Superman (2025)

I'm not interested in comparing this incarnation of Superman to other recent onscreen incarnations. Mainly because this film blows away almost every other film outing for the man of steel, but also because there's no need. I will say that I did enjoy a cinematic exchange between Superman and Batman that had the latter refining a definition of what constitutes bravery. It's a shame that the movies didn't really dive much further into those kind of considerate diversions more often, particularly when you see how effective it is in this movie.

As beloved as the character of Superman is, he's always been a bit tricky for some to get a handle on. It's difficult to create tension and fun around someone so seemingly-invulnerable and full of noble intention. There are only so many times that we can see him being felled by a piece of kryptonite.

Writer-director James Gunn tackles this problem head on, giving us a Superman movie in which our hero is often, to put it bluntly, on the end of a major bloody hiding. Things start in the middle of one such encounter, with Superman (David Corenswet) having just been defeated in a fight for the very first time. It's a bad defeat, particularly for someone not used to the concept. Thankfully, a fortress of solitude and some helpful robots soon get Supes back in the air. That means that he can soon get back to his usual schedule of maintaining his Clark Kent disguise alongside Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and co. at the Daily Planet, keeping the people of Metropolis safe from the many strange invaders that keep trying to smoosh them, and being monitored and plotted against by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). 

Christopher Reeve remains my favourite Superman. He is the high benchmark against which all others are measured, although it must be said that everyone given an opportunity to don the suit and cape on cinema screens has had a bloody good go at truly embodying the character for a new generation. Nobody gets everything right though. Cavill was fantastic as Superman, but I found him less believable in the few times we saw him as Clark Kent. Brandon Routh found himself stuck in a film that ensured he could never avoid being overshadowed. Corenswet is very good here, although he doesn't get too much time mixing with people in his normal "human" mode, but I have to say that he has the advantage of being the star of what is now my favourite Superman movie. I still love many of the others, but Gunn shows just how much he knows, and believes in, this hero.

There's nothing subtle here, but nobody really expects subtlety from a Superman film. Still, considering the fact that you have scenes with someone taking a stand against a genocidal government that makes them unpopular, a moment depicting busy online trolls in the best possible way, a busy plot that makes room for some deliberately old-fashioned and vital investigative journalism, and an entire plot revolving around someone good becoming demonised by others simply because of the circumstances that led to their arrival in America . . . this puts our hero in a world that is both a beautifully-realised Metropolis and also something not too dissimilar to our own.

Intentionally or not, and it has to be the former (let's be honest), Gunn gives audiences a much brighter and apparently lighter take on the hero that we've seen mired in some grimdark fare for a decade or so now. That doesn't mean the film is full of sunshine and rainbows though. There are big themes dealt with here, and the main characters are sketched out so well that a few major moments in the third act had me getting all misty-eyed in the cinema. In fact, there's a speech here that, while not unlike dialogue we have heard from various other movie characters throughout the years, is incredibly moving simply BECAUSE it is being said by Superman, and he's portrayed as someone that we know absolutely means every word of it. That's what this film has that other recent Superman outings have lacked - heart. There's also some humour, of course, but it's not the same kind one-note witticisms that have started to become an issue with many other blockbusters recently.

Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince are a wonderful and warm new set of foster parents (aka Ma Kent and Pa Kent), Skyler Gisondo is a good fit for the role of Jimmy Olsen, and María Gabriela de Faría, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, and Isabela Merced all have fun as, respectively, The Engineer, Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl. Wendell Pierce is an excellent Perry White, Sara Sampaio eventually gets a scene or two in which to shine as Eve Teschmacher, and, if you've seen any of the pre-release advertising, you should already be prepared for Krypto to steal the show/slightly irritate you, depending on how you feel about very cute dogs wearing capes. Everything relies on a central trio though, and I cannot find fault with Corenswet, Brosnahan, or Hoult. They're given enough room to step into some big shoes and try to make each role their own, and I'm going to say that they succeed more than I had thought possible. I didn't spend any of my time watching this film comparing their characters against past portrayals. I quite simply rooted for Superman, waited for Lex Luthor to come unstuck, and enjoyed the intelligence and tenacity of a Lois Lane who wields her journalism skills as her very own super-power.

Superman will, like all of the best super-heroes, mean so many different things to so many different people. But this Superman is probably the hero we need right now. And it's only one or two very minor criticisms that have stopped me from rating this as a perfect film. Hell, the final scene made me smile so much that I might even add that one extra point whenever I get around to rewatching it, and I am definitely aiming to rewatch it ASAP.                   

