VOD: Mickey 17 (dir: Bong Joon Ho, 2025)

"Nice knowing you.  Have a good death!  See you tomorrow."

Bong Joon Ho's English-language follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Parasite is certainly a curious sci-fi headscratcher, with Robert Pattinson playing an Expendable, a lowly employee on a deep-space mission to find a habitable plant who undertakes lethal tasks and is simply replaced ('reprinted') with memories intact every time he dies.  The film is full of visual/conceptual and serious/wacky ideas that keeps the film consistently interesting over its indulgent running time.  It is part strange love story, part hard sci-fi, part political/colonisation satire and part goofball comedy, which is a somewhat peculiar mix that makes it hard to define its audience.  The first act is the most successful, a self-contained circular narrative that tells the story of Mickeys 1-17, but when 17 goes missing presumed dead on a hostile planet, his unexpected return and encounter with the newly-printed Mickey 18 leads to all manner of complications, and the movie becomes more melodramatic and wayward.  Pattinson makes the oddball protagonist (the focal 17th iteration) surprisingly engaging and likeable, and he handles the multiple versions - at times sharing the same screen - very effectively, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo go full panto mode as the morally-corrupt expedition leaders, Naomi Ackie gives sterling support throughout, and the director brings a familiar gentle classiness to the proceedings (regardless of the actual style of a particular scene).  This is basically a meditation on life, death, power and identity which is at its heart quite simplistic and blunt, wrapped up in large-scale sci-fi trappings, and whilst its ambition is evident, the different strands and themes get somewhat lost or underdeveloped amidst the tonal unevenness in this undoubtedly interesting but not wholly satisfying movie.

 

VOD: War Of The Worlds (2025) (dir: Rich Lee, 2025)

"You hacked my fridge?"

Having sat on the shelf for five years, Ice Cube's name above the title may give a level of expectation for this contemporary tech-savvy update on the classic tale, and to some extent the film sets itself up for the remarkable public and critical kicking it has received on release.  Ice Cube plays an American cyber-surveillance officer fighting online conspiracy-theorists/hackers/freedom-fighters and ultimately the global threat from data-hungry invaders from space as they disable the entire world's systems ready to take over (apart from - oddly - CNN, Amazon and a few select communications networks in order to enable the plot to progress!).  Told mostly through screens and devices and a variety of media sources (phone and computer screens, webcams, CCTV, news broadcasts, etc.), this film does try to balance the recognisable iconic core elements of the original story with new tech, and it occasionally raises questions about personal freedom versus state intervention (and indeed the actions of this obsessively protective father).  Ice Cube has always proved to be a reliable performer, but the constraints of a computer screen give him little room for range in his main role as story-enabler, backed up by a small but largely solid cast.   To its credit, the 'screens' conceit is delivered with a brisk and snappy energy (particularly the aliens' arrival) and keeps the story moving along, but it all comes undone when it turns into a narratively-unconvincing and blatant Amazon advert leading to a really rather desperate third act.  Whether or not the story needed re-telling yet again, the zippy immediacy of the presentation style keeps attention even if the unconvincing narrative choices undermine it.
 

VOD: Happy Gilmore 2 (dir: Kyle Newacheck, 2025)

"We're not done with golf, Happy, and golf's not done with us..."

Happy Gilmore is probably best remembered as one of the less-awful Adam Sandler movies, here getting a very belated sequel that starts with a useful recap and a morose accident that brings the story up to date, with a dissolute Happy abandoning golf, working in a supermarket and bringing up his four rambunctious sons and aspiring dancer daughter.  Naturally, the desire to pay for his daughter's Parisian ballet training spurs Happy into recovery and on the comeback trail - cue 80s-style progress montage - with the veteran Tour Champions pitted against the modern Maxi Golf League and his old nemesis Shooter McGavin on the loose.  With some apt references to ageing and how modern sport has changed since Happy's heyday, this sequel is laden with flashbacks/callbacks and real golf pros aplenty making it feel comfortably familiar, all trundling along flatly and harmlessly with its humour determinedly simple, basic and childish (just like Happy's quartet of knuckleheaded sons).  Typically, Sandler nails the smaller, quieter and more dramatic moments, even if they are few and far between, and there is a nicely-tuned performance from Benito Antonio Martinez as Happy's clueless caddy, but overall Happy Gilmore 2 is a mid-level Sandler movie that offers little and leaves little impression.
 

