectly natural rather than jarring within the subject matter. More than that, Victor’s script is able to expertly portray the way best friends communicate with such specificity. There’s a quiet element in each interaction between them and Ackie that makes their scenes so delightful and painfully real. That specificity also extends to the way they craft dialogue for the rest of the film. Initially it seems almost purposefully constructed, but the deliberate way of speaking ends up becoming one of the film’s most defining aspects. It’s blunt, but in a playful kind of way.

Victor may be doing triple duty here as writer, director, and lead actor, but their central performance is likely the best aspect of that triple threat. The way they’re able to craft Agnes as a character is yet another one of the film’s tricky balancing acts. The deeply inherent sarcasm and self-pity on display is a mixture like chocolate and peanut butter, somehow working in spite of itself. Their chemistry with Ackie is one of the film’s biggest highlights and makes you want their handful of moments together to never end. Hedges is a sweet, if underdeveloped little bright spot in the supporting cast, and a minor role from John Carroll Lynch (“Fargo,” “The Founder”) truly steals the show.

Beyond the great use of black humor and the specific dialogue style, Victor’s film has multiple moments of quiet that pierce deeper than even the best of the film’s dialogue heavy scenes. They’re stark and silent and hit like a brick to the face, whether there’s a dark event being alluded to or just a moment we’re sitting in alongside Agnes. These quiet moments though could be seen by some as moments of indie film twee-ness or simply boring. This, alongside the blunt dialogue, could simply be a turnoff for some. Similarly, it’s not hard to see someone view the way the film treats the assault as childish, simply referring to it as a “bad thing,” but it points things straight at the film’s central themes of growth. It’s not a film strictly about Agnes’ assault, but how she grows past that event and the various other things changing in her life.

“Sorry, Baby” is a quiet, meditative kind of film, deeply respectful of the tonal balance of life and the way it changes. For a debut, Eva Victor’s script and direction as fantastic, with their lead performance a cherry on top. It’s a very specific feeling kind of film that’ll likely not be for everyone. But for those willing to get on its blunt, calm wavelength, it’s a special little baby indeed. 4.5/5 

M3GAN 2.0 - Review: The Bot is Back, for Better or Worse

Blumhouse is certainly no stranger to sequels or “lightening in a bottle” concepts. If it's a hit, it's likely going to get a sequel since most of the studio’s films have micro-budgets compared to other Hollywood studio fare. So, while a paltry $181 million gross might seem like tipping money to some studios, for a Blumhouse film with only a $12 million budget like 2022’s “M3GAN,” it's a rich vein to strike again and again. And again they have struck, with a sequel aptly titled “M3GAN 2.0” that is decidedly less horror than the first film or the rest of the studio’s fare. If the first film was “Child’s Play,” this one is far more “T2: Judgement Day” or “Mission: Impossible” than it is “Child’s Play 2.”

The film follows the titular killer android M3GAN, played again physically by Amie Donald and voiced again by Jenna Davis (“Treehouse Detectives,” “Chicken Girls”), newly rebuilt by her creator Gemma, played by Allison Williams (“Girls,” “Get Out”), after being destroyed at the end of the first film. Gemma wants to use M3GAN to find and defeat a rogue military android named AMELIA, played by Ivanna Sakhno (“Ahsoka,” “The Spy Who Dumped Me”), who’s hunting down and killing each person involved with her creation, including Gemma as she was based on M3GAN’s original design. Also reprising their roles are Violet McGraw (“The Haunting of Hill House,” “Separation”) as Cady, Gemma’s niece and M3GAN’s original owner, Jen Van Epps (“Don’t Make Me Go,” “One Lane Bridge”) as Tess, one of Gemma’s co-workers, and Brian Jordan Alvarez (“English Teacher,” “80 for Brady”) as Cole, one of Gemma’s other co-workers.

Returning director Gerard Johnstone (“The Jaquie Brown Diaries,” “Housebound”), who now also is on as a co-writer, and returning writer Akela Cooper (“Malignant,” “The Nun 2”) have certainly crafted a work that makes large creative changes from the original material. The campiness, silly nature of the original film is still here, but far more intentionally than the “happy accident” nature of the first film’s viral moments. Therefore, while things are certainly campier than even before, it can feel more manufactured than the first film’s more natural silliness. It doesn’t help that the film is longer than the first and lacks the tight focus from M3GAN’s original rampage, bringing in numerous additional characters and subplots that manage to be either boring or actively unfunny. 

