Venom was the first of Sony’s Spider-Man spin-off films — and the first to establish the not-so-proud legacy of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe franchise. Despite its rocky start, the Venom franchise managed to win over many viewers — largely due to the performance of Tom Hardy as both Eddie Brock and Venom. The sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, got shaken up by the pandemic, but doubled down on the unhinged fun of symbiote buddy-comedy with the addition of Woody Harrelson’s Carnage. Now, Venom: The Last Dance comes along to finish off the trilogy strong — but ultimately comes in at last place as a half-formed attempt at a serious superhero movie blockbuster that would be considered average even by 2000s comic book movie standards.

The “story” of Venom: The Last Dance sees Eddie Brock and Venom (Hardy) snatched back to their native reality after a brief (and very pointless) hop over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (see: Spider-Man: No Way Home). Eddie returns to his reality to find that the battle with Carnage in San Francisco has made him a fugitive. Eddie thinks (for some reason) that relocating to NYC will be the fresh start he needs, and begins his journey there. Unfortunately, Eddie is unaware that Knull, God of the Symbiotes (Andy Serkis) is awake and searching for the codex, a powerful artifact (read: MacGuffin) created when a symbiote and host fuse their lifeforce.

Naturally, Eddie and Venom are the holders of the codex, so Knull sends some symbiote beasts out across the universe to retrieve it. After barely escaping a first encounter, the symbiote reveals the whole mess of the situation to Eddie, informing him that fully manifesting as Venom acts as a homing signal to Knull’s monsters, so they must travel in human form, with limited (budget-saving) symbiote abilities. However, the threat of Knull is also being tracked by a shadowy organization of scientists (Juno Temple’s Dr. Teddy Payne) and soldiers (Chiwetel Ejiofor’s General Rex Strickland) who have been tracking, containing, and neutralizing symbiotes since they arrived on Earth. That organization also targets Venom, knowing that killing either Eddie or the Symbiote ends the threat to the universe for good.

Kelly Marcel should get praise for arguably directing the most visually coherent and action-heavy Venom film — especially since it is the first movie she has ever directed. Marcel was a writer of the first Venom film and was the sole writer of both Let There Be Carnage and The Last Dance, so she clearly has some creative authority and love for this version of the character. That’s what makes it curious to see Last Dance fall into the trap of feeling like another Spider-Man spin-off film that’s only half-fitted to be part of a bigger universe. The entire storyline about the symbiote-hunting organization and characters like Payne and Strickland are only half-explained but ultimately get positioned to be a bigger part of the franchise going forward. The inclusion of Serkis as Knull seems more like a prank played on the comic book nerds, as the “King in Black” is largely a non-element in the film, and featured in a few scenes where his face isn’t even shown to the audience. If Sony was hoping this was the Avengers “Thanos moment” for the Spider-Man spinoffs … it’s not.

It certainly draws a lot of screen time away from Eddie and Venom, which is understandable: Tom Hardy is largely walking through the film looking worn out from this run — a fact hilariously driven home by an included montage of all three Venom films, which all but demonstrates the diminishing returns for both actor and audience. In the few moments where Hardy does once again muster the chaotic rom-com energy of Eddie and Venom, we get reminded of what (if nothing else) this series achieved. You almost wish Hardy and Co. had leaned into all the online jokes about how Venom 3 didn’t need to do anything more than provide a final showcase of Hardy’s one-man show. Instead, we get an overstuffed, overly serious comic book movie that could tarnish some of its top-talent supporting cast.

Poor Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange) is in a military drama only he seems invested in; Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man, House of the Dragon) collected a check to chew the scenery as a hippie dad named Martin; Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire) has the weirdest bit part (and a two-time wasted villain role) as Patrick Mulligan/Toxin; only Juno Temple (Ted Lasso, Fargo) finds the line between quirky comic book hyper-realism and gravitas so that her scientist character can charmingly run the audience through all the silly symbiote exposition and CGI effects required to set up the third act.

Without spoiling it, it’s hard to get into the absurdity of Venom: The Last Dance‘s final act, climax, and ending. Once again, it feels like Sony has no handle on this universe or what any of it has to do with Spider-Man — heck, fans won’t even leave with a clear resolution over whether this Venom movie saga is over or not (making even the title of the film feel like a misstep).

Venom: The Last Dance is a disappointing Sony-Marvel release to go alongside Madame Web. And the odds for Kraven the Hunter to complete a single-year trifecta of Spider-Man spinoff misses are going way, way up.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Venom: The Last Dance will be released in theaters on October 25th.

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Paramount returned to its Paramount Scares 4K box set for the second year in a row, kicking off October with a four-film set that includes some first-time remasters and quite a few physical bonuses. Approaching a review for a collection like this, though, is a little different than most other physical media reviews, where I typically focus most of my attention on the quality of the disc itself. This review will obviously touch on how the films in the new Paramount Scares collection look at sound, but it’s also necessary to talk about the collection as a whole, and just how important it may or may not be to add to your collection.

Released on October 1st, Paramount Scares Vol. 2 includes 4K editions of Friday the 13th Part II, Breakdown, World War Z, and Orphan: First Kill. The collection, within its exclusive (and very good-looking box art, also comes with a Paramount Scares glow-in-the-dark pin, some iron-on patches, a domed Paramount Scares sticker, a special issue of Fangoria written exclusively for this collection, and a poster from cover artist Orlando “Mexifunk” Arocena.

You do get a lot of goodies in the box set, and it looks pretty nice on a shelf. At the current $69.99 price point, the whole collection doesn’t feel overly expensive, but certainly not cheap. What it comes down to is the actual film selection, and that’s where Paramount Scares Vol. 2 falls frighteningly short.

The first Paramount Scares collection was an all-star lineup for the studio. It includes 4Ks of classics like Rosemary’s Baby and Pet Sematary, popular new hits like Crawl and Smile, and the “secret” 4K release of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Top to bottom, that’s a fantastic run of horror titles that any fan of the genre would love to have, especially since many of those titles hadn’t been released in 4K before.

By comparison, the lineup for Paramount Scares Vol. 2 feels weak at best. Friday the 13th Part II is an easy choice, especially since it hadn’t received a 4K transfer from Paramount to this point (though the UK is getting a solo release of that transfer this month). Breakdown, an underrated Kurt Russell thriller, has long been due for some love and is a fun addition to a bigger collection. World War Z has a lot of fans but has already received a 4K release via Shout Factory, so its inclusion here as one of just four titles feels frustrating. And then there’s Orphan: First Kill, which is new enough to have received a standard 4K release but didn’t get one upon release. It’s also not a major fan-favorite or growing cult phenomenon. The Orphan prequel is just a movie many seem to have already forgotten about.

There are so many great horror releases from Paramount over the years that this Scares lineup just doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. It doesn’t feel like a set you absolutely have to have in your collection, unless you’re an enormous fan of at least a couple of the titles. And as fun as the extra goodies are, none of them are really enough to push this thing over the edge and compel you to add it to your cart.

The real saving grace here is that the actual discs themselves are fantastic. The movies may not be ones that you’re dying to have in your collection, but Paramount did a great job with all of the transfers and remasters. Personally, Friday the 13th Part II takes the cake; there’s something about that cheap ’80s slasher look that translates so well to 4K when done properly. Orphan: First Kill technically looks and sounds the cleanest, which should come as no surprise, given that it was released just a couple of years ago.

I’m not going to say Paramount Scares Vol. 2 isn’t a solid 4K effort from a studio that has been doing a good job with its releases in 2024. If you love a movie or two in this lineup, you won’t be disappointed. But all in all its a largely lackluster set when it comes to its actual selections, especially after Paramount did such an excellent job with Volume 1.

Paramount Scares Vol. 2 is available now. A copy was provided for the purpose of this review.

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AJ Goes to the Dog Park is described as a “gag-driven” comedy by the filmmakers, and if that doesn’t make sense, then the first five minutes of the movie will tell you exactly what that means, and how accurate it is. In the opening scenes, you’ll find jokes like AJ kicking through a door and creating a man-shaped hole, AJ getting blown away by a leaf blower, AJ reading a brochure telling him what he can eat for breakfast after his buttered toast is recalled, AJ crushing his remote with his hand and eating the pieces, and a series of spit takes that are both escalating and nauseating. There’s also some choice dialogue exchanges like: 

“So apparently what we did is called kissing.”
“So there’s precedent, and I’m not seeing anything in here saying it’s illegal.”

Did you roll your eyes at all that? Or did a sensible chuckle tumble its way out of you at some point? This isn’t a full litmus test for whether you’ll appreciate the humor of AJ Goes to the Dog Park but it’s not a bad place to start, considering the lengths it goes to. 

A surrealist film about happy-go-lucky AJ (played by AJ Thompson) and his quest to get the dog park of his hometown returned to its rightful place, the film plays out like a series of sketches stitched together. On the surface, this could very well be an irritating style that doesn’t translate to a polished, final film project, but writer/director Toby Jones has found a delicate balance. Just when you believe that AJ Goes to the Dog Park has run out of steam and its gags have become tired, it pivots into another direction, finding not only fresh new life, but bizarre depths to mine for comedy’s sake. Sometimes this means an interlude about two characters that were just introduced eight minutes prior, sometimes it means an animated backstory for a brand-new character. 

If there’s something to ding AJ Goes to the Dog Park about, even as someone that appreciates its often bewildering sense of humor, is that sometimes its gags overstay their welcome. The good news is that if you find yourself growing tired of whatever bit the film has committed itself to, you know that in just a few minutes, or maybe even seconds, it will move on to something else

AJ Goes to the Dog Park feels like every episode of an Adult Swim show that airs at 2 a.m. in five minute increments has been supercut together into a feature. I say this in a complimentary manner, but if you have a normal brain that doesn’t giggle incessantly at non-sequitur editing and deliberately obtuse stylings, this may sound like the most irritating thing on the planet. For those of us that appreciate a comedy style equivalent to throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks, this will be a cherished little treasure that we can laugh about with our equally minded friends. It’s a movie that you either get, or you don’t.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The post Fantastic Fest Review: AJ Goes to the Dog Park Is a Comedy You Get or You Don’t appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Wild Robot book series by author Peter Brown has been a hit with kids for nearly a decade now – which is perfect timing for a new film from Dreamworks Animation, the studio behind greats like Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon. With an all-star voice cast that includes Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o as the titular character and a unique visual style that brings the book to life onscreen, the movie adaptation is a big win from a technical standpoint. 

Writer/director Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, Lilo & Stitch) once again proves why he is one of the greats in multi-level animated storytelling: The Wild Robot movie is both a warm and wondrous parable about parental love, while simultaneously being a sardonic and, at times, deeply cathartic commentary about the trials and deep sacrifices required of being a parent. With both levels working perfectly in tune, The Wild Robot is another big win for Dreamworks Animation – and a guaranteed franchise starter. 

The Wild Robot is set in a future version of Earth where major corporation Universal Dynamics supplies versatile robot assistants (“ROZZUM utilitarian robots”) to homes, businesses, and even farms. However, when one of the Universal Dynamics cargo ships capsizes in a storm, model “Roz 7134” gets inadvertently activated and begins searching for a customer to serve. When Roz ascertains that she is in a location only populated by animals, she adapts to learn their communication patterns and assist in their lives. Unfortunately, those good intentions result in Roz having to care for an orphaned gosling she names “Brightbill” (Kit Connor); lacking any parental programming (so to speak), Roz must lean on the guidance of a wily red fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal), forming an oddball family unit between the three.   

Roz finds herself on a ticking clock: Brightbill must be taught to swim and fly before the winter migration arrives, while Roz is torn between her chosen service to Brightbill, and her deeper programming to signal Universal Dynamics of her location and fulfill her “true” function.

At this point, Chris Sanders is just cementing his run as one of the greats in animated feature filmmaking. With a top-notch team of animators behind him, Sanders creates visual storytelling that often doesn’t even rely on dialogue (especially at the start). From the clever design and functions of the Roz 7134 robot to the wilderness world and various animals in it, the mix of nature and technology is fun and uniquely hopeful in depicting harmony between the two. Narratively, Sanders once again crafts a story that feels poignantly insightful for both young and old viewers, and timeless in its themes about the child-parent relationship (whether biological or chosen). The only critique is that the story may go on a tad too long for younger viewers (102 minutes), but arguably earns that extra 20 minutes or so with a thrilling blockbuster-sized climax. 

The voice cast is an excellent ensemble that includes a wise-cracking Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Catherine O’Hara (Beetlejuice 2) stealing scenes as a weary but experienced mother possum, Bill Nighy (Underworld) as an elder goose and leader of the flock, with Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible) appearing as a ferocious Bear and noble Falcon (respectively). Of course, the movie wouldn’t work at all without the vocal talents of Lupita Nyong’o, who gives Roz the entire breadth of personality, sensitivity, and humorous naivete that creates a sympathetic and very “human” robot protagonist. By the end of the opening act, Lupita (as the sole vocal performer) endears Roz to every viewer in the audience, quickly establishing another Dreamworks animated icon. 

With its visual splendor, a mix of ironic humor for adults and slapstick for kids, a talented cast, and some powerful themes about family bonds, The Wild Robot delivers like only the greatest animated features can. It’s another product notch in Dreamworks Animation’s belt – and thanks to Peter Brown’s sequel books, this film has franchise potential written all over it. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The Wild Robot is now playing in theaters.

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The 2024 edition of Fantastic Fest is here, and ComicBook is once again covering this celebration of niche and genre cinema from around the world. We have two more reviews from the event, both horror films, including the upcoming Shudder release Daddy’s Head and the UK folk horror movie The Severed Sun.    

Daddy’s Head

It has become a bit of a trope in recent years that grief-based horror has become its own subgenre, and Daddy’s Head continues the trend for good and ill. Written and directed by Benjamin Barfoot, the film is about a grieving wife and her stepson who have been put in a near-impossible position: the boy’s father, her husband, has passed and left everything to her, with her final choice being should she even keep the kid around. Immediately it’s an interesting carve-out that sets itself apart from other films of the same ilk, and Barfoot starts to position it with unique, dreamlike imagery and some fun jump scares that give this its own identity. 

Despite solid performances and a stellar first half-hour, Daddy’s Head almost immediately tumbles into the mold of The Babadook and its many imitators. This can be seen not only in the creepy voice of the monster that is haunting this house, but also in the way it moves around. The trouble is that even with these big elements that feel like imitation, it leaves out any larger mood setting that can cement those elements even more. As far as derivatives of Jennifer Kent’s original movie go, I’ve seen worse, but this one doesn’t do enough to stand apart from the other films that have tried to ape that movie’s success either.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

The Severed Sun

The Severed Sun is captivating largely due to the cast. Emma Appleton anchors the film as Magpie, a young member of a religious sect that dares to…march to the beat of her own drum. Though given a bit of leeway thanks to being the daughter of the main pastor (Toby Stephens in a tremendous turn), that doesn’t stop other members of the community (like Jodhi May in a paranoia-fueled performance for the ages) from speculating about what she’s really up to on the outskirts of where they live. The Severed Sun is at its best when getting into the personal lives of these characters and the web of weirdness surrounding them.

Dean Puckett’s folk horror film checks a lot of the boxes from the subgenre that viewers may be expecting, but doesn’t offer a lot of anything new to viewers. Shades of everything you’re thinking of can be found, from The Wicker Man to The Village, from The Witch to The Blood on Satan’s Claw; it’s all there. One place where it does excel is by not playing coy about the monster hiding in the wings as the opening credits immediately announce “JAMES SWANTON AS THE BEAST.” That said, playing as a greatest hits of this specific subgenre isn’t the worst thing in the world and clocking in at just over 80 minutes means that this thing is lean, mean, and fun to watch.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The post Fantastic Fest Reviews: Daddy’s Head & The Severed Sun appeared first on ComicBook.com.

After sitting completed on a shelf for two years, the new adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot is finally getting released by New Line and Warner Bros. as an original to the Max streaming service. This is the first time the beloved King novel is being adapted to the film medium — as opposed to the previous TV miniseries iterations — and it shows. This new take on ‘Salem’s Lot looks wonderful from start to finish, but struggles to deliver a cohesive or well-paced story from time to time.

Salem’s Lot tells the story of author Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman), who returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot to work on his new book. Around the same time he gets to town, a vampire (Alexander Ward) and his familiar (Pilou Asbæk) show up in the lot posing as antique furniture salesmen. When a young boy goes missing, and his brother tragically dies, things in the Lot start to change. Along with a beloved teacher (Bill Camp), his new girlfriend (Makenzie Leigh), the town doctor (Alfre Woodard), a drunken priest (John Benjamin Hickey), and a young boy (Jordan Preston Carter), Ben uncovers the truth about the new evil now operating in the shadows of his home and attempts to end it once and for all.

Of King’s most popular novels over the years, ‘Salem’s Lot might be one of the toughest to adapt into a feature film. There are a lot of relationships between these characters that have to build organically in order for the events of the third act of the story to have as much pull as they should, and it takes time for people to figure out what to do about vampires suddenly taking over their town. These elements are what gives writer/director Gary Dauberman the most trouble.

At just under two hours, Salem’s Lot is an easy watch, but the time doesn’t allow for those relationships or discoveries to take place organically. Instead of finding creative workarounds for issues like that, Salem’s Lot simply jumps from Point A to Point C or D, making you wonder how they got there. When teacher Matthew Burke is attacked by a vampire, why does he immediately run to the new-in-town writer he has only met once and not speak to anyone else about it? Well, because the plot needed both Burke and Ben to be involved, even if there’s not a good reason why. This is just a small (largely insignificant) example, but it also doesn’t give much of anything away.

The narrative inconsistency here doesn’t do the characters themselves any favors, either, and very few of them are able to rise above two-dimensional archetypes. That’s a bummer, not only because the characters in King’s book are so rich, but also because most of this cast really comes to play.

Pullman, in one of his first true leading roles, is outstanding as Ben Mears. He can bring the charm and terrified bewilderment in equal measure, reminding you he’s every bit as talented as his dad. Unsurprisingly, Bill Camp runs away with each and every scene he’s in. One of the best character actors of his generation, he wows you with absolute ease every time he’s on screen. Jordan Preston Carter, playing the young Mark Petrie, is the breakout of the film and he should have a great career ahead of him.

As frustrating as the narrative elements (and overall lack of scares) can be, I wouldn’t call Salem’s Lot a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. Where Dauberman fell short in scripting, plotting, or characterization, he makes up for in staging and shot selection. If judging by looks alone, Salem’s Lot is one of the better King adaptations we’ve seen. It definitely looks more like the IT films than the beloved Salem’s Lot miniseries.

There’s also a bit of a ’90s/2000s throwback to the structure of Salem’s Lot that I really enjoyed, especially in the first act. Some quick scare scenes that jump cut to softer sequences, meet-cute character introductions, and a few cheesy-but-funny one-liners give Salem’s Lot a feel we don’t experience much anymore. It feels almost cozy, in a way, like many comfort horror films from that era do.

There are certainly better Stephen King movies out there to watch, and Salem’s Lot isn’t going to stick around in your brain for a long time after you watch it, but it’s definitely not a film bad enough to warrant a two-year shelving and an unceremonious streaming release. For all of its flaws, of which there are several, Salem’s Lot still makes for an enjoyable Halloween season watch.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Salem’s Lot hits Max on October 3rd.

The post Salem’s Lot Review: Comfy Horror Throwback Bites Off More Than It Can Chew appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The 2024 edition of Fantastic Fest is here ComicBook is once again covering this celebration of niche and genre cinema from around the world. We have two more reviews from the event, both documentaries about iconic pieces of the film industry: actor Christopher Lee and Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.  

The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee

A titan of cinema like Christopher Lee cannot be contained by a mundane talking heads documentary, and the filmmakers of The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee know that. Though the film does include interviews with friends, family, and collaborators that offer a compelling and well-rounded understanding of the man himself, that’s only half of what it’s doing. Anchoring the entire film is Peter Serafenwicz, who puts on his best possible impression of Lee to narrate his entire life. His performance starts off a touch shaky, but after a time he embodies so many qualities of Lee’s own voice that you do forget you’re not hearing the man himself. Serafenwicz’s voice is accompanied by none other than a small marionette puppet of Christopher Lee in addition to artistic renditions of other key moments in his life. There’s a tremendous amount of style put into these that keep this one both engaging and informative.

Though it clocks in at just 90 minutes, there’s a tremendous amount of ground covered, ranging from Lee’s early childhood to his service in World War II and naturally his decades of acting (Hammer, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc), but also elements of his career like his heavy metal albums. Even viewers that enter The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee knowing him from only a handful of roles will come away from this with a complete picture of who Christopher Lee was and how he continues to define elements of entertainment after his death.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Chain Reactions

Director Alexandre O. Philippe is back with another film-focused documentary, this time examining Tobe Hooper’s classic, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Phillipe’s style has evolved over the years from having talking heads dissect the production of the movies (or sometimes just single scenes) to now having them break down the place that these movies have in their own subconscious, and by extension, its place in culture. 

Like his previous film Lynch/Oz, this half-doc/half-essay brings in five notable voices to break down the film. Included this time are comedian Patton Oswalt, Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, Australian film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, horror icon Stephen King, and director Karyn Kusama. Each bring a personal flair to their interpretation and examinations of Chain Saw, zeroing in on different aspects of it that have personally impacted them. Miike, for example, who is notable for his films like Audition and Ichi the Killer, shares an anecdote about how he arrived for a showing of Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights, which was sold out. So rather than leave, he saw something else: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Upon extensive reflection, he notes that without having seen that movie, he may not even be a filmmaker today. The five voices that Phillipe selected for the film all bring their own path to and from Chain Saw, which cement not only its special place in film but in how the entire artform is capable of being dissected.

Chain Reactions isn’t just a talking head doc, though, as it is framed around new still photography that evokes Daniel Pearl’s original cinematography from Chain Saw. This, coupled with actual footage, plus B-Roll, outtakes, and more from the production of the movie offer us actual images of the movie itself that we’ve never seen. As longtime viewers of Chain Saw, we get to see moments in time that are totally new but evoke what we know, giving this movie major visual prowess over your typical retrospective feature. What makes Chain Reactions so compelling is not only that it solidifies how a film this iconic remains that way, but how, even decades later, we’re still finding unique burrows within it to explore. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

The post Fantastic Fest Reviews: The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee & Chain Reactions appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Apartment 7A had a tough hill to climb even before it arrived, as the idea of “Rosemary’s Baby prequel movie” immediately sounds like a cash grab built on a bad idea. That’s what makes its strong start immediately disarming, as director Natalie Erika James’s take on the material kicks off and you can not only see she has her own ideas about this world, but is using the iconography of the original Rosemary’s Baby to try something new. In addition, there’s clearly money being put behind this, with actual period-era sets and costumes. The immediate confidence on display in the first half of Apartment 7A makes so many of the choices in the latter part so baffling, as if the movie is at war with itself about what it really should be. 

Primetime Emmy Award-winner Julia Garner stars as Terry Gionoffrio in Apartment 7A, playing a character that Rosemary’s Baby viewers know well due to the handful of moments she has in the original movie. Her introduction in Apartment 7A is a lot like how she arrives in Roman Polanski’s movie (where she was played by Angela Dorian); she’s unassuming, casual, a working woman with a life and things to do. When her career as a professional dancer is totally derailed by an accident, it sends her down a desperate path, one where she falls prey to vices while also trying to crawl back up. One of the more powerful moments of the movie that encapsulates this is when Garner is faced with a condescending request from a major Broadway producer (Jim Sturgess), only to stand her ground and refuse his invitation to humiliate herself for his amusement. It becomes clear that this moment is the entire throughline of the movie. 

Like all prequels, there is immediately something working against Apartment 7A: what viewers of the original movie already know. In this case, it’s which characters die, which ones have ulterior motives, and which places and people have a specific function. To its credit, Apartment 7A does not shy away from the fact that many people watching the film already know these things. So when Terry is befriended by Roman and Minnie Castevet (Kevin McNally and Dianne Wiest, respectively), we know what’s going on here, and very quickly are reminded that the facade of this nice elderly couple is just that. When they invite her to live in the titular apartment, we already know what is in store for her.

McNally and Wiest are a very charming addition to Apartment 7A and deliver two of the standout performances beyond Garner herself. Though Kevin McNally is perhaps best known for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, his ability to channel Sidney Blackmer’s entire look and mannerisms from the original Rosemary’s Baby are nothing short of remarkable. Wiest’s take on Minnie Castevet is certainly more her own than McNally’s portrayal, but given the larger-than-life personality of the character (which won Ruth Gordon an Oscar in the original movie), her work doesn’t feel too far off center.

Considering the legendary status that Rosemary’s Baby has on the whole, it might seem like climbing Everest to even attempt to match some of its ideas. One of the most unique sequences in Apartment 7A is a moment where it really embodies Garner’s lead character in a similar way to the original. Where Roman Polanski took Rosemary out onto a boat and the open sea for one of her early hallucinations, Julia Garner’s Terry takes on a major song and dance number. The scene is compelling not only from a character standpoint, but also visually, as her drug-induced haze gives way to a well-choreographed costume change and dance sequence, including big sets and surprise moments. It culminates into one of the best scares in the entire film, which keeps up the wicked production design but with, naturally, a bit of a satanic influence.   

Another thing that really works in the favor of Apartment 7A‘s status as a prequel is that it doesn’t actively fall into the worst kinds of habits one might expect. There’s no on-the-nose moment that details why a specific something was done a certain way in Rosemary’s Baby, nor is anything actively disrupted to the point where now something “doesn’t make sense” in the original film. Naturally, there are some recurring motifs or imagery, and a familiar-looking pair of demonic hands appear in a crucial moment to deliver the best jump scare of the film, but so much of Apartment 7A really does feel like a daring and original take on the material.

