Review by Adam Donato Celine Song made a strong impression with her debut film, Past Lives. Getting a best picture nomination on your first try is special. Her follow up is a romance film starring a love triangle of Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. Materialists has the opportunity to easily become the top grossing A24 movie as Warfare holds the lead with $26 million domestically. With big movie stars and a prime June release date, Materialists should take advantage of a theatrical landscape devoid of films targeted towards women specifically. It’s also just nice to see an original movie out in theaters, especially when the summer is packed with remakes and sequels. Still, a movie like this needs to have good word of mouth to sell tickets so can it win the hearts of audiences? By all means, Materialists delivers and should become a summer hit. While it may not snag a best picture nomination, it’s clear that Celine Song is no one hit wonder. She has a clear handle on creating relatable characters and having something meaningful to say about relationships. Hopefully the film’s critical success is met with box office success so Song can make whatever she wants going forward. Easily one of the best new filmmakers in the game right now. Dakota Johnson is in desperate need of a big win after Madame Web crashed and burned. Her performance here is arguably her best ever. Her character is so proactive and relatable. It’s clear she has a passion for her profession and is also a very jaded individual personally. There’s several monologues for her character about dating and love that really hit home. Even when faced with adversity that isn’t directly her fault, her feelings are so understandable and heartbreaking.
Evans and Pascal are welcome additions to this romance film as audiences with crushes on these two have been clamoring to see them in something that isn’t just a blockbuster. Evans does more of the heavy lifting here, but Pascal’s character is more subdued. This does give way to a great moment of vulnerability for Pascal’s character though. Evans has had a tumultuous stretch post Avengers: Endgame so seeing him pull off a real human being performance in an actual good movie is refreshing. Superhero movies and franchise films sometimes monopolize the time of the biggest actors of the day so it’s great to see them doing something different here. Materialists is certain to create discourse about the dating world, which will hopefully inspire couples to go out to the theater. It’s certainly worth their time as the film is as sweet as can be. It is like a more upscale version of the hit Will Smith rom com, Hitch. Big Hollywood actors being in movies that aren’t covered in special effects are a necessary part of the cinematic landscape and Materialists is a must see summer romance. Celine Song is a must watch director going forward. Materialists will be in theaters on Jun 13. Rating: 4/5
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Review by Adam Donato Dreamworks saw what Disney was doing and thought they would copy their playbook. Universal clearly believes in the How To Train Your Dragon heavily because there’s a whole new theme park with an Isle of Berk section. There is a lot of precedent being set with this live action remake. If the plan is to remake the whole trilogy in live action, then the failure of this first remake would cancel those plans, but you can’t tear down a brand new theme park section. If it succeeds, will Dreamworks explore live action remakes of other beloved franchises? There’s enough distance in the release date between Lilo & Stitch and Jurassic World: Rebirth so How To Train Your Dragon should clean up at the box office. How safe of a bet is How To Train Your Dragon for Universal? The safest a live action remake can be in 2025. There’s minor changes, but for the most part it’s a shot for shot remake. There isn’t a Disney live action remake that is as faithful as this one. Unfortunately for Universal, Disney has oversaturated the live action remake market so there is an element of fatigue, especially since Lilo & Stitch and Snow White are fresh in our memories. How To Train Your Dragon is certainly better than the majority of the Disney live action remakes, but it’s less interesting to explore because there’s really nothing new here. The story and everything is more or less the same. One place where the live action remake is different is in the cast, excluding Gerard Butler. He is the best part of the cast though. Butler in his career has such little range that it’s funny to see him just redo a performance of his own straight up. The biggest glow up in the cast has got to be Nick Frost as Gobber. The look and utilization of his tool like appendages is well done. He is a lot funnier and more heartfelt than Craig Ferguson’s animated version. The biggest downgrade is Ruffnut, played by Bronwyn James. Part of the appeal is that she is twins with Tuffnut and they look nothing alike here. Her sense of humor is also less comically gruff. The main couple of the film played by Mason Thames and Nico Parker feel like Tom Holland and Zendaya were the blueprint. Thames doesn’t pull off geeky quite like Jay Baruchel did, especially with a lack of that iconic voice. Still a very serviceable performance. Unfortunately, the topic of conversation around Parker has been more about the color of her skin than anything else. It seems foolish to complain about a black Viking when dragons definitely don’t exist. She embodies the character well and her role is beefed up as her character aspires to be chief. The entire handling of Astrid’s character is the most “woke” aspect of the remake, but aren’t actual problems at all. Both of these characters are too cute. All of the other Vikings are properly ugly so the couple definitely stands out weirdly.
