Tag Archives: Movie Review

Send Help – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a wild and weird film that makes you feel like you are walking around a Bunnings at night, not knowing when you will step on a rake hidden in the gloom. A cavalcade of catastrophe in all the right ways.  

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.

Warning – This film contains scenes which may cause distress.

Linda Liddle peering out from behind her desk.

Send Help Review Introduction –

Wow. It’s rare that I walk out of a film genuinely unsure how I feel, but this ending was so wild it forced me to rethink everything. Well, this is what happened today, and what is happening to me as I process my thoughts while writing this review. But you, dear reader, can’t help me out of this predicament, so let’s stop the prelude and dive in.

So, to set the scene, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is not precisely a people-person, but she is very good at what she does in the Planning & Strategy Department. But when the company CEO dies and is replaced by his son, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), her life gets turned upside-down as her promised VP position gets usurped by the new dude-bro atmosphere. As a sympathy move, Bradley invites Linda on the trip to Bangkok, but what neither of them can expect is that the plane would crash into the sea somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand, and what Bradley doesn’t know is that Linda is a Survivor fiend, and this might be her dream situation.   

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The Lost Bus – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film filled with tension from almost the opening minutes that keeps you hooked for every spark, every change in wind, and every explosion.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the AppleTV+ service that screened this film.  

Smoke rises over people fleeing.

The Lost Bus Review Introduction –

Today is the last day of 2025 movies catch-up before I complete my best of lists [yes, I have said this before, but I mean it this time]. I am catching up on the films of technical excellence that I want to see unfold. The first cab off the rank is a film based on a real event of a fire catching a city unprepared, which does hit a bit close to home as I look out my window at a dry forest sitting there.   

So, to set the scene, the land is parched, the grass is dead, and the trees are tinder in the town of Paradise, California, as it has been 210 days without rain. It is the sort of situation where one spark is all that is needed for tragedy. It is here that local bus driver Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) is not having a very good time at all; he can’t catch a break anywhere. What he does not know is that today is the day that California will experience its worst wildfires in its history so far when wind damages an electricity tower and the sparks set all the grass ablaze. With wind gusting and an isolated location, there is very little anyone can do to stop it from becoming something.       

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The Rip – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a film that purposely wades into the murky world of drugs, money, and crooked cops. You will never know when the bullets will start flying, but you know for a certainty that someone is going to be shot before the closing credits.   

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that screened this film.

A cop cruiser approaches at night.

The Rip Review Introduction –

Today, we look at a film that is trying to do something different in the streaming space, trying an experiment to re-add residuals back into a system that has systematically ripped them out of the industry. But while the backend mechanics of the film are very fascinating, that doesn’t mean much if the film lacks any substance. That means it is time to have a look and see if it has some depth to it.  

So, to set the scene, we open with Captain Jackie Velez (Lina Esco) of Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT) in Miami getting gunned down in a car park. This sends ripples through the force and agitates Lieutenant Dane Dumars (Matt Damon) and Detective Sergeant JD Byrne (Ben Affleck) as Internal Affairs and the Feds are looking at everyone at the TNT. There is money on the line, and where there is money, there is potential for corruption. All the cops in the department are feeling the pinch, but one of their own just got murdered, and no one seems to care. But when the police are tipped off to a massive stash of cash, everyone’s loyalties will be tested, because what if IA is right and one of them is dirty?   

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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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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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Scurry – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A strong premise brings you into this world, but the narrative does not quite have the six legs to get all the way to the end.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

A man holds a lighter up for light.

Setting the Scene

This has been an excellent year for Sparke Films, with its flagship Primitive War showing that you absolutely can do a dinosaur film without the word Jurassic in the title. But that was a big, bombastic work, and I was interested to see what they could do on a more concentrated effort, and today we find out.   

So, to set the scene, chaos reigns as something is causing a city to be evacuated and destroyed in equal measure. At the bottom of a sinkhole lies Mark (Jamie Costa), who had the unfortunate luck of standing on the road as it gave out underneath him. Stuck and with no phone connection, things are not looking good for him, nor is that car hanging precariously over the edge, filling anyone with confidence. There better not be a helicopter crashing from the sky that will make this situation worse, and what was that chittering sound in the background?

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Fight or Flight – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is what happens when you build a film entirely around your leading star’s personality, and it works.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

A phone with a bounty image of Josh Hartnett.