VOD: Rebirth - Home Sweet Home a.k.a. Home Sweet Home - Rebirth (dirs: Alexander Kiesl and Steffen Hacker, 2025)

"This is so friggin' weird!"

This entry in the wild Asian supernatural/demon/monster genre finds American police sergeant Jake (an almost-unrecognisable William Moseley, giving a quite unique performance here) holidaying  in Thailand with his wife and young daughter, when he unexpectedly gets caught up in a mass murderer's ritual at a mall and  inadvertently opening the Gates of Hell, plunging the city into chaos and leaving him to save his family and indeed the whole world from evil.  Throwing a scenery-chewing Michele Morone (365 Days) into the mix as the mass killer, the film offers a combination of effectively-executed action sequences with messily-constructed fight scenes, yet any (brief) appearance by the CG demon-creatures of various sizes is worth a look, especially as the human cast gives generally lacklustre performances.  With lots of talk of destiny and prophecy, body-inhabiting and a mid-point twist that you will probably have already guessed at that point, this lively but muddled nonsense is delivered with utter seriousness but feels like Sam Raimi on a bad day.

 

FILM: The Fantastic Four - First Steps (dir: Matt Shakman, 2025)

"Ladies and gentlemen - we have a successful launch!"

If *Thunderbolts proved to be something of a return to form for Marvel, the the launch of The Fantastic Four into the MCU runs with it and brings it home in style.  Even though it covers the basic story of 2007's adequate Rise Of The Silver Surfer, First Steps is a considerable upgrade all round.  Thankfully sidestepping a full-on origin tale (dealt with deftly in an early TV tribute montage for 'Four Years of The Fantastic Four'), Marvel's big theme of family is dealt with head on, not least with Sue and Reed's baby and the inter-familial relationships of the Four themselves, playing into a threat that is both global and very personal, and also making the characters more human and less one-dimensional than previous iterations, which also surprisingly applies to Galactus and Silver Surfer here.  It is effortlessly watchable and engaging, the story is tightly written and flows wonderfully, the retro-stylings give the whole film a wonderful aesthetic, the core characters' performances and interactions are excellent, and Michael Giacchino's score is sublime (again, one of his best).  This film is also evidence of Marvel's push for better quality control, as the VFX sequences are both ambitious and very well-realised throughout, standouts being an extended hard-sci-fi space sequence and the action-packed finale.  Also to relish is the incidental detail director Shakman brings to scenes (one can only wonder what his late-abandoned fourth Kelvin Star Trek movie could have been after seeing this), as he handles both enormous-scale scenes and smaller character work with aplomb.  There are mid- and end-of scenes with the end credits that presumably nod to the upcoming Avengers movies (the mid-credits scene is particularly ominous).   This is superhero storytelling at its best, pitched just right for both the younger and older audiences, and the quality of the production as a whole sees Marvel aiming for the top once again and pretty much hitting it.
 

VOD: Better Man (dir: Michael Gracey, 2024)

"So, who is Robbie Williams?"

This Robbie Williams biopic famously has its subject portrayed on-screen by a Weta-created CG ape, telling the singer's story from insecure childhood through to troubled boyband glory days and his significant solo ups and downs, narrated by Williams along the way.  The story may be one of typical and familiar rise/fall/redemption, but better man tells it in a way that is both interesting and surprisingly intimate to watch.  The Robbie Williams back catalogue is used quite sparingly and selectively and proves robust enough to sustain the jukebox-musical-style format applied here, but the song sequences are also presented in very energetic and visually inventive ways, often emotionally quite affecting.  The key relationships and the artist's evolution are also delivered well.  This film is by its style and genre necessarily a different beast to the at-times harrowingly honest Netflix documentary series, but it does not shy away from Robbie's addictions, self-destructive behaviour and mental health issues.  With Jonno Davies doing excellent and convincing work as the star's mo-capped on-screen presence, whether the ape conceit is a metaphor for performers, a way of viewing Robbie more objectively or a way to evoke a sympathetic response to a wide-eyed animal representation will be down to interpretation (given that this is very much told from Robbie Williams's perspective), but Better Man proves to be an interesting and successful creation in its own terms.   

 

VOD: Heads Of State (dir: Ilya Naishuller, 2025)

"Hashtag commander-in-beef is trending!"