At the end of the day, it’s the same complaint as every other live action remake. This story and these characters were designed to be represented in animation. Adapting it into live action and doing the exact same things only draws attention to how much of a useless downgrade this movie is. It’s not a bad film, but it provides nothing new. There should be zero sympathy for the film as it will gladly utilize the franchise recognition for box office success, therefore the film must be held to the standard of the franchise’s quality. The law of diminishing returns is strong in this one. Every movie borrows from movies that came before it, but How To Train Your Dragon doesn’t even bother making it its own in any way. This makes for a very disposable experience. It’s hard to imagine anyone preferring the live action to the animated version. This safety is good for the box office and theme park success, but its lack of ambition will make this movie fade away over time. It’s not necessarily a bad movie, but it’s not worth going out of your way to see. How To Train Your Dragon will be in theaters on June 13. Rating: 3/5 Review by Daniel Lima What is a John Wick movie without John Wick? The critical and financial success of the four films helmed by Chad Stahleski has made Lionsgate very keen to find an answer to this question, seeking to leverage that acclaim into a multimedia franchise. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is the latest attempt to capture that essence, a proof-of-concept for the labyrinthine criminal underworld being a compelling draw even without Keanu Reeves. Though it fails in many ways to successfully justify its own existence, it ultimately does find the one key component that both distinguishes it from the John Wick movies, and makes it worthy to be spoken of in the same breath. Ana de Armas plays Eve Macarro, a young woman raised within the Ruska Roma, the fraternity of assassins that also counts a certain man of few words as a member. Seeking vengeance for the death of her father years before at the hands of a mysterious group, she sets off on her own to figure out who is responsible. Her quest takes her around the world, and brings her face to face with some dangerous characters, as well as familiar faces. Immediately, this film begins to clarify what has made the John Wick films so special. In that first 2014 release, just a quarter of an hour is spent establishing the emotional buy-in to the carnage that will unfold: we meet John while he is sad, we see a montage of him being happy with a little puppy, then the puppy is killed. That has been the foundation of hours of bloody revenge, with Keanu Reeves massacring scores of well-dressed assassins around the world who have absolutely nothing to do with that damn dog, and millions of fans have been entire satisfied with it. That kind of resonance goes beyond just a general love for man’s best friend; it is clear to the audience that for this character, the puppy means so much more. It’s a link to love lost, it’s a promise for a bright and peaceful future, and that is the kind of abstraction that humanizes an otherwise unempathetic character. Conversely, the hero of Ballerina has a far more generic motivation. Certainly, the death of a parent is a traumatic experience for a child, but the manner it’s played out at the start of the film fits so neatly within genre conventions that it’s hard to take seriously. The random act of violence that kickstarted this franchise is the kind of nightmare within reach of most people; the same cannot be said of an army of masked men with matching scars storming your idyllic Mediterranean mansion and executing your dad after a heated gunfight. The film doesn’t even bother attempting to sell what the life that was torn out of the young girl’s hands looked like beyond a father/daughter dance that lasts all of one minute. This is what is supposed to power both the protagonist’s motivation, as well as the audience’s sympathies. To say that it is grossly insufficient is an understatement, and it has a directly negative impact on the rest of the film. This is also about as much definition as Ana de Armas’s professional killer receives through the narrative as written. Almost as soon as she takes the reins, she is flung into a wide-spanning, fast-moving plot that is more about getting her to the next big set piece than fleshing her out as a person. John Wick is similarly underwritten, but that is both in service to the story and world of the films, and Reeves as a performer. After a life filled with violence and losing the one person who could pull him out of it, he has become a shell of himself, more myth and legend than man. What the audience learns about John is conveyed through how other killers react to him: apprehension, respect, deference, terror. It is also the kind of role that benefits the terse, clipped, awkward delivery of Reeves, and his limited range of physical motion (at least, compared to the career stuntpeople he is up against) further defines how John fights and kills. Eve Macarro could have been played by anyone. That’s not to say that de Armas is bad in the role, but there is nothing to distinguish her from all the colorful characters in the world that she moves through. The lack of an emotional core means her quest lacks dramatic weight, there are few characters with a sense of shared history through which she could be further defined, and unlike John she is an unknown quantity with no reputation. That gives de Armas precious little to grasp on to as a performer, and so she ends up mostly conveying exposition and reciting action movie clichés. By the end of the film, she was just as amorphous as the start. One of the most novel features of the series is the intricate network of professional killers operates just under the radar of the general public, in spite of the fact that it seems there’s at least a handful of hit men in any public gathering. They have their own economy, their own power structure, code of laws and ethics, nomenclature and social mores. Fans of these films know what it means to post up at a Continental, to live Under the Table, to visit a Sommelier or go for a Hunt. Some may balk at the complexity as it becomes increasingly byzantine, but this scaling grandeur is something that truly sets these films apart from other actioners. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it also allows for some unique settings for gunfights. An important part of this, however, is that the cosmology of John Wick’s underworld is constantly expanding and iterating on itself. There are certain touchstones, characters, and ideas that recur, but each movie introduces a host of additions to the worldbuilding. Ballerina instead spends much of its runtime reminding the audience that it is, in fact a John Wick movie. Look, there’s the Continental! Winston and Charon, you know them, you love them right? Hey, there’s the man himself, the Baba Yaga! All the allusions to the previous films keep this one in their shadow, interrupting the flow of this story while not allowing the world to grow beyond the boundaries previously set. It points to a worrying trend that has befallen many a media franchise, simply regurgitating the iconography that general audiences are already familiar with rather than experiment or creating something new within a particular universe. We are the cattle, this is the cud; we are the piggies, here is our slop. It’s what’s in vogue among the studios, and it remains as irritating and demeaning to the public as ever. Even more frustrating is that the one new idea that Ballerina introduces is not even elaborated on. Over the course of the film, it becomes clear that the group that killed de Armas’ father has motivations that go beyond merely killing people for the sake of it. The reveal of those motivations introduces a level of moral complexity that is new to the franchise, questioning inborn assumptions about these kinds of revenge thrillers and how audiences tend to emotionally respond to these narratives… at least, they would, if the movie were at all interested in pursuing that line of thought. Any such nuance disappears into a hail of bullets and streams of flame, and in the film’s closing moments I couldn’t help but wonder whether anyone had stopped to tease involved in the production had stopped to tease out the implications of what had been put forth. There are, however, those hails of bullets and streams of flame. One of the most infuriating tendencies in those who would call themselves appreciators of art — cinema specifically — is the anti-intellectualism surrounds action cinema. With a handful of exceptions, it is incredibly hard to get otherwise erudite, thoughtful people to consider the craft and artistry that goes into choreographed violence on equal terms with, say, the latest arthouse-coded indie drama with awards prospects. No one would question whether the physical control displayed by a dancer in a production of Swan Lake, or the propulsive editing rhythms of a Bob Fosse movie, constitute art worthy of serious critique. Simulate a fistfight that calls for both precise physical control and editing, however, and it is populist drivel. Action is storytelling, not an aberration in the middle of a story. Beyond the amount of grueling physical and mental energy that goes into building an action scene, these are integral parts of an artistic work. Whether a gunfight, a car chase, a big death-defying stunt, or an old-fashioned brawl, these scenes establish character, create atmosphere and tone, communicate broader ideas and worldviews that are particular to the identity of a given film and the artists behind it. The John Wick films are some of the clearest contemporary examples of this. Series creator Chad Stahelski is an action veteran whose career goes back to working on direct-to-video productions in the early 1990s, and throughout his films he has had an action-forward design philosophy. Stuntpeople are front and center, with every set piece shot clearly to allow the audience to see the breadth of movement, every kick and every fall. There is a constant drive to experiment and incorporate new complications into the choreography, whether it be as simple as 3-Gun competition shooting or as radical as attack dogs. The capabilities of the actors are reflected in how they fight and kill on-screen, which in turn communicates aspects of their character in ways dialogue alone could never do. Here is where Ballerina lives up to its predecessors. The same ingenuity and playful experimentation that drives those movies, that more than anything has cemented the film in the popular consciousness, is present through just about every action scene. Clearly, each set piece was designed to answer a particular question; “How many ways can we hurt people on ice?” “What would close quarters combat armed with only explosives look like?” “Does OSHA regarding fire safety apply if we’re shooting in Europe?” To answer all these, the 87eleven action team is put through their paces, showcasing not only some incredibly dynamic and fluid choreography, but some absolutely brutal stuntwork. Whether showcasing a diversity of falls like an 80s Golden Harvest film, or pushing the boundaries of how long you can have someone on fire, the film is as much a love letter to the capabilities of these performers as it is jaw dropping spectacle. More than anywhere else, this is where the personality of the film begins to show. The John Wick movies all have a certain amount of comedy, but confided to some dry wit and some mean-spirited beats within the action. While there’s a handful of puns in Ballerina that serve as a bit of dumb fun, the main comedic thrust is actually slapstick. The graphic but deliberate and controlled violence of the series has always elicited incredulous laughter, but here it is elevated to straight up gags: hitting someone with a TV remote that starts channel surfing, smashing plates over heads straight out of a Three Stooges short, a goofy reaction shot before a grenade goes off. The comedy is synthesized with the violence in a manner that has eluded many an action comedy, without ever detracting from the gravity of the carnage. David Leitch, please take notes. Most strikingly, the choreography provides the characterization to de Armas’ character that the script sorely lacks. Early in the film, a trainer advises her to “fight like a girl”, as she will always be at a size disadvantage and cannot allow her opponents to dictate the terms of combat. At first, it seems like this simply means she’ll occasionally kick men in the testicles, otherwise adhering to the gun fu style that this series has pioneered. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that she has taken that lesson to heart, and so every scrape she gets in sees her using the environment in every way she can. Where John moves like a shark through water, with deadly efficiency that expends as little energy as possible, Eve grabs every tool at her disposal no matter how outlandish, improvisational but confident. Although yes, she does still kick men in the testicles.
