Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Warfare – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An emotionally charged film that uses every bullet strike to bring you into this world, whether you are ready for it or not.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that was used to view this film.

Looking down a sniper scope.

Warfare Review Introduction –

After Alex Garland came out swinging with Civil War in 2024, I was interested to see what he would follow it up with next. Unfortunately, I just was not able to get to a screening when it had its theatrical release, but before I put my best films of 2025 list together, I knew I had to make sure I crossed this one off the pile of shame.  

So, to set the scene, on November 19th, 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq, a Navy SEAL platoon took up sniper watch to support operations in the area. Two platoons take up position in an Iraqi family’s house to provide overwatch. Watching. Waiting. People peeking and probing their defences. All preparing themselves for that first shot or explosion.  

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Novocaine – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A chaotic ride from start to finish, with a cast that commits to the bit all the way.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Jack Quaid showered in falling glass.

Novocaine Review Introduction –

It has been a gangbuster year for action in 2025, and before I write my best-of-2025 list, I knew I had to catch one more action beat from the year, or in this case, a beatdown. Jack Quaid is always a solid lead, as we have seen in the three other films he released this year [Companion, Neighborhood Watch & Heads of State], so it is only fair that we take a look at number four.  

So, to set the scene, Nathan “Novocaine” Caine (Jack Quaid) is, by all respects, just a normal, mild-mannered bank executive, other than the fact that he actually cares about his clients. He is more reserved than you would expect, but that is because he has a nerve issue where he can not feel pain. Which you would think would be a good thing until you realise just how much your interaction with the world is based on that. His self-imposed isolation is brought to a sudden end when he finds a kindred spirit in Sherry Margrave (Amber Midthunder), which is suddenly interrupted by Santa-dressed bank robbers who take Sherry as a hostage. Now, only Novocaine is available to save her.

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Roofman – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A slow meditation on isolation and despair when who you are is not who the world wants.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit sequence.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Channing Tatum dancing through a Toys R Us store

Roofman Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a sort of odd film as we wrap up 2025. Going into Roofman, all the marketing implied that this was a quirky, fun romp of shenanigans. To be fair, there is some of that there. However, the film we got is very different from the one that was marketed.

So, to set the scene, in 1998, Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) made a living by breaking into McDonald’s via the roof. He felt it was the only way he could provide for his family after leaving the military. After being arrested, he is sent away for 45 years, but the same skills that allowed him to rob the burger places allowed him to escape prison. Prison plans and a truck trip later and he was a ‘free’ man, but with everyone looking for an escaped prisoner, Jeffery had only one place to hide, in a Toys R Us store.

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Sisu: Road to Revenge – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it loses some of its drive halfway through, it is still the action romp that it needs to be as carnage stretches across Russia.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit sequences.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Sisu: A Finnish word that cannot be translated. It means the white-knuckled force of courage and unimaginable determination.

Sisu: Road to Revenge Review Introduction –

It is that time of year when I take a look back on 2025, and see all the films that I missed that I need to take a look at before I start my best of 2025 lists. I won’t get to all of them; there isn’t enough time. However, one film I knew I had to see was the follow-up to a Finnish gem from 2023. Sisu is one of the few films in the post-John Wick era that took the action style and improved on it. But can lightning strike twice?  


So, to set the scene, after WW2, Finland lost territory to the Soviet Union, and the Finns living there were forced to flee. In 1946, after finding all that gold in Lappland, Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) returned to his home in Karelia, now on the wrong side of the border, to where his dead family once lived, hoping to take the house and rebuild it in a land of peace. But when Aatami crossed the border, his passport triggered a response in Soviet high command. The KGB (Richard Brake) tasks Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang), the man who killed Aatami’s family, to finish the job. But Aatami is a man who has left hundreds of Red Army and Nazi corpses in his wake, and he won’t go down without a fight.    

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Anaconda (2025) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a wildly silly and meta film that holds back when it should dive all the way in.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to view this film.

A production slate for Anaconda.

Anaconda Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a film that sold itself to me by its bonkers premise alone: what if the sequel to 1997’s Anaconda was a meta reboot about a group of filmmakers trying to film a sequel to 1997’s Anaconda. It is a premise so profoundly silly that you must see just how they pull it off, and the answer is very meta indeed.

So, to set the scene, Ronald “Griff” Griffen Jr. (Paul Rudd) is a background actor in Hollywood whose only notable role was a four-episode stint on S.W.A.T. Well, after another failed audition, he sees a poster for the 1997 film Anaconda and gets an idea. He returns home to Buffalo, New York, to inform his friends that he has secured the rights to the Anaconda franchise so they can make one of the films they used to make when they were kids. It is a profoundly silly idea, but soon wedding videographer Doug McCallister (Jack Black), recently divorced lawyer Claire Simons (Thandiwe Newton), and now Buffalo sober Kenny Trent (Steve Zahn) find themselves in Manaus, Brazil, looking at snake handler Carlos Santiago Braga (Selton Mello) and his pet anaconda. They take a boat deep into the jungle to start filming, but little do they know that when filming Anaconda, there may be an anaconda hunting them.      

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Avatar: Fire and Ash – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Avatar is pomp and circumstance like no one else in the business is doing at the moment, except maybe the other Avatar films, which are doing the same thing very much.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Wind Traders.

