Mayday (2026)

It's the 1980s. Top Gun is a huge hit at the box office. The Cold War continues to make the USSR a very hostile place for Americans. That's what you need to know when you start watching Mayday, a buddy action comedy movie that feels as if it wants to sit alongside a number of great movies released in the decade that it's set in.

Ryan Reynolds plays Troy Kelly, a hotshot pilot who ends up on a top secret mission in enemy airspace. It shouldn't be too difficult though. It all ends badly, of course, and Kelly is wounded and behind enemy lines. He ends up in the care of Nikolai Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh), a formidable Russian with a dark and deadly past. Thankfully, Nikolai is a big fan of all things American nowadays, and he hopes that helping Troy can help him to relocate. Many others will be trying to find and stop them, and they're working for the determined Alexander Volkox (Marcin Dorocinski).

Although it's enjoyable enough while on, and there are a few fun action moments throughout, Mayday is never quite as much fun as it should be. It steps up a notch when Branagh appears onscreen, Russian accent and all, but it's almost as if nobody involved in making it really knew how far to push things. This should have had some better fights, and it deserved a lot more comedy, although there aren't any major complaints about what is actually here.

Co-written and co-directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who have given us wonderful entertainment in the shape of both Game Night and the Dungeons & Dragons movie, Mayday is clearly a love letter to some of the all-time mismatched buddy flicks, and the third act kept a big grin on my face for the majority of it, but a couple of details hold it back from being truly great.

One thing holding it back is Reynolds. I like Reynolds, I tend to like his usual schtick, but it's not something that works as well when he's sharing lead duties with someone else (unless that person is rolling eyes at him in his Deadpool persona). Mayday is weak when Reynolds is being Reynolds, making the earlier scenes a bit of a chore to get through. It's too familiar, and it's not what viewers will be tuning in for. Branagh is actually much more fun, for the most part, but another thing holding the movie back is the way that his character ends up not being right in the thick of more fights. The first small-scale action beat is a doozy, and I was looking forward to seeing how Branagh's character would upscale his deadly skillset in the face of larger numbers of enemies, but he sadly ends up finding a way out of bad situations more than finding a way through them. Dorocinski is a fun and menacing villain, and there are good moments for David Morse (as Troy's father) and Maria Bakalova (as Nikolai's daughter).

I enjoyed this. I would watch it again. I'd happily watch a sequel. But I know that I will also revisit some excellent 1980s action comedies multiple times while this starts to fade from my memory. And not just because it was sorely in need of a much better selection of '80s hits on the soundtrack.

7/10

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Mutiny (2026)

Some days you spend over three and a half hours rewatching, and re-evaluating, something like Heaven's Gate. Other days you end up enjoying the latest slice of action nonsense built around the heroic Jason Statham. Variety is the spice of life.

Variety is also something you tend not to get with Jason Statham movies. Not that I am saying that in any majorly critical way. I watch most Jason Statham movies to watch Statham punch and kick people in the face, powered by his athleticism and a righteous fury, and most Jason Statham movies deliver exactly that. Some are a slight side-step (and I wish he would try more comedy, he's genuinely very good at it), but most give you exactly what you're after.

Mutiny, if you have seen any of the advertising, has been marketed as Statham's Die Hard on a freighter ship, and that's all you really need to know. After the murder of his boss, Cole Reed (Statham) ends up nosing around on a big boat that happens to be involved in some horrible human trafficking. Assisted by a member of the crew, Angie Ellis (Annabelle Wallis), Cole starts getting rid of the bad guys while trying to protect the vulnerable victims on board the ship. He's got a number of decent foes to battle, but it soon becomes clear that Captain Marko Madsen (Roland Møller) may be the final boss.

Originally envisioned as a sequel to Plane, and it may have been named "Ship" at that point, this was reworked and Statham-ised by writers Lindsay Michel and J. P. Davis, who have delivered a screenplay that feels self-aware and knowing without ever deigning to fully wink at the audience. Our hero has a background in various forces, of course, and doesn't always get along with people who want to make compromises for the sake of politics. And while it's hard to avoid comparisons to the mighty Die Hard, one or two shots seem constructed to specifically reference that action movie classic.

Director Jean-François Richet knows that he's now helming something very different from Plane, and he does good work in setting up an interesting environment and ensuring the action is crunchy and entertaining enough to make up for the fairly weak dialogue and paper-thin characterisations.

While Statham may not win any awards for his acting, he consistently looks like someone that could easily punch my head clean off without breaking a sweat, and that's what's needed here. It might be easy to mock his particular brand of cinematic violence, but I would argue that he's currently one of the best in his field when it comes to this enjoyable nonsense. Wallis isn't too bad alongside him, although I don't think I've ever seen a performance from her that has convinced me of her being worthy of any star billing. Adrian Lester and Steven Blades do well in much smaller roles, but Møller is the only other real standout, especially when he has to begrudgingly get his hands dirty as he realises that the rest of his crew aren't up to the task of taking down one pesky interloper.

It might not feel like a film you should rush to the cinema to see, Statham would have been an amazing straight-to-video stalwart a few decades ago, but Mutiny is a bloody good time. And sometimes showing your support for something that's a bloody good time helps people to raise finances for other movies that turn out to be a bloody good time. I'm not going to rate it too highly though, considering the predictability and weaker elements, but fans of solid action will definitely want to check this out. 

7/10

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Shudder Saturday: Ghost Killer (2025)

Revenge from beyond the grave has been happening for a very long time now, and it's the basis for many feature films. Ghost Killer tries to offer a slight twist on the formula, pairing up the spirit of a killer with a young college student, but it feels surprisingly straightforward and by the numbers for most of the runtime.

Akari Takaishi is Fumika, the young woman who finds out that a spirit has latched on to her when she handles a spent bullet. That bullet was fired into Kudo (Masanori Mimoto), a hitman we saw being murdered at the start of the movie. Once Fumika accepts the presence of Kudo then she soon finds out that he can temporarily possess her if they clasp hands. That allows him to use his considerable fighting skills, which turns Fumika into a deadly weapon. She can deal with her friend's bad boyfriend, and she can deal with sleazebags in a bar who want to drug her, but will she be able to deal with the people that Kudo used to work for?

Written by Yugo Sakamoto (who also wrote the popular Baby Assassins movies, also starring Takaishi . . . and I really need to make time for those), Ghost Killer is pretty good, but could have been even better. What it really needed was a better backstory for Kudo, and maybe some more entertaining juxtaposition between the fighting skills of our killer and the astonishment of the young woman suddenly able to make use of those skills. There are a few good fight scenes, but more of them would have been greatly appreciated.

Director Kensuke Sonomura does a good job of presenting the rules of the supernatural interaction and showing the development of both main characters, but it feels as if the job was mostly done by the time the screenplay was written and the casting was decided. The movie then either needed some more big moments placed throughout the 105-minute runtime or it needed trimming to be much more lean and mean in an entertaining way.