That said, about an hour into the movie, there’s a pivot and Apartment 7A‘s descent into this wicked world becomes clumsy. It’s worth nothing that Apartment 7A is about 45 minutes shorter than Rosemary’s Baby. The original film gradually constructs its paranoia so that it builds to a fever pitch. Apartment 7A has no such luxury available to it, so the patience and meticulous unfolding found in Polanski’s film is forced to be repeated not only very quickly but without much of the nuance built into it. Rosemary unraveling the conspiracy around her feels earned and is well thought out, but Terry’s similar journey here feels like a committee decided “well, she should figure it out like the old movie!” This leads to a sizeable chunk of the movie where the spark has gone out and instead a list of things are being checked off. Luckily, the final scenes make up for this in spades with a moment deeply rooted in its main character. 

Like the original Rosemary’s Baby, a pervasive theme throughout Apartment 7A is the larger political issue of a woman’s reproductive rights, but it manages to get deeper than just a surface-level take on the idea. It’s not just grappling with the larger play of someone trying to fight for themselves, but someone who is consistently being blocked at every turn by alleged wealthy and powerful people that “know better.” The movie is about a woman whose body and decisions have been taken from her; even as she tries to pilot through life, she knows there are roadblocks around every corner that won’t allow her to do what she wants. This is both literal and metaphorical for Julia Garner’s Terry, but also nearly all the young women in the movie. One moment has Dianne Wiest seemingly reflecting fondly on the young woman that stayed with them before Terry, calling her “a gifted young woman” with a lilt in her voice, only to immediately throw her final belonging into the trash with a pounding thud and without a second thought. It’s not subtle, but in today’s world, why should it be?

The real tragedy of Apartment 7A is that the film is being dumped onto streaming and not being given a proper theatrical release. Natalie Erika James’s film not only has unique ideas at play, but clearly had a lot of money put behind it. This isn’t a cynical attempt at retaining film rights like 2023’s Pet Sematary: Bloodlines and is instead an instance of a filmmaker having a confident idea that the studio seemed to support based on sheer production value alone. Even though some elements of Apartment 7A feel like they’re present for the sake of expectation, it’s a film that at least brings something different and new to the table, though at times the sacredness of the original movie is perhaps held onto a little too closely. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Apartment 7A lands on Paramount+ on September 27th.

The post Apartment 7A Review: Daring Ideas Shine Through This Rosemary’s Baby Retread (Fantastic Fest) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

In recent years, the Autobots and the Decepticons have kept their war for Cybertron and Earth’s future on the silver screen focused on the live-action world. Not since Transformers The Movie, released in 1986, have we seen Optimus Prime and Megatron do battle in theaters in the animation realm. Thanks to the success of the live-action movies, Paramount has decided to once again explore the animated Cybertron with a prequel film that explores the friendship of Orion Pax and D-16, the future leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons. In this new CG-animated film, Paramount has created one of the best Transformers movies to date, injecting new life into the franchise in an unexpected way.

Taking place long before the Autobots and Decepticons arrived on Earth, Transformers One focuses on the future Megatron and Optimus as they fulfill their roles as “mining robots.” Rather than fighting for their world’s future, the pair are attempting to strive in a society where they both cannot transform and are looked down upon thanks to their stations in life. Venturing forth on a quest that introduces them to good and evil robots alike, Transformers One details how the two protagonists both become the Autobot and Decepticon leaders we come to know and explains what smashes their friendship to pieces.

Transformers One has an exceptionally strong story in relating the friendship between Orion and D-16. Their personalities bounce off one another well, not just thanks to the writing, but also thanks to the voice talents of Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry, respectively. It’s a tough act to follow in terms of taking up the role of Optimus, due to Peter Cullen’s legendary performance, but I was quite surprised with Hemsworth’s work here, both injecting his own identity while making for a worthy fill-in for Optimus’ usual go-to voice actor. The same can definitely be said for Henry’s work as D-16 as the formerly innocent robot starts venturing to the dark side while never feeling like a different character from what we see. The fall from grace for Megatron and the rise to heroism for Optimus feels entirely organic, making for a compelling story that is tragic in how these best friends lose their bonds with one another and create armies that participate in a never-ending war. There are exact moments in the movie’s run time where you, as a viewer, can see the “birth” of both Optimus Prime and Megatron and both feel earned thanks to a strong set-up.  

Of course, while Orion and D-16 are the main characters of the film, that doesn’t mean that they are alone in their quest to learn about a dark secret surrounding Cybertron’s world. The friends are joined by Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and Bumblebee (Keegan-Michael Key), who find themselves joining the leads’ quest. The film itself gives these supporting characters more than enough to work with, especially in the case of Bumblebee, who is put to good use in the run time as the film’s comic relief. Many of Key’s jokes land quite well in his performance here, with a particular running gag never becoming repetitive thanks to its implementation and Key’s comedic timing. 

Transformers One’s story ventures into some meaningful and surprisingly dark territory, making for a compelling tale for both new and old Cybertronian fans alike. The threat that faces D-16 and Orion Pax is one that is not so easily dispatched and sees the two of them taking drastically different approaches to how said threat should be dealt with. For old fans of the franchise, there are some serious Easter Eggs that never feel heavy-handed and will give Transformers fanatics more than a few reasons to re-watch the animated film to see if they can spot some familiar faces during its run time. Without spoiling anything, Transformers One doesn’t just lay out the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron, as it gives viewers interesting stories for some of the franchise’s biggest characters. 

In terms of the animation itself, Transformers One is a gorgeous movie to look at. The CG-animation used here by Paramount is a style that works effortlessly in bringing Cybertron to life. Unlike the live-action films, this is a movie where there are no human beings to speak of and, in all honesty, it benefits from this strategy in terms of both its animation and its story. The emotions that come from Orion, D-16, and their supporting cast all resonate here thanks to pitch-perfect animation. Alongside its characters, Cybertron as a whole is a feast for the eyes here and it can sometimes be overwhelming in the best way to take in its terrain. 

I would be remiss by not calling this the best Transformers film since the 1980s animated film. If this is the future of the Transformers franchise, then Autobot and Decepticons fans have a bright future to look forward to indeed.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Transformers One will be in theaters on September 20th.  

The post Transformers One Review: Truly More Than Meets the Eye appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Speak No Evil is the new film from James Watkins, best known for his UK horror films Eden Lake and The Woman in Black, the latter being the 2012 Gothic horror throwback starring Daniel Radcliffe. With Speak No Evil, Watkins attempts to give viewers a classic slow-burn horror-thriller, as a seemingly innocuous and normal situation is slowly peeled away to reveal something much darker and horrifying. Watkins achieves that goal pretty masterfully by honoring the concept of the original 2022 Danish film, while also giving it a distinctly American makeover, which both resonates with the deeper themes of the story and leaves enough to interpretation for each viewer to have their own takeaways. 

The story of Speak No Evil follows Ben and Louise Dalton (Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis), two Americans who moved to London with their daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) and are taking a holiday in Italy. It’s there that the Daltons meet Paddy (James McAvoy), Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), and their son Ant (Dan Hough), a family as lively and carefree as the Daltons are nervous and timid. Opposites attract, they say, and the Daltons become quick friends with their new travel buddies. However, a meeting on vacation proves to be only a sampling: when the Daltons take up an invitation to visit Paddy and Ciara at their farm in the country, it slowly but surely becomes clear that friendship is not what the weekend away from civilization is really all about.

James Watkins’ script for this remake actually does the work of breaking some necessary new ground with the remake. The best horror stories take everyday experiences of life and twist them into something nightmarish; with Speak No Evil, Watkins turns the screws on every couple that’s ever had to suffer through an awkward outing, trip, or child playdate with another couple – which is to say, every person that’s ever been in a relationship. 

The protagonists are American in this version, and their behaviors and customs as Americans are put to good use, creating delicious subtext in juxtaposition to their UK counterparts in Paddy and Ciara. Watkins takes the story perfectly through the paces, starting at fake pleasantries and friendliness, which gives way to unsettling awkwardness and civil conflict, which eventually arrives at a cringey breakdown of niceties – and in this case, murderous rampage as fallout. The opening act is witty and funny with its dramatic irony, while the second act manages the make-or-break tightrope walk of keeping you intrigued by a vacation drama that gets increasingly uncomfortable. It must be acknowledged that the final act nearly collapses under the absurdness of certain character choices and plot contrivances, but still pulls off a final showdown that’s thrilling enough.     

Speak No Evil wouldn’t work at all if the chemistry of the ensemble cast wasn’t there. James McAvoy is a menace for every moment of screen time he gets, in the best way possible. The entire film is lively and off-kilter thanks to McAvoy’s performance, notably aided by Aisling Franciosi’s Ciara as the “Harley” to McAvoy’s “Joker.” Paddy’s passive-aggressive war with Mackenzie Davis’ Louise is an entire saga in itself – the same goes for the bromance story between McAvoy’s Paddy and Scoot McNairy’s Ben, and its commentary on manhood (or lack thereof). McNairy does a lot of understated but crucial heavy-lifting in the “straight man” role, while the story smartly makes Louise and Ben’s relationship complex enough to create deeper tension and shifting sympathies as the story peels back more and more layers. The younger cast members aren’t required to do as much, but both do their part admirably.   

Even with some groan-worthy moments of contrivance, it’s hard to remember the last time a horror-thriller film has been executed as well, with as many strong performances, as Speak No Evil. It’s another showcase of McAvoy’s immense talent for creating unnerving characters (see also: Split), and a strong endorsement that James Watkins may have found his best lane as a horror filmmaker. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Speak No Evil hits theaters on September 13th.

The post Speak No Evil Review: Cringy Descent Into Madness appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Crow went from a cult-hit comic series to a cult-hit movie when the 1994 original hit theaters. Its gothic design and themes perfectly captured the Gen X angst of the 1990s, and inspired a stylistic wave that is still iconic today. The indelible influence of The Crow is a testament to the power of director Alex Proyas’ vision – but it’s also been the biggest impediment to The Crow becoming a larger franchise property. None of the subsequent Crow sequels (City of Angels, Salvation, Wicked Prayer) ever found a way to open up the doors of the franchise to new generations — but has this year’s The Crow finally done it, or is it just another failed attempt? 

Under the direction of Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) and the genuine effort made by stars Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs, The Crow isn’t a total failure – but it is a messy mismatch of high-art aspirations and bloody, brutal, B-movie action-horror. It’s both vibrantly alive with creative spark and passion – and a listless, muddled attempt at telling a cinematic story. If you think The Crow is a property that can function simply off style and vibes, Sanders’ film will make you second-guess that assessment. 

The Story of The Crow follows Eric (Skarsgård), a troubled boy whose violent past and deep traumas land him in a rehab facility. While there, he eventually meets Shelly (Twigs), an equally troubled girl also trying to leave a violent past behind – only it quickly becomes clear that Shelly’s past is very much still a threat to her present. After falling quickly for one another, Eric and Shelly escape the facility and start a whirlwind romance – which just as quickly ends in tragedy. It turns out that Shelly has been sitting on proof of local business magnate (and secret crime lord) Vincent Roeg’s (Danny Huston) demonic power – evidence that Roeg is willing to kill for. Eric and Shelly are eventually found by Roeg’s people and are sadistically murdered – but Eric’s soul will not rest, and he finds himself at the crossroads of life and death, being offered a opportunity by the spiritual entity Kronos (Sami Bouajila): Take a crow as his guide back to the land of the living and use the power of immortality to wipe Roeg’s demonic stain from the Earth, and in doing so win back Shelly’s soul.

However, Eric’s soul is already so troubled that taking to his new powers and mission proves to be his biggest challenge – even more so than slaughtering his way through hordes of Roeg’s goons to finally get at the demon lord himself. 

The Crow isn’t a total failure, but rather a film that’s ultimately dragged down by poor directorial measurements. For all the knee-jerk criticisms of this adaptation, Rupert Sanders and cinematographer Steve Annis (Foundation, I’m a Virgo) manage to depict the gothic world of The Crow in a lavishly dark, almost high-art way that could arguably become its own cult-hit stylistic milestone, in time. That said, Sanders (once again) seems to be overly indulgent in how much high-art imagery and deeper drama he tries to pack onto the bones of what is ostensibly a genre B-movie (see also: Snow White and the Huntsman), throwing the pacing of The Crow off to a degree that nearly breaks the movie by the end of the second act.

The chemistry between Skarsgård and Twigs is palpable, and the Eric/Shelly love story in this film is more convincing than the original – but Sanders invests far too much time early on in building out the world and the story of Shelly’s involvement with Roeg before we even get to the adult version of Eric or learn anything about him. The gothic love story portion of the film works emotionally (and is shot beautifully), but is equally too long, nearly pushing the hour-mark before the actual “Crow” portion of the story even starts. When the supernatural superhero elements do begin, it quickly becomes clear how little investment Sanders has in that side of the film.

The story (by screenwriters Zach Baylin and William Josef Schneider) stumbles into subplots about Eric’s crisis of faith in his love, or his baffling reluctance to embrace his powers from the outset. Nearly all of the hardcore action marketed in trailers for The Crow occurs in about 20-25 minutes of the final act of this nearly two-hour film; the rest of it is a rumination of tragedy, trauma, and grief for the Gen Z era. As many fans called out early on, this new version of The Crow does indeed supplant the “goth” elements of the franchise with a modern “emo” vibe, which is novel, at first, but will lose many older fans by the end. 

It’s not impossible that, despite its flaws, The Crow will follow the path of the original and grow into a cult hit in years to come. If nothing else, it’s one of the biggest showcases yet of Bill Skarsgård’s potential as a leading man (and not just the lineup of odd creatures and/or creeps he’s played). But, after more than a decade of trying to get this reboot off the ground – and all the creative talent that’s been attached to it along the way – it’s almost amusing that middling effort is the end result. 

Rating: 2 out of 5

The Crow is now playing in theaters. 

The post The Crow Review: A Reboot That’s Both Dead and Alive appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Alien: Romulus may very well mark a pivotal moment in fandom franchise filmmaking – a moment where we must ask: Are creators who are passionate fans themselves really the one best suited for handling that beloved franchise?  That answer – as represented by the Alien film: Romulus – is starting to look like a resounding “No,” as this film is a clear example of how a franchise’s past and ever-expanding lore can grow into thick weeds that tangle up any new attempt to grow. 

Alien: Romulus is set in the decades between when Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the crew of the Nostromo battled a xenomorph (in Alien), and when Ripley woke from cryo-sleep to find an entire colony was being slaughtered on the exomoon LV-426 (in Aliens). The events of the first Alien open the doorway to the xenomorph lifeform being acquired and studied in secret – experiments which (naturally) go wrong, turning a space station into a charnel house. 

All of that is unbeknownst to the Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and her ragtag crew of young (Gen Z) colonists, who are “living” in the toxic and destitute mining colony of Jackson’s Star. Rain and her friends saw their parents sacrifice their lives in the mines, and demand better for themselves – but when the Weyland-Yutani Corporation begins moving the goalposts of service contracts, it becomes clear that the “process” of gaining freedom is nothing but an illusion. To make matters worse, Rain’s adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson) is a synthetic whose programming is increasingly glitchy, making him a target of bigots and bullies.

Rain’s friend (or something more?) Tyler (Archie Renaux) goads her into using Andy for a bold heist. They hijack a mining ship and fly it to the abandoned dual-sectioned space station Romulus/Remus. There they hope to find cryo-stasis chambers that can preserve them for the nine-year trip to a lavish, green planet in a far-away colony settlement. The plan works at first: the tubes are there, but the gang hits a snag when it becomes clear they must venture deeper into the station to find the cryo-fuel needed to power the tubes. When the ill-fated group of youngsters reactivates the ship’s functions, they also re-activate the dormant xenomorphs and facehuggers lurking onboard. Rain uploads Andy with a new set of programming to help them escape the nightmare vessel – but in doing so, may inadvertently create an even bigger threat to their survival. 

Alien: Romulus is directed by Fede Álvarez, the horror maestro who is notoriously picky with his directorial features, having only directed Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe (2016) – two cult-hit horror films – as well as The Girl in the Spider’s Web (2018), which all but ended hopes for the Lisbeth Salander franchise. Unfortunately, Alien: Romulus is another piece of growing evidence that Álvarez’s talent may be limited to a very specific lane of hardcore horror, because this second step into genre fare is about as disappointing as Girl in the Spider’s Web was. 

There is no denying that Álvarez is a major fan of the Alien franchise – but ironically, the proof of his fandom that he packs into the screen is also the very thing that holds the movie back. Romulus has a slavish fascination with Ridley Scott’s original Alien, it’s stylistic design, tone, and aesthetic – but there’s also plenty of love for James Cameron’s action-packed sequel and all the fun sci-fi gadgetry and world-building it offered. But Álvarez (along with his collaborator Rodo Sysagues) can’t stop there – they have to acknowledge the expanded mythos that Ridley Scott added with his prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant – and even wayward child of the franchise get nods – such as Alien 3 (with its dystopian vision of colony life) and Alien: Ressurection, with the latter getting a major head-nod in a make-or-break third act that will leave fans deeply divided. 

Under all that weight of nostalgia and franchise obligation, the actual standalone story, the characters presented in it, and their conflicts and arcs all get crushed. By the time the climatic act is trying to blend every piece of the Alien franchise together, it’s clear that fandom nostalgia – gripping onto to the past too tightly – has mutated into a bizarre and grotesque pile of callbacks and remembrances, which fail to spark new ideas or new excitement for more Alien stories. The set pieces feel like more was done to pack them with Easter eggs or bring back older set designs, props, and visual effects than there was a consideration of how any of it looked, fit together, or functioned in the film; whether anything (thrills, chills, kills, drama) was being earned, or was just expected to have an impact, because it’s Alien. Instead of recreating the world of Alien for fans, Álvarez instead creates a museum of Alien franchise memorabilia – and that’s about all the level of excitement to be had from experiencing it. If not for Álvarez’s sheer visual talents as a filmmaker, this film would have little reason to be a theatrical release. 

The cast of Alien: Romulus should get credit for at least doing the most with what they were given – even though the actual arcs and connections between the characters are understated and muddled. Half of the actors (Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu, Spike Fearn) play little more than paper-thin bit characters and/or fodder; Cailee Spaeny and Archie Renaux are mostly just there as lead characters with muted romantic undertones. It’s David Jonsson who is arguably the biggest “protagonist” of this film, as Andy’s process of awakening and his moral/analytic divide about handling the situation are the most dynamic and engaging elements of the film (and even that is a somewhat faded echo of the synth characters previously played by Michael Fassbender or Ian Holm). 

Alien: Romulus should be a big step forward for the franchise, but instead it’s just a long look backward. It also may be the final proof needed that only Ridley Scott knows the core of what makes Alien a classic horror tale, and may be the only one suited to truly move things forward. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Alien: Romulus is in theaters now.

The post Alien: Romulus Review: Nostalgia Can Be Fatal appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Bikeriders had something of a complicated journey to the big screen over the last year or so, with Disney deciding to pull it from its planned awards season released after it had already screened at festivals. The film was ultimately sold to Focus and hit theaters earlier in the summer. Now, in the middle of August, Universal has sent The Bikeriders home with a new 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release.

The Film

The Bikeriders is the latest film from Mud writer/director Jeff Nichols, and it’s inspired by a book of photography from Danny Lyon chronicling a Chicago motorcycle club in the 1960s and 1970s. The film stars Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, and Tom Hardy, as well as Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, and Norman Reedus. Mike Faist plays a fictionalized version of Danny Lyon.

This movie plays less like a 1960s Sons of Anarchy and more like a rougher, more violent American Graffiti. At its heart, The Bikeriders is more about the ride — pun intended — than the destination. It’s wisely told through the eyes of Comer’s Kathy, the wife of Butler’s Benny, allows viewers a way into the complicated world of the Vandals.

While not necessarily the best movie of 2024 so far, The Bikeriders is one that you can’t help but want to revisit after watching. It’s all about the phenomenal 1960s aesthetic and the lights out performances from everyone in the case. Comer steals the show, but top to bottom everyone feels lived-in and unique. The Bikeriders even has brief appearance from beloved character actor Shea Whigham, who consistently makes everything he’s in even better.

The Disc

Not only is The Bikeriders a movie about the 1960s, but it’s also based on photographs taken in that era, creating a specific look that’s tough to replicate. Nichols got as close as possible shooting the entire thing on film. That wonderful look from the theater translates beautifully to Universal’s 4K disc. It has that throwback look, especially when the motorcycles are on screen, but it still feels like a presentation for a movie released in 2024. The balance between old and new strikes such a dynamic picture, setting it apart from most other recent releases.

As good as the picture is, the Dolby Atmos track is somehow even better. From the crunching of a fist hitting a face to the rumble of a swarm of bikes passing by, every element of this track is stunning. The Bikeriders also has a great soundtrack that perfectly compliments the sound, neither overpowering the other.

The Features

There aren’t a ton of additional features on The Bikeriders home release, but the ones that are included are excellent. The film comes with a feature commentary from Nichols, and commentaries remain my favorite element of home releases. If they include one, it always means a bump up in my book.

Aside of Nichols’ commentary, The Bikeriders also includes three featurettes. One focuses on the trio of lead characters, one examines the period of the film, and the other takes you behind the scenes with the writer/director. All of them are solid, though it feels like there could maybe be just a little more there.

The Verdict

The Bikeriders is an excellent movie from an excellent filmmaker, and Universal has done right by it with an excellent physical release. It could use a little more on the feature side, but what we get here is still more than a lot of contemporary releases, and they all compliment the movie well.

As far as new movies are concerned, The Bikeriders is one of the better 4K releases of 2024 to this point.

The Bikeriders 4K UHD Blu-ray is available now. A copy was provided for the purpose of this review.

The post The Bikeriders 4K Blu-ray Review appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The 2024 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is coming to a close and ComicBook has some fresh reviews out of the festival’s genre and international film premieres. This time we’re reviewing action thriller Steppenwolf from Kazakhstan and Hell Hole, the latest horror offering The Adams Family.

Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf, an action-thriller out of Kazakhstan, is the hidden gem of this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival. Writer/director Adilkhan Yerzhanov plunges viewers into a dark world where a mundane approach to extreme violence is a survival mechanism, forcing a desperate mother to align herself with a nihilistic enforcer to help find her son. The plot itself has an immediate hook, but Yerzhanov’s masterful direction keeps you engaged and doesn’t allow you to look away.

Berik Aitzhanov takes on the role of Brajyuk, whose performance as a savage mercenary is never not engaging from a visual sense. There are layers to it though and not just a wanton psychotic killer, like moments where he has to connect with his fellow man and it appears to cause him physical pain to be remotely human; but the second he allows his nihilism to return to the driver’s seat of his mind, he functions without fault; it’s a fascinating dichotomy.

Steppenwolf is a two-hander, though, and Anna Starchenko as Tamara walks away as its MVP. From the moment she arrives, Tamara is wandering in a haze, a shell-shocked stupor that borders on comical, at times, and makes others perceive her as weak. One moment sees a group of men she’s traveling with all react to gunfire by falling to the ground, and her non-reaction immediately makes her stand out not only within the narrative, but as a performer.

Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s direction reveals him to be a commander of the camera, with a clear understanding of scene blocking, storytelling patience, and knowing that sometimes what we don’t see is more powerful than what we do. One moment, a nonverbal sequence of communication between the lead and a henchman, is not only expertly crafted as a visual gag but is hilarious to watch unfold. The tiered effectiveness of his visual language confirms he’s a voice to study and eagerly anticipate.

If there is a fault to find in Steppenwolf it’s a minor one, but it’s the foley work, which even casual moviegoers will notice uses almost every generic sound effect that you’ve ever heard, often multiple times. But when every other facet of the film is aces, it’s easy to let that go, and after the first 20 minutes, this issue vanishes. Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s Steppenwolf is a tense film that doesn’t lean on its callbacks to other iconic movies, instead taking iconic things like the doorframe shot of The Searchers and building on it to create an all-new meaning. There’s a universal appeal in Steppenwolf, and I hope it finds its audience. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Hell Hole

The Adams Family have made a name for themselves in recent years for their creative indie horror efforts like 2022’s Hellbender and last year’s Where the Devil Roams. Now they’re back with another Shudder original, the midnight monster flick Hell Hole. Taking clear inspiration from both The Thing and Tremors, there is a kernel of an idea that’s eager to be explored around autonomy, but very little depth beyond a surface-level concept. 

Drillers in Serbia uncover a mystery in the ground, which leads to tentacled terrors that make their way through their isolated camp. The moments where the beasts at the heart of Hell Hole take center stage are a hoot to watch, but they are fleeting, and are seldomly as frequent as one might expect, given the title. Unfortunately, stale writing and dull musical cues haunt Hell Hole, making its 90-minute run time an exercise in tedious characters. There are some minor standouts in the cast, including Olivera Perunicic taking on the role of Sofija and exuding charm and charisma every time she’s on screen, and Anders Hove, whose role we dare not spoil but which largely kicks off the scares.

The camera does know to linger on the unique setting, a desolate building in the midst of the woods, but even that can’t prop up interest too long. All the sequences with the monsters drastically shift the tone of the entire movie, though, delivering an uneven final product. There’s no shame in low/no-budget horror, but without a compelling lead to anchor us through a good story, then it becomes an endurance test instead of a movie.

