For It Is Man's Number: February 2026

Friday, 6 February 2026

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025)

I, alongside many others, was shocked to hear about the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner at the end of 2025. As a comedy fan, Rob Reiner is a bit of a legend. As a movie fan, his run of directorial credits from the mid-1980s through to the early 1990s is considered an almost-unrivalled hot streak. The fact that his film career both started and ended with Spinal Tap is at least a teeny tiny silver lining to the massive cloud that is his untimely death.

I have not really been aware of the overwhelming critical consensus on Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, but I really liked it. REALLY liked it. Like many sequels, it suffers from the fact that it just isn't the original film. But this had moments that made me laugh just as hard as I laughed at some moments in the first film.

Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) are aiming to re-unite Spinal Tap after a break of many years. There has been bitterness, there have been legal wranglings, and there have been a number of unexpected side ventures. The band are ready to rock though, but are there enough fans left eager to hear them?

Written by the leads and Reiner, and once again full of riffs and tangents that showcase the improvisational skills of the cast around the loose structure, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is pretty much exactly what Tap fans should want from a sequel. The reveals of what each character has been up to prove delightful, the reworking of classic gags is done well, and the newer additions (Kerry Godliman, Chris Addison, and Valerie Franco) fit in perfectly with the established team. I would also say that all of the celebrity cameos work in service of the comedy, as opposed to bringing things grinding to a halt to simply point and highlight the household name, but I know some others disagree on that point.

It seems redundant to praise Guest, McKean, and Shearer on their ability to portray such fully-realised comedy creations, considering they have been among the very best to do it for over four decades now, but there's certainly some extra magic sprinkled over them whenever they are showing us the highs and lows of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. And if you don't chuckle as Guest explains his bizarre store that trades in cheese and guitars then I feel sorry for you.

I was really tempted to fill this review with all of my favourite quotes and moments, but I have instead tried to show some restraint. That's why it's so brief. The best comedies make you want to simply repeat the best bits to other people, and this feels like one of the best comedies I have watched in some time. More importantly, it feels like a worthy sequel to one of the all-time greats, it feels like a fitting finale for Spinal Tap, and it feels like Reiner inadvertently bookended his directorial career with two giant monuments to comedy. Like two large upright stones, if you will, that cast large shadows over the landscape.

8/10

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Thursday, 5 February 2026

Zootopia 2 (2025)

Whatever name it had when I saw it (I THINK it was called Zootropolis for a while here in the UK), I quite enjoyed Zootopia. It wasn't part of the cream of the animated movie crop from the past decade, but it was cute and enjoyable enough. This sequel is slightly better, although maybe that's just because I can't really remember much from the first film now, but it's nowhere near as good as you'd expect the new English-language box office champion of animated movies to be. I guess that's just a reminder that box office doesn't always represent the quality of the product.

After a short amount of time being celebrated for their work, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) soon find themselves on the wrong side of the law. They start to figure out that something is wrong as they attempt to capture an alleged villain named Gary De'Snake (Ke Huy Quan), which leads to them investigating a powerful family who may have stolen and reframed the history of Zootopia.

With most of the main names returning, for the acting roles and the many "behind the camera" roles, Zootopia 2 should be praised, first of all, for expanding the onscreen world without feeling as if it's changing everything already shown in the first film. Writer Jared Bush, who also co-directed with Byron Howard, has an excellent instinct for details that are fun and imaginative, yet also feel perfectly plausible for a world designed for many different species of animals.

As well as Goodwin, Bateman, and Quan, who are all great and feel well-suited for voicing their characters, there's room in the cast for performances from Fortune Feimster (playing the superbly-named Nibbles Maplestick), Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Idris Elba, Patrick Warburton, Danny Trejo, and Shakira, as well as a number of other familiar names you may recognise once you hear them speaking.

Everything is obvious and predictable enough from early on, but that's what happens when you have a mystery at the heart of an animated family movie, but there's still enough done to keep tension running throughout, despite the obviousness of the ultimate end point. There's a quirky character added to the mix every 10-15 minutes, most of the gags work well, and I admit that I laughed more than expected when I noticed that Ed Sheeran had a tiny cameo as Ed Shearin.

Amusing, cute, and nicely animated, Zootopia 2 should keep most viewers entertained. I'm still bemused by it being the most successful English-language animated movie of all time, but I guess I'm decades older than the target demographic nowadays anyway. Maybe I'm just slightly out of touch, despite my consistent immaturity.

7/10

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

Prime Time: The Wrecking Crew (2026)

Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa star as two estranged half-brothers who reluctantly reunite after the death of their father. He was killed in a hit and run, but it soon becomes apparent that there was more to his death, and James (Bautista) and Jonny (Momoa) start an investigation that turns parts of Hawaii into a warzone as they upset bad guys, destroy numerous vehicles, and work their way up the chain to face off against whoever is the head villain behind everything.