Takaishi is great in her main role, easily able to flit between sweetness and danger on the turn of a dime. Mimoto is onscreen a bit less, understandably, but gets plenty of time to show how he connects with the young lady who inadvertently caused him to become linked to her. Aside from a mean crime boss casting a shadow over proceedings, the other main characters are played by Mario Kuroba (a cleaner who could be helpful, but could also be very dangerous indeed) and Ayaka Higashino (a friend named Maho).

With plenty of energy and attempts to keep things fun and creative, Ghost Killer ultimately succeeds in doing exactly what it sets out to do. I may have wanted some adjustments, but that doesn't mean I was particularly unhappy with the final result. I'd watch it again, I'd happily watch a sequel, and I really really need to get around to those Baby Assassins movies. 

7/10

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Normal (2026)

Seemingly happy enough to continue in his new role as unlikely action hero, Bob Odenkirk this time reteams with Derek Kolstad for a screenplay that is then entrusted to director Ben Wheatley. The end result is just about amusing enough for fans of the star, but it won't necessarily satisfy those hoping for something else in the vein of Nobody.

Odenkirk plays Ulysses Richardson, a man acting as temporary sheriff in the small town of Normal, Minnesota. It should be the kind of place where nothing much happens, but Ulysses is about to find himself in the middle of a very messy situation when a couple of bank robbers accidentally reveal a huge secret that connects everyone living in the area.

Aiming to be quirky and darkly comedic, Normal is, in some ways, exactly what you think it's going to be. When the violence finally erupts, it is as amusing as it is wince-inducing, thanks to the juxtaposition alongside the calm and quiet everyday town life. Odenkirk does well at being a calm presence, and is reluctant to fight so many enemies as he tries to figure out a way to end the carnage.

Wheatley has fun in the director's chair, adding another fun entry to a filmography that is now much more eclectic and unpredictable than it used to be. Wheatley was the guy who could deliver impressive low-budget thrills and drama, but he's spent the past decade or so moving smoothly and confidently between smaller-scale dramas and films like Meg 2: The Trench. I would say that his bigger films are far from his best work, but he's had enough success with them to keep being entrusted with decent budgets and a number of major stars, which means he doesn't have to care one bit about what I think.

Aside from the enjoyable lead performance from Odenkirk here, the cast also includes both Henry Winkler and Lena Headey, although both are sadly underused. It's a shame that there couldn't have been a few more big names scattered throughout, although people should recognise the likes of Brendan Fletcher and Jess McLeod in supporting roles, but I enjoyed the involvement of people like Reena Jolly, Ryan Allen, Billy MacLellan, and Peter Shinkoda.

Considering everyone involved, I don't think it's wrong to expect more from this. Everything could have been helped by a bit more tension running throughout every scene. There are very few moments that keep up the kind of momentum you expect to experience once guns start being fired, and the entire third act is a bit of an anti-climax. I still had some fun with it, but that was more to do with my love of Odenkirk than everything onscreen.

5/10

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Prime Time: Armour Of God (1986)

Although not mentioned too often when people list off their favourite Jackie Chan movies, Armour Of God has some phenomenal action sequences that make it well worth your time. I'm not implying that people are unaware, or unappreciative, of it. I just think that it's easy to see it bumped down any ranked list by a number of titles that have remained a bit more celebrated throughout the past few decades.

Jackie plays Asian Hawk, an adventurer and purloiner of rare artefacts not entirely unlike Indiana Jones, with one big difference being his past life as a member of a popular pop band. Some people want him to get the famed Armour Of God for them, and they try to guarantee his co-operation by ensuring that an old flame is held hostage. So it's up to our hero, accompanied by an old friend, Alan (Alan Tam), and a woman named May (Lola Forner), to infiltrate various locations and crowds to get hold of the titular treasure.

Although Armour Of God may be admittedly weak and silly when it comes to the dialogue and plotting, that shouldn't detract those used to overlooking such flaws when watching something that they hope delivers on the action front, and this absolutely delivers on the action front. You get an exciting and fun opening sequence, and there's a finale that deserves to be as praised as anything else Chan has done throughout his career. The rest of the runtime may not contain as much fun, but there are enough enjoyable set-pieces to help the 88-minute runtime pass by briskly enough.

As usual, a number of people worked together on the screenplay, and Chan is also in the director's chair for this (although some work was overseen by Eric Tsang after a fall from a tree that resulted in a bad injury for our hero). The comedy isn't great (is it ever in Chan movies from this period?), but I've endured more painful material in many other Hong Kong action flicks.

While our lead is his typical talented self, although arguably even more acrobatic and slippery than usual, credit needs to go to the many other performers taking the hits and helping him to look good. Tam and Forner do fine with what they're given, Rosamund Kwan has to be the "damsel in distress", and Ken Boyle, John Ladalski, and Robert O'Brien play a selection of key figures in the unfolding adventure. The most memorable people onscreen are the Amazonian fighters involved in the end sequence though, and they are played by Marcia Chisholm, Linda Denley, Stephanie Evans, Alicia Shonte, and Vivian Wickliffe.

If you like Jackie Chan movies then you'll have a blast with this one. If you don't then you won't take any notice of this anyway. Me . . . I'm already planning to revisit the sequel.

8/10

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Driven (2001)

There have been a number of very enjoyable movies based in the world of car racing (not least of which is the excellent F1). Driven is not one of them. It's a star vehicle for Sylvester Stallone, an empty slice of dullness from director Renny Harlin, and a film you can easily point to as an example of the worst of mainstream "blockbuster" entertainment.

Kip Pardue plays Jimmy Bly, a young racing car driver struggling to achieve his full potential. His big main rival is Beau Brandenburg (Til Schweiger). He needs to gain an edge though, and that's not going to come from his brother (Robert Sean Leonard), who is also thinking in terms of branding and profits. Never fear, because here comes Joe Tanto (Sylvester Stallone), an older legend who may be able to help Jimmy get the victories that he needs to end the season on top.

As well as starring, Stallone is the one responsible for the screenplay here (fleshing out what I can only presume is a slim story concept from Jan Skrentny and Neal Tabachnick). Although he's written some great films in the past, Stallone now often seems most concerned with writing tales that add to the legend that is Stallone. This is one of his weakest efforts, absolutely not helped by the fact that most viewers may struggle, as I did, to figure out just who is supposed to be our lead. 

Harlin helps when he can, actually delivering a couple of driving sequences that are fun and visceral, but he also settles far too easily into sticking with material that is flawed, at best, and absolutely preposterous. There's an excitement during the race scenes, yes, but it's not enough to make up for the flat and one-dimensional characters, and I don't have the time or space to lay out all of my complaints about the mistreatment of the characters portrayed by Stacy Edwards, Estella Warren, and Gina Gershon.  