Rating: 2 out of 5 

The post Fantasia 2024 Reviews: Steppenwolf and Hell Hole appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The 2024 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is still going and ComicBook has some fresh reviews out of the festival’s genre and international film premieres. This time we’re reviewing campy slasher Carnage for Christmas and the transcendental horror film Kryptic.

Carnage for Christmas

In director Alice Maio Mackay’s latest, the balance between camp, melodrama, and slasher is less a finely constructed dance and more a juggling act where sometimes one tone lingers in the air longer than expected. It will become immediately apparent to viewers of Carnage for Christmas, a queer slasher movie with an erratic editing style and quippy characters, if they’re going to vibe with its specific style of movie jazz; but even when it’s exploring one of its many faces for one scene and potentially losing you, it may very well win you back with the next.

In the film, Lola (Jeremy Moineau) returns home for the holidays having not only transitioned but having become a notable true-crime podcaster. Their small town is one haunted by urban legends and when they return, those wicked stories seem to crawl their way back. Mackay directs from a script they co-wrote with Ben Pahl Robinson, remixing gory horror movie beats with over-the-top drama; it’s a unique concoction, and not one that always works. One hilarious underlying theme is police ineptitude, though, which is not only spoken about more than once but made abundantly clear by the sloppy dress each cop wears on screen.

Carnage for Christmas does manage to do what it says on the tin and brings gore home for the holidays, but it is trapped between some procedural moments that sometimes bring down its pacing. As the credits roll, some will not be surprised to see Vera Drew of The People’s Joker credited with editing and VFX on the microbudget project, their style permeating through every wicked little cut that is found. It’s a weird one, but you’ll never see another movie like it, and the “let’s make a movie” energy at its core is admirable.

Rating: 3 out of 5 

Kryptic

Directed by Kourtney Roy, Kryptic stars Chloe Pirrie (Black Mirror, The Queen’s Gambit) as Kay Hall, a woman who develops a peculiar fixation on a missing cryptozoologist and the beast she was hunting when she disappeared. It sounds straightforward in that regard, but Kryptic is far from a movie with a formal structure, instead harkening to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and Mulholland Drive, with some instances where the larger oeuvre of David Cronenberg make their influence clear (buddy, if you’re after some goop, this movie has it in spades).

In simple terms, Kryptic is a dramatic horror movie with sci-fi elements, but it feels aloof to box it down in those terms. It’s more peculiar than that and steers far from jump scares, instead lingering in a pool of existential dread. The Twin Peaks association is cemented from the very beginning of Krytpic, not only with the scenery but also in the bizarre characters that wander in and out of the narrative. As Kay moves through this world, her own self-actualization is put to the test through offbeat conversations and hostile moments. Kryptic is operating on vibes, flowing down a river of identity that’s being pelted with stones, which will no doubt turn off some viewers eager for a monster movie. On the whole, it’s a unique experience, and one that will keep you captivated, in part because you’re not entirely sure what will happen next or what just happened.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 

The post Fantasia 2024 Reviews: Carnage for Christmas and Kryptic appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The 2024 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is still going and ComicBook has some fresh reviews out of the festival’s genre and international film premieres. Up first is the dark thriller The G, followed by the surprising documentary, From My Cold Dead Hands, both of which take a stark look at America in surprising ways. 

The G

To describe Karl R. Hearne’s revenge thriller using those words is almost a disservice to the craft put into its foundation. The G has a strange title, a unique plot, and an unconventional protagonist in Dale Dickey. Best known for her roles as a character actor (with notable appearances in Breaking Bad & Fallout), Dickey anchors the film and haunts every frame with a grounded and gravelly performance. Taking on the role of the titular grandparent (identified by just one letter), Dickey’s character arc is closer to John Wick than something more homely and kind. This paves the way for a film mired in the grime of late-stage capitalism and the exploitation found in places no one cares to look. 

Hearne directs from his own script, whose hook is like something you’ve never seen before but which you can immediately buy into by the simplicity with which the story is told. There’s a delicate layering on display, as well, as The G only reveals as much to the viewer as you should know at any given time, it’s always playing coy in a way that keeps your attention, and it’s near-masterful storytelling. Flanking Dickey in the film’s cast is Romane Denis, playing her granddaughter Emma, who becomes the surrogate for the audience in a way that is a delicate balancing act. Act too naive about the world and you might lose us, know too much about what’s clearly going on and the whole picture isn’t clear, but Denis makes it work and bounces off of Dickey’s surly style with ease.

The G takes its time to develop and this leads to a slower pace that rewards your patience, sticking the landing in a way that is both poignant and satisfying. Marking Hearne’s second feature film, it’s the kind of movie that feels like a calling card, something that in a just world would mark a fresh perspective’s ascension to big projects. If there’s one thing at the heart of The G, though, it’s knowing that the world isn’t fair and you have to make your own way.

Rating: 4 out of 5

From My Cold Dead Hands

From My Cold Dead Hands is maybe the most unique documentary you’ll see on a subject, as its footage isn’t talking heads or harrowing footage with narration, but rather quite the opposite. Everything you see from the film was pulled from YouTube and edited together. The framing device is a recurring video where two men break down a list about the best reasons to own a gun, with footage sprinkled in between that exists under that specific framing, but also at times in direct contrast to their point. All of the videos that encompass the doc are made up of pro-gun channels and accounts, so the juxtaposition of footage against whatever point has been made isn’t coming from voices that are on different sides. Instead, what happens is the footage ends up taking on incredibly creepy undertones; EG: “Firearms provide a way for families to bond with their children,” which is followed by bizarre videos of kids doing a walk-through tour of a gun store and another of a young girl disassembling and assembling weapons while blindfolded. Even the sparse moments of sensibility are put up next to people who are cooking bacon on a gun barrel or even shooting themselves in the leg by accident at a target range.

On the whole, From My Cold Dead Hands is not only an illustrative collection about insane personalities on one side of a specific political issue, but also a fascinating look at what people think will make them famous. The most egregious of these is a woman dressed as Cinderella singing a propaganda parody of “Part of Your World” (a song sung by The Little Mermaid‘s Ariel?) about how eager she is to expand her gun collection and to stick it to alleged anti-gun politicians. The entire film may be about the kooky world of gun nuts in America, but it’s also a chilling expose into how some are eager for an easy route to fame by any means necessary.  

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Deadpool & Wolverine reviews are now online – and Marvel fans BE WARNED! Major entertainment sites and trades [names redacted] are far from nuanced in their discussion of Deadpool & Wolverine – and some major spoilers are included in reviews. Read cautiously. DO NOT GET SPOILED!!!!

As of writing this, the initial Rotten Tomatoes score for Deadpool & Wolverine is looking safely on the “Fresh” side of the line – but what are critics saying about the film? Below you can find a roundup of SPOILER-FREE review quotes: 

ComicBook’s Phase Zero host Jenna Anderson’s 4.5 out of 5-star review of Deadpool & Wolverine had this to say: 

Amid the never-ending conversation around superhero fatigue, too many spoilers, and not enough effective storytelling, it feels rare to be truly surprised by a new superhero adaptation. Deadpool & Wolverine is such a pleasant surprise — both in its jaw-dropping elements and in the sentimental reason for those elements even existing — that it almost feels like a miracle. The movie’s handful of flaws are outweighed by its pure blockbuster storytelling and the gleeful rapport of its two protagonists. Through its no-holds-barred execution and the wildly entertaining performances of its ensemble cast, Deadpool & Wolverine serves as the most unlikely reminder of why we care about superhero movies in the first place.

Screen Rant’s Molly Freeman outright proclaimed that Deadpool 3 is “The MCU Multiverse Movie I’ve Been Waiting For” in her 4 out of 5-star review of the film: 

Ultimately, Deadpool & Wolverine is a movie made to be a crowd-pleaser, and it succeeds in that respect. It puts the Marvel multiverse to work, using the concept in smart, economical ways to include references that run the gamut. It may not work for everyone, but after a few multiverse disappointments, Deadpool & Wolverine far exceeded my expectations.

Collider’s Ross Bonaime praised Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman for pushing the MCU back to a place of not just greatness – but genuine fun: 

Deadpool & Wolverine is a blast, one of the most straight-up fun films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and like No Way Home, another example of how well Marvel can integrate the past of this company into the future in a satisfactory way. Deadpool has always felt like a character who was boxed in by limitations, and now, with Deadpool & Wolverine, we get the best version of him so far because the reins have been loosened. It’s also a delight that manages to provide closure, while also playing to our love of the past, but in a way that feels narratively significant. Deadpool might not be Marvel Jesus, but Deadpool & Wolverine is the shot of adrenaline that this cinematic universe has needed for some time, and an exciting reminder of how amusing and exciting this world can be when it just has fun.

THR’s David Rooney has this much to say, about the mixed-bag experience he had: 

I’ll be honest, I found this movie messy and overstuffed, but I laughed almost as often as I cringed from its obnoxiousness and can’t dispute that a vast audience will delight in every moment. Even if they spend much of the running time sticking blades through each other’s handily regenerating flesh, Reynolds and Jackman make sweet love and appear to be having a great time doing it. They bring a semblance of heart. Both characters have their share of regrets, but both are offered redemption here; both get to matter.

In the end, every Marvel fan should (and likely will) go out and experience Deadpool & Wolverine for themselves – as quickly as possible, too, the way the SPOILERS are dropping… 

Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine: Everything to Know

Six years after the events of Deadpool 2 (2018), Wade Wilson is retired as the mercenary Deadpool and lives a quiet life until the Time Variance Authority (TVA)- a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline – pulls him into a new mission. With his home universe facing an existential threat, Wilson reluctantly joins an even more reluctant Wolverine on a mission that will change the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Deadpool & Wolverine stars Matthew Macfadyen as Paradox, and Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova, with the return of Deadpool alums Morena Baccarin as Vanessa Carlysle, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Stefan Kapičić as Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Rob Delaney as Peter, and Lewis Tan as Shatterstar. Aaron Stanford is returning as Pyro from the X-Men film series, with Jennifer Garner rumored to return as Elektra Natchios. 

Kevin Feige, Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy and Lauren Shuler Donner produce with Louis D’Esposito, Wendy Jacobson, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, George Dewey and Simon Kinberg serving as executive producers. Deadpool & Wolverine is written by Ryan Reynolds & Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Zeb Wells & Shawn Levy. 

Deadpool & Wolverine will be in theaters on July 26th. 

The post Deadpool & Wolverine Review Round-Up: What Critics Are Saying About the Latest MCU Multiverse Adventure appeared first on ComicBook.com.

In a way, cynicism and superheroes have always gone hand-in-hand. From industry-wide detractors fearmongering about the entire medium to creators wanting to inject a more pessimistic outlook, that feeling has been a springboard for both truly revolutionary storytelling and also controversial subversions. It has also been an emotional undercurrent of 20th Century Fox’s first two Deadpool movies, which barreled into the superhero movie boom of 2016 and 2018 to lampoon as many tropes and pop culture ephemera as it possibly could. Depending on your personal preference, that R-rated lampooning was either hilarious or exhausting, especially when originating from the movies’ place in the increasingly limited Fox universe of X-Men movies. With this week’s Deadpool & Wolverine, the franchise is not only firmly planted within the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Multiverse Saga,” but is the only theatrical entry Marvel Studios is releasing this year, leading fans to dream up a number of lofty scenarios of what the movie could possibly deliver. This admittedly gave me my own cynicism going into Deadpool & Wolverine, worrying that the threequel would get bogged down by its bigger sandbox and high expectations. Instead, Deadpool & Wolverine rises to the occasion in ways no one could have anticipated, delivering one of the most heartfelt, action-packed, and electrifying superhero movies in years.

Deadpool & Wolverine opens with an aimless Wade Wilson / Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) searching for his purpose as both a person and a costumed antihero. When a visit from Agent Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen) and the Time Variance Authority throws Wade’s status quo into danger, he must join forces with a reluctant and jaded Logan Howlett / Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to make things right. Together, the unlikely duo embark on a wacky journey filled with surprises, violence, and the powerful threat of Charles Xavier’s secret mutant twin, Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin). 

That synopsis only begins to scratch the surface of what Deadpool & Wolverine offers to its audience, with nearly every sequence sounding absurd or downright implausible out of context. Yes, that does include a menagerie of cameos, the possibility of which has dominated much of the conversation and even the official marketing of the movie. It would be a disservice to even hint at the appearances that do make the final cut of Deadpool & Wolverine, because they are exhilarating to discover amid the story’s many twists and turns. They are also, thankfully, much more relevant to the plot than the recent track record of multiversal superhero stories might suggest, with other entries deploying gimmicks that ultimately landed as half-hearted, half-baked, or borderline exploitative. Instead, Deadpool & Wolverine provides space for these characters to have hilarious and often satisfying story beats amid the onscreen chaos, all while furthering the movie’s outlook on the ever-changing state of the superhero blockbuster.

That outlook is found in great abundance in Deadpool & Wolverine, in ways both goofy and surprisingly sincere. As far as the first category goes, there are countless jokes at the expense of Marvel Studios and its years of cultural dominance, many of which land more earnestly when coming from the studio itself. Outside of a handful of awkward exceptions, the movie’s larger smattering of jokes land more effectively and efficiently, in part because the script is usually breezy enough to know when to move on from or even openly criticize Wade’s latest one-liner. Sure, there is always a chance that Deadpool & Wolverine‘s jokes might become obsolete or outdated a few years from now, a fate that has arguably already happened to the franchise’s first two Deadpool entries, but under Shawn Levy’s direction, the film never solely rests on the laurels of its humor. 

Instead, Deadpool & Wolverine keeps a thematic core that tackles insecurity, failure, and loneliness at virtually every turn. While it takes a few beats for the surprisingly small-scale story to kick into high gear, those emotions certainly fuel our two protagonists, who are charting their own courses toward a future that will hopefully be a little bit kinder to them. But those emotions also seem to fuel the entire existence of Deadpool & Wolverine, as the movie argues that the ambition of breaking impossible box-office records and expanding a cinematic universe shouldn’t get in the way of telling a story that viewers actually care about. Even in a movie that will surely break box-office records, and in a cinematic universe that still continues to grow, it’s a sense of honesty that is refreshing.

The performances of Deadpool & Wolverine are equally refreshing — a feat that is especially impressive, given the fact that its two leads have been portraying their roles in some form or fashion for multiple decades. Reynolds delivers his most effortless and comic-accurate portrayal of Deadpool yet, whether he is goofily breaking the fourth wall or reflecting on his direction in life. Jackman’s Wolverine is a gruff, contemplative complement to Deadpool’s wackiness, all while further showcasing the strengths of his best portrayals in Fox’s X-Men universe. Corrin’s Cassandra Nova is one of the most grotesque and engrossing onscreen supervillains in recent memory, perfectly honoring the weirdness of her source material. MacFadyen gleefully chews the scenery at every available turn, and the returning Deadpool supporting cast is true-to-form, with Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa and Leslie Uggams’ Blind Al being undeniable highlights. 

While it is far from the most colorful or visually loud blockbuster that Marvel Studios has put out, Deadpool & Wolverine does provide a small upgrade from the largely muted mise en scene of the previous two films. George Richmond’s cinematography guides us through the film’s various massive and intimate settings, all while honoring the bright hues of the heroes’ excellently made costumes from Graham Churchyard and Mayes C. Rubeo. The various needle drops of the soundtrack are recognizable without being truly distracting, and will provide viewers with a new mental image once they hear certain songs in the future. A lot of that is thanks to the ingenious fight choreography, which delivers gruesome hand-to-hand combat that puts the MCU’s first R-rating to good use.

Amid the never-ending conversation around superhero fatigue, too many spoilers, and not enough effective storytelling, it feels rare to be truly surprised by a new superhero adaptation. Deadpool & Wolverine is such a pleasant surprise — both in its jaw-dropping elements and in the sentimental reason for those elements even existing — that it almost feels like a miracle. The movie’s handful of flaws are outweighed by its pure blockbuster storytelling and the gleeful rapport of its two protagonists. Through its no-holds-barred execution and the wildly entertaining performances of its ensemble cast, Deadpool & Wolverine serves as the most unlikely reminder of why we care about superhero movies in the first place.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Deadpool & Wolverine will be released exclusively in theaters on July 26th.

The post Deadpool & Wolverine Review: Marvel’s Maniacal, Meaningful Masterpiece appeared first on ComicBook.com.

As proven with his 2020 film Caveat, writer/director Damian Mc Carthy isn’t afraid to swing for the fences. The premise of that movie, in which an amnesiac agrees to watch over a young girl so long as he keeps himself tethered to certain portions of the house with a heavy chain, starts at a more ambitious level than many of Mc Carthy’s peers and only gets weirder and wilder from there. While his latest film, Oddity, starts with a slightly more conventional premise, the filmmaker continues to push boundaries by not only borrowing tried-and-true horror methods to terrify audiences, but he also blends them in ways that feel fresh and unique, all without having to sacrifice his propensity to make the most outlandish experience entirely horrifying.

Serving essentially as a prologue, Oddity‘s opening minutes see Dani (Carolyn Bracken) alone in her remote house waiting for her husband Ted (Gwilym Lee) to return from his job at a psychiatric institution. Alarmed by a knock at the door, one of Ted’s former patients arrives claiming to have seen an intruder enter Dani’s home. Audiences then learn that Dani was found murdered, seemingly by this patient.

One year later, Dani’s twin sister Darcy (also played by Bracken) drops by Ted’s home, where he spends time with his new girlfriend Yana (Caroline Menton), as Darcy brings along with her a life-sized wooden figure of a man whose face is frozen in agony. As one could imagine, a series of bizarre encounters unfold centering around Yana and Darcy, as Darcy’s claims of being a medium lead her to claim that someone else was responsible for Dani’s death.

In addition to Oddity being as uncompromising and inventive in its approach to terror as Caveat, the films also both largely unfold in a single location. Given that the home in Oddity is meant to be full of family memories, it’s not as immediately ominous as what is seen in Caveat, but it’s not without its ever-present and intimidating fear. Long hallways and dark alcoves lead the characters, and viewers themselves, to question if we’re really seeing what we thought we saw, making it easy for Mc Carthy to craft a number of evocative and tense sequences that question what could be hiding just out of sight.

Mc Carthy’s previous film earned strong reactions from the genre crowd, with that reaction seemingly emboldening him and building his confidence as a filmmaker. His vision of terror in Oddity is unrelenting, effective, and confident, no matter how ludicrous some of the encounters might seem. While Oddity is definitively a linear narrative, the various concepts Mc Carthy explores feel like they could have their origins in classic anthology films, as he seamlessly weaves together terror around the ideas of home invasions, haunted houses, and creature features. It’s not that Mc Carthy can’t decide what he wants his movie to be, as the experience instead feels like once he lulls you into a relative comfort of understanding the type of terror you’re in store for, only to pull the rug out from under you.

What’s especially impressive is that, whether it’s real-world threats or ghastly phantoms, Mc Carthy’s staging, pacing, and timing all manage to create some truly jarring scares. A number of movies, especially those being released by big American studios, treat horror movies as methods to deliver jump scares and little else, with Oddity first delivering a sense of unease throughout the entire run time, which is then amplified by these ferocious jolts. Oddity would still be effective without the jump scares, yet Mc Carthy delivers massive scares to audiences who have been on edge since the movie’s opening moments.

With a key component of the plot involving a human-sized mannequin perched precariously at a dinner table, as well as Darcy being the blind owner of an oddities shop where she claims she can connect with the dead by touching objects that belonged to them, there’s some inherent absurdity to the whole ordeal. Luckily, stars Brackon, Lee, and Menton (as well as one of Ted’s orderlies Ivan, played by Steve Wall) all understood the tone Mc Carthy was striving for. Their performances are all heightened to match the absurdity of the events that are unfolding, though without descending into anything downright cartoonish. The whole cast all manage to ride that fine line of delivering authentic performances that match the exaggerated nature of the genre, yet without winking at the audience or one another that they’re in on just how cuckoo the entire endeavor is for these characters.

Oddity is likely to go down as one of the scariest movies of the year, and deservedly so, though by cramming so many different concepts into the same story, audiences will be left feeling a bit bewildered. There are many questions that the film raises about what really happened in this house and, while Mc Carthy doesn’t spoon-feed you all of the answers, it’s difficult to deduce whether it was an artistic choice to leave some of the journeys open-ended or whether he himself couldn’t settle on one definitive explanation. Still, no matter what type of horror most gets under your skin, Oddity has got you covered, as Mc Carthy proves that Caveat was no fluke and we’re likely only scratching the surface of the nightmares he aims to give audiences.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Oddity hits theaters on July 19th. 

The post Oddity Review: Filmmaker Damian Mc Carthy Wants to Freak You the Hell Out appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Longlegs opens with a station wagon pulling up to a snowy farmhouse, with the aspect ratio of the footage replicating that of an 8mm camera. Despite initially seeming like it is a vintage home movie, the camera begins to pan in odd ways, immediately breaking the assumption that we’re looking at handheld memories from a bygone era. A young girl exits the farmhouse to meet her guest, though that guest plays an unexpected game of hide and seek. When the young girl does confront this figure, their exchange is clearly nefarious based solely on body language, as this visitor identifies himself as “Longlegs.” This opening scene is easily one of the most frightening opening scenes of any horror movie this year, which only sets the stage for the kind of terror writer/director Osgood Perkins is about to unleash on audiences for the next 101 minutes.

A majority of the film unfolds in the early ’90s, exploring how FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) has an almost-otherwordly ability to track down serial killers. For nearly two decades, Oregon has been the target of bizarre murders that eliminate entire families, yet each of them takes on the appearance of murder-suicides. Similar to the Zodiac Killer, the FBI has been receiving letters full of Satanic codes and taunts from a figure known as Longlegs (an unrecognizable Nicolas Cage), with Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) enlisting Harker to use her abilities to get to the bottom of the mystery. 

One thing that has been evident throughout Perkins’ entire career is he will entice viewers with an experience that seems familiar on the surface, only to take it in entirely different directions. With the opening scenes of Longlegs, he establishes the film’s surreal tone and its approach to fear, serving as a litmus test for whether a viewer will join the ride of the dream-like and disquieting narrative or if the movie won’t quite live up to its ominous and effective marketing campaign. 

Perkins’ ability to draw a viewer’s eye with his framing and composition is nearly unmatched in the horror world. Whether it be a farmhouse, a dark hallway, a barn, or a cabin, Perkins manages to keep you both focused on the characters in the frame while your eyes constantly dart to the shadows of a scene to see if they can find clues about what’s really going on. He also uses the camera to create a detachment between the audience and the characters, as nearly every shot features a character in the center of the frame, with their bodies either parallel or perpendicular to its lens. While so many other movies attempt to create framing and blocking that immerses an audience in those worlds organically, Perkins keeps you at a distance, almost as if to imply it would be too dangerous for an audience to be fully part of this world as he creates a more dream-like atmosphere.

Echoing the visual detachment of Longlegs is the script itself, which similarly offers stilted and sparse dialogue that makes every character feel uncomfortable in their own skin. Underwood’s Carter is easily the most realized character in the movie, while Harker, Longlegs, and Harker’s mother Ruth (Alicia Witt) all speak less like actual people and more like trying to remember conversations you had in a dream. While the narrative is assuredly a horror movie, the overall tone feels more in line with surrealist filmmakers like David Lynch, Yorgos Lanthimos, or Lars von Trier.

Thanks to starring in projects like It Follows, The Guest, and Watcher, Monroe has become a favorite in the horror crowd and for good reason. While some of those previous projects have allowed her to fight back against various threats that have targeted her, Longlegs showcases what’s easily the most frightened and tortured performance of Monroe’s career. Not only is she attempting to cope with the terror this killer is wreaking on the community, but Harker is also attempting to unlock parts of her past that might be the key to finding Longlegs and uncovering the real motivations for his mayhem. It’s almost as if it physically pains Harker to interact with anyone around her, as if this would somehow rope her into the nightmare she feels she’s been living in. Cage’s recognizable face, however, is obscured by facial prosthetics, which allows his performance to speak for itself. Given the heightened tone of the entire experience, some audiences will dismiss Cage’s performance as being cartoonish or silly, though in the world that Perkins has created, it feels like just the right balance of unhinged, intimidating, and childlike.

Between the premise and the setting of Longlegs, it’s going to be hard for audiences to not draw direct comparisons between the movie and seminal serial-killer stories like The Silence of the Lambs or David Fincher’s Seven (with a bit of Zodiac tossed in for good measure). Understandably, seeing a young, female FBI agent being tossed into a case in which she might be over her head, as well as Longlegs‘ ’90s-set storyline, will evoke comparisons to Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling, while the serial killer with biblically motivated attacks who teases authorities with cryptic letters that need to be decoded will feel reminiscent of Fincher’s entries in the space. This isn’t to say that Longlegs feels derivative of either of those experiences, more that the cultural impact of those movies is still so significant, it’ll be hard to shake that familiarity while watching the movie.

Where the experience starts to falter is in the final act, which is when all the puzzle pieces of the narrative start to come together. Anyone who’s even seen a trailer or poster for Longlegs has a pretty good idea that the mystery isn’t about who is committing these crimes, but both viewers and the characters want to know why he’s doing these things and how he’s gotten away with it for so many years. Much like how Perkins’ dialogue and camera movements keep a viewer at a safe distance, the reveals about what’s really going on doesn’t feel fully realized. While there’s a lot of allure to be found in keeping details vague and ambiguous, Perkins only does the bare minimum to explain the nature of the horrifying ordeal and leaves a lot to the audience to figure out. In this sense, Longlegs will be a frustrating experience for audiences who want the answers explicitly detailed to them, and even those who enjoy the ambiguity of evil might not be entirely satiated with the explanation of “Satanism…?” The broad strokes and ambiguity of the plot motivations do keep in line with the dreamlike nature of the film’s aesthetic, keeping the answers to the mysteries just beyond reach.