In spite of all this, the action is not perfect. It takes some time for the film to find its own groove, with most of the action in the first half feeling like a pale imitation of the clean shootouts and fisticuffs of the main series. At times, the choreography commits to some of the same shortcomings of those films, with people jumping in front of the camera only be to unceremoniously cut down being the main offender. Even the action in the second half of the film is hamstrung by its broader issues, namely the lack of worldbuilding and the lack of emotional stakes. The latter means that as thrilling and evocative as the action is, it doesn’t feel like it matters as much as the similarly thrilling and evocative action that populates the other films. The former means it lacks a bit of the character diversity and opportunities to build out the universe that motivates many of the series’ best moments. The last movie boasted Marko Zaror, Donnie Yen, and Scott Adkins in showy and memorable roles, that allowed for unique and personalized choreography, same as Reeves; here, you get a bit of Daniel Behrnhardt and human Chad meme Robert Maaser in nondescript roles. It’s not the worst problem to have, but a missed opportunity for sure. There’s an open question of who to attribute the film’s strengths and weaknesses to. It is known that there was additional photography directed by Chad Stahelski himself, taking over from director Len Wiseman, but there are conflicting reports to the reasons behind them, the extent of what was reshot, and whether or not they were even reshoots in the first place. It’s easy to credit the best parts to the John Wick director, and the worst parts to the Underworld director, but things aren’t quite so clear; for example, the first action scene in the film happens to feature an actor who was only cast for additional photography, and it is clearly the worst. Who actually was behind what is bound to be something of a mystery for at least the length of this press tour, and I am curious to find out those details. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina does manage to articulate a case for the franchise to exist beyond the confines of its titular character, but only by the skin of its teeth. The lack of faith in this movie to stand on its own its palpable, threatening to overwhelm the film by basking in what is already familiar rather than exploring the possibilities of this world. It is only through the series hallmark action design that the film finds its own identity, and in doing so recaptures the magic that permeates the series. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina arrives in theaters June 6. Rating: 4/5 Review by Camden Ferrell I Don’t Understand You is the first collaboration between directors David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano. This queer horror comedy first premiered at the 2024 South by Southwest Film Festival. Even though the movie seems to have a lot of over-the-top fun with its premise and two stars, it desperately lacks narrative substance that it continually hints at yet never explores. Dom and Cole are a gay couple from Los Angeles who decide to visit Italy for their 10th anniversary. In addition to their celebration, they are currently trying to be considered for adoption of a new baby. While in Italy, they find themselves treated to a private dinner at a closed rural restaurant. During the evening, things quickly get out of hand for the couple as they try their best to get home to preserve the family they desperately want to have. It tackles themes and ideas that aren’t particularly new, but it’s something that could have been fresh given the horror comedy genre. Written by Craig and Crano, the writing for this movie is serviceable at best and disappointing at worst. It nails the banter between its leads in a realistic yet engaging way, and it plays to the strengths of its actors. Some of the more shocking narrative choices work to mixed effect. Some moments feel unearned while others land with a fun blend of shock and comedy. However, the movie struggles with tackling more earnest themes that are addressed but underdeveloped. While the movie is a comedy, it doesn’t mean it has to avoid more sincere discussions of emotional and relevant themes for its characters. Impending fatherhood and the anxieties and conflicts that arise are interesting themes to explore, but it barely even scratches the surface with vague occasional references. The movie is led by Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells as Dom and Cole, respectively. Both stars bring a much-needed energy to the movie that helps keep it afloat even when its script is lacking. They both are able to fully lean into the more comedic and absurd aspects of this movie while having some pretty convincing chemistry between them.
Despite my issues with the noticeable lack of depth in this movie, I can’t deny that it’s still fun. It breezes through its runtime (maybe a little too fast at times), and it’s still worth a handful of laughs. And it still has its fair share of tender and heartwarming moments that will still make you smile even if they lack the nuance that better development would have afforded it. Fans of horror and comedy alike will find something to enjoy in I Don’t Understand You whether it's the blood, romance, or quips. It’s a nice sidebar during the summer blockbuster season for those who want something a little smaller in scale while still being a fun way to pass an afternoon in the theaters. It may not persist in my memory much longer, but I liked it more than I didn’t. I Don’t Understand You is in theaters June 6. Rating: 3/5 Review by Adam Donato In an age of franchise requels and multiverse movies, fans just want to see all their favorite stuff from the past come together. The Karate Kid franchise has expanded so far. There’s An original trilogy with Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. Then Marita came back for The Next Karate Kid with Hilary Swank. The original was then remade starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. Followed by a Cobra Kai YouTube show that moved to Netflix. Now we have Karate Kid Legends, which takes Jackie Chan from the remake and Ralph Macchio in the originals and puts them together as they are both masters to a new karate kid. Not unlike how Obi Wan and Yoda trained Luke. This melding of the franchise is the weakest part of this new film. Strip away all the legacy characters and this is a cute little remake of the original. The new characters and setting are fun. It feels like a modern American take on the story. Jackie Chan is a pro and still holds his own, but Ralph Macchio doesn’t need to be here. At least Chan’s character is related to the new karate kid. For a movie that’s only 96 minutes long and is trying to accomplish so much in that timespan, there can’t be any wasted time on cheap fanfare. It’s a testament to how enjoyable the new elements are that the old elements feel like it’s weighing the whole piece down. Especially since nothing new or interesting happens with the legacy characters. Ben Wang stars as Li Fong, also known as Stuffed Crust. His character is relatable and full of personality. He has a cute chemistry with Sadie Stanley, former star of the live action Kim Possible. It’s odd because Li Fong gets roped into training his new girlfriend’s dad on how to utilize Kung Fu in his boxing, but isn’t supposed to practice fighting because of his mother who moved him to New York. It’s an interesting dynamic to see the karate kid be the teacher, but this quickly reverts back to the fact that the karate kid needs to fight the bully in the big tournament. That’s what has to happen because this is a Karate Kid movie and not because it makes sense in the narrative. Just entirely obligatory, but expected. It’s interesting that this film follows a television series because this narrative does seem like that of a season of television that was condensed into the shortest movie possible.