A borderline cameo from Jermaine Clement (“Flight of the Conchords,” “What We Do In the Shadows”) as a tech-obsessed billionaire feels completely out of step with the rest of the film’s sense of humor, and the third act of the film forgets Tess exists and has Cole take a larger spotlight that doesn’t fit the character. That’s not even mentioning the completely forgettable FBI agents that pop up before Johnstone and Cooper completely forget about them until the last ten minutes. That’s not even getting into the completely nonsensical central threat that, when revealed, feels as though it was thought up by someone who saw “Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning” and wanted to dumb it way way down.

Luckily, when the film does refocus on Gemma, Cady, and M3GAN on their quest, things are far more entertaining. M3GAN’s emotional journey here is surprisingly satisfying, without sacrificing any of her snark and attitude, with Davis’s vocal performance working exceptionally well. Williams and McGraw get a more standard “parent and teen child butt heads” plotline, and it works well enough, without ever working beyond basic levels. Sakhno is a fantastically fun addition to the cast, working well against Donald and Davis and injecting a fun adversarial relationship into the fare.

As a whole, the film looks like its budget, with a large assortment of average soundstage-built sets and some garish green screen for a few open landscape action sequences. Despite the shift to action from horror, Johnstone and his team have fun with the fight sequences, taking gleeful advantage of the fact that their heroine and villainess are both robotic, throwing logic out the window. By the time the third act hits, any semblance of realism has been completely ejected in favor of a freewheeling junk food type of cinematic fun. It’s certainly nothing groundbreaking, but when firing on all cylinders, it's undeniably a good time.

“M3GAN 2.0” changes a great deal from the original film, and while it's still absolutely a fun and campy time, it's certainly not without its own issues. For every action sequence and borderline spy parody featuring M3GAN, there’s another with an utterly forgettable character or plot point. This sequel simply can’t hold a candle to the simplicity, tension, or inadvertent camp of the first film. It’s cinematic junk food that invites you to turn off your brain and go along for the ride. There are certainly still other better examples of cinematic junk food out there, but you’ll still have a good time with this psychotic robot regardless. 3/5

F1 - Review: The Need for Speed

 

“Dad movies” is a turn of phrase often used to describe blockbusters simply about “guys being dudes,” often involving big cars and/or vehicles, big muscles, and big emotions. Movies like “Top Gun,” “Gladiator,” “Rocky,” “Braveheart,” “Chef,” “Indiana Jones,” etc. While it can sound like its downplaying the work done in these films, far from it as many works that could be labeled as such are also lauded, some of them even being some of the best films of their respective years. Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Tron: Legacy”) has made a few of these before, and he’s back working within territory he’s quite familiar with in another tale of high-octane vehicular thrills in “F1.”

Set in the world of high-octane Formula 1 competitive racing, the film follows aged former-F1 driver Sonny Hayes, played by Brad Pitt (“Fight Club,” “Ocean’s Eleven (2001)”), who finds himself invited back into the sport by his longtime friend and former-F1 driver turned team owner Ruben Cervantes, played by Javier Bardem (“Dune (2021),” “No Country for Old Men”). Ruben’s team has yet to win a race, and he invites Hayes in to race in his second car, as well as to give his rookie driver Joshua Pearce, played by Damson Idris (“Snowfall,” “Outside the Wire”), a mentor-like figure to work alongside. Hayes soon finds himself butting heads with every member of the team, including Pearce, Pearce’s mother Bernadette, played by Sara Niles (“Ted Lasso,” “Beautiful People”), the team’s technical director Kate McKenna, played by Kerry Condon (“Better Call Saul,” “The Banshees of Inisherin”), the team’s principal Kaspar Smolinski, played by Kim Bodnia (“Killing Eve,” “The Bridge”).

Kosinski’s previous experience with grand scales will obviously help with a project like this, but he showcases a true mastery of the technical arts here. The film is constantly whipping between static and moving shots, whirling around the tracks with a choreographed reckless abandoned. Despite the numerous vehicles racing and crashing around, cinematographer Claudio Miranda (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Life of Pi”) sets it up like a ballet. The same touch extends to the moments outside of the cars, and it creates a tonal symbiosis between the different worlds of the film and sport. Hans Zimmer’s (“The Dark Knight,” “The Lion King (1994)”) thunderous and phenomenal musical score provides a backdrop to the dance of speed that zooms across the screen throughout the two-hour-and-thirty-five-minute-long runtime.

Pitt and Idris are a fantastic duo, complimenting each other's styles of acting just like their characters do on the racetracks. Pitt’s weaponize lackadaisical charm is put to great use here, as is Idris’s young hotshot attitude. Condon and Bardem are also used perfectly, with each exuding charm at every moment and bouncing fantastically off Pitt. The entire supporting cast is put to great use; none of them ever fall by the wayside, with each getting their own little moment in the spotlight. The only one who gets cut a bit short is Tobias Menzies (“Rome,” “Outlander”) as Peter, one of the board members for Ruben’s F1 team. Nothing about his portrayal or character is bad by any means, but it also doesn’t stand out in any way either.