With Longlegs, Perkins continues his trend of delivering entirely singular visions of terror, which started with The Blackcoat’s Daughter and continued with I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House and Gretel & Hansel. The marketing campaign is bolstering that this movie could quite literally kill you with how scary it is, and while most of us will live to see the movie and tell the tale, what you’ve witnessed isn’t something you’re likely to shake off anytime soon. Even if the ultimate resolution of the story doesn’t fully live up to the breadcrumbs the first two acts of the film set up, knowing that such an unconventional, ambitious, and uncompromising experience that could fall under the umbrella of any generic murder mystery feels like nothing short of a triumph. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Longlegs lands in theaters on July 12th.

The post Longlegs Review: An Unnerving, Uncompromising Nightmare appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Guy Ritchie turned his attention to World War II with his latest film, but made sure to keep his signature quippy style. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare debuted in theaters earlier this year to solid reviews but a less-than-stellar showing at the box office, with Henry Cavil and Reacher star Alan Ritchson leading the film’s loaded ensemble. A few months later, Lionsgate has brought Ungentlemanly Warfare to audiences at home with a 4K UHD Blu-ray release that will make new viewers think, “Maybe I should’ve tried to catch this on the big screen.”

The Movie

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare depicts the long-untold true story of the first special forces mission of World War II. With Britain on the verge of surrendering to Hitler and Nazi Germany in 1941, Winston Churchill put commissioned a team of outcast soldiers and operatives who didn’t mind playing outside the rules. The group, whose existence and tie to Britain had to be kept secret, was tasked with shutting down Germany’s U-boat supply chain. 

This is a Guy Ritchie movie through and through, and it’s one of his better efforts in quite some time. With its quick pacing, humorous violence, and a band of characters living on the edge of madness, it often feels closer to Snatch than some of the filmmaker’s more recent fare.

Part of the fun of Warfare is watching a great cast have a ball from start to finish. Cavill wields a fiendish grin that pulls you into the chaos. Henry Golding deploys a comedic timing that many of his other roles have tampered down. Ritchson’s Danish accent and arrow skills make him one of the more memorable supporting characters of the year. And then there’s Eiza Gonzalez, who nearly steals the show while establishing herself as one of our best young action stars.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a breezy, violent picture featuring a ragtag group of killers with hearts of gold. What’s not to love?

The Disc

This release from Lionsgate puts The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare on a 4K disc with a 2160p UHD image in HDR10. Unlike some other discs, this doesn’t have a Dolby Vision upgrade, but that’s okay. The HDR10 is spectacular enough.

Ritchie shot at some breathtaking locations around Europe for this movie, and the 4K release is able to deliver on so much of that splendor. The seas and landscapes are colorful and brilliantly detailed throughout the film. Another real plus with this 4K delivery is how clear the nighttime scenes come across on a home screen. There’s no losing the characters or action in the dark. From top to bottom, this is just a fantastic picture.

The Dolby Atmos audio track may not immediately capture your attention the way the picture does, but that doesn’t mean there are any real flaws to it. From gunshots to bombs to ocean waves, there are so many background noises packed into these scenes, yet they never overpower the dialogue. This is an especially great experience if you’ve got any kind of surround sound set up.

I have to shout out Christopher Benstead’s music as well. This is a score that just goes and goes from the moment the film begins, and it sounds electrifying on this Atmos mix.

The Features

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare comes with a delightful 25-minute “making of” featurette on both the 4K and Blu-ray discs. Nearly all prominent members of the cast and creative team are involved and they actually bring some great insight (and humor) to the table. This is one of the rare “making of” situations that actually enhances the film you just watched.

Unfortunately, this is the only real special feature on the release (unless you count the theatrical trailer). It’s frustrating to see such a great featurette and then wonder why there’s nothing else on the disc. The greatness of that behind-the-scenes doc just makes the absence of other features that much more glaring.

The Verdict

Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare feels like one of the films from 2024 that many will discover later on and wonder how they’d missed it in the first place. It’s a blast through and through, and Lionsgate’s 4K release makes for a great home media experience.

If action and violence aren’t your thing, this may not be the movie for you. If you’re a big action nerd, though, this 4K is absolutely worth picking up for your collection.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare 4K is available now. A copy was provided for the purpose of this review.

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Two years after bursting onto the scene with its Comedy Central debut, South Park danced its way to the big screen with a feature-length musical that parents at the time could not have been less excited about. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was a commercial success and critical darling upon its release in 1999, and to this day it remains one of the brightest highlights of the entire South Park franchise. To celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, Paramount gave it a complete 4K makeover and released a special 25th Anniversary Edition of that 4K disc for fans to enjoy.

The Movie

If you didn’t know it, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is essentially a movie about the panic around South Park (and other films and shows like it). This musical edition of the iconic comedy sees a raunchy Canadian movie become a hit amongst America’s youth, causing an outbreak in foul language. In order to combat the bad words, the parents of America launch a full scale war on our neighbors to the North.

I’m beyond happy to report that South Park‘s big screen adventure holds up even better than expected. There are a couple of jokes here and there that don’t land quite like they did in middle or high school, but there are more jokes that have gotten even funnier over the last 25 years. So much of the satire Trey Parker and Matt Stone were delivering back in ’99 is just as relevant today, if not more so.

This is a gleefully raunchy movie whose entire point is about how that it perfectly fine. A little crude humor never hurt anybody, right?

The Disc

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut has never looked quite as good or sharp as it does on this new 4K release. The original South Park pilot episode was animated using actual paper cutouts and a stop-motion technique. After the show was picked up, Parker and Stone moved to a digital animation but kept the same style, drawing it to look like the paper characters and backdrops created for that first episode. With this 4K edition of the movie, that initial paper style is more noticeable than usual and incredibly vivid. Those cut-out textures really pop, and there’s a great spike in the color for both the Dolby Vision and HDR 10.

The thing with South Park, though, is that a crystal clear picture doesn’t do a whole lot to enhance the overall experience. The low budget aesthetic is part of the appeal. Sure, seeing textures in digital paper and cloth is pretty cool, but it doesn’t change the film the way better resolution would for a live-action or 3D-animated movie. It just looks like South Park, but a little nicer, and South Park is something where “nice” isn’t all that necessary.

The Features

Paramount’s South Park 4K is another one of those good news/bad news situations when it comes to the special features. There are a couple solid features on this disc, but none of them are new.

The commentary with Parker and Stone is the highlight of the bunch. It’s a blast and absolutely worth listening to. Seriously, you’ll laugh about as hard as you do watching the normal movie just listening to those two talk about it. There’s also a music video and a sing-a-long included on the disc. The biggest issue is that these features were on the previous Blu-ray release. If you own that already, you won’t find anything new here.

The Verdict

This 4K is the best version of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut on the market, and it isn’t a very expensive release. It’s absolutely worth owning, especially if you don’t already have a copy of the Blu-ray. If you do have the previous Blu-ray release, however, the difference may not be worth the cost of upgrading. 

The South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 25th Anniversary 4K is available now. A copy was provided for the purpose of this review.

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When John Krasinski wrote and directed A Quiet Place in 2018, there was a certain amount of success that came from viewers’ curiosity at seeing The Office star try his hand at a high-concept horror film about sound-sensitive monsters. The first film surprised many with its breakout success at the box office ($341 million on a budget of $17 million) – but also with its critical acclaim, which praised the way that Krasinski and his real-life wife actress Emily Blunt used the film’s premise (life-or-death need for silence) to illustrate the unspoken bonds between family, in everything from intuiting feelings to how we can still interact and communicate with those close to us, even without speech. More importantly, selecting a family unit as the franchise protagonists made every main character in A Quiet Place feel indispensable – and every loss felt deeply impactful. Even as the world of the film got bigger in the sequel and the characters split up, the focus on family bonds felt just as present, as audiences hoped to see the Abbott family reunited.

A Quiet Place: Day One now attempts to move the franchise focus beyond the Abbott Family while advertising big reveals about the larger franchise storyline and the beginnings of the alien invasion of the “Death Angel” monsters. Unfortunately, the prequel’s biggest revelation is that this franchise is being approached as more of an anthology than as a shared universe of interconnected stories – and as a standalone chapter, it’s hard to see Day One as a compelling horror movie, rather than a well-acted character drama. 

WARNING: Mild spoilers for A Quiet Place: Day One below

The plot of the prequel centers on Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), a terminally ill cancer patient living out her final days in hospice care outside NYC with only her pet cat, Frodo, as a companion. Sam and some other patients are given a field trip into the city to see a stage performance, with supervising nurse Reuben (Alex Wolff) promising Sam she can get pizza in the city. Of course, the pleasant day becomes the worst of their doomed lives, when the Death Angel invasion begins, with the streets of the city being overrun in minutes by the beasts, causing a horrific event that echoes the 9/11 attacks. 

Sam and Frodo survive the initial slaughter, ending up in a shelter with other survivors. However, even if the group manages to hold together and follow the rules of silence, it quickly becomes clear that so many humans crammed together in a small hunting ground like Manhattan is nothing but a charnel house. With limited time left, and her condition worsening by the hour without proper medical care, Sam resigns herself to making a trek up to her old home in Harlem, to have a last meal at her favorite childhood pizza place. Along the way, Sam and Frodo pick up a straggler named Eric (Joseph Quinn), a law student from England who is just as alone in the crisis as Sam is. Together, the trio begin their journey – soon finding it coincides with the government’s attempt to stage a mass evacuation of Manhattan. 

A Quiet Place: Day One feels less like an expansion of the franchise storyline and more like a character study about Sam, Eric, and the dire situation and context that bonds them. It’s a mixed-bag result from writer/director Michael Sarnoski, who is best known for the acclaimed Nicolas Cage character drama Pig. Day One obviously offers the biggest spectacle and set pieces when it comes to the Death Angels and their attack on humanity – but as is so often the case, seeing more of the creatures (in broad daylight and in mass numbers) takes away a lot of the mystique and dread caused by sound and/or the viewer’s imagination. 

The previous Quiet Place films always made you wonder if a monster was within earshot; in Day One, there’s no guesswork needed, as the monsters are ever-present and anyone making any sound equals instant death. That new caveat often stretches credibility to the limit as NYC is, on a good day, nearly impossible to move through without generating noise – let alone when broken glass, debris, and bodies are lying all over the place. Any real walk through the destroyed city would probably last seconds, making Sam’s journey look foolish more so than brave. The only novelty scare the prequel offers (besides a few tense chase sequences) is seeing herds of the monsters moving together, shaking buildings and streets like an earthquake. It conveys just how big the scope of this problem is, how fearsome the Death Angels are, and therefore how important the Abbott Family’s discovery of a weakness in the monsters really is, if humanity is to survive. Day One also has (but somewhat squanders) the benefit of turning big groups of humans into an inherent threat – which is wonderfully depicted in a second-act sequence where an evacuation exodus goes horribly wrong. But since Sam opts to go it alone, the one major distinction Day One has for itself is eventually lost. 

Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn are both fantastic leads and ground the monster movie carnage in performances that echo real New Yorkers who lived through 9/11 and experienced those initial 24 hours of panic, grief, and loss – but also uplifting acts of human kindness and connection with strangers they might have never bonded with, otherwise. It’s a noble metaphor for a horror film that has high artistic aspirations; it is not all that effective for a B-movie horror-thriller experience. Much of Day One is watching the stars acting out small stage play-style vignettes in silence. Unlike Krasinski, Sarnoski has little levity (beyond gallows humor) to change up the dour pace and tone. Even by the end, given the story premise and where we know the connective threads (like Djimon Hounsou’s Henri) lead, there’s little to feel good about or celebrate. It’s a bad sign when concern for the animal protagonist is the driving force of a horror movie. 

A Quiet Place: Day One would’ve been a compelling indie horror film about a doomed woman facing an apocalyptic situation, but after the heights the franchise has reached and all the promises that came with the prequel, the end result is a fine film that is comparatively the worst entry in an otherwise excellent horror franchise. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

A Quiet Place: Day One hits theaters on June 28th.

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The Ghostbusters franchise is currently in the midst of its second shot at a reboot, with Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan spearheading a series that leans more into family friendly adventure than the adult-ish comedy of the original Ghostbusters movies (or the 2016 Paul Feig film). It’s a departure from the franchise’s tone, but it has been determined to root itself in nostalgia, going as far as to bring back most of the original cast for small roles. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire brought the action back to New York City when it hit theaters earlier this year, and Sony has now brought the action home with a full 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release.

The Movie

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire really ramps up the action and the silliness after 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Kenan takes over as director from Reitman and puts more of a focus on this new generation of characters living with the legacy of the original team.

If Afterlife was a step down from the classic Ghostbusters movies, Frozen Empire is a couple steps even lower. It’s a movie crowded with characters and obsessed with nostalgia, paying little mind to crafting any sort of memorable narrative. McKenna Grace’s Phoebe Spengler has the only solid story throughout the film — even Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd’s relationship feels like a serious disappointment after the sparks they created in Afterlife.

This is one of those movies where you struggle to remember what happened immediately after watching it. You won’t feel burdened by boredom halfway through; it’s at least entertaining enough. But Frozen Empire certainly won’t leave you thinking you made a good use of two hours.

The Disc

The movie may not be great, but that isn’t the disc’s fault, and Sony’s physical media team did a great job putting the Frozen Empire 4K together. The 4K presentation arrives in Dolby Vision and HDR 10, looking great from the very first scenes. There’s an immense amount of detail on this picture (the iconic brick fire station looks immaculate in a couple shots early in the film). The 2160p image is at its best and most vibrant in the scenes that feature the various ghosts, with their style and colors providing a wonderful contrast to the New York backdrop. And the way these things movie feels smooth and lively.

The audio mix is the real start of the show here, especially if you have a solid surround system. There’s a ton of deep base baked into the sound that helps creative a more exciting, sometimes immersive experience. Even with the added lows, the dialogue always comes through clear.

The Features

Not every new physical release gets the special features haul we used to expect on DVDs and Blu-rays, so the loaded releases are worth celebrating. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has a substantial list of features on its 4K/Blu-ray combo, including a feature commentary with Gil Kenan and a half-dozen deleted scenes.

None of these features are reinventing the wheel, but they’re a nice compliment to the film they come with. And it’s just nice to see a disc loaded down with additional options.

The Verdict

Sony has a great track record when it comes to these 4K transfers, and that good work continues with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. The problem with this just comes down to the quality of the film, which is sorely lacking.

If you enjoyed the movie, this is an awesome release that should probably be in your collection. But a great looking disc and solid special features don’t make up for a bad film, so it’s hard to completely recommend it.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is available now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD. A copy was provided for the purpose of this review.

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When Ti West’s A24 slasher, X, was released in 2022, horror fans had no idea that an iconic trilogy was about to be born. The post-credit scene for the film revealed that West and star Mia Goth had secretly filmed a prequel titled Pearl, which was released later that year and ended up being just as well-received as its predecessor. At that time, it was also announced that West was working on a third installment, MaXXXine, which would follow Goth’s character after the events of X. Not only did West provide something unique by gifting horror fans with three films in only two years, but he’s managed to make each installment entirely distinctive and captivating. After one viewing, it feels safe to call MaXXXine the weakest of the trilogy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a worthy follow-up with with some extremely satisfying nods to ’80s schlock. 

In 1985, six years after Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) escaped the horror on Pearl’s farm that left her friends dead, the wannabe star has made a name for herself in the adult film industry in Los Angeles. After booking a role in a horror movie, Maxine’s dreams finally seem to be coming true, but when more people in her life begin to die, it becomes clear someone doesn’t want her to forget what happened in Texas. 

There are a few factors that help set MaXXXine apart from X and Pearl. First is the flashy 1980s vibe that West seems to understand perfectly. These days, 1980s nostalgia isn’t exactly in short supply, but West has managed to create a love letter to the era that comes across as genuine rather than a cosplay of the time. For example, the inclusion of the real-life serial killer Richard “Night Stalker” Ramirez was an interesting choice that felt much more sincere than a similar attempt made by American Horror Story: 1984 a few years back. Rather than try to shoehorn Ramirez into the story, West uses his looming presence to help audiences understand the fear that was permeating through Hollywood at the time. 

Another amusing addition to MaXXXine was the movie with the movie, Puritan 2, which added a fun meta layer to the experience. Those behind-the-scenes moments were elevated by the presence of Elizabeth Debicki, who plays the film’s director. Debicki commands every scene she’s in, and despite the many threats lurking around Maxine at all times, Debicki manages to be the only person who can make the titular character seem fragile. Unlike the films that came before, MaXXXine also has a mystery element that will keep you guessing the whole way, which makes room for an amusing cop duo played by Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan.

While there’s a lot to love in MaXXXine, it doesn’t quite measure up to X‘s gory mayhem or Pearl‘s acting showcase. Some moments will undoubtedly make you squirm, but they’re further and farther between this time around. And while Goth is utterly fantastic in the threequel, she doesn’t get the same space to show off her chops. Pearl was, above all, a character study that allowed Goth to chew up every moment whereas MaXXXine takes more time to highlight its setting and the people around her. However, that does leave room for some extremely delightful performances by Kevin Bacon and Giancarlo Esposito. It was clear that Bacon was having a blast playing a sleazy private investigator, and he easily earns the brunt of the film’s laughs. 

MaXXXine is a horror film made by horror fans for horror fans, and it’s meant to be seen on the big screen. West’s X trilogy will likely go down in history as one of the most prolific horror endeavors of the decade. Everyone will undoubtedly have different favorites and, while MaXXXine may rank last here, it is guaranteed to have some hardcore fans. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

MaXXXine lands in theaters on July 5th.

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In 1974, Roman Polanski, Robert Towne, and Jack Nicholson teamed brought film noir back to the big screen in a massive way with the release of Chinatown. The decadent and sprawling epic about a private eye caught in the middle of a Los Angeles water conspiracy has stood the test of time and, 50 years after its release, has been given the 4K release treatment from Paramount. As part of the Paramount Presents line, Chinatown was treated to a full restoration from the original camera negative, resulting in the best version of the film we’ve ever seen at home.

The Movie

There isn’t a whole lot to say about Chinatown that hasn’t already been said. It’s one of the greatest films of all time and it somehow continues to get better with age.

Jack Nicholson stars as private investigator Jake Gittes, who gets caught in the middle of a conspiracy when he starts investigating the Los Angeles water & power commissioner. Around every turn, Jake discovers new evidence that leads him astray in a whole new way, and his case eventually spirals into a story of despair and hopelessness.

Chinatown has one of the most devastating endings in cinema, as all of the plot threads come together in one brutal, surprising scene that reveals what the story was trying to tell you the entire time. 

The Disc

The Paramount Presents series has been under some scrutiny from movie fans after its most recent release, Once Upon a Time in the West, suffered from some frustrating grain and compression issues. Chinatown quickly rights the ship, however, with one of the year’s best 4K restorations.

I mean this picture is just sublime. There’s so much detail in the Dolby Vision HDR transfer and it’s noticeable from the very opening frames. The colors are vibrant and the contrast is excellent. Everything from the fabric of Evelyn’s jackets to the stitches on Jake’s nose can be seen with absolute crystal clarity. It creates a more immersive experience than any other home release of Chinatown has been able to, which significantly enhances the viewing. Jake’s journey here is all about a spiral into the darkest parts of the human experience, set to the brightest daylight California has to offer, and this 4K disc puts you deep into the trenches with him.

There will be some that wonder about the lack of significant film grain with Chinatown, wondering if there’s been any substantial smoothing during the transfer. I get where the thought comes from, but that’s not the case here. The way Chinatown was initially filmed, it had a much finer, softer grain than other films of the era. It has a distinct look and that’s been the case ever since 1974. This transfer captures it perfectly.

Chinatown‘s audio track only adds to the immersion. It’s the same Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio that accompanied the excellent 2012 Blu-ray edition, but that’s more than fine because there wasn’t much that could be done to upgrade that track anyway. 

The Features

Chinatown gets a big boost in the way of special features because the release actually includes an entire second movie. The included Blu-ray isn’t another copy of Chinatown, but rather the 1990 Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes. Not nearly as well-regarded as its predecessor, The Two Jakes sees Nicholson reprise his role as the private eye and serve as the film’s director. It’s always nice to get two movies for the price of one.

As far as the actual special features on Chinatown‘s 4K disc, there are a handful of brand new featurettes to explore. Sam Wasson, a film historian who literally wrote the book on Chinatown, is at the center of two of these features, discussing the legacy of the film as well as the third installment that never came to be. The third new feature sees Chinatown assistant director Hawk Koch share stories from his time on set.

This release also includes the features from the 2012, one of which is a feature commentary from screenwriter Robert Towne and filmmaker David Fincher. That duo have actually written a Chinatown prequel series together, though there’s no telling when development on that project is going to move forward at Netflix.

The Verdict

If you’re a movie fan and you have the ability to watch 4K discs at home, adding this Chinatown release to your collection is a must. This is the first disc I’ve reviewed in 2024 that I’ve actually given that stamp to, so I don’t throw it around lightly. This is one of the great American films in the history of cinema, and the folks in Paramount’s home entertainment department gave it the restoration it deserves.

The Chinatown 50th Anniversary 4K UHD Blu-ray is available now, and you can purchase it on Amazon here. A copy was provided for the purpose of this review.

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Studio Ponoc and Netflix have entered a multi-film, multi-year deal that will make the streaming service the exclusive home for Studio Ponoc’s next few movies, and there’s no better way to start things off than with The Imaginary. Studio Ponoc is quietly one of the major anime film studios to keep an eye out for. While they have only released three major film projects since the studio’s inception in 2015, the projects thus far have been filled with a unique eye and perspective on animation. This made The Imaginary all the more curious as it was their first full-length animated film project since 2017. 

It’s also the most ambitious undertaking because The Imaginary features the most grandiose story that this studio has ever produced. Adapting A.F. Harrold’s novel of the same name, The Imaginary is a bittersweet story about growing up, losing childhood innocence, and the fight to keep that imaginative spirit within you alive. It’s a magical film that dreams up wild locales, fun character designs, dark depths, and emotions that could really only be portrayed through animated work. It’s a film without boundaries, but still remains grounded in telling its central story. 

The Imaginary introduces Rudger (voiced by Kokoro Terada in Japanese dub and Louie Rudge-Buchanan in the English dub), the imaginary friend of a young girl named Amanda (voiced by Rio Suzuki in the Japanese dub and Evie Kiszel in the English dub). The two of them are very close and have huge adventures within Amanda’s attic, but Rudger never truly interacts with the real world beyond that. Things change when the mysterious Mr. Bunting (Issey Ogata in the Japanese dub and Jeremy Swift in the English dub) wants to eat Rudger, and it starts a whole new journey as Rudger and Amanda are separated, Rudger explores the world of the Imaginaries, and races against the clock before he disappears forever. 

The Imaginary welcomes you into its magical world almost immediately as Rudger introduces himself as Amanda’s creation, and invites you into her worlds. It’s dreamlike in presentation as golden sparkles serve as a sort of “imagination energy” that help to bring the imaginary settings and characters to life. There’s a creative fluidity to how settings can easily change to fit Amanda’s whims, and it’s smooth in presentation when you see animals quickly change in scope and ferocity depending on the adventure Amanda’s having at the moment. It’s a treat for the eyes all the way through. 

Each imagined world we get a glimpse of feels dramatically different than the one shown previously, and there are sequences here that could only be portrayed through hand-drawn animation. There’s such an impressive use of vibrant colors and deep blacks that really pop on the screen. It’s not limited to just the worlds, however, as every small character moment and action has a storybook quality to it that makes even the most seemingly mundane moments a pleasant experience to watch. 

What’s most impressive, however, is the narrative core underneath all of its visual splendor. There’s an inherent sadness throughout the film that’s immediately apparent. There’s a reason revealed for why Amanda comes to invent an imaginary friend, and the loss of her father leads her to believe that she shouldn’t cry and outwardly show too much of that pain in front of her now-struggling mother. There’s so much change in Amanda’s life as a result, and thus the imaginary world provides an escape. 

But that’s not all of the struggle, however, as Rudger also needs to deal with the fact that he’s not real and will soon disappear when Amanda forgets all about him. The main core of the film follows Rudger as he deals with this concept of one day leaving Amanda’s side, and then when it’s forced upon him, he has to fight for Amanda to maintain that connection to her by any means necessary. All the while, Mr. Bunting as a villain provides an outward dark, antagonistic force representing the unknown future. 

As a kid who refused to grow up, Mr. Bunting showcases the darker sides of growing up. The uncertainty, fear, and lingering questions about change leads to a potentially awful kind of grown-up. But there’s still a sadness in needing to face that future anyway. It’s something Rudger and Amanda come to realize over the course of the film, and it’s what helps The Imaginary truly land. Because, while it’s full of grand spectacle, it always carries a bitter taste that this will all someday end. 

The Imaginary is a film about looking the future in the face and venturing forth anyway. It’s a film that argues that while some things are meant to end, and memories fade, the feelings they left behind will always stick with you. The people in your life, imaginary or not, each have an impact on you. You might forget that impact as time rolls on, but there’s a bit of your heart left with each one either way. And that heart will feel even fuller after The Imaginary. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The Imaginary releases with Netflix on July 5th

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There’s no feeling in the world quite like being proven wrong when you’ve wildly underestimated a movie. There’s something so satisfying about a brilliant piece of art letting you know your doubt was misplaced. When Pixar announced a sequel to Inside Out, it felt so unnecessary, like another Disney cash-grab designed with just the box office in mind. But I should’ve known better. Pixar has a track record that shouldn’t be doubted, and Inside Out 2 again proved why the studio has been at the top of the animation game for nearly three decades. Inside Out 2, like its predecessor, is a beautiful and poignant film, the kind that only Pixar could’ve produced. And it’s exactly the movie we need at this specific moment in time.