Pardue doesn't have the charisma or presence to carry a movie like this. In fact, he has NO charisma or presence. Schweiger at least has something to him, but he's stuck playing someone that viewers aren't sure whether they're supposed to like or hate. Stallone is Stallone, and he does Stallone stuff (being the wise old man who the young whippersnappers underestimate). Burt Reynolds gets to add nothing, Leonard is almost consistently annoying throughout, and the aforementioned ladies must have started every day on set hoping for a major script change that would allow them to be more than just reflectors for the glow of the leading men.

There's a pretty good soundtrack, although it's also a very "of the time" soundtrack, and some of the CGI works well (although some really doesn't). That's about all of the positives though. I could tolerate this while it was on, but I don't ever want to see it again. Even in comparison to other trashy "treats" from the past few decades, this is painful stuff. And nobody should even consider it when you have the likes of F1, Gran Turismo, Rush, and a few other superior racing features to choose from nowadays. 

4/10

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Thunderbolt (1995)

I would never claim to be any expert on the films of Jackie Chan (although I can point you towards one or two friends who definitely are), but it's not often that I come across a star vehicle for him that I spent years being completely unaware of. Thunderbolt is a film that has Jackie and co. involved with lots of racing cars, which meant my expectations were high for some major vehicular carnage.

Thorsten Nickel plays a  criminal/racer nicknamed Cougar, and the police want nothing more than to be able to throw the book at him. They get the chance when he crosses paths with Jackie Chan (playing a talented mechanic/fighter/ex-racer named Chan). Unfortunately, Cougar isn't able to be held long enough to make the case against him. This leads to him terrorising Chan and his family, and ultimately challenging Chan to a race. Meanwhile, a tenacious reporter (Amy, played by Anita Yuen) keeps trying to get a big exclusive while the story is playing out.

Directed by Gordon Chan, who would also direct his star in one of his worst mainstream features (The Medallion), Thunderbolt is an enjoyable enough action flick, co-written by the director, Chan Hing-Kai, and Kwok Wai-Chung. It's slightly overlong, clocking in at about 110 minutes, and action movie fans might be slightly disappointed by the pacing, as well as the scope of the stuntwork, but there's still a hell of a lot to appreciate here, not least of which is an extended sequence in which our main villain attacks our unprepared hero via a hugely destructive shipping container being swung around on the end of a crane. You also get Jackie Chan singing the theme song, some decent car stunts (as you'd expect), and an absolutely superb fight in a Pachinko parlor.

Chan is as he is in so many other movies. He's super-skilled, very noble of heart, and eminently watchable throughout, whether behind the wheel or doing his best to avoid confrontation. Nickel is a fun villain, completely over the top and cocky, but also working with his own specific code as he engineers (no pun intended) a grand duel with a worthy opponent. Yuen has to be won over by our hero, of course, while eventually giving up on her career ambitions. It's not a great role, most female roles in these movies never are, but Yuen is always very watchable. Everyone else, whether they're a determined Interpol agent (Michael Wong) or members of Chan's family, does what is needed of them, but they remain sidelined for most of the action beats, unless being placed in danger and needing to be rescued.

Maybe my expectations were a bit too high when I pressed play on this. I wanted some insane car stunts, lots of crashes, and the kind of life-endangering antics that you don't get to see in action films from countries with pesky health & safety regulations and insurance terms. What I got was an entertaining racing film with three memorable set-pieces (and two of those didn't involve cars) and a very standard sports movie final act. But the more time I have spent thinking on what is actually here, especially the wild and crazy shipping container sequence, I appreciate what it actually is, compared to any negativity I was feeling about it not matching what I thought it might be.

There are better options for you if you want dazzling Jackie Chan fight choreography or fast car action, but this does well enough in blending those two elements to make it a fun time for action movie fans.

7/10

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Jackie Chan's First Strike (1996)

AKA Jackie Chan's First Strike. AKA Police Story 4: First Strike.

If you ever wanted to see what a James Bond film would be like featuring Jackie Chan as 007 then First Strike is the film for you. It's also the fourth instalment in the Police Story film series, but there's no need to have seen the preceding films before you dive into this one.

Although it remains inferior to many of his better-known films, First Strike isn’t actually all that bad as an introduction to younger film viewers who may eventually become full-on fans of Chan. It’s not as slick and polished as the likes of Shanghai Noon or any of the Rush Hour movies, but it’s also not as overstuffed with CGI or weak set-pieces (such as The Tuxedo or The Medallion).

Chan plays Jackie, a cop who ends up helping a couple of different government agencies as he tracks down the whereabouts of a missing nuclear warhead. This leads to a shootout and an exciting chase down some snow-covered slopes. It's then up to Jackie to track down a villain, via his sister (played by Chen Chun Wu AKA Annie Wu), which leads to him facing off against multiple enemies, one or two big guys who look very much like Goombas from the '90s Super Mario Bros. movie, and a number of sharks.

Directed and co-written by Stanley Tong, this isn't actually too bad when it comes to the plotting. Tong was joined in the writing duties by Elliot Tong, Greg Mellott, and Nick Tramontane, and they work hard to get everyone where they need to be for every main story beat. It might never feel as if Chan is in any real danger, but that's inevitable when you know how skilled and strong he is.

Unless he's accompanied by a couple of his main Peking opera school friends, it's often not mentioning the quality of other performances in a Jackie Chan film. Jackie Chan films are at their best when Jackie Chan is at the heart of any scene, and that is the case here. Wu has to spend the third act being a damsel in distress, Nathan Jones and Steve Morris are the memorable "Goombas", and Jackson Lou does well enough as the man who appears to be the main villain to be apprehended. Chan delivers his star power though, especially in the set-pieces that elevate the entire film. That snowy opening sequence has some great stunts in there, and is certainly meant to bring a classic Bond opener to mind, there are at least two impressive fights that allow Chan to showcase many of his skills, and those who have tried to participate in some swimming pool fitness classes should appreciate just how inventive and tough the underwater fight in the third act is.

There's a lot in this that I didn't love. Rewatching it had me fearing that it was worse than I remembered. That's a bit unfair though. There are actually enough really good moments here to make this well worth your time, even if you know that it's not close to the best Jackie Chan movies. And it certainly uses the second half to reward those who were patient throughout the first half.

7/10

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Avatar: Fire And Ash (2025)

The time may have come for me to admit that the shine has gone from the Avatar movies. Or maybe it's just that this particular instalment is the first one I was unable to get along and see on the big screen. Say what you like about these movies, they are most definitely made for the big screen.