9/10

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Alien: Romulus (2024)

It's been a while since an Alien movie has left me feeling anything other than slightly disappointed. I did enjoy the trailer for this, but trailers have been known to mislead us movie fans before. And the fact that Cailee Spaeny had a main role in this made me even more nervous. I have REALLY enjoyed the performances from Spaeny in everything I have seen her in so far, but I have rarely enjoyed any movie that she's starred in. And yet . . . it was time to do the dance that we always do.

Spaeny plays Rain, a young woman hoping to find a way out of her hard life of health-afflicting indentured servitude that feels like a daily batting with a big stick while the carrot of life on a new planet continues to be dangled in front of her. An opportunity arises when a group of like-minded youngsters figure out that there’s a seemingly-abandoned Weyland Yutani vehicle floating in orbit above them. They have a plan to get to a much better place, but they need Rain and her half-brother (full android) Andy (David Jonsson). The obvious problem is that the vehicle isn’t as abandoned as it first appears to be.

Taking place in between the events of Alien and Aliens, apparently, this is a love letter to the whole franchise from director Fede Alvarez. Having co-written the script with Rodo Sayagues, Alvarez does well to use the main creatures in a premise that is once again a pure and unabashed horror movie experience. It moves away from, but doesn’t ignore, the aspects of the backstory that Ridley Scott seemed to become more and more obsessed with, and makes good use of the xenomorph lore while adding some nice details throughout.

Things go wrong when Alvarez feels the need to lift some things from the last movies that didn’t need to be here, whether it is a line of dialogue or a disappointingly lazy “cameo” from someone recreated in the usual painful CGI style that we’re all supposed to pretend is life-like and realistic. And one of the set-pieces feeling a bit too much in line with Don’t Breathe (despite an apparent plot hole at the start of the sequence) is both a positive and negative, depending on how much you enjoy Alvarez and Sayagues revisiting some of their own past glories.

Although I have seen others strongly disagree, I think the cast and characters are a fantastic group, more of less, to start worrying about when faces look ready for hugs. Spaeny is a superb lead, and it’s always toughest for anyone playing a female lead in these movies after the series spent so much time on the shoulders of Sigourney Weaver’s iconic performance. She is strong, smart, but also as vulnerable as anyone else when it comes to facing off against a monster that has acid for blood. Jonsson is equally good, and benefits from being able to deliver more than one persona (thanks to a mod to upgrade him as everyone prepares to get into the thick of any action). Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, and Aileen Wu are appealing enough, and given just enough moments to stand out as individuals from the group, and Spike Fearn is saddled with being the annoying dickhead, which he plays so well that I spent some time hoping for his demise. Let’s not evaluate the performance of the computer-generated cast member, because the film would have been much better without their presence.

It’s imperfect, and I know some will be more annoyed than I was by the multitude of memberberries, but it’s also worth considering just how well this manages to deal with the weight of every other main movie that preceded it while also appealing to those who might be relative newcomers to this universe. The score, cinematography, production design, costuming, etc. are ALL pretty top notch. It’s only the script being a bit too precious about the legacy that drags things down, but it never comes close to other low points in some of the more recent entries in the series. Okay, Jonsson being made to utter a very famous line is bad, but I will put up with it to move a step away from another story of Michael Fassbender creating deadly black liquid while playing some jazz flute.

7/10

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Madame Web (2024)

This blog is a comfort for me. It helps me put my thoughts together, it contains a path of memories that can help me remember individual movies from the thousands I have watched, and it is sometimes the only thing that helps me endure a film that is mind-bogglingly abominable. As other people have already made clear, Madame Web is mind-bogglingly abominable. As the bad reviews started to pile up, I found myself wondering how bad it could be. It was even worse than I thought.

Okay, let me give a very quick plot summary, because anything more detailed would make me feel as if I did more work in writing this than anyone did on the script. Dakota Johnson is Cassie Webb, a woman who finds out that she has the gift of premonition. Initially assuming that she cannot change the future, a pigeon interfacing with her window helps her to realise that destiny is not set in stone. That puts her on a path to confront a powerful villain, Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), a man who is determined to kill three young woman (played by Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor) he had foreseen being the cause of his own death. Emma Roberts is onscreen to play the mother of an un-named child people can figure out will be Peter Parker, Adam Scott is “uncle” Ben Parker, and the whole thing feels like a desperate attempt to profit from the Spider-Man universe without being able to feature Spider-Man in it.

Although it seems difficult to imagine anyone coming out of this well, it’s strange to see almost everyone sleepwalk through something so dire. The messy script, as inane as it is needlessly convoluted, was written by a whole load of people, including director S. J. Clarkson, and it never gathers any momentum. In fact, this is a film in which everyone feels as if they are wading through a pool of dark and thick molasses, either due to the direction or the cast being unable to work up any enthusiasm for it.