Inside Out 2 returns to Riley’s world after she turns 13 and high school is just around the corner. There’s obviously a lot happening in your life at that point, and the inner workings of Riley’s brain certainly reflect that. The onset of puberty and the news that her two best friends won’t be going to the same high school as her send Riley for a loop, providing an opportunity for a new group of emotions to take up residence in her mind’s control center.

Over the course of a three-day hockey camp, where Riley is around the older girls that she will potentially be friends with next year (should she make the team), these new emotions perform a hostile takeover of Riley’s mind. The familiar emotions of Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) are all forced out as the new group, led by Anxiety (Maya Hawke) and joined by Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui Adele Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), believes that a new version of Riley is necessary if she wants to set herself up for future success. There’s no room for an emotion like Joy when Riley suddenly has to worry about every single thing that could happen over the next four years and how each decision she makes at this weekend-long camp could doom her for all of high school. Well, that’s at least how Anxiety sees things.

Anxiety may not be the “protagonist” of Inside Out 2, but she’s certainly the nucleus of the entire film (as well as Riley’s mind). It’s fitting for the actual manifestation of Anxiety to be the star of a film in the year 2024; this is a complex emotion that most of us are experiencing in different and more prominent ways than ever before, and Inside Out 2 had every opportunity to make Anxiety the conquerable villain that we’d all like to defeat. Think about the cheers that would erupt from the adults in the theater if Joy were to slay the great anxious dragon and declare Riley’s mind a worry-free space for all eternity.

But that’s not reality. It’s not the feel-good story that Pixar is interested in. Anxiety exists and there is no way to banish it forever. It’s something we have to live with. So instead of casting our anxiety into the abyss, Inside Out 2 offers an alternative: What if Anxiety, like Joy or Sadness, is a good thing to have in small doses? 

Yes, that sentence makes it seem like Inside Out 2 might just be rehashing the whole point of the first movie, but that’s not really doing it justice. Inside Out was about accepting that humans are complex creatures and experiencing more than just happiness can enrich our lives. Inside Out 2 has a little bit of that, but it’s more about our reactions. How do we deal with the difficult emotions when they arise? Where do we turn when the anxiety quite literally runs circles around our minds, too fast for us to even keep up?

We look inward, at the self we’ve created and built confidence in over the course of our lives. Loving and understanding yourself, showing yourself grace — these are the things that Inside Out 2 wants to leave us with. It’s easier said than done, obviously, but director Kelsey Mann’s film does a fantastic job of showing us the hope and victory that we inherently have within us. 

This is the type of movie that every adult in the audience will watch and think, “I wish I had seen this when I was younger.” There’s something about watching an anxiety attack play out in real time that gives you a sense of peace and comfort. It’s scary, but it’s fleeting, and a 13-year-old hockey player is able to get through it. There’s no reason why you can’t do the same.

As deep as Inside Out 2 is, this is also a thoroughly funny film. Don’t think you’re paying just to sit through an animated therapy session (though, that actually sounds great). This is a deep film that will make you think and feel plenty, but it knows exactly where your funny bone is and makes use of that knowledge often. Perhaps the most consistent source of laughs throughout the entire movie is a 2D cartoon fanny pack that floats, talks, and gives you just what you’ve been looking for (a la Dora the Explorer’s backpack). That may sound completely unhinged and out of place, but trust me on this one, you don’t want to know anything else ahead of time. 

Inside Out 2 is one of Pixar’s best sequels, finding ways to enrich the world created by the original while still charting its own unique path. An epic adventure overflowing with both heart and humor; it’ll make you laugh, cry, think, and, most importantly, feel.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Pixar’s Inside Out 2 arrives in theaters on June 14th.

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Bad Boys: Ride or Die marks the fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise, which now spans four different decades (’90s, ’00s, ’10s, ’20s) and has been something of a meta-echo for the lives and careers of stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. In that sense, Bad Boys 4 arrives at a time when Smith has had tougher life challenges, while Lawrence has been getting back into his groove – a far cry from the behind-the-scenes challenges of the previous film, Bad Boys for Life. Thankfully, returning directors Adil & Bilall understood the meta-subtext assignment, while their skills as action/comedy directors have matured in a major way. Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the rare case of a franchise getting better with age – and the audience is the biggest winner. 

The story of Bad Boys: Ride or Die finds Detective Mike Lowrey (Smith) turning a major corner in his life: giving up his playboy bachelor persona and marrying his therapist, Christine (Melanie Liburd). Mike’s newfound maturity and love connection have an unexpected dark side: the once fearless action junkie starts experiencing anxiety attacks, crippled by the thought of losing what he now values so much. When Detective Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) suffers a dire health scare, he takes on the opposite view on life, no longer living as the stressed-out man he’s always been. 

Mike and Marcus are so caught up in their issues that they never see it coming when corrupt forces in their department begin a campaign to frame them and the late Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) as cartel collaborators. The only person who can help Mike and Marcus clear their name is Mike’s estranged, hitman son Armando (Jacob Scipio), who is unfortunately locked up in prison. Before long, the Bad Boys are on the run, with their enemies and various law enforcement agencies all coming after them – including some people with a very personal score to settle against Armando. 

Bad Boys movies are built on two key elements: the chemistry and banter between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, and some high-octane action set in the beautiful backdrop of Miami, Florida. Bad Boys: Ride or Die hits on both fronts in novel ways; the remixed “Freaky Friday” concept for the character story works extremely well, as Mike and Marcus’s dynamic gets humorously switched, with Marcus being the confident one and Mike being the nervous one, weighted by so many violent experiences in his life. It’s clearly a meta performance for Smith, who has endured years of controversy off-screen between Bad Boys 3 and Bad Boys 4, while for Lawrence it seems that he’s finally comfortable being back in the saddle as a comedic movie star, as opposed to how Bad Boys for Life clearly dealt in part with the challenges of his late-game return to acting. The pair haven’t been this funny since the first Bad Boys, which also leaned into the idea of Lowrey and Burnett having to switch personalities, as one impersonated the other. Jacob Scipio gets to have much more fun as Armando this time – especially when the film adds him into the mix with Smith and Lawrence, creating an entirely new three-way dynamic of banter and jokes. 

On the directorial front, Bad Boys 4 is to Bad Boys 3 what Bad Boys II was to the original Bad Boys. Like Michael Bay, Adil and Bilall have made an exponential leap in terms of scale when it comes to the action set pieces; Bad Boys: Ride or Die plays like more of a Mission: Impossible film if it were set entirely in one city. There are car chases, shootouts, a helicopter battle, and other little action beats throughout the film – and some of them are constructed in truly novel and thrilling ways on par with a John Wick flick. But it’s never too serious, with Adil and Bilall invoking (in the best way) the 2010s director team Neveldine and Taylor (Crank) with their willingness to try wild camera concepts and angles. Whether it’s prolonged close-ups during dialogue and banter, or some video-game-style POV during a final action sequence, there’s an ambitious visual novelty to the film that keeps it looking fresh and fun for action fans. 

Better yet, Adil, Bilall, and screenwriters Chris Bremmer and Will Beall (Training Day) understand that by this fourth film, Bad Boys has a whole world and mythology to it. Ride or Die pulls together story elements from all three previous films to “reveal” a secret conspiracy that’s been unfolding all along, and the serious emotional beats of those films are re-examined according to the cumulative weight of living violent lives. There’s an actual beating heart to this story of aging men coming to terms with mortality, while tallying the spiritual value of their lives, connections, and legacy, in hopes of earning the word “wiser” in conjunction with getting “older.” 

The directors have such a firm hold on the reins of this franchise world that even bit characters from previous films are brought back and given updated arcs that pay off all four decades of this series run. Most of the supporting characters and story threads from Bad Boys for Life are also brought back, and they continue to develop in perfect step alongside Mike and Marcus. That goes for AMMO squad members Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens), Dorn (Alexander Ludwig), and Captain Rita Secada (Paola Nunez), as well as the members of Marcus’s family, and various criminals Lowrey and Burnett used as sources. There are also some familiar faces who join the franchise (like the scary new villain played by Eric Dane) or some celeb cameos that will have fans laughing and buzzing online. 

Bad Boys: Ride or Die plays like a confident step forward for a re-invigorated franchise, rather than the last bits of gas leaking out of a dying one. It proves that Will Smith and Martin Lawrence can keep driving with characters forward – no matter what life and age bring their way – and it’s still some of the most fun movie audiences can have, riding along with them. And it’s a good ride – all the way to a gut-busting ending. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Bad Boys: Ride or Die hits theaters on June 7th.

The post Bad Boys: Ride or Die Review – Still Riding, Not Dying appeared first on ComicBook.com.

When you see a film like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga handle its prequel status so deftly, it calls into question why it’s so difficult on the whole for that device to work with other franchises. Naturally, this gives way to continued marveling at the storytelling on display in Furiosa, which is less concerned with answering the dullest possible questions that plague similar films and more interested in connecting to its predecessor in unexpected and satisfying ways. Furiosa fills in the gaps that make its title character and her journey across Mad Max: Fury Road even richer, imbuing her personality with details that make her more interesting. In fact, when Furiosa does go out of its way to address key mysteries, it always manages to make sure that your consideration of those elements is the furthest thing from your mind, surprising you with the answers when you’re so enthralled with what’s on screen that you forgot you were waiting for them.

Set across the backdrop of Furiosa’s entire young life, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is told across five chapters. Unlike Fury Road, which was nearly a non-stop chase sequence, there is respite to be found in Furiosa, which some viewers may not find as engaging. It would be dishonest to call these “quiet moments,” since the seats will literally shake in the theater, but character is the driving force of Furiosa. 

Anya Taylor-Joy anchors the film as the titular Imperator. Through most of the film, she’s forced to a strictly physical performance, working with no dialogue for maybe the first 30 minutes that she’s on screen. It’s a heavy task, but she handles it well, and director George Miller accentuates her eyes, thanks to both the costume and make-up design of the character. It’s an aspect of her performance that persists throughout the movie, and thanks to its slightly slower pace compared to Fury Road, there’s always enough time for the movie to allow her to tell the story with just a look, even in explosive action moments. 

Noteworthy opposite Taylor-Joy, however, is Chris Hemsworth as Dementus, a Wasteland warlord whose fascist tendencies result in him coming to blows with some other notable baddies that are roaming the desert. Hemsworth is clearly having a blast, but Furiosa proves that his talent has largely been wasted in other films. With Dementus, Hemsworth is able to channel his huge comedic energy into spurts of madness while also bringing a sinister edge to his entire presence. Some of the best subtext to be found across the entire movie is in Dementus and how his world changes, and that’s thanks to how Hemsworth finds the balance between humor and perverse madness.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga also includes the addition of Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack, a fellow Wasteland driver who teams up with Furiosa as another key pillar of her story. Burke keeps up the trend of “Mostly Eye Acting,” and manages to make it especially impressive thanks to having intense chemistry with Anya Taylor-Joy, despite minimal dialogue. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t offer praise for Alyla Browne, who takes on the role of an even younger Furiosa during her childhood years. Browne is able to tell full stories with a look, showcasing the anguish, ingenuity, and crafty sides of the character’s personality that have been present throughout.

Like Fury Road before it, Furiosa has its fair share of intense action. Key sequences in Furiosa do feel like Miller working to see how he can top himself from the last time around, and in two key moments, he’s able to match the Oscar-winning Fury Road, and, arguably, exceed it in at least one of them. A major action sequence with the War Rig being attacked brings a literal dimension to a vehicle chase sequence that Fury Road wasn’t able to deliver. It’s all still exciting, even if the artifice of visual effects is a little more noticeable than before. 

Comparisons to Fury Road will no doubt bounce about like a flaming tire rolling down a well-paved Wasteland street, but Furiosa and Fury Road are focused on different things. Though there are similarities to be found, and several characters and key locations appear in both, Furiosa is aiming for something closer in nature to Spartacus or Lawrence of Arabia than Fury Road, despite their aesthetic overlap and narrative loops. If there’s a fault to find in Furiosa, it’s that some of its attempts to really connect itself to Fury Road aren’t seamless. It’s not that they don’t work, but the timeline of events becomes slightly muddled, which is the film’s only real stumbling block and the kind of flaw that will fade into dust with time. 

The Wasteland is still clearly an inspiring place for George Miller, who not only continues to find things to say about our own world, but to enrich his own stories that he’s already told. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is equal parts post-apocalyptic action thriller and biblical epic. Even if you think you’ve seen what this world has to offer, there are still surprises to find in the sand. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga lands in theaters on May 24th.

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Mario was able to follow a critically reviled live-action movie with a smash-hit animated feature, so why can’t Garfield do the same thing? That’s what Sony is hoping for this weekend, as its latest animated adventure hits theaters, attempting to give the iconic Jim Davis comic strip another shot at life on the big screen. Just like Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie last year, The Garfield Movie features Chris Pratt as the voice for the titular character. And just like that Mario movie, the new Garfield adaptation leaves quite a bit to be desired.

The Garfield Movie begins with the same origin story you’ve heard before: Jon Arbuckle is a very lonely man when he encounters an orange Tabby who has an obsession with Italian food. The two become best friends and Garfield takes over Jon’s life, creating an enormously comfortable world for himself. Even Odie, Jon’s pet dog, falls in line, acting as a sidekick and unpaid intern for Garfield’s antics. This cat is smart, loves lasagna, and hates Mondays; you get it. 

Where this new adaptation aims to set itself apart is by giving Garfield a backstory and using it to fuel an adventure. Garfield and Odie are taken by an evil cat named Jinx (Hannah Waddingham), who uses them as bait to lure out Garfield’s estranged father, Vic (Samuel L. Jackson). She and Garfield both have a complicated history with Vic, and she plans to exact revenge by forcing Vic and his son to steal a couple thousand quarts of milk from an evil dairy corporation (which is made even more nonsensical by the fact that we already know at that point Garfield could’ve used his memorization of Jon’s credit card number to buy the milk to pay her back). Along the way, they end up meeting a bull (Ving Rhames) who helps them break into the facility, as long as they promise to break out his lover that is being kept in the petting zoo.

It’s a story that feels more like a bunch of separate ideas loosely tied together by a cat from a comic strip than an actual plot for a movie, but The Garfield Movie is a film that doesn’t seem concerned with such things. Plot and character development take a backseat to recycled jokes and product placement. Seriously, there are enough obvious ads that you could mistake certain segments for outright commercials. That is all somehow made even nastier by the fact that this is an animated film geared towards kids. It’s more important for them to know just how fast they can order something on the Walmart app than to watch a story that actually has something to say about friendship or how to treat one another. The lazy and selfish nature of Garfield as a character makes a film like this a prime opportunity to encourage young, impressionable minds, but all we get is a shallow exploration of hearing what someone has to say before you judge them.

One could argue that The Garfield Movie is “for kids” so all that matters is little ones laugh and have a good time, but kids deserve better than that. This point is also moot because The Garfield Movie is largely void of the fun and humor kids crave. There are some zany bits designed to elicit laughs, clearly inspired by Wil E. Coyote and the other Looney Tunes. They’re okay, at times, and will get a few chuckles, but they’re out of place amidst a movie that isn’t aiming for the slapstick nature of that material. The Garfield Movie never knows what it wants to be and makes those scenes that could be entertaining feel more frustrating.

There are a few wins in the comedy department, to be fair, and they almost all come from the canines in the film. If I didn’t know better, I’d think The Garfield Movie was an inside job from dog owners, secretly letting the world know that their tail-wagging best friends are superior pets. Odie is a national hero and a very, very good boy. Communicating without words (though given a “voice” by Harvey Guillen), Odie makes the most out of physical comedy and expertly walks the tightrope of being the comedic relief and cute, non-verbal sidekick. 

And then there’s Roland, a relentlessly saggy Shar Pei voiced by Ted Lasso Emmy-winner Brett Goldstein. Anyone who has watched just three minutes of Ted Lasso knows that Goldstein is an expert comedic talent when wielding that gruff, bouldering British accent, and he employs it perfectly in The Garfield Movie. Four out of about every five lines from Roland land right on your funny bone. He and Odie together are enough to save this adventure from being a complete bore.

The Garfield Movie has a lot on its mind, and some of the ideas in that mind could’ve translated into something worthwhile on the screen. But this is Garfield we’re talking about. Laziness is his entire M.O., and the production unfortunately followed his lead.

Rating: 2 out of 5

The Garfield Movie opens in theaters on May 24th.

The post The Garfield Movie Review: As Lazy as the Cat Himself appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Bryan Bertino’s The Strangers wasn’t the first home-invasion horror movie, but it arguably set the mold for any contemporary filmmaker who wanted to enter that storytelling realm. Whether it be the ominous masks, the characters’ relationships, or the mysterious motivations for our killers, nearly every subsequent movie featuring murderers stalking a home borrows an element from the 2008 film. In an ambitious effort from filmmaker Renny Harlin, the concept is being revived not only as one picture, but as a sprawling trilogy that will allow audiences to spend more time with both the killers and the victims. Unfortunately, based solely on the introductory installment The Strangers: Chapter 1, we’re not sure anyone would want to spend any more time in this world, as the movie serves as little more than a rehash of the original movie that not only fails to replicate what made that film work, but also actively made decisions that resulted in a distinct step backward for the series.

On a road trip from Chicago to Portland, couple Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) run into some car trouble in a remote Oregon town, resulting in them having to make an overnight stop in a wooded cabin. What could initially be seen as an impromptu yet romantic evening quickly turns to terror, as a group of masked assailants begin playing a deadly game of cat and mouse, entering the home and evading the couple while also managing to taunt and torment them.

Part of what made the original The Strangers so effective is how it focuses on a couple understandably going through a tumultuous evening, as a rejected marriage proposal has the pair suffering through one tense exchange after the other. The late 2000s and 2010s were saturated with remakes of familiar titles and gore-focused outings like Hostel or the Saw series, while The Strangers focused on layered and complex characters trying to push through an experience, immediately evoking empathy in audiences. Chapter 1, on the other hand, takes the exhausted cliche of “young couple faces car trouble in a small town” that we’ve seen in dozens if not hundreds of horror movies, which will immediately ignite frustration with any horror fan. 

This complete lack of invention is what holds back Chapter 1 at every level. Petsch and Gutierrez are both likable enough and there isn’t anything inherently poor with either their performances or on-screen chemistry, but there’s also not anything particularly unique or interesting enough that sets them apart from countless other horror archetypes to pique an audience’s interest. Once the first Stranger arrives and asks the familiar question, “Is Tamara home?” every decision these characters make is the most obvious, well-trodden path to possible survival. (Also worth noting is that the specifics of the story mean Maya and Ryan are staying in a stranger’s house, so technically they are the strangers in someone else’s home and recontextualizes everything they endure, which is never addressed in a reimagined reveal and comes across as storytelling laziness.)

While the merits of the film itself shouldn’t be impacted by any marketing materials, it’s worth noting that trailers for the film have promised, “Witness how the Strangers became the Strangers.” Viewers who are familiar with the original movie might head into the project anticipating a prequel or origin story (which, admittedly, would rob the antagonists of much of their appeal), though the actual narrative follows all of the core beats of the source material. Where The Strangers featured a masked man silently standing behind Liv Tyler’s Kirsten, Chapter 1 has this figure silently observing Maya while she’s in the shower. When The Strangers frightens the couple with messages scrawled on a window, Chapter 1 features those messages scrawled on a bedroom wall. Not only is Chapter 1 not a prequel or origin story and instead an almost complete remake of the core concept, but every alternate decision feels entirely arbitrary and, with this lack of invention, comes across as a straight-to-video ripoff of the source material. 

The failures of The Strangers: Chapter 1 seem to start at the source, which is the script by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. Browsing through their writing career, you’ll find many more sitcoms in their past than any substantial genre work. This isn’t to say that you must have a minimum number of horror credits to your name before venturing into a beloved franchise, but retroactively reading through their credits sheds more insight into why Chapter 1 stuck with storytelling basics as opposed to getting more experimental.

The film isn’t entirely without scares, as the masks of the intruders still manage to evoke visceral terror, and Harlin does his best to inject some fright into the experience, with a handful of scenes set in fog-covered woods being the only real standouts. There are a handful of jump scares, yet none that are particularly notable. Novices to the horror genre will likely be more willing to overlook Chapter 1‘s lack of originality, though more devout horror fans are given little to surprise them. 

Even with The Strangers: Chapter 1 being a rudimentary rehash of the plot points from the original movie, we are still holding out some hope that these were storytelling necessities that had to be established before heading into The Strangers: Chapter 2. While the original The Strangers did earn a sequel of sorts with 2018’s The Strangers: Prey at Night, the only connective tissue between the projects were the masks worn by the murderers. While its predecessors were both standalone experiences, this trilogy confirms that we’ll be spending more time with the heroes, villains, or both in two more movies, which will mark a new experience for the franchise. In this sense, The Strangers: Chapter 1 could become a necessary evil that had to lay a foundation for Chapters 2 and 3 to get more ambitious and inventive, as it’s merely the first act in a three-act structure. As proven with The Devil’s Rejects or 2021’s Wrong Turn, it also wouldn’t be the first series to have sequels that far surpass the accomplishments of their predecessors. Also worth noting, however, is that David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy similarly had a three-act approach that was expanded into three films yet that trilogy both had a stronger debut entry and also wasn’t afraid to go experimental with sequels, even if the sequels fell short of expectations.

We’re not ready to rule out this entire The Strangers reboot trilogy quite yet, as the nature of having a continuous narrative unfolding over three feature films marks new territory for the concept. Taking this first entry on its own, though, and it feels far more like one of the many derivative The Strangers knockoffs we’ve been given over the past decade than being a worthy entry into the proper series and doesn’t live up to its pedigree. Featuring a predictable plot, generic characters, and wholly unoriginal scares, there’s a lot of room for improvement for this trilogy, with the limitless potential of the premise at least leaving us with some hope for the franchise’s frightening future.

Rating: 2 out of 5

The Strangers: Chapter 1 lands in theaters on May 17th.

The post The Strangers: Chapter 1 Review: The Reboot Trilogy Gets Off to a Rough and Redundant Start appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Four years after helming A Quiet Place Part II, John Krasinksi is back with his next feature film. IF is a family-friendly dramedy about a young girl named Bea (Cailey Fleming) who encounters a group of imaginary friends (aka IFs) that have been forgotten by their now grown-up companions. If you’ve seen the trailer for the film, you know Paramount Pictures has been boasting one of the greatest casts ever assembled, thanks to huge names playing the hoard of IFs. Written and directed by Krasinski, IF is full of charm and whimsy, and despite its flaws, has the potential to be the family movie of the summer. The colorful, wacky IFs are sure to appeal to the young crowd while the movie’s emotional beats will likely pull at every parent’s heartstrings. 

In the film, Bea goes to stay with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) while her father (Krasinski) awaits surgery. In her grandmother’s building, she meets IFs named Blue (Steve Carell) and Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) alongside a fellow human named Cal (Ryan Reynolds). Bea and Cal are the only people who seem to be able to communicate with all of the IFs, and it’s believed that Bea is the “chosen one” who can help them from being fully forgotten. Together, they form a plan to try to pair all of the IFs with new kids, but the task proves to be more difficult than anticipated. 

The world built by Krasinski mostly works, especially when it comes to the creative looks and personalities of the various IFs. The highlight of the film is when Bea visits the IFs’ retirement home and gets the opportunity to use her imagination to spruce it up. The burst of fun and artistry in that scene will make you wish you could leap right into the screen. However, the plot gets messy at times, and the characters end up treading a lot of the same water throughout the film.

While we always love to watch Reynolds do his thing, the Deadpool & Wolverine star’s presence in the film is notably awkward. Considering he’s the only adult who can see the IFs, it’s clear from the beginning that he has a special role to play in the story. However, while you’re waiting for his truth to be revealed, he feels a bit out of place. You can’t help but wonder how this grown man is getting away with taking a child he just met around New York City. Bea’s grandmother never meets Cal, so you have to assume she’s just letting the 12-year-old roam the streets of the Big Apple alone. While this detail might irk some people, it’s also easy to excuse when you remember it’s a movie about a giant fluffy monster looking for a friend.

When it comes to the actual IFs, Carrell as Blue is the clear standout. Overall, the film is more sweet than funny, but most of your laughs will come from Blue. Of course, Carell is no stranger to voice acting, and it’s clear he put a lot of love into the character and we’re willing to bet there’s going to be a lot of stuffed Blues on Christmas lists this year. In fact, it’s hard to leave this film without thinking of the merchandising possibilities, which can be rare for a non-IP project, but it’s hard to say if that’s a negative or a positive. On the one hand, movies shouldn’t be made to sell toys, and on the other hand, I need a Blue ASAP. 

As for the other IFs, you can expect a good amount from Waller-Bridge’s Blossom, but many of the film’s big names mostly have cameo-level appearances. Each famous actor has a great moment ranging from Emily Blunt’s Unicorn to Geroge Clooney’s Spaceman, but some celebrities have more to do than others. If you managed to miss all the name drops in the trailer, you will want to stick around for the end credits as a reminder. Krasinski truly did gather an impressive line-up of A-listers, and their presence does improve the experience. 