The plot is basically the same as it was in the last movie. Jack (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) are trying to live a peaceful life with their family, but still find themselves targeted by the vengeful Quaritch (Stephen Lang). There's also another powerful enemy this time around, the fiery Varang (Oona Chaplin), who is very interested in getting her hands on weaponry that will give her people a huge advantage over those they seek to rob and conquer. Meanwhile, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) is still trying to figure out how to best live in harmony with Pandora, and Spider (Jack Champion) has to ensure that he has a working facemask available if he wants to keep breathing properly while being the one full human living amidst the Na'vi.

It's James Cameron in the director's chair once again (I doubt he would ever hand the reigns over to anyone else), and he's also still one of the main writers (alongside the returning Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver). Avatar: Fire And Ash may be as derivative as the previous instalments, it may be as uneven in terms of the pacing leading up to an action-packed finale, but it's still one hell of a spectacle. Whether or not you enjoy that spectacle is entirely up to you, especially when a lot of the plotting seems to get sillier and sillier as the series continues. I still appreciate the beauty and detailing of the visuals though, and it's astonishing to see how much smoother and clearer everything is as the tech has evolved in the 17 years since the first movie was released.

Worthington, Saldaña, and Weaver are still very comfortable in their portrayal of the blue-skinned leads, and Lang remains an entertaining villain, although he's given a small amount of extra development this time around to make me consider referring to him in that role with quotation marks. There are some people here who are arguably worse, whether looking to hunt and maim some peaceful marine mammals or looking to rain down fire on their enemies. Chaplin is interested in the latter, and she's a great addition to the series. I'm not going to get into the problematic nature of some of the casting, but the supporting cast has time for many supporting names (Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, etc) and some welcome newcomers (Edie Falco being a standout). Sadly, the worst performance comes from Champion, the young man who seems to have become notably worse in his acting when he's not simply reacting to greenscreen elements and the wealth of CGI surrounding him.

Simon Franglen provides a very good score, and the soundscape throughout is fantastic (shout out to the oft-neglected foley artists), but this remains all about the visuals ahead of everything else. People may sneer when I say that it does feel like watching someone play a good videogame for a lot of the runtime, but that's not the insult it may once have been. Many modern videogames can look gorgeous, and the best of them have even better storylines than this, so watching someone play one isn't the disconnected and uninvolving experience it used to be.

Like a favourite holiday destination I've visited a few too many times, Pandora remains a beautiful place to visit. I just don't get as enthusiastic about it as I used to. I'll keep going back though, Cameron has maintained high standards that ensure my loyalty to the series, but I will no longer plan my calendar around it. 

7/10

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Supergirl (2026)

I don't know about others, but I was tentatively looking forward to Supergirl. I had been blown away by the latest cinematic incarnation of Superman, and I had some faith in James Gunn keeping a keen eye on quality control while allowing film-makers to deliver us an enjoyably eclectic mix of features making use of comic-book imagery in different ways. I also tend to enjoy the work of director Craig Gillespie, who seems to have recently settled into a pattern of stitching his movies together between a number of entertaining needle-drop moments.

Sadly, this isn't anywhere close to the previous Super-blockbuster from DC. And a large part of that is to do with Gillespie, who now feels like he's just being lazy and careless while always going for the easiest directorial choices.

Here's the very basic plot synopsis. Milly Alcock is Supergirl, a young woman who spends most of her time either playing with her dog, Krypto, or getting drunk (and perhaps secretly hoping for someone to pick a fight with her). Eve Ridley is Ruthye, a young woman out for revenge after her parents were killed by the vicious Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts). When Ruthye and Supergirl cross paths, Krem ensures that he will be chased down by both when he poisons Krypto. An antidote is needed, the clock is ticking, and there's bound to be a fair bit of mayhem and destruction, especially when Lobo (Jason Momoa) eventually swaggers into the picture.

Written by Ana Noguiera, this is a frustrating watch. Alcock is superb in the lead role, especially when showing her struggle to deal with her sense of loneliness and isolation. She has the perfect attitude to keep others away after accepting that her life seems destined to be one of solitude anyway. It's just a shame that Noguiera and Gillespie only afford her a couple of moments to really show what's going on beneath the surface, instead seeming content to offer viewers a collection of rehashed superhero movie tropes accompanied by some of those aforementioned needle-drops. You want someone almost at their very end, but able to gain a sudden burst of energy to keep them alive? You got it. You want the music to twirl and spiral up to someone opening their eyes to either show the power in them or shoot lasers? You got it. How about a sequence in which someone just gets to cut loose and have fun overpowering villains after spending some time being beaten down and restrained. Oh yes. What could have been a good mix of fun action and teen troubles is, sadly, pushed aside for one MOVIE MOMENT after another. If you want something more than surface-level slickness then you'll have to look elsewhere.

Aside from Alcock, Ridley is also good in her role, essentially providing motivation for the entire plot, as well as a potential redemption arc for our lead. Schoenaerts is buried under some decent makeup, but he does a good enough job of being a mean villain, and Momoa seems to be having a great time. This isn't a Lobo movie though, and nor should it be, and his brash and carefree approach to the situation that he finds himself in is very much at odds with the more interesting intertwining paths of our younger central characters. It's nice to see both David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham in small, but pivotal, roles, and any DC feature that makes room for a cameo from the current Superman is all the better for the screentime featuring David Corenswet.

I can see what is hidden away at the heart of this, and I admire the fact that this was given such a prominent position in the DC movie release schedule, but the good intentions are worn away and covered over by a writer and director who both seem unable, or unwilling, to take enough time away from the super-powered fighting and explosions to more fully explore what it would mean to be a grieving teen forced into the role of reluctant superhero, and how they might somehow manage to do the right thing even while working just as hard to keep their emotional walls up.

Thank goodness Alcock is another great casting choice in the DC universe, because this might have been a lot harder to watch without her presence. Oh, and I'm happy that they didn't overuse Krypto AKA the cutest super-dog and bestest boy.

5/10

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Mortal Kombat II (2026)

You know the cry. You know the other famous phrases. You know the characters. If you watched the previous Mortal Kombat film, the latest in a number of attempts to satisfy fans of the franchise, then you'll also know that the casting and action choreography seem to have greatly improved since the 1990s movies.

Simon McQuoid returns to the director's chair for this sequel, and the marketing would have you believe that this is essentially a Johnny Cage movie. While Cage (played here by Karl Urban) certainly features in a number of the highlights, this is actually a sneaky way to present a film that focuses on the likes of Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee). Writer Jeremy Slater has fun using the tournament as a framework for changing loyalties, but never forgets to leave room for some fights and dollops of gore.