Setting the Scene

If there is anything that 2025 cinema is going to be known for, it has been the bountiful number of action films we have gotten. Some look back to the past to find inspiration, some work in the medium as it stands, and some are still looking forward and charting their own path. Today’s entity is trying to do a bit of all three, and while I don’t think it landed all the aspects, it does get points for the pun in the title.  

So, to set the scene, Aaron Hunter (Julian Kostov) is not having a good day because one of the teams he is overseeing just got wiped out in Bangkok by a ghost. Not a literal ghost, but given how The Ghost has eluded capture so far, it might as well have been one. His boss, Katherine Brunt (Katee Sackhoff), knows that capturing The Ghost will be a fantastic stepping stone in her career; the only problem is that, with the Bangkok team dead, and The Ghost heading to the airport, she doesn’t have time to get a team onto the plane to capture the target. She is left with only one choice, Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett), a man burned by the intelligence agencies, but might be willing to take the gig, only to get off the no-fly list. He agrees, reluctantly, however, as he boards the plane, what he does not know is that he might not be the only person on the plane hunting The Ghost.

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The Bad Guys 2 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film full of energetic characters, stunning animation, and a wonderful, uplifting vibe that permeated every part of the story.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

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

The Bad Guys driving a car out of a building.

The Bad Guys 2 Review Introduction –

Back in 2022, Dreamworks Animation was in a bit of a creative quandary. It had just finished up its Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon series, but then it kind of just floundered for a while. But then The Bad Guys happened. It was an explosion of energy in a way the studio hadn’t found in the past years. But it was also stepping into a brand-new animation style that blended 2D and 3D styles into something that perfectly understood the medium they were adapting. We dipped back into this world with The Bad Guys: Little Lies and Alibis earlier in the year, but I am glad to say that it is time to dive into the sequel I have been waiting for.


So, to set the scene, ever since the events of The Bad Guys where the team of Mr Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr Snake (Marc Maron), Mr Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Mr Shark (Craig Robinson), and Ms Tarantula (Awkwafina) turned good to stop the master villain Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade). They have been serving their time and trying to reemerge in society. But they can’t find a job, because everyone thinks that they are just undercover waiting to rob everyone. This is made more complicated when the Phantom Bandit starts robbing the city of all its MacGuffinite in the style of The Bad Guys. What’s worse: being blamed for a crime you didn’t commit, or knowing someone’s out there copying your old moves? Well, The Bad Guys need to get to the bottom of this before Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz) and police commissioner Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein) must act.

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The Roses – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film built entirely on the chemistry of Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, which is a fundamentally good idea. But then the film makes several choices that make you pause.

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.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman.

The Roses Review Introduction –

Unfortunately, 2025 has not been kind to the satirical Dark Comedy, with many noted filmmakers falling in the attempt to capture that vibe. With film after film falling in its wake. However, can a remake of a classic from 1989 find its footing? Well, to pull that off, you would need to cast two leads with impeccable chemistry and bring it into the 21st century, but there is a chance you can pull it off.    

So, to set the scene, Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Ivy (Olivia Colman) are both professionals working in London and being held back by their respective bosses. However, fate brought them together one day, and the chemistry was instant, so instant that they took a gamble to fly off to California after one meeting. Ten years later, they are married with twins, and Ivy has put her career on hold to raise the family. But when a calamity strikes and Theo is fired, Ivy steps up to take the slack, working in her new restaurant. It is a complete 180° shift in their marriage dynamic, which I am sure will have no lasting repercussions.   

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Outbreak – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Outbreak shows early promise, but weak character work and mounting frustrations prevent its ending from landing as intended.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I sent a screener of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Outbreak Introduction –

2025 continues to be a standout year for the old Zombie romp. We have old franchises return with 28 Years Later, The Last of Us came out swinging with its second season, and even Star Trek has had a try. – Despite the crowded field, there’s always room for a surprise and Outbreak came close.  

So, to set the scene, Neil Morris (Billy Burke) is a local ranger at Mourning Rock State Park, going on what they thought was a routine callout to a dog with rabies. But Neil is not at ease with what is going on, as this is the third dog in weeks to become infected, which is made worse by the fact that Chief Mike Cortez (Raoul Max Trujillo) got bitten by the dog in the scuffle and Neil is still dealing with the death/disappearance of his son Ben (Kylr Coffman). But as Neil was out walking in the state park, he was attacked by a woman in partial decomposition, and she was not alone, as screams of others puncture the day.

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