IF sets up some rules that it occasionally breaks without explanation, so we recommend not thinking too hard about the “how” and “why” of it all, and just enjoy the ride. What the movie lacks in clarity, it makes up for in heart. The good news? Your kids probably won’t notice the flaws and you’ll be too busy shedding a tear to start poking holes in the plot. The film does a good job of reminding its audience that there’s a kid in all of us, and that time can never truly take away your imagination. It’s been a while since I looked around in a theater and saw multiple grown men shedding a tear. Krasinski knows how to appeal to parents, especially dads. 

While IF may not be a perfectly pieced-together movie, there’s enough heart embedded in its core to make it a worthy trip to the cinema for families. The cast is delightful, the IFs are magical, and the warmth is undeniable.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

IF is heading to theaters on May 17th. 

The post IF Review: John Krasinski Creates a Flawed but Sweet Tale for the Whole Family appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Set “Many Generations Later” after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes delivers on the promise of the franchise’s name immediately. One of the most fascinating things about these movies are the rules each tribe/clan/kingdom of apes operates under, and how they compare not only to us but to the history of civilization. Kingdom is no different, bringing audiences into the fold of The Eagle Clan, a group of Chimps who live in the remnants of our old world in prosperity. For longtime fans, this feels like the series is finally at a point where it can explore the title without humans hogging the spotlight, and when it’s digging into that, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is at its best.

Considering the epic scope of the Caesar trilogy compared to the specific aesthetic of the original Apes series, it would be easy to assume that a new film in the franchise would continue the trend of the modern. Director Wes Ball, however (working from a script written by Josh Friedman), has found a way to mesh the two endpoints of the Apes franchise into a film that rewards fans new and old. There’s not only the modern, action set-pieces and spectacle that audiences have come to love, but a sense of adventure and storytelling danger that harkens to the Charlton Heston original (plus a killer score by John Paesano that calls back to the Jerry Goldsmith themes of the original film). 

This isn’t to say that enjoyment of the film is dependent on a familiarity with eight other movies, as you can come in totally cold and marvel at what’s before you, but Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes deliberately arrives on screen as a celebration of the 55 years before it. There’s a rich text to be found in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, continuing the legacy of a science fiction franchise that isn’t afraid to hold up a mirror to our modern world, like, say, a violent demagogue exploiting the masses through violence. 

A huge reason Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes works is the new cast, who not only carry on the tradition of amazing motion-capture work, but feel like fully formed characters that are ripe for their own tale. Stepping into the metaphorical shoes of Andy Serkis feels like a tall task, but young actor Owen Teague delivers a soulful and engaging performance as Noa, the film’s central ape. Teague anchors the entire movie to the point where he sells even the character beats that are telegraphed, making them feel earned. 

Noa is joined by two chimp companions in Travis Jeffery as Anaya and Lydia Peckham as Soona, both of whom step up to the plate when called for, be it emotional resonance or a necessary beat of levity. Freya Allan’s appearance as the film’s sole human character could potentially put her in an awkward position; however, she is not only able to carry a lot of weight through her facial performance alone but also sells the sinister undertones of her character’s journey that arise. 

The best new addition to the entire Planet of the Apes franchise within Kingdom, however, is Peter Macon’s Raka, an orangutan that serves as the biggest connection to Caesar’s legacy. Macon infuses a deep sense of personality and lived-in wit to Raka while managing to bring about much-earned laughs when the movie most needs a chance to breathe. Kevin Durand’s Proximus Caesar is another great addition, and when he’s on screen, he is an electric antagonist, but, sadly, it feels like the movie has so much to set up that the character isn’t used to his fullest potential.

The frustrating part about the faults of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is that they don’t really make themselves known until the ending of the film. At this point, they tumble upon each other, making them all that much more glaring as distractions. Chief among these is that the finale feels overly rushed, and it becomes clear that this fast-forwarding of the third act was done so that a haphazard tee-up for a sequel could also get its time in the spotlight, one that some audience members may not be totally interested in, since it seems like wheel spinning for the series at large.

It also feels trite to bring up the tremendous work of WETA’s special effects within the ape franchise, but Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is yet another step forward from their previous work. This can best be seen in the quiet moments of the movie, when Wes Ball’s camera lingers on the faces of Noa, Anaya, and Soona, allowing the audience the chance to notice the wrinkles in their skin, the blemishes in their cheeks, and the signature spots under their eyes. It’s a magic trick that’s happening right in front of you and makes you forget that entire sequences of the movie aren’t real.  

It can already be daunting to join a franchise that has remained steadfast for almost sixty years, not to mention one that successfully rebooted itself in the 2010s to critical acclaim, but director Wes Ball has managed to stare down that mountain of intimidation with his cast and crew to deliver. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes proves that there is still life left in this franchise and that it can grow beyond the fan-favorite Andy Serkis trilogy while still drawing influence from its roots. Even with minor faults, it’s a grand time, and a worthy follow-up.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes opens in theaters on May 10th.  

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Whether it be the debate among audiences about practical vs. CG effects, the ways in which prestigious organizations overlook their accomplishments, or various on-set tragedies that have resulted in serious injury and even death, the stunt-performing community has earned amplified attention in recent years, and deservedly so. These performers literally put their lives on the line just to delight audiences, with many of their accomplishments going overlooked due to their duties requiring them to serve as surrogates for recognizable stars. With The Fall Guy, director David Leitch not only adapts the 1980s TV series, but also crafts a love letter to the stunt community, one in which he got his start in Hollywood. The result, though, never quite makes for an effective action-packed mystery nor for an effective romantic comedy, yet by blending these two ideas and by putting bonafide movie stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt front and center, The Fall Guy coasts by with on-screen talent and a handful of impressive action sequences.

After suffering an injury on set, stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling) leaves Hollywood behind, until producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) enlists him to serve as the stunt double for Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) on the debut feature film from director Jody Moreno (Blunt). Given that Colt and Jody had a long-running romantic relationship, Colt hopes to re-ignite their spark, only for Gail to reveal that Tom has gone missing and the real reason she hired Colt was to get him to investigate his whereabouts. While Colt aims to uncover the movie star’s location to save his former fling’s debut film, Jody grapples with whether she really wants to rekindle their romance.

Having previously directed movies like Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and Bullet Train, in addition to his dozens of contributions to action films as a stunt performer, Leitch knows how to pull off impressive sequences. What makes The Fall Guy so fascinating, though, is that, while the John Wick franchise, the Mission: Impossible franchise, and a number of superhero movies aim to push action cinema to new heights, there’s a surprising restraint being shown by Leitch when it comes to the film’s more adrenaline-fueled encounters. While there isn’t necessarily any sequence that’s jaw-dropping, we’re given a handful of fight scenes, explosions, collisions, and falls that make it feel more like an ’80s action movie than something released in 2024. This ccould be an intentional move on the part of Leitch, as we get to see exciting practical effects (as emphasized by a behind-the-scenes reel that rolls over the film’s credits) that utilize every tool in a stunt coordinator’s arsenal. 

Between the film’s opening scenes praising the work of stunt teams (which includes clips from Leitch’s films) to seeing his own production company’s logo emblazoned on airbags used in key scenes, it’s never quite clear whether The Fall Guy is meant to be a meta reflection on stunt work or merely an experience that highlights a largely overlooked group of highly skilled professionals. By 2024’s standards, some of the stunt sequences seem more rudimentary and straightforward, so, while still exciting, they feel like a back-to-basics approach to on-screen stunts. 

Another struggle that the film faces under Leitch’s direction is the overall narrative momentum. Drew Pearce and Glen A. Larson’s script does present a compelling mystery to unravel, which reflects the spirit of the original TV series, yet many of the times in which the investigation gains momentum, the movie pivots to embrace the romance between Colt and Jody. Conversely, as fans start to settle into the playful banter between Colt and Jody (or Colt and stunt coordinator Dan Tucker, played by Winston Duke), we’re jolted out of it once a clue emerges about the pursuit of Tom Ryder. A healthier balance between the two tones, or even cutting down on the two-hour-plus run time, would have made for a more efficient, all-killer-no-filler experience.

Tonal and narrative messiness aside, The Fall Guy serves as a showcase of the talents that have made Gosling and Blunt, as well as Taylor-Johnson, Waddhingham, and Duke, such sought-after performers. As proven in a number of other films by Leitch, the comedy is only barely elevated above low-hanging and obvious jokes, but the entire cast of Fall Guy fully sells the material to still make it charming. Whether it be the more action-oriented encounters, the romantic sparring, or the attempt to uncover what really happened to Ryder, the entire cast makes the most out of every situation and fully sells it with delight and authenticity. Nearly every scene, when taken on its own, is wholly entertaining (especially a scene in which Colt inadvertently goes on a drug-fueled mission), but Leitch struggles to balance it all as a cohesive feature. 

The Fall Guy is perfectly palatable summer fare featuring attractive movie stars being charming, with the romance occasionally being broken up by more thrilling scenes. For better or worse, the scope and scale of both the storyline and the stunts themselves feel more like an extended episode of the source material as opposed to an opportunity to take a core premise and elevate to new heights. Given the more humble origins of the Mission: Impossible franchise and the ways Brian De Palma tapped into the core components of the TV series and revived them in unexpected and exciting ways and just how bombastic that franchise has since become, we can’t rule out The Fall Guy becoming a franchise that can more fully push the effective elements to further heights in subsequent installments, especially after this entry lays a solid foundation of talent involved in the overall experience. Leitch is no De Palma, however, so while all of the core pieces come to life relatively cohesively, there isn’t much to elevate The Fall Guy to be anything more than the sum of its parts.

Rating: 3 out of 5

The Fall Guy lands in theaters on May 3rd.

The post The Fall Guy Review: Movie Stars Salvage a Mediocre Mystery appeared first on ComicBook.com.

What if the television show that you remember growing up on turned out to be a little more real than you expected? This is the question that filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun presents with their latest horror film, I Saw the TV Glow, which grabs onto a twisted, skin-crawling ’90s aesthetic and never lets go. In this moody, atmospheric campfire tale, Schoenbrun intricately weaves together a teenager’s love with pop culture and a search for self-understanding that leaves viewers to question the world of the “Pink Opaque.”

Justice Smith takes on the role of Owen, a young man who has always felt that there is “something wrong with him” that separates him from everyone else. In a chance encounter, Owen comes into contact with Maddy, a classmate two years his senior who is hooked on a young-adult spooky series known as The Pink Opaque. As Owen tries to come to terms with the direction of his life, Maddy disappears, returning ten years later to inform her friend that their love of the Nickelodeon-inspired series might be far more insidious than they had originally believed. What follows is Owen coming to grips with the horror of both accepting Maddy’s fairy tale and the life he must live if he plays it safe, returning to normalcy. 

Those expecting a flat-out horror film from I Saw the TV Glow might find themselves disappointed once the credits roll here, in that the film’s commitment to Nickelodeon-style aesthetics, such as The Adventures of Pete And Pete and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, translates to its chills and thrills. The A24 film doesn’t have much in the way of jump scares and/or slasher-style murders, but its surreal trappings and reality-bending story beats will stay locked into your head for days following the run time. What viewers get from the film instead of a straight-up horror might be far stronger, as Schoenbrun takes the chance to dive deep into the idea of self-acceptance and the true horror that comes from attempting to fit in with the crowd by pushing your true personality beneath the surface. 

As a kid myself who grew up on a steady diet of SNICK (Nickelodeon’s Saturday night programming block that housed more of its mature outings), I Saw the TV Glow immediately scratches that itch for those looking to revisit that time period. The director is able to create a series in The Pink Opaque that would easily fit right in with the likes of Clarissa Explains It All, Roundhouse, and The Secret World of Alex Mack. Schoenbrun is also able to inject some unsettling horror within it, as the main stars find themselves attempting to defeat a supernatural threat known as “Mr. Melancholy” from the Midnight Realm. 

Justice Smith’s Owen is the star of the show here in more ways than one, as it is the pinnacle performance for the young actor’s resume. “I know something is wrong with me,” Owen quotes early in the film and he’s more than confident that the world at large feels the same way. Becoming hyper-fixated on The Pink Opaque offers Owen an outlet from the hum-drum normality of modern-day suburbia, but in doing so, begins to distort his reality. Smith’s Owen captures the confusion and terror of Maddy’s new reality, following her return to his life, as he speechlessly portrays the sheer horror of the choice being presented before him.

Brigette Lundy-Paine’s Maddy follows closely behind Owen here, presenting a character struggling with the world’s view of her sexuality and the best method of escaping a troubled household. When Maddy returns after so many years away, Lundy-Paine does an excellent job of selling where Maddy’s been and what she has to do next. The ordeal sounds ludicrous on paper, but the young actor’s sincerity sells the plight. In Owen and Maddy, I Saw the TV Glow expertly creates an analogy for LGBTQ+ issues that countless young people struggle with.

Hot off the heels of their freshman production, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Schoenbrun’s sophomore film effortlessly captures the constraints of the suburbs, needling in unsettling imagery via mundane trappings such as chalk drawings on the sidewalk, fuzzy television reception, and Mr. Melancholy’s lunar-faced henchmen looking to add human hearts to their collection. Well, that last part isn’t exactly a staple of suburbia, but it feels more mundane when viewed through the lens of a ’90s-era cable broadcast. 

The biggest issue with I Saw the TV Glow is in its finale, which wraps a little too quickly rather than letting the terror of the scenario sink in. The film has a lot of unanswered questions, and rightfully so considering that there are many unanswered questions in most peoples’ lives, but giving the final scenario a little more time to breathe would have ultimately benefitted the film.

I Saw the TV Glow might not be what you were expecting, but it’s a film that feels tailor-made in paying homage to the creepy children’s shows of yesteryear and blends them with some of the issues facing the youth of today. Cataloging the film as simply a horror movie almost does it a disservice, as it’s one that is sure to be considered a cult classic for years to come. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

I Saw the TV Glow opens in limited release on May 3rd and nationwide on May 17th.

The post I Saw The TV Glow Review: Are You Afraid of the Dark? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett Silence (collectively known as “Radio Silence,” along with producer Chad Villella) have been taking progressively bigger steps towards rightly being called two of the top horror filmmakers working in the business. After breaking into the genre with other up-and-coming horror directors (like Adam Wingard) with the V/H/S anthology series, Radio Silence scored a big cult-hit with their film Ready or Not, which led to a big franchise opportunity and success with 2022’s Scream and last year’s Scream VI. 

Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett’s new film Abigail is arriving at a pivotal moment: the directors exited the Scream franchise on messy terms after their Scream franchise star (and star of Abigail) Melissa Barrera was fired from the lead role of Scream 7. Now Radio Silence and Barrera all have something to prove with Abigail, which already makes this film more than the usual B-movie horror experience. 

The story of Abigail finds a group of anonymous criminals forming a crew for a high-stakes job: kidnapping the daughter of a powerful man and holding her for ransom. The kidnapping is pulled off flawlessly, but when the crew gets to the safe house to wait for the ransom, things take a dire turn. Crew members start turning up dead and the surviving members start turning on each other. Theories fly that an assassin has infiltrated the operation and is possibly posing as one of the crew. However, the truth turns out to be so much worse when it’s revealed that the young girl they abducted is anything but that.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are coming off a major career high point with Scream VI, and in terms of their technical skills as directors, Abigail proves they are only getting better.  The look of the film (created by The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cinematographer Aaron Morton) is darkly lavish, while Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett further establish their signature as directors, effortlessly taking mystery, gory horror, witty comedy, and a bit of drama to have them flow together in a captivating brew of a movie. After both Ready or Not and Abigail, it’s becoming a safe bet to assume that Radio Silence, plus a big mansion setting, plus an ensemble cast, automatically equals a fun movie. The script by Stephen Shileds (The Hole in the Ground) and Radio Silence collaborator Guy Busick (Ready or Not, Scream, Scream VI) quickly and effectively sets up both a single story arc and larger franchise mythos for possible revisiting, without one objective ever hindering the other. The story and characters are developed in perfect concert to make this over-the-top premise and character (Abigail the vampire) work and feel menacingly “real” when the crime caper turns full horror. 

Abigail is arguably the strongest cast yet that Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett have pulled together. Melissa Barrera once again proves to be a smart choice for a Final Girl lead, with her character “Joey” being a nicely layered, complex, and interesting role to center the story around. Dan Stevens (The Guest) brings along some of that recent Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire scene-chewing mania to his role as Frank, and he and Barrera are a dynamic pair onscreen as leads. Kathryn Newton (Paranormal Activity 4, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) is funny and smarmy as Gen-Z stand-in Sammy, and even better when odd-paired with the massive Kevin Durand (Legion, The Strain), who plays Peter as charmingly dumb to great comedic effect. William Catlett (Black Lightning), the late Angus Cloud (Euphoria), and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian) anchor the supporting roles with solid and engaging character acting, and each character gets a standout scene that each actor delivers on. Without spoilers, when things get bloody, every loss matters, thanks to the cast. 

Of course, the movie would utterly fail without Alisha Weir (Matilda the Musical) as the titular Abigail. The teenage actress is required to do more to carry this film than some of the most celebrated young horror actors out there and is delightfully wicked to watch while she does it all. 

As many horror fans will wonder: Abigail (thankfully) never takes itself too seriously; never pretends the audience doesn’t know the twist, or ever imagines being anything other than an efficiently executed, single-setting, (and literally) ripping-and-roaring good time. It doesn’t re-invent the B-movie horror wheel in any way, but its balanced blend of heist action, crime drama, gore horror, and comedy does make it a uniquely fun experience, from a director team that is hitting its best strides. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 

Abigail debuts in theaters on April 19th.

The post Abigail Review: A Beautifully Bloody Fun Blend appeared first on ComicBook.com.

In the 80 years since World War II, the conflict remains as prominent as ever on the big screen, as it’s hard to find villains as frightening as Nazis. Whether we’re given more grounded interpretations of the battle with movies like The Dirty Dozen, Saving Private Ryan, or The Zone of Interest, there’s also been more stylized takes on that point in history with projects like Inglorious Basterds, Jojo Rabbit, or the horror-fueled Overlord. Then you have Guy Ritchie’s new film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which struggles with finding the right balance of authenticity and exaggerated adventure that, even with a talented cast, fails to make for a fulfilling tribute to the real-life heroes that inspired it.

The story is inspired by the real-life Operation Postmaster, which saw Winston Churchill sending a covert team to a small island off the coast of West Africa to sink a ship integral to Germany in 1942. The mission was so covert, in fact, that Churchill himself would have to deny any knowledge of the situation, so the team, led by Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill), would either face capture by the Germans or imprisonment by the British if they were caught. This doesn’t intimidate Gus in the slightest, as he knows that his teammates Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson), Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding), Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer), and Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) are all capable of pulling off the task at hand, and even facing dire consequences, will revel in killing as many Nazis as possible along the way.

Initial glances at Ministry in trailers drew immediate comparisons to Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, as the marketing leaned much more highly into the exploitation vibes of the picture. This comparison isn’t necessarily unwarranted, as Basterds is one of the best WWII “men on a mission” movies of the last two decades, and Ministry‘s premise of a ragtag group reveling in killing Nazis marks a similar agenda to the protagonists in the Tarantino flick. Even though Gus encourages the rest of his team, “Don’t forget to have fun,” while infiltrating a Nazi camp, this seems more like a request to the audience to have fun because, at that point in the film, the experience couldn’t make up its mind on what it wanted to be.

Ritchie made a name for himself with movies like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, both of which delivered American audiences a fresh look at the UK’s criminal underworld in compelling and comedic ways. The timing of these releases in 1998 and 2000, respectively, made it seem like Ritchie was the UK’s answer to Tarantino, a reputation Ritchie both deserved and lived up to. However, by ultimately pivoting to big-budget studio films like two Sherlock Holmes movies, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and Aladdin, long gone were the grit and abrasiveness of his earlier efforts, instead smoothing off all of his rough filmmaking edges to make movies that appealed to wider audiences. Even if Ministry seems like it’s an attempt to recapture his roots with a straightforward spy story that has plenty of blood and moments of charm, Ritchie still struggles to fully commit to offering anything unconventional.

The biggest issue that Ministry suffers is its reliance on telling audiences more than showing audiences whatever it’s trying to get across. The scenes in which Churchill (Rory Kinnear) and Gus talk about assembling a team feature Gus explicitly telling his superiors the backgrounds and character descriptions of the other figures, which audiences are just expected to buy into as opposed to actually witnessing. Given the stature of Ritchson’s Anders, it’s easy to believe he’s a killing machine, and subsequent scenes do show off these abilities, though this is the closest we get to learning much about him. Whether it’s Freddy’s penchant for explosives or Geoffrey’s resiliency, audiences are just expected to accept what Gus tells us about them without the characters ever having to do much by way of showcasing these traits. In what might be the most egregious instance of this, the villainous Heinrich Luhr (played by Basterds‘ Til Schweiger) is given an ominous introduction as being the most deadly threat the team will face, yet the film never actually demonstrates what makes him so vile. While we do see that he has tied up someone in a Nazi base, seemingly as a means of torture, we never actually see Heinrich delivering anything to back up his introduction, with Ritchie once again just telling audiences how they have to feel instead of organically evoking emotions.

Making any movie based on true-life situations is a challenge, as storytellers have to find the balance between honoring the reality and making for a more compelling movie, so we can somewhat excuse the story for not making bigger swings with its characters that could betray the reality. This narrative specifically, though, carries so little weight due to the team themselves not running into any major setbacks or conflicts along the way. They seem less like real WWII heroes and more like the Avengers in how effortless they make it all seem to enter one death-defying situation after the next and emerge unscratched, and while a key component in virtually every mission-oriented war movie features characters having to improvise an unconventional solution to unplanned obstacles, but Ministry denies us much of those compelling story shifts. The premise of the film sees Gus being enlisted to pull off the mission, and the film showcases his direct route towards the mission, without any real roadblocks or setbacks along the way. The narrative structure feels like the first and third acts of a movie that left out the meat of the second act in which our protagonists face any conflicts or earn the audience’s empathy.

The final product of Ministry might not be anything especially cohesive, but that isn’t to say that there aren’t still scenes to enjoy. Watching Gus or Anders kill Nazis in a variety of ways is always a welcome sight (though, while violent at times, these scenes never go full-bore with their gruesome deaths and feel like they were shot to potentially allow for a PG-13 instead of an R rating), and the less bombastic scenes of Eiza González’s Marjorie Stewart and Babs Olusanmokun’s Heron pulling off more mundane missions on land while Gus and Co. sail to their destination are a bit more charming and engaging than the Nazi-killing sprees. 

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is mostly a harmless outing that isn’t actively bad, and even has isolated incidents of charm, if even just accidentally. It’s hard to pull together a cast like this and end up without anything entertaining, so the stars are the ones who deserve the most credit in the experience. The overall product, however, feels like the distillation of Ritchie’s career, in that he wants to embrace the roots of his more effective and abrasive cinematic sensibilities yet also doesn’t want to commit to anything too provocative that won’t prevent Disney from offering him Aladdin 2. From the story to the direction to the dialogue, Ministry both wants to be slick, stylish, and sarcastic yet also be an authentic homage to the accomplishments of the real-life heroes that inspired it, instead feeling like an entirely inoffensive and forgettable film that would have otherwise been released straight to VOD if not for a somewhat recognizable cast.

Rating: 2 out of 5

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare hits theaters on April 19th.

The post The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Review: A Lackluster Tribute to Real Heroes appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire begins with perhaps the hardest pivot possible from 2014’s Godzilla, the start of Legendary’s MonsterVerse. While Gareth Edwards’ kaiju epic built up to Godzilla using his atomic breath in a moment that forced the audience to wait on the edge of their seat to marvel at its power, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire makes sure to have him deploy the ability within minutes of the film starting, killing another Titan in a shower of green goo like it’s powered by Nickelodeon’s trademark slime. In that moment, which occurs just before the title card, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire wastes no time to make sure audiences are well aware that this movie is not that movie, and it knows exactly why you are here.

Filmmaker Adam Wingard has taken the reins on the MonsterVerse and delivered what audiences have believed they wanted since the start with a beat ’em up, crowd-pleasing blockbuster. Since its inception, this Americanized version of the kaiju has become a multiplex mainstay, and the desire from fans has been to excise as much of the human element as possible and to stick to the gargantuan slugfests. There is a substantial amount of the latter, which would all be cheer-worthy moments on their own, but build toward a final clash that is terrific in its execution.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire does not entirely get rid of the regular people on the call sheet, but pulls back on them considerably and even cuts down the cast size to maybe a third of the other movies in the franchise. Where Godzilla x Kong: The New Empiremakes up ground in that regard is by fully committing to its title kaiju as characters. 2021’s Godzilla vs Kong really offered the great ape more personality, accentuating his features to give him more human-like mannerisms, and he has now fully become a main character in this story. Full sequences of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire play without dialogue as Kong explores the world and meets kaiju, both friendly and adversarial. 

The best new addition of those is Suko, a smaller ape that ends up becoming the Art Carney to Kong’s Jackie Gleason, mixing up the dynamic for the kaiju in the same way that Dan Stevens adds a fun flair to the human side of it all. Even Godzilla shows moments of personality that feel like he has grown into his place in this franchise’s version of him, like the key man-made landmark he has now claimed as his giant dog bed. Another major strength in the movie’s larger “plot” is that it has the Kong story and the main human story mirror each other almost directly, providing a sufficient amount of stakes for both sides so that the breadth of its total picture is clear.