The excellent technical elements and performances all help to glisten up what is a rather routine script. Co-written by Kosinski and Ehren Kruger (“The Ring (2002),” “Top Gun: Maverick”), while the dialogue is snappy and the pacing is borderline perfect, the individual character arcs and archetypes are lifted straight out of every other film with this similar plot. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, and the actors do exceptional work with the material regardless. However, at no point does the film ever feel truly unexpected. It’s then a testament to Kosinski’s directorial skills, as he manages to wrap you up in the tension and thrills of it all so much, you won’t have time to pay attention to how predictable it can feel.

F1” is a super-charged surprise. From the exceptionally charming and talented cast to the gorgeous cinematography and production values, Kosinski’s latest film continues his streak of turning in some of the best blockbuster entertainment out there. Even if its plot isn’t anything particularly new, it's been supped up to a scale fitting this kind of work. Think of it like this: it's a car full of well-worn and used parts but gussied and revved up to run and sound like it never has before. 4.5/5

Elio - Review: The Heart of the Stars

 

For as long as it has existed, Pixar has been a studio with plenty of hits and plenty of behind-the-scenes issues. When “Elio” was first announced back in 2022, it had a different plot and director to the version now playing in theaters, and there is some irony to the fact that a tale like this was almost abandoned and restarted at some point during production. With a pair of new directors/co-writers Madeline Sharafian (“We Bare Bears”) and Domee Shi (“Turning Red”) and co-writers Julia Cho (“Turning Red”), Mark Hammer (“Shotgun Wedding,” “Two Night Stand”), Mike Jones (“Soul,” “Luca”), and a new crack at the story, Pixar’s latest seems to have faced quite the uphill battle even before arriving in theaters.

The film follows the titular eleven-year-old boy Elio, played by Yonas Kibreab (“Merry Little Batman”), living with his aunt Olga, played by Zoe Saldaña (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avatar”), after the death of his parents. After constantly butting heads with his aunt, Elio is unexpectedly whisked into deep space to the Communiverse: a grand meeting of representatives from all corners of the galaxy. As the believed leader of Earth, he volunteers to attempt to broker negotiations between the Communiverse and the violent warmonger Lord Grigon, played by Brad Garett (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Gleason”). However, things go awry after Elio meets Grigon’s pacifist son Glordon, played by Remy Edgerly.

As one can expect from Pixar at this point, there’s a hearty dose of emotional catharsis on display throughout all of “Elio.” The film spends a lot of its runtime examining Elio’s loneliness and the healthy and unhealthy ways he attempts to counter it. The third act in particular draws heavily from these ideas, and the connections explored between Elio and Olga and Elio and Glordon are the film at its absolute best. The writers have a gift for getting into the details of these conversations and that, mixed with Pixar’s highly detailed animations, make for a movie that nails the same kind of emotional ballet that the studio has always been known for. It might not be their most unique work, but it all comes together by the end and it's effective, nevertheless.

Kibreab is an absolutely fantastic, charming, and funny protagonist that carries the film on his short shoulders. He gives one of the better child voice acting performances in recent memory, and he has excellent chemistry with Saldaña and Edgerly. Saldaña as well, for all her preexisting science fiction work, taps into something here that’s far more emotionally grounded than a lot of her previous works and definitely a step above the typical celebrity voice acting most Hollywood animated films are saddled with. Edgerly is also great, though his character feels a bit more two-dimensional than Elio, and the rest of the film is peppered with very funny, but scant vocal roles from various character actors such as Brendan Hunt (“We’re the Millers,” “Ted Lasso”), Naomi Watanabe (“Sailor Moon Eternal”), Shirley Henderson (“Trainspotting,” “Stan & Ollie”), Ana de la Reguera (“Nacho Libre,” “The Forever Purge”), and Matthias Schweighöfer (“Army of the Dead,” “Valkyrie”).

There’s a typically gorgeous amount of animation on display, but “Elio” has a decidedly smaller scale than previous Pixar fare. Ironic given that it's set on Earth and in outer space, but it is confined mostly to a handful of locations, letting each breathe with specific details and aesthetics. A lively electronic musical score from Rob Simonsen (“500 Days of Summer,” “Deadpool & Wolverine”) is peppered throughout and helps to further establish the film’s identity. The film’s auditory identity is particularly excellent, not just with its musical score but the sound design and use of a reoccurring Carl Sagan quote as well.