Avatar: Fire and Ash Review Introduction –

Truly, there is nothing out there at the moment with the ambition and multi-coloured excellence like Avatar. Just three hours of non-stop visual excellence for your eyeballs with a sheer tenacity that we don’t see come out of Hollywood much anymore. But, this is the third outing in the series, and the question is: can it keep feeling fresh coming back to the same world again and again? Before we jump in, I do want to make clear that for this review, we watched the standard presentation, so no 3D, 4DX or other extras other than the meal I ordered halfway through because I splurged on the nice seats. So, we won’t be able to comment on whether the 3D, etc., is worth the ticket price.

So, to set the scene, everyone is still reeling from the end of Avatar: The Way of Water, where to save his family, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri’s (Zoe Saldaña) son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) sacrificed himself to save his family, and Spider (Jack Champion) no less. Everyone is grieving in their own way, and most of those ways are not very helpful. However, after some battery mix-ups show how vulnerable Spider is out here in the wilds. The parents decide it’s time to send Spider back to the researchers, where he will be closer to humans and safer. It is a long trip back, full of dangers, but not just from humans/sky people. For within the Navi, there are the Mangkwan clan led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), who are raiding and killing all those they come across.

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Fallout: The Golden Rule [S2E2] – TV Review

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TL;DR – A riot of whimsy as we delve into the world of Fallout, as the characters try to make sense of everything that goes on.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this series.

The destruction of Shady Sands.

Fallout: The Golden Rule Review Introduction –

One of the great things about Fallout has been its ability to be filled with contrasts, yet still manage to keep the whole from being ripped apart. Which, as we have seen from a multitude of adaptations, is a difficult thing to pull off. Grounding something this inherently silly is a rare skill, and the show pulls it off again here.

So, to set the scene, many years before the time of the show, there lived a town called Shady Sands. Life was still hard, but they had found their niche in the wilderness, and they were starting to rebuild the world that had been lost during the Great War that rained down nuclear fire on the earth. However, their success drew the attention of forces they did not know were out there, or in this case, under there, which is why they may not have acted quickly enough when the trader walked into town acting odd. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Clarisse Blows Everything Up [S2E4] – TV Review

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TL;DR – We get reminded again how good the casting has been in this series, and also what the stakes are, because you never know when things are going to explode.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Clarisse and Percy fight.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Review –

Well, we have heard a lot about the Sea of Monsters, but so far, we have been spending a lot of time not actually visiting it. Well, that all changes today, because cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war, because nothing will stop Percy when he is on a quest.

So, to set the scene, a long time ago, Luke was a demigod on the run from monsters with a young Annabeth (Marissa Lior Winans) in his care. They were hiding in a sewer to escape cyclopes that were chasing them and Thalia (Tamara Smart). It is a great sadness for Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) because Thalia never made it to Camp Halfblood. But it may be an illegal quest, but everyone is on board, right up until the part where Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn) blows up their boat. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Hamnet – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This film emotionally wrecked me. It’s raw to the bone and yet also one of the most cathartic works of cinema I have ever witnessed. Full of unbelievable pain and yet also moments of absolute joy. It exists as both a stunningly beautiful work of art and a profoundly haunting treatise on trauma.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The Globe Theatre.

Hamnet Review Introduction –

Okay … phew … deep breath … I can do this. In my time, I have watched a lot of films that have made me emotional in the cinema. Indeed, including at least one time when I ugly cried so much the old lady sitting next to me asked if I was okay, oh, and that time when Pixar made us think they were going to kill all the toys in the furnace, I have still not forgiven you for that, Pixar. However, I have never experienced emotions quite the same way as I sat down to watch Hamnet, a film steeped in both beauty and trauma.  

So, to set the scene, we are in a small town in Elizabethan England, where, while tutoring some boys in Latin, a young William (Paul Mescal) sees an enigma walk out of the forest. Agnes (Jessie Buckley) is nothing like any of the other women he has met, understanding the ways of bees, knowing the curative power of herbs, and being the master of birds of prey. It is the combination of traits that makes the town whisper unseemly things behind your back. But when an expedited wedding is needed, a new complicated family is born. But life can be hard in this era, and you never know when it will sneak up on you, no matter how well you prepare.

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The Great Flood (Daehongsu/대홍수) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A wildly ambitious film about a catastrophe in motion that struggles with its scope as it explores deeper emotional constructions.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Water reaching the 10th floor.

The Great Flood Review Introduction –

There is a reason that floods get the moniker “biblical”, and it is not just what was described in Genesis. Water has an immense, indiscriminate power behind it at the best of times, but when rivers break their banks or waters surge from the ocean, nothing can stand in its way. It forges canyons, it cleaves buildings, and it kills with little effort. It is that power that guides the story today.

So, to set the scene, it is a day that started as typical as anything else as Gu An-na (Kim Da-mi) wakes up to find her son Ja-in (Kwon Eun-seong) already in her bed wanting one more day diving in the pool. But the normalcy was interrupted by rumbling sounds in the distance that the rain could not account for. Rice gets spilt, heads get hit, and a parent is overbearing. It’s honestly not a great start to the day. But when water starts seeping into her apartment from outside, when she lives on the third floor, Gu An-na realises something is very wrong, even if her son thinks this is the best day in the world.    

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