Simple and entertaining, and even managing to feel well-paced for the 124-minute runtime, The Wrecking Crew is sometimes a nice throwback action comedy that is happy to make the destruction ridiculous, the main villain obvious, and every pay-off predictable. Writer Jonathan Tropper is happy to make the leads enjoyably childish when it comes to the insults and competitiveness between them, and he does well to refrain from adding too many twists and turns that would get in the way of the fun.

Both of the leads are good in their roles, with Momoa having the most fun of the two of them (being sillier and more irresponsible for most of the runtime), and there's a great supporting cast that includes Temuera Morrison, Roimata Fox, Frankie Adams, Claes Bang, Jacob Batalon, Morena Baccarin, Stephen Root, and one or two others you may recognise.

While director Ángel Manuel Soto does well enough with the material, he fumbles things in a couple of ways. First of all, he overdoes at least one main set-piece. I enjoyed the ridiculousness and carnage of a sequence that has road vehicles and a helicopter targeting our heroes, but it's nowhere near as much fun as the moments that have more grounded and crunchy action. There's also at least one moment, a reveal, that would have worked better as a punchline to an earlier set-up, but it's simply presented without any other context to improve it. And don't get me started on the ill-advised Oldboy homage. These might sound like minor complaints, but they stand out more because of the other times that the film gets things just right.

Anyone after an easy bit of entertainment should find enough here to enjoy, even if it keeps slipping up every now and again. I suggest a sequel, if we get one, keeps everything much more grounded, maybe kills off, or seriously hurts, one of the main supporting characters, and gives us a moment or two when we can at least consider the possibility that one of our leads is in very serious trouble. It would definitely be worth pairing up Bautista and Momoa again though. They play off one another well, and they feel very capable when it comes to the physicality of their fight scenes.

6/10

Tuesday, 3 February 2026

Pillion (2025)

While Pillion has been referred to often as "the gay biker movie", and sometimes as the "sub/dom film with the lad that used to play Dudley Dursley", it's actually got a lot more going on than those short descriptors might suggest. Not that those descriptions are wildly inaccurate. Pillion IS a gay biker movie, to some degree, and it IS the sub/dom film starring Harry Melling (seeing his Harry Potter role shrink smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror as he moves, for better or worse, from one interesting project to the next).

Adapted from a book, "Box Hill", by Adam Mars-Jones, this is the tale of Colin (Melling), a young man who encounters Ray (Alexander Skarsgård). Ray can give Colin what he is seeking in a relationship, but maybe not everything. Colin, you see, has a real affinity for devotion. He enjoys being very submissive. And Ray is very happy to be dominant. As long as he sees that the dynamic is working for the two of them. Can it keep working though?

Directed by Harry Lighton, who also adapted the source material into screenplay form, this is one hell of a directorial feature debut. It's bold, in terms of the exploration of the relationship and the sex and nudity shown onscreen, it's interestingly nuanced, and it's surprisingly moving by the time all of the pieces fall into place for the finale. While the relationship shown onscreen isn't a great depiction (there are no important conversations about rules, boundaries, reciprocity, etc), it's arguably a necessary one for someone still trying to find out their own boundaries and self-imposed rulebook. The negatives are placed alongside the positives to show something that, while more extreme than most, puts the main characters in a very similar position to many other people (no matter their gender or sexuality). Every relationship can have aspects that seem odd to those looking on from the outside, but if things work and happiness is maintained then that's all that matters (as long as everything is legal, of course, and nobody else is being hurt).

And that's the thing about Pillion. While it will upset the homophobes, and maybe make more unprepared viewers gasp at some of the more graphic moments, it's basically about things that we've seen in many other movies. Self-discovery, what it takes to make a relationship work, grabbing moments of happiness. The sub/dom dynamic may make it all seem unique, but the journey will be very familiar to those who see beyond the assless chaps and symbolic padlocks.

Melling may be the one who goes through more of a transformation here, but both he and Skarsgård are equally good. The fact that the relationship can be so easily believed, even as one individual is being constantly tested, is testament to how good the leads are. It's also worth mentioning Lesley Sharp and Douglas Jones, playing the parents of Colin. They have a very good time playing generally understanding parents who find themselves a bit bemused when they see their son starting to become some kind of man-servant for a handsome stranger, and Sharp is especially delightful when dropping a well-chosen insult during a dramatic dinner scene.

I could say much more. I enjoyed the score from Oliver Coates. I thought the visuals and sound design were fantastic. There's not really any one element I would criticise, although things become almost unbearable for viewers at times. Thankfully, the third act delivers a very welcome silver lining after a sky full of gathering clouds.

9/10

Monday, 2 February 2026

Mubi Monday: 45 Years (2015)

If you have been in any kind of relationship with someone for 45 years then you may think that you would know everything there is to know about them. And you may think there's nothing that would ever make you feel less secure in that relationship. That's probably incorrect though. We all have things that we don't want to say to even our closest confidant, whether it's that bedroom fantasy that you've never been brave enough to discuss, the memories you made with someone else many years ago that can never be fully wiped away as they helped to make you who you are today, or even just the amount of times you examine the toilet paper after every attempt to wipe away the klingons hanging around uranus. Unsurprisingly, 45 Years focuses on that second option, but it could just as easily be about any of them, although I am not sure Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling would be as comfortable discussing their bathroom habits.