 Following a lively opening covert-mission-goes-wrong at La Tomatina food-fight festival, this breezy tongue-firmly-in-cheek action-comedy from Amazon finds the new gung-ho soundbite-friendly former movie-star US President (John Cena) and beleaguered and more grounded UK Prime Minister (Idris Elba) thrown together after Air Force One is brought down over Belarus and having to work together to defeat a common Russian renegade nemesis who has taken control of the U.S.'s super-surveillance software.  With the pair of leaders set up as simple binary oppositions who clash and bicker over everything, after the dramatic opening not a moment of the movie takes itself too seriously, enabling a lot of fun to be derived from these two larger-than-life characters/actors (cast perfectly) butting heads as they battle the Connery-Bond-style villain and his goons.  The action sequences are very effective if occasionally a little full-on for the film's rating, as are some of the dreadful puns delivered.  This is a glossy, daft romp that trots along without a care and offers lightweight and very enjoyable fun with just the occasional touch of heavy politics to anchor the nonsense.   

VOD: The Amateur (dir: James Hawes, 2025)

REVIEW No. 1,800!

"You must have done something really bad!"
"Not yet."

Rami Malek stars as a mild-mannered CIA analyst who goes on the hunt for his wife's killer after a terrorist gang's hostage situation goes wrong, the USP here being that he uses his strengths of brains and strategy over brawn, manoeuvring his way into field training to stand a 'fighting chance' in this somewhat routine and rather morose thriller.  Malek is an interesting choice for this role, his rather internalised approach means that he delivers rather than inhabits his character on-screen.  It is a consistently dour affair, the European backdrops are attractive, and apart from an extraordinary (and brief) sequence involving a suspended swimming pool, whilst proficient and somewhat routine, the film lacks spark and never quite seems to realise the promise of a genuinely smart thriller.
 

VOD: Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (dir: Jeff Fowler, 2024)

"The more you talk, the harder I want to hit you!"

This time, Sonic and his sidekicks are drafted in to battle an embittered and powerful new enemy, Shadow the hedgehog (voiced by Keanu Reeves), newly defrosted and escaped from Prison Island having taken a different path to Sonic, and the team having to make an uneasy alliance with Dr Robotnik (the ever-zany Jim Carrey) in order to triumph. Tailor-made for its young audience, with its neon-soaked colour palette, light-rock soundtrack and loads of noise and action, this solid threequel delivers more of the same and quite slickly.  Once again, the integration of real-world and CGI/videogame elements is handled very well indeed, and the world-building and indeed film-making is handled with care and effectiveness.  The drawn-out mid-section does sag a little, and the film labours its key message of personal responsibility and making the right choices, but there is sufficient story development to make this film a sound if hardly earth-shattering addition to the franchise.  And yes, a (good) mid-end-credits sequence sets up the next chapter.

 

VOD: Superman (dir: James Gunn, 2025)

"Hot damn - it's a flying dog!"
 

 ...and so we get another Superman for another generation, as James Gunn kick-starts the next iteration of the cinematic DC Universe, cleaving very close to comic-book style and delivering a film that is great fun if uneven in some respects and which twelve-year-old boys are going to absolutely love - if you like your Superman Cavill-serious, this will not be much to your liking.  It gets a lot of things right:  the story miraculously hangs together, David Corenswet's Superman has a pleasing child-like naiveté balancing the considerable power, Nicholas Hoult delivers possibly the best Lex Luthor seen so far with a mean and calculating nastiness, Rachel Brosnaham does Lois Lane via Scream's Gale Weathers, there are great takes on Perry White, Jimmy Olsen and the Kents, and above all Krypto/SuperDog is an instant scene-stealing loveable crazy superstar.  There are some spectacular and powerful action set-pieces, and the whole affair is infused with Gunn's silly humour - there are plenty of genuine chuckles to be had along the way - and it comes as a bit of a shock that a major-league superhero movie does not have to dark, moody and tortured.  Where it perhaps falters is when it tries to inject anything more heavyweight, noticeable more in the first act, in which an unnecessarily extended 'relationship'/interview scene between Lois and Clark/Superman seems to exist simply to establish that they are adults, as if it were needed.  Many touchstones remain intact: The Fortress Of Solitude looks great, the suit works on screen, and even John Williams's iconic theme gets the Top Gun treatment.  Overall, it does enough to freshen up the property and is a likeable and entertaining enough spectacle if a little lightweight and forgettable.  The first of two end-credits scenes sums up the film in a very sweet way indeed.