Among other Hollywood animation studios, Pixar has always maintained a very specific, “calmer” vibe with its films, avoiding pop culture or meme references embraced by some other studios. But even among their own films, “Elio” has a different vibe. The film embraces different feelings of loneliness and at times can almost have an atmospheric, peaceful nature that sets it apart from the rest of the studio’s catalog. While those vibes and ideas do make it different, it explores them in much the same way most other animated family films do. Meaning the meat of the film is interesting and clearly something different, but it's just prepared in a plainer way.

“Elio” continues Pixar’s streak of excellent, thought provoking, emotional animated adventures anyone can enjoy. While it might not be as creatively told as some of the studio’s best, you’d still be hard pressed not to enjoy this meditative, funny, and thoroughly charming tale of loneliness and exploration amongst the stars. 4.5/5

KPop Demon Hunters - Review: Don't Think TWICE about this BANGer New Animated Musical Adventure

 

You’ll be hard pressed to find an animation studio more in the good graces of the film community than Sony Pictures Animation. A handful of duds like “The Emoji Movie” and the live action/animated “Smurfs” movies haven’t dampened the acclaim given to the studio for innovating within their franchise films like “Hotel Transylvania” and the “Spider-Verse” series and championing more director driven creative fare like “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” and “Surf’s Up.” Now, the latest film is a combination of the same hyper-stylized animation the studio is known for and one of the fastest growing music genres worldwide to create a wholly unique blend to tell the story of a group of “KPop Demon Hunters.”

The film follows Huntrix, a KPop group made up of leader Rumi, played by Arden Cho (“Teen Wolf (2014),” “Partner Track”), writer/rapper Zoey, played by Ji-young Yoo (“Until Dawn (2025),” “Expats”), and aggressive vocalist Mira, played by May Hong (“Tales of the City,” “Full Circle”). While a world famous Kpop group on the surface, they secretly protect the world from demons seeking to invade and steal souls, led by the demon king Gwi-Ma, played by Lee Byung-hun (“Masquerade,” “Squid Game”). After years of failure, one of Gwi-Ma's demons Jinu, played by Ahn Hyo-seop (“Dr. Romantic,” “A Time Called You”), develops a new idea to take over the world: disguise a group of demons as a Kpop boy band to take attention away from Huntrix and slowly steal the souls of their fans.

Like virtually every single other film by the studio, this latest from Sony Pictures Animation is a visual feast for the senses. Just like “Spider-Verse” embraced the techniques employed by comics and “Mitchells” embraced the doodles from within a teen’s notebook, “Demon Hunters” fully embraces the techniques and style of anime and manga. Characters ebb and flow with detailed dance choreography, while also popping forth with exaggerated expressions and overacting that has been a staple of series like “One Piece” and “Dragonball Z” since their inception. The way these traditionally two-dimensional elements are brought into this three-dimensional world is just fantastic to watch. It also means the action is equally as great, with highly stylized fights working as music video sequences in their own right.

Those fights are legitimately blended with music, and the film’s attitude towards artistic expression and the power of music is fused through the entire project. It makes for a film that isn’t just funny and cool to watch but has something to say about the commercialization of the music industry and the fabrication of boy/girl groups. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it's just enough meat to go with the rest of the film’s blast of colorful fun. Directors/co-writers Chris Appelhans (“Wish Dragon”) and Maggie Kang and co-writers Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan put a lot into fleshing out the central conflict and the friendship between the central trio. Beyond the characters and world building, there’s also quite a bit of examinations about the power of music as a spiritual connection. The film shares a good deal of DNA with this year’s earlier hit “Sinners” in that way, and it makes the musical sequences and the usage of songs during the fight sequences stand out more.

Cho, Yoo, and Hong do a fantastic job at breathing life into these characters, running wild with their close-knit friendship and the film’s silly sense of humor. They work well together, and it's a treat to watch them bounce off each other in moments of borderline improv and then come back around for the film’s serious emotional moments. The way they embrace the wackier humor is truly endearing and makes each one of them stand out as a real, believable friend group. Hyo-seop also makes for an entertaining and sympathetic villain who clearly has more going on than just being a typical evil puppet. Byung-hun is a menacing treat used sparingly, and Ken Jeong (“Community,” “The Hangover”) appears as Huntrix’s manager Bobby in a role that makes great use of his comedic talents without relying on using his voice in a grating way.

Thanks to the world building and animation, “Demon Hunters” can easily be enjoyed by anyone whether they know BTS as a group of young musical heartthrobs or just the abbreviation for “behind the scenes.” It feels like the rare animated film that will catch people off guard and truly have something for everyone. With an excellent voice cast and a gorgeous aesthetic, toe-tapping tunes, and a quick pace, “KPop Demon Hunters” wields its style like a weapon as deadly as those used by its central trio. It’s another massive hit for Sony Pictures Animation and easily stands as one of the best animated films of the year. 4.5/5