Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Sense and Sensibility (2026) – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A delightfully charming film, filled with camaraderie, humour, and exquisite performances

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

The Dashwood family arrive in Devon.

Sense and Sensibility Review Introduction

One of the bonuses of this job is that you experience a full range of classic literature that you missed growing up because your school picked different titles, such as One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest, or there was one English teacher who made the thought of doing literature a non-starter. This is how I have discovered the joys of such classics as Emma, Little Women, Murder on the Orient Express, and Wuthering Heights. Okay, some more than others. However, today, I get to add to this as we dive back to the era of Jane Austen with all its pomp and circumstance.

So, to set the scene, tragedy has struck the Dashwood family as their father Henry has passed away, and after some prodding from his wife Fanny (Stacy Martin), John (Tom Brooke), Henry’s son, has decided not to financially support his stepmother (Caitríona Balfe), or half-sisters Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones), Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles), or Margaret (Bodhi Rae Breathnach). Thankfully, a distant relative, Mrs Jennings (Fiona Shaw), has announced that  Sir John Middleton (Turlough Convery) has heard of their plight and offered them a cottage in Devon that they could move into for a low rent. This is a big change for all the girls, but with all change, there is frustration and opportunities. Some of those opportunities may be potential suitors, including the shy Edward Ferrars (George MacKay), the distant Colonel Brandon (Herbert Nordrum), and the far too forward John Willoughby (Frank Dillane). This could be a source of much relief for the family, or possibly much pain.

Continue reading →

Pretty Lethal – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – An absolutely solid action film that understands the visual language it wants to engage with and makes it shine.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

The ballerinas.

Pretty Lethal Review Introduction

I have been on the hunt for a good action film lately, and unfortunately, I have been hit by a wave of disappointments. When you are on a bad run, it is time to remove your preconceptions and try for something outside of the box and today that means dancing as if your life depended on it.

So, to set the scene, a group of ballerinas, Zoe (Iris Apatow), Princess (Lana Condor), Chloe (Millicent Simmonds), Grace (Avantika), Bones (Maddie Ziegler), and their instructor Thorna Devonport (Lydia Leonard), were on their way to a showcase in Budapest when their flight got diverted, and the transfer bus broke down in the middle of the forest 300-odd kilometres away from the capital. No service, cold and drenched from rain, they stumble into the one hotel in the little town in the mountains. A short wait for a minibus should have been fine, but when bullets start flying, it will be a fight for their lives.

Continue reading →

Brothers Under Fire – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – This is a film that is 80% set up, and I am not sure the ending was worth it.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

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

The five members of the platoon in a photo.

Brothers Under Fire Review Introduction

Today, we are looking at a film that I knew nothing about until it appeared on my feed, an enigma of a movie. But it was also an intriguing mystery, because it is something of an occupational hazard that I know about most films released out of America. But that mystery is a potential promise until proven otherwise.   

So, to set the scene, in Syria, east of the Al Omar mountain oil fields, an American platoon is under attack, with only a very close air strike saving them. A good thing because Alberto Castillo (Tommy Martinez) is getting married, and the whole troop, including Capt. Jordan Wright (Kiefer Sutherland), Danny Walton (Solly McLeod), Lieutenant Carson (Ashton Sanders), and Marco Hino (Laird Akeo), are invited to Columbia for the nuptials to Isabella Perez (Laura Osma). What no one realises is that the local cartel is on the move after a messy takeover of a rival organisation, and soon everyone is caught up in the storm.

Continue reading →

Digger – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – While I will champion the brilliant production design, and the performances. I also respect that they went for a big swing here. But I must say that I ended up loathing this film with an anger I have never quite experienced before.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

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

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

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Digger looks in shock at the news on his computer screen.

Digger Review Introduction

Well, I don’t think I have ever experienced a film quite like the one we will be exploring today. It makes some of the biggest swings in cinema that I have seen all year, maybe in several years, and yet all it invoked in me was anger. Today, I will unpick the film as well as we can without heading headfirst into the inevitable spoilers. It will not be an easy balance to get right, but I shall try.

So, to set the scene, Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) is an oil baron from a long line of oil barons, who has made his considerable fortune from drilling oil in places no one else would, such as a national park in Greenland or along the Alaskan coastline. He has lived a life of luxury, where his wealth and power have insulated him from most things, even the President of the United States Compson (John Goodman) comes to him for advice. But all of that changes one day when the scientist Ganesh (Riz Ahmed) informs him that 1) a chunk of ice the size of Pennsylvania has broken off Greenland, 2) it is entirely his oil mining that caused it, and 3) now the ice sheet Judy is heading right towards Europe where it will cause flooding across the entire coastline.

Continue reading →

The Get Out – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A profoundly odd slow-burn film that I am not sure lands its bombastic conclusion.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

Russell Crowe sitting down in an yellow jumpsuit listing to headphones.

The Get Out Review Introduction

If you were going to ask who is the best export that Australia has ever given to Hollywood, then I would have to say that Russell Crowe needs to be in that conversation. If nothing else, the man is always working, bringing all of himself into the roles he plays, no matter how small or weird they may be. Today we are looking at a film that might be a good example of this, as we dive into the seedy underbelly of the Gold Coast … I mean Los Angeles.

So, to set the scene, Marco Kapak (Russell Crowe) is a man from Albania who has run a nightclub in America for decades. It was a lucrative career, until a ‘cardiac event’ stops him in his tracks at a most inopportune time. He is finally taking the advice of his girlfriend, Sunny (Teresa Palmer), to sell the nightclub and move to a nice small house in Thailand. The only problem is that Kapak has fingers in many pies, not all of them legal, and they all need to be untangled. Some of them might not want to be untangled.

Continue reading →

Wildcat – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – It has all the building blocks for a fascinating film, but it needed some more time in the oven before it was ready. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

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

London burning.