I think I owe Mortal Kombat II another viewing, but it's hard for me to see my opinion changing much, even if I start to look around for other little pleasures within each scene. It's a fun time . . . WHEN it's aiming to be a fun time, but there are too many scenes that either show characters having to once again be convinced of the very existence of Mortal Kombat or having them wrestling with their own insecurities. It's just my personal preference, but Mortal Kombat should always have characters absolutely convinced of their own abilities and morality, whether right or wrong. I know, I know, you cannot just literally translate everything from a videogame directly to a movie, but I just don't need to spend too much time watching deadly warriors hum and ha about whether or not they're on the right side of history.

The fights are good though, and that's really what it's all about. I just wish there had been one or two more of them in the 116-minute runtime. I also wish that those involved had been a bit more inventive. There are so many characters available from this property, many with enjoyably quirky fighting moves, but McQuoid and Slater decide to ignore so many of them. Admittedly, they will have been thinking of ways in which to offer variety and energy in any more sequels, if they're greenlit, but I just kept wanting to see more favourites that would pop into my mind as I reached into my memory banks to consider the many hours I spent playing the first game on my SEGA Master System.

Urban, despite being a bit too old to totally convince in his role, brings his usual humour and charisma to Johnny Cage. He's a smartass, but also has enough skills to stand him in good stead for one or two fights. Both Rudolph and McNamee do better though, with both feeling like a more natural fit for their characters. Lawson also makes a welcome return, playing Kano, but it's a shame that he's onscreen for such a relatively short amount of time. Martyn Ford is believably deadly as Shao Kahn, Tati Gabrielle makes a strong impression in the role of Jade, and you get the welcome return of Joe Taslim and Hiroyuki Sanada, as well as Mehcad Brooks, and the less welcome return of Ludi Lin (no fault of his, just the fault of his character, Liu Kang, not being very exciting). Fans may not like the way Baraka is used, but actor CJ Bloomfield does a great job under that makeup job.

There's a chance that my expectations were too high here, especially when I thought we were getting a Johnny Cage movie, and that's why I need to give it another go. But being prepared for a bit less of a Cage-centric experience won't stop me from being slightly disappointed by the other potential treats missing from this. There's enough here to put it on a par with the film that preceded it, but I had hoped that this would be a lot more adventurous and fun after all of the groundwork laid last time around.

7/10

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Prime Time: Wheels On Meals (1984)

I suspect it may have changed nowadays, considering some of his mainstream hits, but there was definitely a standard journey when it came to discovering Jackie Chan movies when I was young. You would hear about him, perhaps seeing some clips of his major stunts and set-pieces in a video or TV special (hosted by someone like Chuck Norris). Then you'd probably see the likes of Police Story and/or Project A, maybe even an Operation Condor film. You would think that you'd never seen this action movie star before, not necessarily realising that he had joined in with the self-satisfied fun of The Cannonball Run movies. Then you'd somehow find out about how well he worked with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. Which would lead you to the likes of this.

Wheels On Meals isn't a great movie, but it has enough great moments to make up for the many problems with the material. Chan and Biao play two friends who operate a food truck. Hung, who also directed the film, plays a private detective hired to find a beautiful young woman. That woman, Sylvia (Lola Forner), ends up staying with our two leads, at least until she can steal some money and a car to help get her somewhere safer. Meanwhile, some tough henchmen start to throw their weight around, leading to a third act that features the martial arts skills of our heroes, as well as some impressive movies from Benny Urquidez and Keith Vitali.

The comedy here isn't great, and nor are some of the attitudes on display. BUT, and this is all relative (of course, I think Wheels On Meals generally holds up better than a number of other martial arts films from this era. The comedy tends to focus on the friendship, and friendly competition, between the leading men, the treatment of female characters is done in a way that allows Biao and Chan, but particularly the former, to constantly aim for "white knight" status, and a couple of moments allowing Richard Ng and John Sham to cameo feel as if they could have been much worse. And saying "things could have been much worse" isn't necessarily the best thing to say about art, but it's also worth saying when you've sat through Jackie Chan movies littered with homophobia, including "jokes" about AIDS, and horrendous treatment of female characters.

Hung knows what he's doing when it comes to the direction, although I wish that he'd been allowed to throw a lot more action in here. The screenplay, written by Edward Tang and Gwing-Gai Lee, seems content to let Chan, Biao, and Hung play around onscreen while fans get to enjoy spending some more time in their company, but forgets how to make the most of them. As a fan though, I should say that I am one of those kept happy enough by the interplay and tom-foolery of the leads.

Whether skateboarding around to take food orders or struggling to fight back against Urquidez, Chan is on very good form here. Biao is slightly underserved, on the one hand, considering how I have seen him treated by other movies showcasing his acrobatic abilities, but it's good to see him sharing the screen while also being allowed to step forward as the main hero. Hung is aiming to be more comic relief than a proper third fighter, but he at least gets involved in the busy and impressive final round of fights. Both Urquidez and Vitali handle themselves capably, and Forner carries herself well through moments overstuffed with testosterone and lust.

If you want to enjoy these stars in a film with much better fight sequences then Dragons Forever is the film for you. This is a solid mix of action and fun though. It just doesn't hit the high bars set by these performers in many of their other respective star vehicles.

7/10

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Disclosure Day (2026)

Although it's a very different type of movie, Disclosure Day feels very much like a film that partners up with The Fabelmans. It's a film from someone very much looking back. It's director Steven Spielberg playing some of his hits. Unfortunately, the hits have since been overshadowed by, well, different hits from himself, as well as hits created by people who were influenced by him. 

Josh O'Connor plays Daniel Kellner, a young man who is on the run. He has something, something so important that many agents, working under the direction of Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), won't stop until he is captured. Kellner has his girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), on his side, and he is given a number of supportive phone calls from Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo). Meanwhile, Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) is a TV weather presenter who has an encounter with a red cardinal that lands on her table and then gains the power to communicate effectively with everyone around her, in any language. She can also know what they're thinking, which gives her a big advantage when it becomes apparent that she needs to connect with Kellner and help to enable Disclosure Day.

On the one hand, Disclosure Day is not very good. The 145-minute runtime is too long, there are a couple of characters sidelined who I would have preferred to see retained for more of the runtime, and a lot of the decisions made by people are quite inconsistent, to say the least. David Koepp's screenplay cannot keep everything balanced well, but that may stem from how much he has to twist himself in knots to develop the idea from Spielberg, which houses a number of his worst traits, but tries to cover them up with some action and tension in the first half.

There's certainly no blame to be put on the actors, with both Blunt and O'Connor doing absolutely fantastic work throughout. I'd even be tempted to say that this is one of Blunt's very best performances, certainly one of her best from the last decade anyway. O'Connor gets to stay quite wide-eyed and nervy throughout, which he does well, whereas Blunt changes in a number of interesting ways. Firth is excellent as the potential villain of the whole thing, although his character is notably restricted by the screenplay, almost like he's a videogame character only allowed into certain areas once enough time has elapsed. Domingo is very good, even if he's either facilitating, or delivering, a lot of the exposition, but he's also, as others have mentioned, very much an onscreen avatar for Spielberg himself aka the man putting all of the pieces into place and co-ordinating the action. Hewson is involved in a couple of the best scenes in the film, Wyatt Russell is very enjoyable in his supporting role, and Henry Lloyd-Hughes is impressively determined and threatening as the right hand man to Firth's character.