Karate Kid: Legends is New York propaganda with a nonstop Sony soundtrack to maximize profits. Fans of the extended franchise will enjoy the curtain call that this movie is. The uninitiated will not need any catching up to watch this new one because it’s the exact same movie every single time. Luckily the new characters are enjoyable enough and the action is fun. Not unlike the Cobra Kai show, this legacy sequel can wait to be seen on streaming as it’s an okay time at best. Karate Kid: Legends will be in theaters on May 30. Rating: 3/5 FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN -- Stepping Back Into the '80s for a Slasher That's a Bit Too Goofy5/23/2025 Review by Jon Berk Few authors have as much cachet with ‘90s kids as R.L. Stine. Whether you were a fan of Goosebumps or Fear Street, there is a good chance that he was an author that you’ve read. His film and TV adaptations have been mixed over the years, but in 2021, Netflix dropped three pretty solid films inspired by the Fear Street brand. The connected trilogy spanned three decades, but skipped over the ‘80s. Well, Director Matt Palmer’s Fear Street: Prom Queen fully embraces the ‘80s style, hair, music, and slasher films. Teenager Lori Granger (India Fowler) has lived in Shadyside with a bit of a horrible element hovering over her. The “It” girls, led by Tiffany Falconer (Fina Strazza), have made her life a living hell. Lori’s best friend, Megan (Suzanna Son), is the only thing making this existence bearable. However, it's senior year, and Lori has thrown her name into the mix for Prom Queen. As if fighting with the popular girls wasn’t bad enough, some of the nominees vanish as the big day approaches. The film leans into the ‘80s camp a little too hard at times, making it feel quite silly. There are moments early in the film that immediately made this feel like an outlier compared to the first three films. While the original trilogy has some flaws, it felt like a great entry into the horror genre overall. For the most part, the new film feels more like an homage to the genre, rather than a stand-alone entry. Still, there is enough here as the film moves on to justify its addition to the Netflix catalog. The cast is committed to delivering this tribute to the campy horror films of the past. Fowler, Strazza, and Son are all really great in their roles. Fowler has the charm to carry the film in the lead role. Megan is a horror fanatic, and the movie plays with that in some fun ways. One such way that stood out was this kind of dumb scene that still manages to find a laugh… however, part of that laugh was due to the teacher’s reaction, played by Chris Klein. Rounding out the cast, we find Lili Taylor, an ever-present force in horror, as the righteous principal of the high school, Katherine Waterston as Tiffany’s mother, and Ariana Greenblatt as one of the other surprise prom queen nominees. All of the performances work for the story being told, but that’s the other part that doesn’t fully connect.
As noted, the film leans into the '80s slasher tropes. There is a murder, and it’s a solid enough kill scene. Despite these elements, the motivation and the following aftermath don’t really work. In fact, the motivation and pacing are part of the problem. The film takes a while with a few too many montages before establishing the mystery or any additional killings. While the audience is aware of the murder, the characters just shrug off the missing character as an unusual thing. However, it takes them quite a while to realize there is something worth investigating. The 90-minute film manages to drag on for a stretch before it really gets going. Fear Street: Prom Queen finally comes into the genre. The mystery mostly works, and the finale is solid enough. There are a few story elements that feel a little unresolved by the time the credits roll. The fact that it felt like it dragged too long, and yet leaves story elements unfinished, is bothersome. Fortunately, there is enough here to make it worth investing a view in, especially if you were a fan of the first three. Fear Street: Prom Queen is on Netflix 5/23. Rating: 2.5/5 Review by Daniel Lima There is something inherently interesting about a big budget vanity project, an artist who uses the prodigious resources at their disposal to create a monument to themselves and their hubris. Mission Impossible – Final Reckoning puts that notion to the test. On a certain level, it is impressive to see such a vast canvas used to create something so vapid, so empty, so deluded and lost in its self-importance as both the latest in a franchise spanning three decades, and as Tom Cruise’s claim on the modern cinematic landscape. It is hard to get to energized by that, however, when it is so painfully dull. Beginning only a couple months after the previous entry, the film sees Cruise’s government agent Ethan Hunt reuniting with his team as they attempt to stop The Entity, a sentient AI set on destroying the world by taking control of every nuclear state’s arsenal. In the face of this existential threat, Cruise must both negotiate both a paranoid political landscape and perilous environments in order to obtain the means to destroy the computer program. If you’re at all confused by this synopsis, fear not, because you will hear it spelled out for you ad nauseam. Final Reckoning continues one of most egregious flaws of the last one, beginning with a torrent of exposition that continues almost without interruption through to the credits. Every conversation reiterates that this is a dangerous foe the likes of which the world had never seen, that only Tom Cruise can stop it, that he needs the key to submarine and the submarine holds the key to stopping the Entity and the Entity wants total annihilation and if they get the key to the submarine they can get the key in the submarine to stop the Entity that wants total annihilation. There are even flashbacks to help make things clear, not only to past entries, but to scenes that passed mere minutes before. The constant establishment and reestablishment of what is at stake bogs down the momentum of the film, with agonizingly long stretches of people sitting in rooms talking to each other about what needs to happen next. Past films in the series were content to give the barest possible justification to get from one set piece to the next; here, the justification is the set piece, and it’s every bit as thrilling as it sounds. It’s as if the script doesn’t trust that the audience can follow the goals of the characters, and so it proceeds to spend so much time laying them out that the explanation itself becomes white noise. The time not spent on plot is spent on the characters. Not fleshing out their