Tag Archives: Action

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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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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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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Icefall – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film with an interesting premise that is unable to capture its potential because of some choices, like a very dour tone.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Money falls into the icy water.

Icefall Review Introduction –

There are a lot of variations on the heist film, and one of my favourites is what happens when everything goes wrong. When you have gotten the money, but then it goes missing, you must hunt it down. Today, we are looking at a film that is paying in that space, with the added difficulty of never knowing if your next step will plunge you into the icy depths.

So, to set the scene, we open with a pawn shop getting robbed, but not for its valuables, but for the secrets it holds in the basement. Hidden safes, in clandestine basements, secured behind a front. Nothing legal is happening here, but when you mess with the Albanian Mob, you don’t have to be worried about just the police coming after you. But you may have the best plans in the world, and none of that will hold up to a rogue lightning strike crashing your plane. Five months later, and the snow has started to thaw, the rivers have started to flow, and a pesky GPS tag might have just sent everyone who knows into the forest to look for money that can change lives.   

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The Running Man (2025) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it does not have the legs to get all the way to the end. It is powered by the sheer force of will that is Glen Powell’s charisma, and well, he has it in spades.  

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.

A performance of The Running Man.

The Running Man Review Introduction –

When I first heard that they were remaking The Running Man, I didn’t hold much stock in how it was going to turn out. The original film is iconic for a reason, and in the 40-odd years since it first came out, who could have done a take on the scenario as well? Indeed, we got a film just like that last year with Jackpot!. However, then you find out that it is being written and directed by Edgar Wright and starring Glen Powell, who is possibly the last traditional movie star out there. Well, then 2025 remake, you have my attention.
  
So, to set the scene, in the not-too-distant future, the situation in America has descended into complete dystopia, where The Network runs the show both literally and metaphorically. Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is out desperately trying to find work so he can buy medicine for his daughter. The Network blacklisted him because he was caught talking to a union. After all, he was concerned about his workers being exposed to radiation. But as things become desperate, Ben signs up for the one thing he promised never to do: be a runner on The Running Man. There, people run for their lives, and if they last 30 days, they get ₦1,000,000,000. The only problem is that no one has ever made the 30 days, as hunters, police, and even the general public are out for blood.

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Savage Hunt – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It commits one of the most cinematic of crimes: it makes a film about a bear on a slashing spree dull.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

A blood stained torch.

Savage Hunt Review Introduction –

Unfortunately, today, we are looking at a film that flounders at almost every single possibility. Partly because of the budget, I assume, and also because the narrative and the characters are written in such a way that I found every single one of them insufferable before the end credits rolled.   

So, to set the scene, we open on a forest being cut down to build a new resort and spa. But deep in these woods might lurk something that you don’t want to disturb, something that might be stalking you, hunting you, and if you are not careful, killing you. When a man walks into the construction site covered in blood and clearly mauled by an animal, the local rangers get called in, shutting down the site, but not even they were prepared for what is out there.

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Predator: Badlands – Movie Review

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TL;DR – an absolute blast of a film from start to finish. Taking 1980s action sensibilities and bringing them into a modern sci-fi film. Bright, fun, but also thoroughly grounded in the universe they are working in.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-title card scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Dek standing with a sword.

Predator: Badlands Review Introduction –

When you hear that a new entry in a famously American R-rated franchise has been handed the dreaded American PG-13 rating, you cringe a little. You get flashbacks to Die Hard 4 and others who were forced, kicking and screaming, into the lower rating to make it more marketable. However, today we look at a film that bucks that trend by being a fun, family-friendly film that remains grounded in its universe.

So, to set the scene, we open on the Predator homeland of Yautja Prime, where Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is sparring off with his brother Kwei (Mike Homik). While Dek is a runt in Yautja society, his brother sees his strength and worth. Dek should have the chance to go on a hunt and prove himself in Yautja society. Unfortunately, their father Njohrr (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) feels differently. Dek manages to escape and lands on Genna, a planet where every part of the biosystem is out to kill you. However, it is the home of the Kalisk, a creature so powerful that no Yautja has succeeded in killing it, and it even scares Dek’s father. But before you can get to the Kalisk, you need to survive Genna, and maybe the synth Thia (Elle Fanning) might be your only hope to pull that off.     

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Tron: Ares – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it was not the complete disaster I feared, at no point (okay, maybe the music) did it reach the heights of the previous two films in this series.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

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

A Recognizer approaches a real life city.

Setting the Scene

Well, here we are, a place that I didn’t think we would see again, another Tron film. I am on the record as to how much I love it, and even more so, Tron: Legacy. They are films that live rent-free in my brain, and I was heartbroken when the original sequel to Tron: Legacy was canned in the wake of the disastrous Tomorrowland. But the wheels of time turn, and sometimes you get a second bite at the apple. Which means today we see if you can capture that Tron vibe in 2025? Also, can one casting choice torpedo your film?
 
So, to set the scene, in the years since Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) disappeared, the world has changed, and two tech companies have risen to prominence. ENCOM is led by their new CEO, Eve Kim (Greta Lee) and Dillinger Systems is run by CEO Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters). Both companies are in a race to find the code that will let items and programs from the digital world stay in the physical world for more than 29 minutes. While Eve goes looking into the past, Julian is not beyond a little dirty underhandedness and sends his chief security AI, Ares (Jared Leto), into the ENCOM systems to find out what they know so that they can steal it first.   

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One Battle After Another – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a chaotic, uncomfortable, taut, and downright weird film, but it is also completely captivating from the opening frame to the closing credits.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

A road meandering up and down over some hills.

Setting the Scene

2025 has been an odd year for noted Indie directors trying to tackle the political situation in America at the moment, because most of them have floundered in the attempt. They have been trying to capture the moment, but their stories get lost in comedic attempts or a poor understanding of the very topics they want to analyse. However, today we are looking at a film that just might have cracked the code with one secret weapon that gets lost in cinema at times, intentionality.   

So, to set the scene, we open as a number of self-labelled revolutionaries, including Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), who are staking out an immigration detention facility near the border in California. In the middle of the night, they strike, liberating the camp and beginning their revolution against corporate and oppressive elements of America. The French 75 group places bombs in courthouses, robs banks, and causes general calamity. However, you don’t make that much noise without attracting foes, and little do they know that Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) is hunting them all down, or maybe just Perfidia.   

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