Johnson can do good work onscreen. That is not the case here. As bad as the film is, she matches it with a charmless lead performance. Sweeney, Merced, and O’Connor do a little better, although they get even less to work with (seriously, if you can tell me their names after the end credits, or even after any scene in which they have just been featured, then I will give you a chocolate treat). At least Scott and Roberts have enough presence to make their smaller roles feel like sips of water in a scorching desert. As for Rahim, it feels bad to blame someone for a performance that was so obviously reworked and redubbed when the plot was chopped and changed around, so I will just say that he needs to wipe this film from his C.V. and line up numerous future projects that can help us all quickly forget that he is in this.

Almost every main scene has at least one moment vying to be the worst moment of the film. I think a personal favourite of mine was Cassie being told “when you take on the responsibility, great power will come” (yes, really), but an entire book could be written detailing every flaw and misjudgement. If Clarkson has nothing else lined up yet, it may be some time until she gets to helm something of this scale. It may also be some time until she wants to ever try it again.

Memorable for all the wrong reasons, this is a new contender for the dubious honour of worst superhero movie of the 21st century. Someone should have seen that coming.

2/10

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Prime Time: Sicario 2: Soldado (2019)

It may sound like a cliché to say it, but I really enjoyed Sicario because of the way it showed a very different kind of war, and the cold-blooded and tech-assisted approach to dealing with an enemy who wasn’t cloaked in an easily-identifiable uniform. Working around the rules and diplomacy, pushing everything right to the breaking point, those being depicted weren’t necessarily shown as heroes, but they believed they were working towards a greater good.

As good as that film was, nobody was crying out for a sequel. But here we are. A number of characters return, the main goals are similar, but permission has been granted to go even further than before. There has been another terrorist attacking on US soil, and the President wants to hammer the enemy into the ground.

Written by Taylor Sheridan (who also wrote the first movie), there’s even more shown here to reveal the dangerous game being played by the protagonists, and how disposable they are if things get too uncomfortable for those in power who give approval for their tactics. Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) is told he can let his main asset “off the leash”, which isn’t good news for anyone viewed as a target by Alejandro (aka the main asset, played by Benicio Del Toro). The plan is to pit Mexican drug warlords against one another, and the way to do that is with a few killings and the kidnapping of someone’s daughter (Isabel, played by Isabela Merced). Nobody wants to hurt the young girl, which is why the kidnap will then lead to her “rescue”, getting the Americans some brownie points while the gang war escalates. In theory.

Director Stefano Sollima is at the helm this time around, replacing Dennis Villeneuve, and his filmography will quickly show why he would seem to be a good fit for this material. Thankfully, the end result here also proves him to be a great choice, because this is a film that I feel easily sits alongside the first one, further developing some of the character arcs in a way that is hugely entertaining, yet also feeling organic and true to the nature of everyone involved. Sheridan’s script does that, Sollima’s direction does that, another excellent score from Hildur Guðnadóttir does that, and everyone else behind the camera works together to present a vision of organised violence, murky political machinations, and a palpable sense of intense heat (in more ways than one).

Brolin and Del Toro are once again excellent in their main roles, with both being determined and single-minded about achieving their desired results. Brolin’s character is more tied to the chain of command, and he nicely balanced his grit with the minimal amount of diplomacy required. Del Toro’s character, on the other hand, is free to act more off his gut instinct, showing that he’s more than just a guided missile in human form, at least until those in charge decide that he shouldn’t. Matthew Modine and Catherine Keener are both people higher up in the chain of command, and both appear in a few scenes to set up the main mission and then balk as the parameters start to move further away from the initial vision. Then there is Merced, billed here as Isabela Moner. Although I have only seen her in a handful of main roles, Merced is an actress I will always have time for. Her performance here is as excellent as anything else she has done, and she would already be a huge star in an ideal world. Keep an eye out for her name in any future movie releases, she is surely destined to soon have numerous projects more deserving of her talent than the dire Transformers film that she ended up in. I should also mention Elijah Rodriguez, who does a decent enough job playing a slightly under-written character who proves to be pivotal to the plot.

If you like violent thrillers then you should like this. If you liked the first movie then you should like this. Like Brolin and Del Toro? Then you should like this. I might like it more than most people, but I hope that at least a few others agree with me.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: Sweet Girl (2021)

Grief can affect you in so many ways, as we have seen in various movies over the years. I very recently watched Nicolas Cage change people around him as he searched for a beloved pig, and now I have watched Jason Momoa and Isabela Merced kick ass on a quest to counter the injustice of unaffordable medication that led to the death (by cancer) of wife/mother, Amanda (Adria Arjona).