Having had to miss out on a celebration of their 40th wedding anniversary, Kate (Rampling) and Geoff (Courtenay) are gearing up to make a big deal of their 45th year together. The couple are rocked, however, by the death of someone that it turns out Geoff was in a relationship with before he ever met Kate. This takes Geoff on a journey through some reminiscences while Kate starts to wonder about how this revelation reframes their relationship to one another.

Based on a short story, "In Another Country", by David Constantine, 45 Years is written and directed by Andrew Haigh. Haigh has a filmography well worth exploring, but this is arguably his weakest film, despite the strength of the lead performances. It's the kind of film that feels as if it would be much better to see as a staged play, with very little added to the material to make it more cinematic or feeling as if it benefits from the medium.

Both Rampling and Courtenay ARE superb though, the former being clearly unsettled and concerned by a revelation that the latter considers to be a footnote in his own life. There's clearly love between the two main characters, but also a disparity when it comes to how they both start to act on the lead up to their big anniversary date. As is made clear in certain scenes, Courtenay's character doesn't even realise how his actions and attitudes are affecting his wife, but he tries his best to mollify her when it's clearly described to him. Both of the stars get to go through a great range of emotions, but it's Rampling who gets the best work, being more present and affected by everything than Courtenay's slightly (typically?) oblivious man. While there are few supporting cast members, Geraldine James gets a scene or two, and is always good to see onscreen.

I certainly wouldn't have enjoyed or appreciated this film if I'd watched it as a much younger man, but it's one that will be of interest to those who have been in any long-term relationship. Some things are taken for granted, whether they should be or not, sometimes the past looms up to cast a large shadow over the present, and sometimes the present needs to be shaken up slightly, just enough to get rid of any complacency and insecurity that may be clinging on to either party like a wet sweater. The longer the relationship, the stronger things can be, but there are still ways in which the rug can be pulled from under your feet. 45 Years shows one such scenario, and how one moment can create a ripple effect throughout an entire lifetime.

7/10

Sunday, 1 February 2026

Netflix And Chill: The Rip (2026)

While I knew that I would make a viewing of The Rip a priority because of it co-starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in lead roles, I was pleased to find out that it was directed and written by Joe Carnahan. Carnahan may not be working at the level that he once was, but the guy still delivers some decent entertainment.

Everything here begins with the death of Captain Jackie Velez (Lina Esco). This leads to her team being questioned, with nobody above suspicion. Things then get even trickier for the team when they're tipped off about a stash house, and soon discover that they're going to have to count and keep safe an amount of money that exceeds $20M. If ever there was a temptation for someone who wasn't hestitant to kill a police Captain, this should expose any traitors in the midst of the group.

Inspired by a true story, which was worked on by Carnahan and Michael McGrale, there's nothing here in the by-the-numbers plotting that should displease those who know what they're in for. The twists and turns are predictable, but also satisfying. The main cast members all look very capable while waving their guns around through the clouds of testosterone. Okay, there aren't really any memorable action set-pieces, but the rest of the film plays out as expected, and the story ultimately proves better for the focus on intelligence and mistrust ahead of fights and gunplay.

Damon and Affleck are a proven combo, they're the mac & cheese of millenial blockbuster stars (which I mean as a compliment, although I am sure others will use the same analogy as an insult), and they work as well as ever here. Damon is the one in charge, and the more level-headed one of the two, perhaps due to having a different view of the unfolding situation, but he's also under as much, if not more, suspicion than anyone else in the team. Steven Yeun gets a decent amount to do, Teyana Taylor continues to impress now that she seems to have been finding better roles for her talent, and Catalina Sandino Moreno is, well, there. She's fine, but not really given anything to do. Sasha Calle is very good as the young woman who has her home raided while hoping to skip and dance through some grey legal areas to avoid arrest, Kyle Chandler is a DEA agent who might return in time to help or hinder our leads in the third act, and Scott Adkins has a good time with his role, playing Affleck's brother.

The screenplay may not be stuffed with memorable dialogue, but it works for what the film wants to do. What doesn't work is the visual style (or lack of) throughout. I'm sorry to say, but cinematographer Juanmi Azpiroz presents everything in a horribly murky mix of muted blues and something akin greyscale. I assume this wasn't necessarily his choice, nor the result of his work alone, but I'm naming him as the main culprit because it's the worst aspect of the film and he should have looked through his viewfinder and convinced everyone else to do a lot better.

There are other good things about this, but they tend to be tied to the production and profit-sharing model put in place by Damon and Affleck. What's actually in the movie itself is decidedly average, all things considered. It could have been elevated by another one or two passes on the script and a few more meetings about getting the visuals improved, while keeping everything in line with the aesthetic that Carnahan wanted.

6/10