You get alien activity. You get a couple of good set-pieces. There's a John Williams score. There's more lens flare than even J. J. Abrams might feel comfortable with. To paraphrase a famous comedy skit from yesteryear . . . you get all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order. Disclosure Day is a messy blockbuster, and the relative originality of it (compared to other recent blockbuster properties) and good intentions aren't enough to distract viewers from some inept plotting and numerous contradictions that are the result of either total laziness, temporary stupidity, or a mix of both.

Is it good to see a major release based around the idea that empathy is a super-power and that we shouldn't default to automatically fearing the unknown? Yes. But it would have been even better to see the messaging contained within a movie that had stronger structural integrity than a wet piece of tissue paper. Maybe the Spielberg of 20 or 30 years ago could have helmed that movie, or maybe we have to accept that thought-provoking sci-fi, whether optimistic or pessimistic, is now delivered better by those who spent years studying, and being in awe of, the mothership captain who will always cast a huge shadow over the sub-genre. 

5/10

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Masters Of The Universe (2026)

I know that I moan about fan service when a film or TV show has nothing more to offer. It's something that crops up a lot, whether related to older properties being refreshed for a modern audience or the many horror movies pandering to people who are resistant to any change. Masters Of The Universe is full of fan service, BUT it's all done incredibly well, and it never brings everything to an abrupt halt. There's also plenty going on to surround all of the fan service.

Directed by Travis Knight, who is now three for three with the features he has helmed, this is a bright and fun fantasy film that makes use of a great cast and paces things well enough to help the 140-minute runtime whizz by. Writers Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Chris Butler, and Dave Callaham get so much right that it's easy to forgive the minor failings, which all crop up in the first act before the film really seems to grow in confidence, ironically at about the same time as our hero.

Nicholas Galitzine is Adam, a young man who is trying to convince people that he's actually a Prince from another world, Eternia, and searching for a magical sword that will help him to gain immense power, readying him to rescue his home from the bony grasp of Skeletor (Jared Leto). Everyone thinks he's mad, of course, until he eventually finds the lost item . . . and then can't seem to use it. Maybe Teela (Camila Mendes), an old childhood friend now a capable warrior, can help him to stay alive long enough to figure things out.

I was worried during the earliest scenes in Masters Of The Universe. It seemed to be a bit unsure of itself, having to get the exposition delivered while tending to do the Marvel schtick of undercutting any heroics or ending any brief action beat with a joke. At least the jokes worked, but I was still worried about it sticking to that template throughout. Amazingly, it doesn't do that. Instead, you start to get something that blends unabashed earnestness with a different kind of humour, the sort of silliness that fans of the property will recognise from their own thoughts and conversations about the various characters populating Eternia. 

Despite having to spend a lot of the time wearing clothing to cover his physique, Galitzine works as both the insecure and "weak" Adam AND the mighty, sword-wielding, He-Man. He looks the part throughout, and also grows into the role in a way that feels organic and absolutely believable, despite the fantastical context. Mendes doesn't need any similar journey. Her character is absolutely confident throughout, and she's also perfect in her role. As for Leto . . . dammit, it may be his best work in years, helped by the fact that you probably wouldn't even recognise it was him playing Skeletor if he wasn't the one in the credits. The line delivery, the laugh, the physicality, Leto delivers a fantastic turn that helps to keep Skeletor as fun and menacing as he should be. Idris Elba is very good as Duncan AKA Man-At-Arms, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson eventually accepts the name of Fisto, and both Alison Brie and Morena Baccarin are good to watch as two very different types of sorceress, the former being Evil-Lyn and the latter simply billed as The Sorceress. There are also some brilliant cameos, most I won't spoil, including Kristen Wiig voicing Roboto, a battle robot that has been turned into a domestic cleaning robot, but could help our heroes a lot if given her access to weaponry back.

The fact that I watched this and started to wonder whether or not it could be time for us to have another take on Flash Gordon perhaps tells you everything you need to know. Then I was impressed by the film-makers having the confidence to use the Queen track from ANOTHER classic fantasy flick. Whether recreating the imagery from the cartoon or not, the visuals are generally a delight, the score from Daniel Pemberton is absolutely fantastic throughout, and the only other disappointment I had after the end credits rolled was the knowledge that it wouldn't necessarily out-perform some (to me) lesser films at the box office, meaning any sequels and/or spin-offs are sadly not guaranteed. But if they do happen, consider my tickets pre-ordered ASAP.

9/10

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Armageddon (1998)

The odd thing about rewatching Armageddon, a film I have watched a number of times before, is that it is somehow both worse and better than I remember. It's quite ridiculous, but manages to be ridiculous in many right ways to balance out the times that it's ridiculous in many wrong ways.

Most people know the story. There's a giant rock hurtling towards Earth. The only way to save our planet is to travel into space, land on the giant rock, and drill down into it to plant some major explosives. There's no way astronauts could manage that. The world needs the best drilling workers, and those drilling workers come in the shape of Harry S. Stamper (Bruce Willis) and co. There are some lame attempts to make things tense, there's plenty of heroism and "America: F**k Yeah!" throughout almost every main sequence, and you get to remember how much you love or hate Aerosmith singing "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing."

It might be Jonathan Hensleigh and J. J. Abrams credited in the writing department, with a bit of input from Tony Gilroy, Shane Salerno, and Robert Roy Pool, although I couldn't say how much any one person added into the mix. It's easy to see the overwhelming stamp of director Michael Bay all over it though. There's no subtlety, of course, and no desire to keep the action clear and watchable. In fact, I would argue that Armageddon is at its worst when viewers have to suffer through the poorly-shot and messily-edited action beats.

Willis may not be doing his best work, but he's fine in blockbuster star mode. Ben Affleck, playing the younger and more hot-headed "drill Jedi", who also happens to be in love with his boss's daughter, Grace (played by Liv Tyler), is also fine, although he has never been as comfortable in these kinds of films as he is in less mainstream fare. Tyler does what is asked of her, and is a welcome presence, despite being constantly pushed offscreen by the tide of testosterone. The supporting cast is pretty great though. Billy Bob Thornton does well, Will Patton and William Fichtner are both as dependable as ever, and there's a lot of fun to be had with any scene involving Steve Buscemi and/or Peter Stormare. You also get Owen Wilson, Keith David, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jason Isaacs, and very brief appearances from Eddie Griffin, Grace Zabriskie, Udo Kier, Shawnee Smith, and Matt Malloy.