histories, or building up their personalities, or giving them some dimension to make them feel like people. Instead, the film takes the legacy sequel approach of making the audience care about the characters by reminding you of all the time you’ve spent with them. It is assumed that since you’ve seen Ving Rhames in eight of these movies across thirty years, you must have an emotional attachment to him, even though he has no discernible personality trait beyond being friends with Tom Cruise. Angela Bassett was in one of these, so now that she’s playing the president we’ll spend ample time as she decides whether to preemptively nuke the world (this is a non-spoiler review, so I’ll leave you in suspense). Not to mention the guy who’s apparently the son of one of the previous villains, and the guy who popped up at the end of an iconic scene in the first movie but didn’t have any lines. One person gets a dramatic death scene, and they aren’t ever even named. When these movies are operating as fun thrill rides, it’s harder to fault the lack of effort that’s put in developing the characters. Final Reckoning instead takes on an air of dour seriousness, and so the emphasis it places on some idea of emotional pathos lays bare how horribly shallow they all are. This is made even worse by the insufferable callbacks to series lore, a blatant appeal to nostalgia that is more likely to go over the heads of even longtime fans than actually make the audience care about what happens. This extends to the antagonist of the film. The simple fact is an enemy with no physical presence, that the hero barely interacts with, who has no personal ties to the hero, who doesn’t ever directly affect what the hero is up against in any given scene, is a terrible villain. Regardless of how much breath is spent on how dangerous the Entity is, it is less dramatically compelling than any foe in any of the other movies precisely because the degree of remove it has from what is unfolding. Even Esai Morales, the bland human henchman of the AI from Dead Reckoning, has been cut loose from it. That leaves the primary driver of the plot an amorphous, impersonal, invisible threat, which hardly suffices for a big action blockbuster.
For many, the action has been the highlight of this franchise, and it has generally risen above the low standards of most Hollywood studio fare. Sadly, it has never been less impressive. Depending on how you stretch the definition of “action”, there are four set pieces, amounting to maybe a half hour over the course of three hours. Two of these are unremarkable brawls, decently choreographed and captured but unimaginative and brief. One sequence sees Cruise cautious moving through a downed submarine on the edge of an ocean floor cliff, easily the highlight of the film, yet reminiscent of the last. The climax has him dangling off some propeller planes, an impressive stunt, but even that is crosscut with, what else, people standing in rooms talking. After so many grueling hours of nothing happening, it is too little too late. The exposition, the weak characters, the flimsy emotional appeals, the limp villain, the middling action, there is something underpinning all these issues: this movie isn’t fun. There are other films in the franchise that are weak in one area or another, but they all have the tone of a rousing summer crowd pleaser. The plot moved quickly, characters had identifiable personalities beyond their role in the story, they laughed and argued and felt distinct. It is only with these last two entries, pitched as series finales, that an air of operatic grandiosity has suffocated all the verve, instead insisting on a gravity and weight that goes unsupported by what’s actually on screen. This shift can be partially attributed to the fact that the Reckoning films are positioned as a finale, though time will tell if such an identifiable IP will be allowed to lay dormant. It also folds neatly into the current studio obsession with legacy sequels, constantly attempting to forge an emotional connection between old media and modern consumers, no matter how forced. More than anything, however, it’s worth looking at the man powering the entire franchise: Tom Cruise. After a decade of bad press, a career slump, and losing his family, Cruise managed to completely turn around his image. Where he was once seen as a cultist with an army of slaves who eats placenta and jumps on couches, he is now the Entertainer-in-Chief, the President of Movies, devoted entirely to pleasing a global audience any way he can. Climbing the Burj Khalifa, learning to HALO jump, taking on financial burdens to make real movies that shoot on film and are made to be seen in a theater a reality, these actions have completely rehabilitated his image in the eyes of the public. The Mission Impossible series has been a large part of that, and as audiences and critics have responded with such glowing praise to these films, it seems that the acclaim has affected how he and his creative have approach them. These can no longer be larks, frivolous and light-hearted romps punctuated by intense action. Tom Cruise — Ethan Hunt — is bigger than that. Suddenly, the events of these middle action films become the stuff of myth and legend. Every character, every frame, every word must now take on an almost religious importance, and this “final” entry must take on a stately affect, lest the audience get led astray in thinking that they are supposed to be having fun. Perhaps it’s unfair to lay this at the feet of one man, but given how central he has been to the marketing, the stylistic similarities between all his recent creative endeavors, and his own demeanor when producing and promoting them, it’s near impossible to not see a movie like this as a monument to himself. The most interesting way to evaluate Dead Reckoning is as the most expensive vanity film of all time. For it to succeed on those terms, it would need to offer a level of sophistication and depth in the storytelling to complement how po-faced and self-serious it is. For all its posturing and dreary exposition, however, this film is no more interested in actually exploring tangible ideas than any of the previous ones. In spite of Cruise’s own professed disdain for AI, the film offers only the most surface level commentary on how it affects our own world. While the heroes are subverting the will of the government in attempting to destroy the program rather than deliver it to their superiors, the film confines all misgivings about the US security state to one character, with chunks of this movie that play more like a recruitment ad for the military and intelligence agencies than a summer blockbuster. Even that insistence that the AI needs to be destroyed can be interpreted as skepticism about a radical restructuring of the world. Even that requires interrogating the premise with more intellectual rigor than anyone who worked on it. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning is many things. An action epic bereft of action, a political thriller with shallow politics and few thrills, corporate IP that asserts its place in the culture with no emotional foundation. It is a mask for a man whose own identity has become that mask, even though his efforts to make that facade meaningful in and of itself are in vain. One crucial thing that this movie is not, however, is good. Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning is now in theaters. Rating: 1.5/5 Review by Adam Donato Talk To Me was quite the surprise hit for first time Australian directors Danny and Michael Philippou. It took a familiar horror setup and made it feel fresh. The second time around they get a legit actor to star in their film. Sally Hawkins headlines Bring Her Back as an unsettling foster parent who has dark secrets of her own. The story follows two children, an older brother played by Billy Barratt who feels responsible for taking care of his blind younger sister played by Sora Wong. With a mystery movie debut, can this sophomore feature continue the momentum for the Philippou brothers? Bring Her Back also deals with a familiar horror setup, but where it stands apart is just how far it is willing to go and the performances from the three leads. This movie is disgusting in all the best ways for a horror movie. There are multiple scenes that will have audiences covering their eyes from the screen. It’s all purposeful within the narrative as well. The fact that they were able to pull off some of these sequences with children is impressive. While the scares overall aren’t very lasting, this movie will have you squirming in your seat with how uncomfortable it is. Sally Hawkins is a wonderful actress. It’s really cool seeing her in this type of role because it really contrasts the image that she has for herself right now, especially after her work with Paul King on the Paddington movies and also her iconic lead role in The Shape of Water. She’s such a loving and quirky actress, but seeing her utilize that side of herself for evil is haunting. While some of her antics are unbelievable, there are other things that are so crazy over the line. She steals the movie by the third act and doesn’t let go. It’s important for actors to subvert their image from time to time as it can be very effective.
Barratt has some major projects under his filmography, but definitely isn’t a name yet. He does a good job here, but the big shoutout is to his two younger costars. Wong as noted before, but also Jonah Wren Phillips who plays Hawkins’ other child are both great. There’s a lot of makeup involved in Phillips’ character and he pulls it off. There’s a specific sequence where he utilizes a knife in such a horrific manner of self harm that is not to be missed. It’s crazy that kids can pull off scenes and situations like this. Child actors are usually the worst part of movies, but here they’re an extra feather in the movie’s cap. Bring Her Back delivers the goods for a gross out horror movie and has some admirable performances. The scares lean more uncomfortable than anything else, making for a rough viewing experience. It is also similar in flavor to Talk To Me so it will be interesting to see if these two will evolve going forward. They are attached to a sequel to Talk To Me, but whatever they do after is sure to be a big swing that will be anticipated. Horror is great genre to get a start in and they’re on a solid track going forward. Bring Her Back is in theaters on May 30. Rating: 3/5 Review by Adam Donato The 2025 box office is about to do a hesitation move on Disney. First Snow White bombs both critically and financially prompting the studio to reconsider all further live action remakes. Now Lilo & Stitch is poised to be a hit with a prime Memorial Day release date. It also helps that Lilo & Stitch isn’t littered with controversy. People love Stitch. The vibe is fun. The destination is beautiful. The themes about family are universal. This is a layup of a live action remake. They’ve just copied everything, right down to the crossover ads where Stitch interacts with other Disney properties. Box office aside, how does this live action remake shape up? The problem with most of these live action remakes is that these characters and this story were specifically designed to be represented in animation. The Princess entries kind of get away with that as most of their central characters are human so they’re not as jarring of an interpretation. Anything that focuses on fully cgi lead characters loses a lot of personality and charm in contrast to the animated version. It often looks wrong. The way Pleakley looks in this movie is one of the ugliest character designs in recent memory. No wonder they felt like they couldn’t make Pleakley in a dress work. With Gantu being absent from this remake, Jumbaa is given an extended and more antagonistic leaning role. His design is also disgusting. These two characters are the most changed from the original animated movie. While the animated version of the character is better, the interpretation in this film by Billy Magnussen does feel distinct and succeeds in its own way. Jumbaa on the other hand becomes less interesting and more annoying. Constant lame assertions about his own genius and a total lack of dominating presence in comparison to the animated version. It works having the aliens cosplay as humans in the animated version because it’s a cartoon and the suspension of disbelief is higher. That being said, Stitch looks fine. Nothing great, but nothing that torpedos the movie. There’s not a lot of new bits with Stitch. He’s mostly just doing the exact same thing he did before. There’s a whole liar revealed cliche added into this version’s climax. There’s no ugly duckling storybook relatable appeal. Stitch was intended to be portrayed in animation and just telling the exact same story only twenty years later is underwhelming and a waste of one of Disney’s most iconic characters. Child actors are usually not good. Maia Kealoha does not buck this trend. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what she’s saying in the movie. It’s easier in animation because all you need is the voice of the child which can be done by an adult. It would've been nice to see Lilo remain a brat if she wasn’t so annoying. Kealoha fails to land many of the classic jokes. For most people it will just be enough that she just a cute little kid who loves her dog thing.