The faults to find in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire are glaring, however, chief among them the film’s commitment to continuing its predecessor’s descent into the tired storytelling device of the Hollow Earth. Not only do they go harder on this idea, which has deep roots in racist ideologies, but it doubles down on it in ways that viewers familiar with its history will find especially boorish. There is also the hilarious level of goofy exposition that occurs. Though not as frequent as in other MonsterVerse movies, they are deployed clumsily, like a sequence where Rebecca Hall is inexplicably watching a documentary about her own adopted daughter just to make sure audience members are caught up. This feels like the movie not being confident in itself, or rather the studio getting cold feet and falling on bad habits, since so much of the rest of the film maintains a strong sense of personality and confidence.

Another issue throughout Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire occurs as the film explores the Hollow Earth more fully, running into a scaling problem. As the audience, we are fully aware that Kong is huge, so when he is adjacent to a large rock or crossing a bridge made of bones, we know that these are also big, but without the scale of a regular human or something we can quantify, the impact of the picture loses its power. Those moments where the chaos and fighting return to the surface, and landmarks and people are present to give it all proportion, are Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire‘s blockbuster filmmaking at its best.

An unfairness that will no doubt work against Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is that it is being released just months after the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One. That film was a somber reflection on Japan responding to the country’s post-war rebuilding through the lens of a terrorizing kaiju, while Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is akin to a Saturday morning cartoon best accompanied by sugary cereal. Though the stark contrast here might immediately conjure contrived feelings of superiority for one or the other, what the Godzilla franchise has largely proven over the past 70 years is that these are not opposing interpretations but rather two sides of the same coin. Dark, gloomy, and mournful Godzilla can exist alongside playful, colorful, and mischievous Godzilla. Preferences will still certainly abound, but the world is big enough for both, and how lucky we are to have films that harken both to the likes of Ishirō Honda’s 1954 original Godzilla and Ishirō Honda’s 1975 sequel Terror of Mechagodzilla.

When George Miller was promoting Mad Max: Fury Road, he spoke about a quote from Alfred Hitchcock wherein the legendary director said he wanted films that work where the audience doesn’t have to read the subtitles, the implication being that as long as your visual storytelling is solid, you’ve done your job. Now, five movies in, the MonsterVerse has found its first real entry that abides by this principle. The sequel carries itself on its visual spectacle that not only defines and pushes its narrative but also commits to the vast canvas that it promises.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the movie that fans have thought they wanted for the past 10 years. Monster fights and IMAX-sized visuals are delivered to a dizzying degree, while the handful of characters who are present are largely around to just spout off NPC-level dialogue so that you’re totally aware of why something is about to happen or why someone is about to show up. You’re not going to remember the moments where a human said a dumb line for two seconds since you just saw a giant lizard suplex a giant ape into the sand, which is what the movie itself is more invested in.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire hits theaters on March 29th.

The post Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review: The Kaiju Movie You Dreamed About appeared first on ComicBook.com.

David Dastmalchian has long been one of our best lil’ freaks in movies, and though his name is the first in the credits for Late Night with the Devil, he has not lost his magic as a performer. Embodying movies like the classic Ghostwatch and recent cult hit WNUF Halloween Special, Late Night with the Devil reveals the Halloween-centric broadcast of talk show host Jack Delroy (Dastmalchian), who is desperately chasing stardom. Previously the subject of a meteoric rise on the late-night scene, the movie frames itself as being the master tape of that specific broadcast, wherein Delroy brings not only a psychic and a skeptic onto the show, but a psychologist and the young women she’s working with who claims to be possessed by a demonic entity. A heavy-handed introduction to the entire film presents all this in a mostly succinct manner, and it helps that Michael Ironside is the voice delivering all of the exposition, as his talents help soften some of the clunkier bits. 

The strength in the storytelling found in Late Night with the Devil is that the structure of the broadcast/script finds a balancing act between lampooning the supernatural and depicting it as believable. In a way, the movie leaves it up to the viewer to decide what’s going on, until it unsurprisingly goes all gas, no brakes. Boasting a small cast, Late Night with the Devil is an ensemble piece, as it bounces between the alleged supernatural, the member of the show who is quick to disprove it, and Dastmalchian’s host, who is doing his best to climb the TV ladder and make all these pieces work together to his benefit.

Dastmalchian’s Delroy embodies the best parts of late-night comedy hosts like Conan O’Brien, maintaining a fun amount of self-deprecation but also remaining unpredictable. The role proves that Dastmalchian can continue to practice his character-actor appeal even while anchoring the entirety of the narrative as its lead. He’s funny and has charisma, but also knows exactly when to turn toward his dramatic chops. It’s a great performance from someone we’re used to seeing in small bites, and this time he’s giving us a meal as a man who feels alive and layered.

Other standouts alongside Dastmalchian are Ian Bliss as Carmichael the Conjurer, a hypnotist turned skeptic who has an answer for every little trick on display, and Ingrid Torelli as Lilly, the young girl who may or may not be demonically possessed. Bliss finds himself a unique anchor that complements Dastmalchian as he manages to keep the audience guessing about what’s really happening; while Torelli navigates the troubled waters of playing a young girl forced to act in a demonic manner. It’s easy to go over the top when exploring that, but Torelli manages to deliver distinct looks and movements when performing her two sides.

If there’s an element where Late Night with the Devil falters (beyond the unfortunate use of AI for video graphics that could have certainly been made by a human artist), it’s in the interstitials to be found during the master tape’s “commercial breaks.” A frequent issue with any found-footage movie of this type is that the idea of why the camera is on and running is the question hanging over the narrative at all times, and it’s nearly impossible to not consider this when these moments occur. Major character beats do happen in these spurts so they’re not entirely without merit or narrative thrust, but they pull you out of the entire experience, which is largely fluid, making these scenes even more peculiar.

One thing is for sure, like the few other “broadcast” horror movies you’ll find out in the world, Late Night With the Devil rewards repeat viewing. Once you’ve experienced it in full, additional time with it will only enhance it all by confirming that most pieces fell into place where they did for a reason and that certain imagery is both more recurring than you realized, and also permeates the entire DNA of the piece. Like Twin Peaks, the owls are not what they seem.

Horror fans will find a familiar structure at the heart of Late Night with the Devil, the execution is what keeps it engaging and, for the most part, interesting. Though some moments break the larger illusion, the majority of the film harnesses a specific type of aesthetic and production value that makes it feel real. When it needs to, Late Night with the Devil finds a balance between retro prosthetic effects and some modern CGI that is appropriately filtered to stay of the era, and it all works together in tandem to bring viewers something that feels fresh and unique.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Late Night with the Devil is in theaters now.

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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire tries to keep the momentum of the new Ghostbusters movie franchise going after the 2021 “requel” film Ghostbusters: Afterlife. However, where Afterlife was Jason Reitman’s multi-layered rumination on the Ghostbusters legacy, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a film that is far less serious, much more irreverent, and arguably the most effective when it comes to getting back on the vibe of the weird, offbeat, and legitimately frightening supernatural comedy films that Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd created with director Ivan Reitman. 

The plot of Frozen Empire sees the Ghostbusters team that was formed in Afterlife – Egon’s Spengler’s daughter Callie (Carrie Coon), grandson Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), geeky granddaughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), and Phoebe’s former teacher Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) – working full-time as paranormal investigators in NYC. As usual, “Mayor” Peck (William Atherton) is breathing down the necks of the Ghostbusters and their sponsor Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson): about the public damage they cause, the unsanctioned actions they take, and (most egregious) that they allow Phoebe, a minor, to be put in harm’s way. The team has no choice but to bench Phoebe and play things by the book until the heat dies down – but little do they know how much heat they will need.

Meanwhile, a local man-bro named Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani) sells Ray Stantz some strange artifacts owned by his late grandmother – including an orb cased in bronze, which Ray (eventually) deduces is the prison of a god-like evil entity named Garraka, who can freeze things through the power of fear. It becomes a race against time as Garraka coerces other trapped ghosts into helping it escape, promising to free them from the Ghostbusters’ prison. Between the rapid uptick in spiritual activity, their containment methods on the brink of failing, and an evil entity on the prowl, it’s a bad time for these new Ghostbusters – as well as the classic team – to be fractured and frayed. It also looks bleak when the team’s best hope becomes training a “Fire Master” of legend to be the weapon they need against Garraka – only to have the most unlikely candidate for that sacred mantle land in their lap.

Gil Kenan (Monster House) co-wrote Ghostbusters: Afterlife with Jason Reitman, before stepping into the director’s chair for Frozen Empire, which he again co-wrote with Reitman. As stated, the tonal focus of this sequel is different: more concerned with recapturing the classic fun of Ghostbusters, and less concerned with mulling over legacy and loss – despite this being the first Ghostbusters film since Jason’s father, Ivan Reitman, died in 2022. Ultimately, it’s a shift that comes at a cost – but one that’s arguably worth paying. 

At this point, Ghostbusters has become so iconic that the context of what made the original film so popular has gotten muddled. The original Ghostbusters blended horror, comedy, and some epic action in a way that hadn’t been seen before – but it was also a showcase of comedic talent, with Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, and the rest of the cast getting to riff and get weird with their scenes. In fact, the first Ghostbusters movie has the structure of a comedy film, with sequences full of gags and banter loosely strung together with the frame of “paranormal investigators” looking into the mystery of an all-powerful entity gathering supernatural forces together. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire apes that same comedic framework and offbeat flow, but admittedly feels more disjointed in its narrative. 

The scattered story focus has everything to do with the size of the cast. The Ghostbusters movies (even the infamous 2016 reboot) have always been about three (eventually four) main Ghostbusters coming together and the bond they form while battling the supernatural. Frozen Empire doesn’t have a clear thematic narrative guiding it – more a series of sitcom-style character conflicts. Phoebe wants both the team and the world to recognize her talents; Gary and Callie are trying to parent through the troubled waters of teenage angst; Trevor wants to be treated as an adult; Ray and Winston can’t agree on how much Ghostbusting old fellas should still be doing. In the midst of all that human drama, there are also supernatural machinations at work, involving both the Spengler family and an entirely different team of new Ghostbusters researchers, including the returning Luky Domingo (Celeste O’Connor) and new additions Lars Pinfield (James Acaster) and the fame-seeking “Podcast” (Logan Kim). There’s even a subplot where the ice demon Garraka has multiple ghost characters pulling side schemes for him – plus the plotline about finding and training the Fire Master to unlock the power to defeat Garraka. 

It’s a lot to pack into one film, and the result would be a total mess, except that Kenan and his editors wisely seem to realize that all these branching storylines are just great setups for scenes of horror-humor and fun callbacks to the first Ghostbusters films. Kenan and returning cinematographer Eric Steelberg once again create some exciting action sequences and generally make the film look good, with better visual effects this time around – especially all the icing effects for Garraka, and the look of the demonic villain. The classic Ghostbusters framework allows for more clever and fun ghost concepts (like the lively “Possessor” entity), as well as plenty of familiar favorites longtime fans will appreciate seeing again. Best of all, Frozen Empire isn’t afraid of going into deeper horror territory, with Garraka being a genuinely scary villain for the Ghostbusters to face. 

The returning cast from Afterlife gets to breathe and flex more comedic chops this time around, save for Mckenna Grace’s Phoebe, who gets an angsty teen romance subplot that will certainly be the subject of some discussion. Between the veteran Ghostbusters actors, the returning Afterlife squad, and the new additions, it’s an accomplishment in itself that they all seem to gel so well onscreen, with scenes of banter between the cast being the distinction that elevates Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire above other franchise installments. 

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire may be the first Ghostbusters film of the new era to inspire the hope – even the excitement – that this franchise, with these characters, can still run for at least another installment (or two), and will probably only continue to improve with each one. 

Rating: 3 out of 5 

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will be in theaters on March 22nd.

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Imaginary is more than just a new horror film – it’s another franchise-starter attempt by Blumhouse Productions. In that sense, Imaginary delivers some very mixed results: It’s a creepy enough introduction to a new horror icon (Chauncey the Bear, and the demonic entity attached to it), but unfortunately, director Jeff Wadlow can’t manage to bring it all together by the end, leaving just the potential of the concept to carry this series forward. 

The story of Imaginary follows a woman named Jessica (DeWanda Wise) who is attempting to settle into the blended family she’s created with her husband Max (Tom Payne) and his daughters Taylor (Taegen Burns) and Alice (Pyper Braun). After the girls continue being traumatized by their mentally unstable mother (Alix Angelis), Max and Jessica decide a move and fresh start are needed. 

The family returns to Jessica’s childhood home, where Alice discovers a stuffed bear in the basement. Alice soon begins talking to the bear, who she identifies as Chauncey Bear; Jessica and Max think it’s a cute coping mechanism at first, until they notice Alice seemingly speaking in Chauncey’s voice, and doing things for her imaginary friend that no child should be doing. When Jessica tries to get Alice some help, it becomes clear that the darkness is not just Alice’s young mind trying to cope – there’s something evil gripping her – something Jessica begins to recognize as an evil that’s touched her life all along.

Imaginary is a horror film that is more classic scary fairytale than a modern horror movie experience. That stylistic influence is pretty pronounced in the story (written by Wadlow, Greg Erb, and Jason Oremland), with Jessica being a writer and artist of a children’s fairytale series. The supernatural elements of that fairytale are fittingly creepy: the Chauncey Bear toy and the shadowy entity attached to it are used to unsettling effect for most of the run time, with a mixture of demonic and children’s tropes that turns a kid’s imagination into a source of dread. Wadlow directs most of the film with a competent hand, with scenes of genuine creepiness and well-earned jump-scares. Imaginary would have been exponentially better if Wadlow and co. had kept the premise simple in this first installment, confining things to the house; instead, the climax goes for something much more ambitious and quickly unravels as a result. 

Without spoilers, Imaginary’s third act pushes the run time (1 hour 44 minutes) too far, while the “reveals” try to establish a much bigger lore for what Chauncey Bear truly is, and where the entity comes from. It turns a haunted house movie into a hokey surrealist nightmare, where the “rules” of the horror fall apart along with the narrative and direction, drowning in a pool of scare sequences that the filmmakers overindulged in, without really questioning if the blown-out finale serves the movie in any way (it does not). It would’ve been far better for Wadlow to keep the backstory and origins of Chauncey mysterious and never fully explained – and instead put more emphasis and focus on resolving the family drama between the characters more efficiently.

To that end, the character drama in Imaginary is just as uneven: DeWanda Wise (Jurassic World Dominion) is tasked to carry a lot of the film and carries it well. There are a lot of layers to Jessica and her backstory, and Wise has to cycle through drama, horror, and many layers of emotional complexity, but is never anything less than compelling to watch. Her two younger co-stars are, well, younger, and have all the performance range of child actors. Taegan Burns (The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers) aptly plays a stereotypically insufferable teenage girl and Pyper Braun does her best as Alice but is arguably leaned on to deliver too much in the way of performance. Other actors like Tom Payne (Prodigal Son), Veronica Falcón (Ozark), and Samuel Salary (Stranger Things) are barely featured and can’t do much to help carry the load.  

Imaginary is just a so-so introduction to this horror universe and its monster, leaving a lot of potential on the table for a sequel to better execute on the concept. That said, Chauncey Bear will likely break through as a new horror icon alongside M3GAN, another Blumhouse horror character that is already being viewed for a potential crossover with Chauncey.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Imaginary is now in theaters.  

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Frank Herbert’s Dune has a long legacy of filmmakers attempting to do justice to his novel. Whether it be a failed take on the material from Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ’70s, David Lynch in a 1984 film, or a 2003 miniseries, no one could quite crack the code to make a definitive translation of the material to balance the dense and layered themes Herbert delivered while also making for an accessible and easily digestible experience. Denis Villeneuve largely accomplished the impossible with his 2021 Dune, as he avoided the standard tropes of the sci-fi genre and honored the complexity of the source material, to the point of splitting the narrative into two films. With Dune: Part Two, Villeneuve continues to circumvent expectations and, while there was the opportunity to offer up more bombast than the debut film, instead focuses on the tragic elements of Paul Atreides, serving instead as a cautionary tale of anyone deeming themselves to be a messiah.

Picking off almost immediately after the events of Dune, Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) have collided with a group of Fremen, led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem), after the Harkonnen have attacked and seemingly eradicated all of House Atreides. Paul and Jessica are both integrated into the Fremen community, based on prophecies and visions the Arrakis natives have, all while Paul and Chani (Zendaya) grow closer to one another, despite Chani’s apprehension about Paul’s furthering beliefs that he could be a messiah that will bring peace to the universe as the Fremen’s “Muad’Dib.”

Elsewhere in the universe, Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) aims to extend his power, enlisting his nephew Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler) to call the shots on Arrakis. However, reports of the rebellious Muad’Dib have reached Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken) and his daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), as they grow nervous of what this figure could mean for the empire.

With his first Dune, Villeneuve offered a much more ethereal take on the worlds of Herbert’s novel than seen in previous takes on the material, which allowed him to further establish himself as a visionary in the sci-fi realm in the wake of projects like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. Part Two is just as gorgeous and captivating as the debut film, though what holds it back in the realm of spectacle is that audiences are continuing to spend time on worlds we’ve already been introduced to, so there isn’t much that takes us by surprise. While sequences of Paul taming the sandworms, known as Shai-Hulud, or attacks on spice miners are intense and adrenaline-pumping, they don’t entirely surpass what the filmmaker accomplished in the debut film. The exception to this in Part Two, though, are the sequences on the Harkonnen homeworld of Giedi Prime, which are filmed in a contrasting monochrome that makes for a striking gladiatorial scene that showcases the ruthlessness of Feyd-Rautha. Additionally, while a siege sequence in the final act of the film would have likely been expanded to create epic scenes of intergalactic combat under the direction of other filmmakers, Villeneuve keeps this sequence efficient and restrained, never showcasing warfare just for the sake of injecting action.

While the visuals of the film might not surpass the accomplishments of the first, the character development of figures both new and old are far more rich. Many audiences who were unaware of Chani’s role in the story were disappointed she earned so little screentime in the first Dune will be delighted to see her become arguably the most important character in Part Two‘s story. Zendaya continues to showcase why she’s one of the most in-demand performers of her generation, while Chalamet delivers equal parts charm, vulnerability, and megalomania as Paul. Ferguson is also a standout in the picture, as she weaves an intricate tapestry of a figure who cares for her child yet always has the goals of the Bene Gesserit (a witch-like group who aims to control the events of the universe) in mind. Skarsgård is just as detestable as he was in the first film, but it’s his on-screen nephew that will both excite and frighten viewers, as Butler has entirely disappeared into the treacherous role of Feyd-Rautha. Only a year after viewers witnessed his career-defining performance in Elvis, Butler is entirely unrecognizable as the warrior, making for a stark contrast to how Pugh brings the worrying Irulan to life, as she seems to be the only one who puts the fate of the universe ahead of her own wants and desires.

Where Villeneuve and his cowriter Jon Spaihts must really be commended is how, despite Paul being known as an iconic sci-fi hero, the pair make it quite clear that he’s not necessarily a character to envy. He’s undeniably powerful, charismatic, and driven by revenge against those who killed his father, but he also buys too much into what he’s being fed by his sycophants, whether they be the Fremen or his mother. Paul will stop at nothing to achieve his goals and this film proves that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and it’s up to the viewer to determine whether the ends justify the means. 

Speaking of endings, Villeneuve has already expressed how he aims to also adapt Herbert’s next novel in the series, Dune Messiah, into a film, though it has yet to be officially greenlit by Warner Bros. The ending of Dune: Part Two might not feel quite like the implied “To be continued…” that the first film ended on, so this resolution is a bit more satisfying than its predecessor, but the implications of the final act of the film are sure to frustrate viewers. For better or worse, there’s even a piece of dialogue that harkens back to Aragorn’s line, “Let’s hunt some Orc,” in the final scenes of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but knowing that the Tolkien film had a sequel on the way, audiences accepted it a bit more easily. While it seems likely that Villeneuve will get to make Messiah in the relatively near future, the nature of the source material and the director’s authentic adaptation of it means we can’t count on getting that entirely satisfying ending quite yet.

Herbert’s Dune is not only a thrilling journey in its own right, but it also serves as an allegory exploring themes of colonialism, fanaticism, religion, imperialism, and the exploitation of natural resources. These aren’t entirely crowd-pleasing ideas, and Villeneuve largely accomplishes honoring those themes while also making for an engaging sci-fi epic. It doesn’t quite feel as awe-inspiring as the debut film, but this will ultimately work in the favor of the story, as we aren’t given arbitrarily inflated elements that would have fit within the blockbuster-oriented sensibilities of franchise filmmaking seen in so many other series. Still, the fact that such an inaccessible tome could be brought to life without having to sacrifice either the character complexities or depressing allegories found within the source material makes the two-film journey a triumph in its own right, and we can’t wait to see where Messiah will take us.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Dune: Part Two lands in theaters on March 1st.

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Bob Marley: One Love attempts to use a pivotal time in the life of the now-legendary musician and social revolutionary to define who he was as a man, and what his time on Earth meant. With a cast that is led by Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch as Bob Marley and his wife and musical partner Rita, respectively, and heavy influence from the Marley estate, One Love is at once a touching portrait of a man, but also not entirely comprehensive (or even honest) in function as a biopic. 

The “story” of Bob Marley: One Love begins in 1976 when the “Smile Jamaica” concert is being held to ease political tensions in the country. Bob and Rita’s lives change forever when the couple and their manager Don Taylor all become victims of an attempted assassination before playing the concert. The near-death experience rattles Bob, provoking him to leave Jamaica for England while keeping Rita and his children safely tucked away in the United States. 

Bob spends his time in Europe both reflecting on the past events that led him to this point, as well as trying to unlock a new era of Reggae music that will appeal to a global mainstream audience. To do that, Bob must be open to some new friends, and new social scenes – compromises that begin to strain his relationship with Rita, and throw his obligation to his homeland (Jamaica) into question.

That synopsis above is a more concise and focused measure of Bob Marley: One Love‘s story than the actual film delivers. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard) and his editor Pamela Martin create a strange, offbeat flow to the film. There is a clear fascination with Kingsley Ben-Adir’s performance as Bob Marley (which is, admittedly, strong) and the “key” moments of musical creation with his band. Yet, there are also non-linear jumps into periods of Bob’s childhood and his induction into the Rastafari religion that add a surrealist layer to the film, which comes and goes in strange moments that could make even the soberest viewer feel trippy. It will likely also be an issue for many mainstream viewers that One Love opts to go with authentic Jamaican dialect; unless viewers have a sharp ear (or the cultural practice) there will likely be a lot of nuance and wit that is missed in the dialogue. Still, the camerawork and cinematography by Paul Thomas Anderson collaborator Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood) is often gorgeous, subtly capturing the vast differences in worlds between Jamaica and England, while impeccably recreating the late 1970s era and visual aesthetic.

Green, with script co-writers Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire), Zach Baylin (King Richard, Creed III), and Frank E. Flowers, all manage to get enough of a throughline in place for the story to have some kind of thematic core, using the near-assassination of Bob Marley to frame how he suddenly realized his own mortality and did something epic with the time he had left (just five years before he died in 1981). However, the impact of that time (or lack thereof) is more effectively conveyed by the captions at the end of the film than it is by the film itself, which invests a lot of time in examining the path of Marley’s creative struggles, and what they were rooted in. Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch are fantastic as Bob and Rita Marley. Full stop. The two actors (and a few pairs of young actors playing the couple at younger ages) carry the film, with a strong ensemble of character actors coming together to play the key historical figures like Don Taylor (Anthony Welsh), record executive Chris Blackwell (James Norton), or writer Howard Bloom (Michael Gandolfini). Everyone sinks into character and flows together well as an ensemble, keeping scenes lively and intriguing, even in seemingly “slower” moments like marketing meetings or songwriting sessions. 

One Love is also an undeniably favorable – even reverent – look at Bob Marley, skipping over many of the rougher edges of his life (not to mention the multiple women in it) except for some visual Easter eggs, dialogue references, and (just) one scene of conflict between Bob and Rita that hints at much more. The smoothed edges are not surprising, given that Rita Marley, her and Bob’s son Ziggy, and daughter Cedella are all producers on the film – with the family’s Tuff Gong Pictures being one of the studios behind it. Compassionate edits are expected, yes, but it results in a biopic that feels more whimsical than real. The 2012 Kevin Macdonald documentary film Marley still stands as the most comprehensive and interesting look at the man behind the myth – but no doubt, Bob Marley: One Love is a beautiful (if indulgent) celebration of that myth. And the love is definitely felt. 

Rating: 3 out of 5

Bob Marley: One Love is now playing in theaters. 

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It’s safe to say that, in the twenty-plus years between when Sony’s Madame Web is set and when it is being released, the landscape of female-fronted superhero stories has dramatically changed. In the 2000s — a decade that Madame Web exhibits an unabashed love for, both in aesthetics and in execution — a few ill-received superheroine solo movies were believed to be enough to kill the subgenre altogether. It would take at least another decade for the proverbial glass ceiling to break, and another handful of years to reach our current moment, in which more female superhero stories than ever have been told in movies and TV, albeit amid an onslaught of high standards and cultural misogyny. In a way, it’s simultaneously impossible to imagine a movie like Madame Web existing twenty years ago, and incredibly easy to imagine its end product fitting in amid the experimental era of that time. While that sentiment does not absolve Madame Web of its shortcomings, it turns one of the most unexpected titles to come out of the current superhero boom into a fascinating cultural artifact. Both by design and by accident, Madame Web is a modern-day throwback to the superhero adaptations of yesteryear — with all of the good, bad, and baffling things that entails. 

Madame Web follows Cassandra “Cassie” Webb (Dakota Johnson), a paramedic in New York City who unlocks clairvoyant abilities after a brush with death. Cassie’s newfound powers not only force her to confront her past, but warn her of a deadly fate for three latchkey teenage girls in her orbit — Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor). Together, the four women must protect each other from Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), who is hunting them for dark and obsessive reasons.