There's plenty of impressive hardware on display, the bombastic score from Trevor Rabin ensures that nobody gets to forget the heroism and machismo of our main characters for even one minute, and John Schwartzman tries hard to impress with cinematography that is undermined by the horrible editing so familiar to anyone who has watched any other Michael Bay movie.

Armageddon is not good, but it's comfortingly ridiculous for a lot of the bloated 151-minute runtime. I would put almost every other Bay movie ahead of it, and there are a number of Bruckheimer-produced movies from this time period I would also put ahead of it, but I cannot deny that I can still happily sit down with it once every ten years or so, like treating myself to an unhealthy bit of fast food that makes me hate myself as soon as I've swallowed the last tasty morsel. 

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Bumblebee (2018)

While it has certainly happened before, mainly in horror franchises, I wish more people would take the opportunity to use familiar IP in a way that still allows for films that feel more fresh and fun than whatever formula has been decided upon throughout a number of previous movies. Bumblebee not only does just that, but it does so brilliantly.

The story is quite simple. It's the second half of the 1980s, and transforming robot Bumblebee ends up on Earth. While in the guise of a Volkswagen Beetle car, Bumblebee is taken to the home of Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld). He eventually reveals his true form, and the two bond as it becomes clear that some danger is heading their way. That may be in the shape of other robots, and it may also be in the shape of a military man named Agent Burns (John Cena).

The first live-action feature from director Travis Knight, who also helmed the superb Kubo And The Two Strings, this is exactly the kind of enjoyable entertainment that you should expect from a film that has a young woman befriending a big robot. Writer Christina Hodson may not always attach herself to the best projects, but she has proven throughout her career that she can often write witty and satisfying blockbuster fare. This is her best work yet, mainly thanks to the whole load of heart that is allowed to take up so much of the screentime. A lot of the plot points may be obvious (Charlie missing a dead parent, Bumblebee figuring out just what is needed to complete an important mission, angry military types threatened by powerful tech), but they're mixed together well enough around characters that viewers should enjoy spending time with.

Steinfeld is great in the lead role, as she has been in pretty much everything that she's done so far, and she's given great support from Pamela Adlon and Stephen Schneider (playing her mother and stepfather, respectively), as well as Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (a guy with a crush on her, which leads him to also finding out about Bumblebee). John Ortiz has a small role, one that benefits from having his familiar face there, and Cena is good value as the determined man out to deal with what he perceives to be a major threat.

The 114-minute runtime, like everything else here, feels relatively bright and breezy in comparison to other Transformers movies, and there's a great pop soundtrack, as well as references to a number of iconic 1980s movies, whether in recreated moments or just film posters hung on the walls of our main character's bedroom.

Every set-up is paid off, there are a good selection of running gags (one of the best being about Bumblebee's inability to hide), and it's all just a genuinely heart-warming and fun teen movie that happens to have one of the awkward teens being played by a Transformer. I can imagine most people choosing to watch this again ahead of so many other entries in the franchise, and I don't blame them. In fact, I include myself amongst them.

9/10

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Hard Boiled (1992)

Is Hard Boiled the peak of pre-CGI-enhanced action cinema? When you sit down to watch it, or rewatch it after a gap of far too many years, it soon becomes hard to argue against that position. Considering how beloved it remains by action movie fans, I seriously considered not even writing a review. What can be said about Hard Boiled that hasn't been said already? Nothing, but I still want to add my own praise to the mass of positive words you can already read about it elsewhere.

Chow Yun-Fat plays 'Tequila', a good cop with a very good aim. Others say that he never wastes a bullet, but that claim may be tested when he is surrounded by more and more gun-toting criminals looking to push him right off the end of this mortal coil. The head villain is Johnny (Anthony Wong), but he's helped out by a deadly killer named Mad Dog (Phillip Kwok) and a young man (Tony Leung) who might be keeping a big secret that could compromise a lot of people.

With a screenplay by Barry Wong and Gordon Chan, Hard Boiled has everything you could expect from this kind of movie in this time period. There's our hero clashing with the Chief Superintendent (Philip Chan). There's some awkward comedy, and relationship tension between our hero and the woman he is involuntarily separated from (Teresa, played by Teresa Mo). And you have the moral fluidity of the heroes and villains, depending on what is at stake and who is caught up in the middle of the action. And there are guns. Of course. Lots and lots of guns.

The influence of John Woo, often referred to as the father of "bullet ballet", cannot be under-estimated, and Hard Boiled is a modern action movie source text that so many other moments of great cinema stem from. The two main stars are suitably bright, but they're also happy to share scenes with the actual main star of the show, all of the weaponry and firepower that Woo presents in a number of increasingly impressive and audacious set-pieces. 

Aside from Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung, both unable to be any cooler unless they were dipped in liquid nitrogen, it's a pleasant surprise to find Wong and Kwok able to make any kind of impression at all. The fact that they both manage to be as riveting as the leads, albeit in very different ways, is downright miraculous. I cannot say the same about Chan or Mo, but they do well enough with what they're given, particularly while playing their parts in the third act.

It's far from perfect, a lot of the less violent moments fall a bit flat, but when moving from one gunfight to the next . . . Hard Boiled is very hard to top. In fact, I may not see an action movie as good as this until I check out another John Woo movie from this part of his career. And I hope to be doing that quite soon.

9/10

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Shudder Saturday: Deathstalker (2025)

Despite the enduring love for the series, there are few people you could find who would tell you that the original Deathstalker is a great movie. It's even surpassed by the first sequel it had. So to say that this reworking of the property is better than the first film is quite easy. Yet it has something that still holds it back slightly, just a feeling that . . . well, I can't quite put my finger on one specific fault, but hope to mention a number of factors in this review.

Daniel Bernhardt plays the titular hero this time around, and he certainly looks the part. He's soon joined by a small creature named Doodad (voiced by Patton Oswalt) and a young female thief named Brisbayne (Christina Orjalo). Their fates are all tied together by a magical amulet that is desired by Nekromemnon (Nicholas Rice), and he expects his right hand man, Jotak (Paul Lazenby), to retrieve it from our hardy little band of heroes.

Written and directed by Steven Kostanski, who has been responsible for one of my all-time favourite genre movies of the 2020s (Psycho Goreman), there's a lot here that should be expected, if you're familiar with his work. Plenty of impressive practical effects, a decent amount of blood and guts thrown around, and clear affection for the source material.

The cast all work well in their roles too, which is a big help. Bernhardt has both the muscles and the attitude, Oswalt's voice is a perfect fit for his character, and Orjalo, Lazenby, Nina Bergman, Conor Sweeney, and John Clifford Talbot all feel well-suited to the onscreen environment. Rice is hidden under a lot more make up and prosthetics, as are both Jon Ambrose and Troy James, but the physicality is spot on.