It wouldn’t be a Disney live action remake if we didn’t need to beef up some of the female roles. In this adaptation, Nani is a genius who is being offered full ride scholarships to colleges for marine biology. The main struggle of the film is Nani trying to keep their family together with the social workers breathing down her neck. It’s understandable to want to take care of your sibling at all costs, but this unnecessary change in her situation makes her conflict less interesting. How is she smart enough to be offered a full ride, but ignorant enough to force herself to stay home to poorly raise her sister while she financially drowns. The performance by Sydney Agudong is solid. Courtney B. Vance as Cobra Bubbles is a much smaller and more mustachioed this time around. His role in the script is kind of minimized here too as there’s multiple social workers on their case. Tia Carrere is the initial social worker who acts as a mentor figure for Nani helping her set goals to maintain her guardianship. This role feels redundant as there’s another new character who has a similar female role model vibe to her as well. Amy Hill plays Tutu who is an old lady character from the original. Nobody is more beefed up as a character here than her. She’s also the funniest character in the movie. The jokes she makes aren’t incredibly funny, but in contrast to the rest of the jokes in the movie her jokes are new. Every other joke is straight out of the original so it’s refreshing to see something I haven’t already seen in a better movie before. She’s also made into the parent of David, Nani’s romantic interest. David is made dumber here because it’s important for these live action remakes that the men are dumber and the women are smarter than they were before. Take that, patriarchy! It’s impossible to watch this live action remake and not compare it to the original. Especially when the movie is so desperately trying to recreate the original as opposed to making it their own. Families will enjoy this because the parents like the original and the kids will enjoy the little blue alien guy. It just feels like a lifeless adaptation that is a complete waste of time. Luckily there’s a Mission Impossible movie out this weekend so if you have a brain then you should go see that instead. Save this one for a lazy at home Disney plus half watch while you’re on your phone. That’s what it was made for. Lilo & Stitch will be in theaters on May 23. Rating: 1/5 Review by Jonathan Berk Wes Anderson's new film, The Phoenician Scheme, is full of his familiar style and flair. Despite the similarities his twelfth film shares with its predecessors, Anderson takes the time to experiment with the addition of new elements to liven up his impeccable production design. Much like his style, the film is full of familiar faces, but even there, we discover the inclusion of a new actor among his usual suspects that feels like a long-lost love. Fans of Anderson should find his newest film to be a triumph, and walk out feeling satiated. Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) has survived many plane crashes. The latest one felt a little too close, and he decides it's time to embrace an heir. He looks to his estranged daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), to take over his vast empire. However, her eyes are set on a different kingdom: that of heaven, as she plans to take her vows in the coming weeks. The two set out to acquire funding for his greatest plan to date, which will secure his legacy and wealth for years to come. While Anderson is often praised for his set design, costumes, staging, and overall camerawork in his films, he rarely tackles action. Often settling for witty dialogue between characters, the few moments of action in his new film apparently opened the path to some new ideas. On multiple occasions, a POV camera is utilized to show the impact of some hits that have a similar comedic tone to the often biting sarcasm found in the dialogue. It was fun seeing the established auteur try some new things. Anderson clearly has a strong rapport with many actors who have worked with him over the years, based mainly on their frequency of return. Del Toro's section of The French Dispatch was one of the stronger elements of that anthology-style story. He fits into the quirky spaces that Anderson builds perfectly, and this pairing really finds its footing here. The deadpan delivery and odd timing fit del Toro's style perfectly. Not only is he a compelling screen presence easily able to carry the film, but he's just a total blast as this character. Threapleton is a new player in Anderson's troupe, but feels like an instant fit. The chemistry – or intentional absence of it, in moments – with del Toro truly works well. Their relationship is the centerpiece of the story, and if you didn't buy their connection, the film would fall apart. Fortunately, they work together perfectly throughout the film, and they are dynamite on screen together.
While Threapleton is incredible, the true shock was seeing that Michael Cera had never worked with Anderson before. If ever there was a match made in Heaven, it is this one. Cera's natural awkwardness feels like it is the mold in which Anderson used to craft many other characters in his oeuvre. Cera is the tutor that Zsa-zsa keeps around, who gets a promotion to assistant when the journey begins. He is ever present and used perfectly to interject a variety of emotions. It's great seeing Cera flex his comedic chops and acting prowess in a Wes Anderson world. There are many familiar and famous faces sprinkled throughout the film. Some are clearly visible in the marketing, while others may be a welcome surprise. The film is a globetrotting epic set to a svelte 102 minutes. Some of those faces show up for mere seconds, while others play integral moments that people will walk out talking about. It's likely everyone will have that one scene that really clicks because you just couldn't stop laughing. Similar to Asteroid City, Anderson employs a B-story that is black and white. It's by far one of the most layered elements of the film, and will require some true reflection to decide what, if anything, Anderson was thinking about. The scenes have the potential to have deep, existential meanings, but also offer some of the best cameos. The Phoenician Scheme is Anderson's best film since The Grand Budapest Hotel – and I liked Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, and Asteroid City. This film is so propulsive and full of laughs, it’s undeniable. The characters have depth, the jokes pay off, the cast is on point, and Anderson's aesthetic is immaculate as ever. There are allusions to films of the past and a world long forgotten; yet, at the heart, it's about a father and his daughter. The Phoenician Scheme will be in theaters on May 30. Rating: 4.5/5 |
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