That almost sums up the plot here. After the death of Amanda, Ray (Momoa) and Rachel (Merced) want answers. Ray is contacted by someone who claims that he has information on the pharmaceutical company responsible for blocking the route to market of the cheaper medication that could have saved Amanda’s life. There’s then a death, which leads to more death, and it’s not long until the bodies start to pile up while the murky deals and corruption lead, of course, higher and higher up a chain of prominent individuals. The police are on the case, and one (Alex Scott Davis) has much more insight than the rest, as well as some more direct communication with Rachel.

Directed by Brian Andrew Mendoza, his first feature in that role (although he has been involved as a producer on some other Momoa vehicles), and written by Gregg Hurwitz and Philip Eisner, Sweet Girl is a solid, if unspectacular, bit of action with a couple of fun turns and a sadly relevant strand of commentary on the financial pain of being sick in the USA. It’s a film that doesn’t hold any real surprises, despite the fact that one or two moments are played out that way (although one reveal in the third act was nicely done, admittedly). Some may think I am being unfair by saying that, but the general structure, and fate of most of the characters, allows me to make that statement, and stand by it. This may be wearing some new clothes, but it's a very familiar framework.

Momoa is fine in his role, trying to make the most of the emotional moments in between throwing his fists and firing guns. Merced is also absolutely fine, although I must admit to being more of a fan of her Dora The Explorer work (it’s a fun film, no matter what you may assume). Davis is enjoyable in the role of  “effective, but understanding, cop”, and Justin Bartha, Amy Brenneman, and Raza Jaffrey offer decent support. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is a highlight, playing a determined killer who is contracted to tie up loose ends.

Unsophisticated, slick, entertainment, Sweet Girl is something easy to stick on when you want to kill some time without keeping track of any majorly twisty plotting. It’s disposable, but also enjoyable enough. And the 110-minute runtime feels enjoyable brief, compared to the current propensity for these kinds of movies to rarely clock in at under two hours nowadays.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: Let It Snow (2019)

Three people wrote the book that this screenplay, written by another three people, was based on. That's six people altogether. Okay, the book is three thematically-linked stories, but it still seems like six is an awful lot of people to come up with a film that feels very much like something John Hughes should have come up with over twenty years ago. Just with much better representation.

Anyway, let's rattle through some of the storylines. It's snowing. On Christmas Eve. Julie (Isabela Merced) bumps into Stuart (Shameik Moore) on a train that then grinds to a halt. Stuart is a famous singer trying to enjoy some time not being recognised. He and Julie end up heading to a nearby waffle house. Also at that same waffle house is Keon (Jacob Batalon), hoping to get his shift done and then throw a great party for anyone who decides to stick around. Dorrie (Liv Hewson) works at the waffle house, and is upset when she has to serve a girl (Kerry, played by Anna Akana) that she had an amazing date with, only to find that her attitude seems completely different while she is surrounded by her friends. Dorrie is also infuriated by her friend, Addie (Odeya Rush), who is having her standard relationship issues that seem to stem from her own insecurities. And Tobin (Mitchell Hope) hangs out with Angie (Kiernan Shipka) without being able to tell her how he really feels, which becomes harder for him as she enjoys the company of JP (Matthew Noszka). They are also eventually heading towards the waffle house. 

Director Luke Snellin has a number of credits to his name already, all of them being shorts or TV show episodes. This may not be the most sophisticated material for a feature debut, but he knows how to handle it, and how easy it is to forgive the more cheesy moments when everything is so well put together.

The script is chock full of teen angst about very teen issues, but that doesn't mean they're all light and easy to dismiss. The characters with the less painful situations (wanting to throw a great party, wanting to spend some time out of the spotlight) are played by actors who help them remain just as appealing as those dealing with more serious issues (unrequited love, an ill parent, struggles with people who may resent their sexual orientation). Which isn't to say that the latter characters are portrayed by any lesser players, it just highlights the great casting all around.

Moore is someone I have enjoyed since seeing him in the excellent Dope, and he gives a winning turn here, working well with Merced (who I last saw in the enjoyable Dora The Explorer movie . . . yes, it IS enjoyable). Hewson shines in her role, and Hope and Shipka have you rooting for their friendship to turn into something more, while Batalon continues to be a fun and enjoyable onscreen presence. Rush and Akana are a little bit hampered by how their characters act for most of the runtime, but that's just how the script treats them until the expected changes in the finale. You also get an enjoyable supporting turn from Joan Cusack, as a woman who drives a tow truck while wearing a lot of tin foil (she's actually credited as Tin Foil Woman).

This is not a film for cynics, and not a film for those who cannot remember how painful it can be to not be spending time with the love of your life as a teenager (because you're obviously going to have a romance that lasts forever). It's a light and lovely comedy drama that serves as an enjoyable seasonal distraction, despite not focusing on the Christmas trimmings we normally get in a movie set at that time of year.

7/10

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