Nobody could accuse the Deathstalker movies of striving for any kind of realism, and they were made with low budgets and limited resources, but this particular Deathstalker movie feels just as limited in one or two other ways. I'm surprised to say that part of that is due to how it lacks a specific charm, perhaps due to the knowledge that everyone involved is very much clued in on the kind of film they want to make. Original films of this ilk were made by people trying to present a fantastical world and a mad menagerie of monsters with whatever they had to hand. This is made by people trying to present a slightly more polished version of an older movie, and part of the charm of the older movies often stems from seeing the tape holding the cardboard together at the very edge of the frame, metaphorically speaking. I also can't help thinking that there's a bit of gentle mockery mixed in with the affection here, a feeling of Kostanski saying "you know this is silly, we know this is silly, but let's enjoy it nonetheless". It's not an overriding sensation, but I could feel it just underpinning almost every scene, and that was enough to stop me from loving this as much as I had hoped to. The Deathstalker movies were not without humour, but it was a very basic and genre-specific kind of humour (aka very '80s humour). This film doesn't have that, and it's the absence of THAT humour, the way that Kostanski tries to allow everything to be played quite straight, that paradoxically makes me sense some of the other humour layered throughout. 

Maybe I am being too sensitive, maybe I am responding to something that wasn't intended the way I am viewing it, but I cannot help thinking that many other Kostanski films have been made with the feeling that they're loving homages that couldn't possibly rival the impact of the original films that inspired them, despite how those original films are viewed with disdain by those who just don't understand the way to the heart of a horror fan who grew up through the halcyon days of VHS madness. Deathstalker somehow makes a major mis-step by being better than the 1983 original, which makes even the slightest wink or smirk feel like it's "punching down" at a beloved film series.

Still, when it comes to the film-making basics, there's no denying that what is onscreen here is done well. I'd love to hear from others, whether to help me better word my opinion or just tell me that I am talking nonsense, but, in the meantime, I still have to rate this as an enjoyable bit of sword 'n' sorcery entertainment. It's just not great, and left a slightly sour taste in my mouth as the end credits rolled.

7/10

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Prime Time: Pretty Lethal (2026)

When I heard that Pretty Lethal was an action movie with ballerinas at the heart of it, and when I saw the poster with the tagline "blood, sweat and tutus", I mistakenly assumed that this would be something along the lines of, well, Ballerina. I already had the film playing out in my head. A group of innocent-looking ballerinas working together to successfully complete one deadly mission after another, probably using their skillset and grace to their major advantage. I was a bit off, but not entirely incorrect.

Pretty Lethal DOES have ballerinas using their skillset and grace to their advantage, but these are actual ballerinas. They're not trained killers. They just end up in a situation that forces them to become inventive and fight back against a large number of armed and menacing men.

It all starts with a bus breaking down. Our featured dancers end up sheltering in an inn, one owned and run by Devora Kasimer (Uma Thurman). A bad man is embarrassed by a woman, which leads to death, and that's what leads to the ballerinas all being kept in place until it's time to get rid of them. Once they realise how serious their situation is, however, the ballerinas find a way to dance around some of the baddies and weaponise their ballet moves.

With two women at the helm, (this was written by Kate Freund, who also has a small role in front of the camera, and directed by Vicky Jewson) there's definitely something running through Pretty Lethal that allows it to feel just a bit different from the many other films it could have been. It's bloody and violent once everything kicks off, but it's also very much about women supporting one another, and reminds viewers more than once about the pain and dedication required to become a celebrated ballerina. There's a really nice balance of the masculine and feminine here, perhaps inevitable due to the main premise, but also nurtured by both Freund and Jewson.

The cast all help too, particularly the youngsters who have to fight for their lives while wearing tutus and looking woefully out of their depth . . . until they show a natural talent for despatching brawny henchmen. The main five are played by Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Avantika, Millicent Simmonds, and Iris Apatow, and they're all fantastic at being believably frightened, but also determined to fight back, for the sake of themselves and those right alongside them. Thurman has a lot of fun portaying a heavily-accented villain with a real appreciation for the discipline of ballet, Tamás Szabó Sipos is the main instigator of all the trouble, and easy to hate as he spends a lot of time trying to stay protected under the cloak of his father's reputation. 

If someone else hadn't already described this as "reasonably en pointe" then you know that I would have rushed to use that great pun. I was too late, unfortunately, and I don't think anyone is waiting to hear this referred to as Tutu Fast Tutu Furious. It's maybe not quite as packed with violence and death as some would like, but it does maintain a good amount of energy and momentum once everything kicks off. If you're looking for a new action flick to help you pass just under 90 minutes then you shouldn't be too disappointed if you give this your time. 

7/10

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Ghosted (2023)

A mix of action and rom-com starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas in the lead roles, Ghosted should have been an easy success. The familiar faces, the familiar plotting, and a succession of cameos make it an obvious choice for some straightforward entertainment. There's a reason that it's pretty much been forgotten already though. It's not good. It's hard to describe as truly awful, although I am sure some will, but it's certainly as bland as some vegetable that has had all of the flavour boiled out of it.

Evans plays Cole Turner, a young man who falls hard for Sadie Rhodes (De Armas). He thinks that it might be a good idea, after spending one day with her, to pay her a surprise visit in London. Things don't go according to plan though, with Cole soon abducted by people who believe him to be an infamous CIA agent known as "The Taxman". Can you guess who is actually that agent? Bickering, gunfights, and various hijinks soon ensue.

Written by the not-insubstantial-quartet of Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers, Ghosted is what happens when you believe that your film has enough star power to ignore things like proper wit, pacing, and characters with some depth. There is nothing to this when you remove the stars. Nothing.

Director Dexter Fletcher is often a capable talent, but he is clearly hamstrung here by the demands of delivering such studio fluff. The action doesn’t have any weight or impact, there’s a surprising, and debilitating, lack of chemistry between the two leads, and nothing is done to make things more interesting around the superficial glossy smoothness of everything.

Evans and De Armas have rarely been worse. They can be charismatic, they can be convincing with action beats and physical work, and they can be fun, but you wouldn’t know that from watching this. Adrien Brody is a main villain, but feels like the wrong choice in every scene focusing on him. It’s either him just cashing a big cheque or not able to find his way into a performance that should just be a bit ridiculous and entertaining. Nobody else makes much of an impression, and the many cameos that crop up feel like a desperate and lazy attempt to please Marvel fans. They are smug and unfunny, like so many other parts of the movie.

I still won’t describe this as truly awful, there were one or two moments I enjoyed before completely losing any optimism about it improving, but it is bad. Very bad. It deserves to be as forgotten as it already is, and I am sure the main cast members are happy to see it fade from memory so quickly.

3/10

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