From the second it was first reported to be in development in 2019, through its marketing campaign and release almost five years later, Madame Web has been a unique talking point in the superhero movies landscape. As the field of Marvel and DC blockbusters has gotten both literally and conceptually bigger, trying to feign audience fatigue with sprawling crossovers and overdesigned gimmicks, many have been skeptical about devoting an entire solo film to a lesser-known and largely static Spider-Man supporting character. Instead of trying to force Madame Web into an impossible ecosystem, the film dovetails back around to evoking the media, both superheroic and otherwise, of the 2000s. Comparisons will surely be drawn between Madame Web and the standalone and often-disliked Marvel and DC movies of the era, including Daredevil, Elektra, and Catwoman, which sacrificed comic accuracy and plausibility for misplaced spectacle. But that mentality undercuts some of Madame Web‘s charm, as well as some of the swerves it subconsciously takes in reaching its obvious story beats.

A better point of comparison might be the superhero television shows of the same decade, like DC’s Smallville and even its short-lived Birds of Prey series, which recontextualized the tights and fights of the comics in a soapy, earnest package. While the exact story of Madame Web absolutely doesn’t exist in the comics, with Cassie almost-exclusively portrayed as a tragic elderly woman and the movie’s three Spider-Women barely crossing paths, the movie is an admirable distillation of the spirit of the source material. Once Julia, Anya, and Mattie fully enter the story, the movie even has shades of the plucky, teen girl-centered romps of the 2000s (which the industry has largely fallen out of making), adding a youthful exuberance to the movie’s immediate action-driven stakes.

That isn’t to say that Madame Web is without its flaws, particularly with regard to its narrative. The aforementioned obviousness of its story is undeniable, which proves to be both a blessing and a curse in equal measure. Some of those clear-cut story beats are still endearing, using the ubiquitousness of the Spider-Man mythos to earn certain laughs or heartwarming moments. Others give the movie — especially in its first half — a much slower pace than it easily could have. The nature of Cassie’s new powers gets both repetitive and perplexing, only really coalescing into a driving force once she is united with her three wards. There are multiple instances where the narrative tension almost skids to a halt, repeating information we already know and dropping a new confusing narrative nugget in the process. As one example, it takes a good chunk of Madame Web for Cassie to even learn that, to quote the most infamous line from the movie’s trailer, Sims was researching spiders in the Amazon with her now-deceased mother — something that the audience became aware of in the film’s very first sequence. There’s a hypothetical version of Madame Web that revels in the process of uncovering that mystery, but instead, it stops and starts the film’s drive far too often. Once the third act of Madame Web synthesizes together, it is both the exact finale that suits its list of plot points, and the no-holds-barred culmination of something even more heartfelt and wacky than what we’ve actually seen.

As the titular character, Johnson easily gives Madame Web‘s most enigmatic performance, delivering acerbic charm in one moment and an unfortunate flatness in the next. Much like her limited role in the comics, Cassie is at her best when she’s interacting with those around her, whether that involves bantering with her coworkers or becoming a reluctant guardian to Julia, Anya, and Mattie. Luckily, Madame Web provides just enough of those moments for Cassie to exhibit earnestness and growth, which balance out some of her more awkward developments. Sweeney, Merced, and O’Connor all do right by the complicated comic histories of their respective Spider-Women, capturing their individual exuberances even in a deadly and unprecedented context. Even though Julia, Anya, and Mattie have only sporadically crossed paths in the comics, the rapport between them proves to be effortless, and leads to some of the movie’s best sequences. Outside of our four main leads, Adam Scott proves to be the biggest highlight of Madame Web‘s ensemble, becoming a quietly reliable scene-stealer every time he appears on screen. Rahim, and other supporting players like Zosia Mamet and Emma Roberts, all do the best with what they are given, even if the end result does not prove to be particularly memorable.

On a technical level, Madame Web is filled with a lot of highs and lows, but those extremes only add to the movie’s overall mystique. The costume design from Ngila Dickson is easily the biggest highlight, delivering some of the most comic-accurate supersuits in recent memory, without being encumbered by a busy or militarized aesthetic that might come from existing in a larger cinematic universe. The production design, led by Ethan Tobman, also works wonders to seamlessly cement the movie within its mid-2000s setting, which is impressive given the amount that is filmed on practical locations. Although some of Madame Web‘s VFX comes across as overstimulating and underbaked, it never ventures close to uncanny valley. The cinematography from Mauro Fiore and the music from Johan Soderqvist are both unobtrusive, adding to the movie’s disorienting quality without leaving much of an impact once audiences leave the theater.

While Madame Web might not contain the heart-pumping tension, massive franchise connections, or painfully authentic verisimilitude of many of its modern contemporaries, it makes a convincing argument that an entertaining-enough story can still be found outside of those traits. The charisma of its lead heroines and the specificity of its premise prevent it from being too boring, too goofy, or too irredeemable to ignore. For better or for worse, Madame Web further illustrates that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has potential when not trying to be a modern cinematic universe at all, and instead being a springboard for the most niche genre stories imaginable.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Madame Web will be released exclusively in theaters on Wednesday, February 14th.

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If you’ve been to any major cinema in the last four months, you’ve likely been assaulted by the trailer for Argylle. The preview touts that it comes from the “twisted mind” of filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, with the footage featuring a gaudy aesthetic, furious action, and a bevy of beloved faces. While his earlier films, like X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, were praised for their pop-art sensibilities, his more recent directorial efforts (two Kingsman sequels) drew criticism for emphasizing redundant stylistic choices over venturing into any new territory. With Argylle, Vaughn continues to dabble in the realm of the spy thriller, which is filled with half-cooked characters and convoluted narrative threads. There are moments of joy in the final act, though it takes nearly two hours to get to any of the familiar fun that he has delivered more effectively in previous outings.

Author Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) has finished her latest book about the covert adventures of superspy Argylle (Henry Cavill), though struggles with the book’s ending. Hoping to clear her mind for a creative retreat, she is intercepted by Aidan (Sam Rockwell), who alerts her to the fact that her stories all have an eerie way of reflecting real-world operations, as he aims to rescue her from the evil organization run by Ritter (Bryan Cranston), who thinks she’s gotten too close to the truth. Elly and Aidan have to uncover the truth of a deadly mission while also exploring how she could know the most secretive of details about deadly assignments. 

While the trailer for Argylle endorsed the experience as coming from Vaughn’s twisted mind, this marks only his eighth directorial effort in 20 years. Still, while his output might not be as prolific as other filmmakers, the Kingsman franchise has largely earned him a reputation for break-neck and physics-defying action, colorful cinematography, and frenetic pacing. With films like Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, these cinematic techniques felt bold, daring, and ambitious, but a decade later, he still seems to struggle with the same bag of tricks. His Kingsman series specifically comes with abrasive characters and brutal choreography, almost daring the audience to engage with such controversial material. Argylle, however, marks his first PG-13 effort since X-Men, which undercuts the impact of a majority of the action scenes. We’re not looking for violence and gore just for the sake of the visceral thrill, but with last year delivering action powerhouses in the R-rated John Wick: Chapter 4 and the PG-13-rated Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, viewers have been spoiled with what can be accomplished in the action realm, leaving Argylle to feel like it was censored for a broadcast on network TV. In this regard, it does feel like it could be a good gateway into Vaughn’s work for younger audiences, as it is one of his tamest and most accessible films.

This isn’t to say that there isn’t fun to be had, as Rockwell’s Aidan barely stumbling through a fight makes for an entertaining juxtaposition to how the fictional Argylle and his ally Wyatt (John Cena) deftly dispatch any adversary with brute force. The film’s final act has two show-stopping sequences that deliver all the madcap glee and mayhem fans have come to expect from Vaughn’s work, including familiar plumes of colorful smoke. The problem, though, is just how lifeless the journey was to get to these exciting moments.

In addition to the aforementioned stars, Argylle also features Samuel L. Jackson, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Sofia Boutella, and Ariana DeBose. We might still be early into the year, but Argylle delivers one of the most exciting ensembles of performers of 2024 (so far). Despite the seemingly limitless potential of the movie’s stars, every single one of them feels like they are appearing merely as a favor to Vaughn as opposed to having any vested interest in the journey. Rather than casting performers to play characters, we’re instead seeing what it would be like for the real Bryce Dallas Howard to be thrown into a spy adventure led by the real Sam Rockwell and encounter the real Samuel L. Jackson. None of the figures in the story feel like actual, layered characters and more like avatars merely trying to move the story along. Admittedly, watching Rockwell try to teach Howard how to stomp an enemy’s skull with her foot or Cavill be a charming assassin or Cranston be a commanding and cantankerous voice of authority makes for a somewhat entertaining experience, but we’ve all seen every actor deliver the same role in much better films. 

With a run time of two hours and 19 minutes, audiences will spend the first two acts of Argylle wishing they were watching these typically charming actors delivering much more engaging performances in more fulfilling storylines. Much of the comedy lands flatly, as the humor is mainly an uninspired version of “this citizen is in over their head” that we’ve seen countless times in this genre. Elly and Aidan hunt for a MacGuffin, encounter bad guys, and banter without much urgency or without much at stake, due in large part to the contrived nature of the premise. By the time we get to the reveal of how Elly could know so much about the world of spies, it’s not necessarily an un-clever reveal, but it’s one that entirely changes the dynamic of the movie in a way that would have been more fulfilling much earlier on. 

Surprisingly, Argylle does make good on boasting that it came from a twisted mind, though this is more a reflection on the overall narrative and its many twists and turns, which burgeoning cinephiles will likely appreciate more than those well-versed in the genre. All the various loose threads of the film’s winding journey mostly pay off from a story standpoint, we just wish some of the more bloated scenes and sequences could have been trimmed and the characters could have been a bit more inventive to make that journey far more enjoyable. With Argylle, Vaughn delivers something that will feel quite familiar to his previous efforts, yet its PG-13 tone and embrace of CGI make for a toothless experience that can’t quite be salvaged even by this impressive cast. There are glimpses of genuine glee, but they are too few and far between to salvage the experience as a whole.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Argylle lands in theaters on February 2nd.

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Night Swim Is the feature-length telling of writer/director Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire’s 2014 short film, which gained online attention for its simple yet effective premise and creative way of turning a home pool into a source of terror. However, McGuire’s feature-length version of Night Swim horror ultimately ends up being a shallow horror movie experience. 

The story of the film finds MLB star player Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) dealing with a life-changing diagnosis and physical ailment while trying to find a new place to settle down with his family during recovery. The Wallers settle into a nice house with a modest pool in the back – not knowing about the dark history of the property. Of course, it isn’t long before the Wallers start to notice strange phenomena happening around their pool – especially after nightfall. But as the truth about their home starts to come to light, the forces in the water start to take hold of the Wallers, threatening to drag them all under. 

To the credit of Bryce McGuire, Night Swim is far from the worst feature-film debut out there. McGuire shows a competent hand behind the camera, as well as the directorial authority to compel some convincing drama out of his actors. The Waller family ends up being a set of core characters worth caring about – mostly bolstered by the chemistry between Russell and Kerry Condon (who plays Ray’s wife Eve). 

What ends up being the biggest impediment to Night Swim being an effective horror movie experience is the lore that McGuire creates for the haunted pool at the center of the story. Without dropping any spoilers, McGuire added “an epic, supernatural mythology with a gothic fairytale undercurrent for the story’s sinister swimming pool,” and in doing so may have inadvertently cut the claws off of his film. The framework of Night Swim and the “rules” of its specters and pool-portal centerpiece is at once a clever adaptation of classic fairytale lore, as well as a guarantee that the damage done will be limited – even for a PG-13 film.

Ultimately, it’s unfortunate that Night Swim puts so much emphasis on keeping the reveal of its core lore a mystery for so long during the film’s run time. It might’ve been a much more compelling film if the stakes were clear at an earlier point, as it would’ve put more emphasis on the family drama and the actors to land the plane. Instead, by the time the “mystery” is lifted, there’s little time left for anything but a rushed and truncated third act, which feels more like a crash landing than a maneuvered one. 

Night Swim is proof that creating a horror concept is far simpler than creating an entire horror story – and certainly a feature-length horror film to convey that story. Bryce McGuire shows promise as a filmmaker but needs to do a few more laps before he’s an able swimmer.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Night Swim is now in theaters. 

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In Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Man of Steel, Justice League) attempts to launch his own Star Wars-style franchise, beginning with two Netflix films and with plans for so much more. With Child of Fire, Snyder demonstrates the vast scope of his imagination, but at the same time, he fails to provide a compelling enough hook to pull viewers into that vast universe of ideas. What we get instead in Rebel Moon: Part One is a whole lot of “telling” and very little “showing,” with a lot of necessary backstory and characterization being delegated to the multitude of spin-off projects that are already in the works – including the “real” version of this very film, which already has an R-rated director’s cut on the way. 

The story of Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire opens at a pivotal point in this universe’s history: a sudden coup in the military empire known as the Motherworld. A princess gifted with the power of life is assassinated, and in her place stands Balisarius, a senator who seizes the power of Regent over the Motherworld, and renews its campaign of war and conquest across the galaxy. That war reaches the farming planet of Veldt, where the farmers are coerced by Balisarius’ ruthless admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) into supporting the Motherworld and its war efforts with their grain harvests. When the farmers resist, Noble and his men turn savage on them – forcing local girl Kora (Sofia Boutella) to reveal her true identity as a former member of the Motherworld’s elite warrior force, the Imperium. 

When Kora finds herself exposed, and her adopted home on Veldt threatened, she joins pilot/mercenary Kai (Charlie Hunnam) on a journey across the galaxy to recruit other infamous warriors who hate Balisarius and/or the Imperium. The group Kora gathers is filled with souls as broken as they are skilled, and together they try to find either salvation, redemption, or both, by defeating Noble. 

On a positive front, Rebel Moon is indicative of just what a talented visual creator Zack Snyder is. The world of this franchise is a clear hodgepodge of ideas from different genres and periods of history (sci-fi, fantasy, ancient mythology, Eastern influences like samurai and anime), and ideas unique to Snyder and co., all cooked together into one strange brew. The film inspires confidence that an entire franchise universe can be built off of this beginning – but then again, that potential for a bigger franchise comes at the cost of this standalone chapter. 

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire plunges us into this franchise universe as if we understand all the events that preceded it and the impact on the various characters. Little is done to make us feel those emotions and/or connections with the ensemble of characters – and it’s impossible to fully understand how their individual stories inspire each character to form an unspoken bond with the others as warriors willing to die together. By the time the third act reaches the climactic battle and the guns are blazing, it’s equally hard to feel any stakes or fear of losing anyone. It all plays out and, at best, it inspires the intrigue to learn more. 

As for the cast, it’s equally hard to gauge just how the actors approached their roles; if this standalone project was their sole focus for developing their characters, or were they playing out just a small part of a much larger arc that’s been mapped out for them. Each of them is suitable in their parts, but not one of them is all that distinct, dynamic, or memorable. It feels like we get initial sketches of these players, but the real dramatic meat is being saved for later. 

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is a flashy but hollow advertisement for the larger multimedia IP that will follow. Could we one day look back at this first chapter – with the full context of the franchise behind it – and feel more emotional impact about its events? Possibly, but that day is not today. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Rebel Moon is now streaming on Netflix. 

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Much like my experience watching The Flash earlier this year, the opening titles of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom accidentally encapsulated the film’s place in the ever-evolving superhero landscape. Since 2017, the DC fanfare has preempted, with a few exceptions, the majority of the live-action films set within the complicated saga (both on and off screen) that fans know as the DC Extended Universe. It has been pretty safe to assume that Lost Kingdom would be the last time this intro is ever used on the big screen, before James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe introduces a reset canon and a much-needed fresh start in 2025. This makes the noise that accompanies Lost Kingdom‘s use of the fanfare — a low and messy gurgling sound that almost captures the disarray and uncertainty of the past ten years of DCEU movies — oddly poetic, although not at all by design. In a similar way, even though Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom certainly wasn’t designed to be the capstone of its controversial franchise, it proves to be a poetic conclusion, delivering a film that might be just as entertaining as it is messy.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom picks up with Arthur Curry / Aquaman (Jason Momoa) several years into his tenure as the King of Atlantis. While balancing the bureaucracy of his job and the unpredictable responsibilities of being a first-time father, Arthur’s status quo is shaken up by the return of David Hyde / Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), whose grudge is now bolstered by pieces of dark magic that could ruin both the seas and the surface world. In a reluctant partnership with his estranged brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), Arthur must fight for the safety of the two worlds he calls home — as well as his family on both sides.

2018’s Aquaman carved out its place in the fledgling DCEU in a matter that was safe, but admirable and crowd-pleasing. As the film sought to introduce viewers to the long-running and bizarre lore of Atlantis, it drew swaths of inspiration from Geoff Johns’ modern-day run on the character, to the point of even folding in the lore of his never-published “The Secret of the Seven Seas” storyline. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom takes a decidedly different approach, infusing practically every scene with the DNA of its titular character’s Silver and Bronze Age comics. As a result, the tone of the sequel is decidedly wacky, in ways that are charming, patronizing, and everything in between. On a visual and structural level, there are new elements of Atlantis’ worldbuilding that sound unhinged out of context, but that have genuinely cool implications on the story. For better or for worse, nearly every line of dialogue in Lost Kingdom would slot perfectly into a Silver Age comic — which works wonders in regards to Manta’s brash pettiness towards Arthur, or the playful jabs exchanged between Arthur and Orm. It doesn’t work as well when emotional beats between Arthur and those close to him devolve into platitudes and obvious lines of exposition, or when story beats take a little too long to get going. 

But Lost Kingdom never fully dips towards being exhausting to watch, even though viewers’ mileage will probably vary with regards to the obviousness of The Lost Kingdom — whether in its dialogue, its needle drops of music, or the bare bones of its plot. The film even has an odd sense of blatant cultural osmosis on display, with certain sequences clearly trying to evoke beats from already beloved movies like The Thing, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and even director James Wan’s own work on Furious 7. (Without getting into specific spoilers, the film’s final moments also draw obvious comparisons to another superhero film released the same year as the first Aquaman.) But let’s be honest — the DCEU’s take on Aquaman has always understood the value of not taking yourself too seriously, which was especially impressive amidst the larger franchise’s somber and gritty veneer. There is something satisfying about watching it embrace its goofy destiny, forgoing complex character arcs in favor of immediate fun. That being said, Wan does prove to be a master at creating small beats of genuine narrative tension, delivering a handful of jumpscares or perilous situations at much-needed moments. None of those moments within Lost Kingdom even come close to the ambitious and breathtaking stakes of the first Aquaman‘s scene in The Trench, but they definitely get the job done.

The ensemble cast of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom takes ownership of the film’s veneer, adding just enough of an earnest pathos to the wildest of line reads. As one of the most-recurring performances in the DCEU, Momoa’s take on Aquaman is so assured that it’s almost a foregone conclusion in Lost Kingdom, as he approaches Arthur with a reliable goofball energy. Wilson’s Orm ends up being the standout of nearly every scene he’s in — which is unsurprising given his filmography of consistent and clever performances, but it’s simultaneously surprising that the film provides him with so much to do. In my screening alone, nearly every audible reaction from the audience was in response to something Orm did, hinting at a level of genuine investment that is still rare for superhero antagonists. Likewise, Abdul-Mateen II chews all pieces of available scenery as Black Manta, perfectly capturing the character’s comic-accurate reputation of being hateful and dramatic, without ever becoming unrelatable. Randall Park’s Dr. Stephen Shin essentially becomes the fourth main player of the film, and delivers a sensible charm when necessary. Supporting players like Nicole Kidman’s Atlanna, Temuera Morrison’s Tom Curry, and Amber Heard’s Mera (whose role is drastically downgraded from the first Aquaman, but not nearly as much as rumors had suggested) do the best they can with what little they’re given, and there are a few other smaller players whose roles (either new or returning) are too good to spoil here.

On an aesthetic and technical level, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom makes some big swings — and both its successes and its missteps manage to, at the very least, be entertaining to watch. The costuming led by Richard Sale is one of the film’s biggest strengths, delivering captivating, yet streamlined new practical costumes for Arthur, Manta, and more. These practical suits, no matter how ridiculous they might look, prove to be essential to ground the actors in the space they’re in, especially in some of the CGI-heavy settings. That VFX work is definitely filled with some hits and misses, but the immersion of these ambitious worlds never gets completely broken. That uncanniness could also be a result of me screening the film in a 3D format, a choice that has a few clever gimmicks, but isn’t essential to the viewing experience.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is perfectly fine, whether as a showcase of some of its titular character’s weirdest lore, the finale to one of the most controversial film franchises in modern history, or an entertaining-enough superhero movie in a landscape that no longer has to rely solely on them. While the film certainly doesn’t manage to break new ground, an argument can be made that it doesn’t necessarily need to — it’s just a pleasant, largely entertaining time with a character whose big-screen portrayal was one of the DCEU’s rare successes. Thanks to its free-wheeling attitude and committed ensemble cast, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom closes a cinematic chapter in a silly, but satisfying-enough way.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, December 22nd.

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Illumination Entertainment kicked off 2023 with perhaps the biggest sure thing at the box office this year. The Super Mario Bros. Movie leaned on the familiarity people have with Nintendo’s eternally iconic plumber to tell jokes, set up an entire movie universe, and rack up more than a billion dollars at the box office. To end 2023, Illumination is looking in the opposite direction, with an original animated film based on no previous franchises or IP and hitting theaters during a crowded holiday box office frame. There’s no telling how Migration will do financially, but taking the chance on an original adventure has paid off in a creative sense. Migration is a charming and heartfelt animated film that soars higher than most of Illumination’s previous films, delivering some wonderful laughs along the way.

Migration comes from a creative team you may not expect to see behind an Illumination film; it’s written by Mike White, the School of Rock writer/star and Survivor alum who recently became a household name for creating The White Lotus. The director and co-writer, Benjamin Renner, is best known for his work as one of the directors of Ernest & Celestine. Together, they bring a strange sense of humor and passion for character dynamics to a film in which you may not expect to find such things.

The story follows a family of ducks led by parents Mack (Kumail Nanjiani) and Pam (Elizabeth Banks), who don’t ever plan to venture far from the safety of their woodland pond. Mack is especially worried about the dangers of the outside world and what horrors await his children should they stray too far. After an encounter with another flock migrating to Jamaica, Mack sees how much his family desires a change, so they make the decision to fly south for the winter. With their kooky Uncle Dan (the always hilarious Danny DeVito) in tow, they head out on their journey, but a storm accidentally sends them off their path and the mallard family ends up in New York City. Not only do they have to navigate a world that is completely unlike anything they’ve ever seen, but they need to make it out alive in order to get their trip back on track.

The trailers for Migration don’t really do the film a whole lot of justice. It sets this adventure up as simply “country birds in the big city,” but their stay in New York only makes up about a third of the overall movie. This is much more of a family roadtrip type of situation, where they encounter numerous quirky characters in several different places, while also trying to outrun an angry chef who specializes in duck and wants to kill them for trashing his kitchen. There’s much more to the story than the trailers make it seem.

From the opening scenes, Migration‘s animation sticks out as one of the film’s highlights. The woodlands are gorgeous and the mallards themselves are a massive departure from the Minions and anthropomorphic characters that populate Illumination’s other franchises. The birds are wildly expressive and the performances from Banks, Nanjiani, and DeVito come through the characters in much bigger ways than you expect. Illumination has never struggled to deliver striking visuals, but Migration still feels like an exciting departure on that front.

Migration is a departure for Illumination in a lot of ways. Outside of the original Despicable Me, there’s a general sense of sameness to the studio’s films. This applies to the animation, the tone, the sense of humor, etc. Migration bucks several of those trends for a refreshing experience at the movies.

This movie doesn’t reinvent the wheel by any stretch. You’re not going to walk into the theater and emerge 90 minutes later with a new outlook on life or the world around you. It even borrows significantly from a few better films, including Finding Nemo and Ratatouille, but Migration succeeds by borrowing the right notes from those films without ever taking too much. The film’s superpower is knowing exactly what it is and wants to be, and it hits the right beats at exactly the right times.

The White Lotus has spent two seasons on HBO nailing dark comedy and complicated family dynamics. Mike White has harnessed that experience and brought it to the world of animated family fare. It’s obviously not nearly as dark, and the family issues deal with more understandable, kid-friendly takes on anxiety and parenting, but it’s very easy to see the connection between these two worlds (something I never expected to see in a movie about a family of ducks). There is a morbidly hilarious sequence in Migration‘s first act that you could argue has more in common with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre than The Secret Life of Pets, and it sets the tone for exactly the kind of unexpected journey White is hoping to take you on. From that scene to an entire sequence clearly inspired by Chicken Run, Migration quickly proves not much is off the table. It’s a bold story for a studio not usually associated with taking risks.

Amidst some of its darkest, wackiest comedic elements, Migration does find a way to keep it all grounded with a focus on its core family. Mack and Pam are in a constant tug-of-war in their hearts over their anxieties as parents and remembering the people they used to be, who you could argue are responsible for making them good parents in the first place. This is one of those movies that will give parents watching with their kids a lot to enjoy, as well, which in and of itself is a huge step up from a lot of entertainment made for children. 

I feel safe in calling Migration one of Illumination’s best films to date. It’s consistently sweet, surprisingly funny, and its filmmakers are aware of the destination from beginning to end. Just like Migration takes a lot of notes from animated classics that came before it, Illumination’s next ventures would be wise to jot down a few notes from this delightful little duck family.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Migration lands in theaters on December 22nd.

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