Wildcat Review Introduction

Some days you feel like falling into a comfort genre, and for me, that is a solid heist film. I love the construction, the action, and the aftermath. Add in the physicality of Kate Beckinsale and Lewis Tan, set it in the London underground, and frankly you have all the foundation you need for something interesting. I hope.

So, to set the scene, there is a new gang, the Mushka, threatening the balance of power between the two former kings of London’s underground: Christina Vine (Alice Krige) and Frasier Mahoney (Charles Dance). In the middle of this brewing civil war, Ada (Kate Beckinsale) leads a team including Roman (Lewis Tan) and Edward (Rasmus Hardiker) into robbing Ms Vine’s jewel vault. Because someone has kidnapped her daughter Charlotte (Isabelle Moxley), starting the civil war might be the cover they need to get her back.   

Continue reading →

Coyote vs. Acme – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – A delightfully fun time that did something I never thought possible; it made me care about the Coyote.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

A Rocket Skates blueprint.

Coyote vs. Acme Review Introduction

Today I have the joy of reviewing a film that almost was lost to time, buried as a tax write-off by a company that chose profit over what has turned out to be a common-sense business choice given how well the film has done. But the tax write-off was the film’s past; the new theatrical run is its future, and I am here today to talk about that future.

So, to set the scene, Wile E. Coyote (Himself) has spent an age trying to catch and eat the Road Runner (Eric Bauza/Paul Julian) using just about every ACME contraption known to man and toon alike. His latest gambit involves magnetic gloves, rocket boots, some metallic baubles, and of course a lot of bird seed. It fails, like catastrophically. But out of his defeat, he sees a TV ad for Kevin Avery (Will Forte), a lawyer from Avery, Jones & Maltese who specialises in Toon disaster cases. However, what Avery really specialises in is doing as little as possible and getting an automatic small outcome for his clients so as to never ruffle those ACME feathers. However, when Wile E. Coyote dumps every failed ACME product into the evidence box, Avery, Jones & Maltese suddenly finds itself suing the biggest corporation in the world for every defective toon product ACME has ever made. Thus, Avery is now a very famous lawyer and is completely unprepared for the wrath that is Buddy Crane (John Cena).

Continue reading →

The Weight – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A truly immersive film that sucks you into its story and makes you feel the titular weight.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes with flashing lights.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Bars of Gold.

The Weight Review Introduction

Today was cheap Tuesday at the cinemas, and for the first time in an age I had nothing on in the evening. Well, when the universe lines things up, one should make the most of it. Today that meant just rocking up and seeing whatever was about to start, and that is how I watched the fantastic film today.

So, to set the scene, Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) ends up in a hard labour camp after punching a man who menaced his daughter (Avy Berry) who turned out to be a cop. Samuel works hard because he needs to get back to his daughter before they adopt her out. But he can’t do that in time, which is where the Warden, Clancy (Russell Crowe), has a plan. He has a friend, Taggert (Alec Newman), that needs four men for a task, and if they pull it off, he will sign Samuel’s release papers. Samuel, Rankin (Austin Amelio), Singh (Avi Nash), and Olson (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen) make the trek deep into the Oregon wilderness. Taggert runs a gold mine, and it is about to be nationalised during the Great Depression. But the commodity they will be carrying is gold, and gold brings out the worst in people.

Continue reading →

Heart of the Beast – Movie Review

Posted on by
2

TL;DR – While there are times when you feel emotionally manipulated, I can’t deny that this film had a powerful effect on me, as each turn, setback, and revelation had me on the edge of my seat.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

A plane flies low over a valley.

Heart of the Beast Review Introduction

The last couple of years have been an odd time for David Ayer and me. I loved his The Beekeeper, a film that improves with each rewatching, and yet I loathed A Working Man, a film which was not improved by a repeat viewing. This was such an odd juxtaposition that was playing in my head as I sat down to watch his latest entry. But thankfully, I think we spent more time in the former than the latter territory.  

So, to set the scene, James Belmont (Brad Pitt) is a now-retired Special Forces officer who lives a quiet life with his retired combat scout dog Odin (Uber). They both live with the scars of their former life, both external and internal. One weekend, Belmont flies the two of them up into the Alaskan wilderness to camp, fish, and enjoy nature away from other humans. Some unwanted surprise company aside, it was a great trip, until a storm blows in and they have to pack up early. But when tragedy strikes on the flight home, Belmont and Odin must hike over fifty miles through the unforgiving Alaskan countryside to make it to the nearest road, the only hope for rescue.

Continue reading →

Resident Evil (2026) – Movie Review

Posted on by
3

TL;DR – Blood, Gore, Screams, Gunshots, and that is just the first ten minutes

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Warning – Contains scenes with flashing lights.

Hands and feet spall out from a door.

Resident Evil Review Introduction

Today we are looking at a very interesting film, a grounded take on a surreal world. Growing up, even though we were not a PlayStation family, you knew of Resident Evil from sheer reputation alone. One of the pillars of horror gaming. I even liked the Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse films back in the day, though by the time of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter it was clearly shambling along to the finish line. That is a lot of baggage for a film, but add Zach Cregger fresh off Weapons into the mix, and suddenly you have the potential for something truly fascinating. 

So, to set the scene, it has been a very long day for Bryan (Austin Abrams), who is trying to make money as a medical courier. He thought he was done for the day, but then a last-minute package for Raccoon City General Hospital arrived, and that was a job he could not turn down. It is a hard drive as a blizzard rolls in; he was distracted so much so that he didn’t even see the figure on the road until his car hit it at speed. This would have been disastrous, but then why won’t the police pick up? Why does this house look like a fight has just happened? And why is that very dead lady now running at full speed towards me?  

Continue reading →