Netflix And Chill: Little Brother (2026)

The last movie I saw helmed by director Matt Spicer was the very good Ingrid Goes West, but I didn't know that until checking on some details after watching this, a fairly broad comedy that feels miles away from his previous feature. Look closer, however, and there are some similarities to be found about the way people present themselves and how their perception of others can be affected.

John Cena plays Rudd Landy, a successful real estate agent who is about to take his career up a level with an appearance on a reality TV show. That might help him finally get out from under the shadow of his super-rich older brother, Josh (Christopher Meloni). Which makes it a particularly bad time for Rudd to end up reconnecting with his little brother, Marcus (Eric André). Marcus isn't related to Rudd by blood, but they were placed together once when Rudd participated in the Big Brother program. Rudd's wife, Deirdre (Michelle Monaghan), thinks it would be nice to give Marcus a warm welcome, and some time to recover after a recent car accident. Rudd isn't so sure, but he's unaware that Marcus believes they have been communicating with one another for some time, thanks to an ongoing email chain handled by Rudd's assistant, Mia (Sherry Cola).

Written by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, Little Brother starts off as exactly the kind of film you expect it to be. Cena's character is uptight and a bit selfish, and André brings some chaos with his behaviour and circumstances. It's never aiming to be believable, particularly when Monaghan's character accepts some specific advice for helping her husband relax, and viewers will be waiting to see how things escalate until the wild and whacky character is accepted by someone who has to accept that they could benefit from sometimes being on his wavelength.

The pleasant surprise here, in terms of both the screenplay and the performances, comes from the fact that things actually settle down before the third act. Marcus is loud and kooky for his early scenes, but he soon shows himself to just be a happy-go-lucky and optimistic individual with a genuine aim to help others. The biggest problem with Marcus is how Rudd views him, projecting his own insecurities and stress on to someone who is only ever trying to help him. I know that I am still making this sound like a hundred other comedies in the same vein, but you have to trust me when I say that it becomes better when it provides a bit of extra context and emotional impact. Spicer doesn't have to dive deep into any bag of directorial tricks, and it became tiresome a while ago to watch a comedy in which a main character starts to trip out, but he does well to keep the tone balanced as things move from silly to being a bit more serious.

Cena is good in the lead role, and it's in line with other comedy roles he's landed in the past decade. He pairs up quite well with André, who manages to be both chaotic and quite sweet. Monaghan does the understanding wife role that she seems to be offered for every second movie, Meloni is entertainingly n braggadocious, and Cola is good fun as the assistant who knows more about Marcus than anyone else onscreen. Ego Nwodim and Caleb Hearon also do well, playing the people in charge of manipulating shots and edits to optimise their reality show, and Bryce Gheisar and Pilot Bunch are the teen sons who end up warming to "Uncle Marcus". It's also worth mentioning Tony Torn, who is in scenes that almost bookend the main narrative, and provides a couple of big laughs when he reappears before the end credits roll.

I'm still not going to go out of my way to strongly recommend this to everyone, there's that feeling throughout that it's another one of those movies that feels a bit more like "content" than anything else, but I stand by my view of this being a bit better than I expected, mainly thanks to the developments that add dimension to a character who could have easily been presented as an entertaining and idiotic nuisance from start to finish. Add a point if you're a big fan of either lead. Take away a handful of points if you can't stand them.

6/10

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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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Prime Time: Heads Of State (2025)

Although it is supposed to be an action comedy, I can honestly say that I never laughed once at Heads Of State. Seriously. I actually laughed more during a recent rewatch of Witness, the Harrison Ford thriller from 1985 that absolutely isn't a comedy (although there are a few deliberate lighter moments here and there).

John Cena plays Will Derringer, an action movie star who has managed to become the U.S. President. Idris Elba plays Sam Clarke, an ex-military man who has spent years serving as the British Prime Minister. The two of them are targeted by deadly killers, meaning they have to work together in order to survive. Just typing out this paragraph has made me sad.

It took three people to write this screenplay. Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, and Harrison Query. All three should hang their heads in shame. There are a couple of decent flourishes in the action beats, but not one laugh. I like both of the leads, but I loathed both by the time I got to the end of this. Director Ilya Naishuller has helmed some good stuff in the past. This shows him to be lacking any knack for handling straightforward comedy though.

Aside from Elba and Cena, who are both at their absolute worst, the cast includes Priyanka Chopra Jones (equally ill-served), Paddy Considine (meant to be a Russian villain, but not sure what accent, if any, he was told to try), Carla Gugino (wasted), Stephen Root (wasted), Sarah Niles and Richard Coyle (both wasted), and Jack Quaid (who is one of the few highlights). There are others, mainly playing bland baddies to be despatched in one of the many fight sequences that blur together.

Everything about this is lazy and ugly. It's another streaming release that feels exactly like "content", put together by an algorithm with no way to insert a spark of proper life or humanity. Even some of the main locations have a familiarity to them, as if they're the same places used by Amazon for a few of their other big-budget projects.

I have watched, and will continue to watch, a lot of rubbish. Some of it is rubbish that I have a soft spot for. Some of it is rubbish that I enjoy as something to have on while I don't need to overthink or worry about (when I want familiarity, predictability, and a happy ending). This rubbish is the worst kind of rubbish. It's a film that many will settle for, considering how it does have that familiarity, predictability, and expected final scenes, but it treats viewers without an ounce of care or respect. The main premise is silly enough, but it's then made less bearable by the film-makers trying to keep the whole thing grounded in some kind of reality one step away from our own. 

2/10

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Prime Time: Ricky Stanicky (2024)

I saw the trailer for Ricky Stanicky a couple of months ago and I wasn’t happy. First of all, it looked dire. Second, I knew I would still eventually watch it. And so here we are, but was it as dire as the trailer made it out to be?

After a childhood incident that requires some quick creativity, three friends realise how much they can help themselves by making use of an imaginary friend, named Ricky Stanicky. Ricky can be blamed for many  misadventures, he can be used to get out of other obligations, and life is just better with him available. That is, of course, until things are complicated by people wanting to meet Ricky. With the alternative option (coming clean after many years) not really an option at all, our main characters hire an adult entertainer/actor (John Cena) they met in Atlantic City. 

Starring Zak Efron, Andrew Santino, and Jermaine Fowler as the friends who keep the secret of Ricky Stanicky between them, this is a fairly enjoyable and predictable comedy that would have really benefited from pushing into much more outrageous and bawdier territory (which people might have expected from director Peter Farrelly, although he has certainly settled in to helming much mellower fare over the past decade). I enjoyed the leads well enough, but there should have been someone else on the mix, someone to help add laughs and elevate every scene. Santino is clearly positioned here as the most comedic of the cast, setting aside Cena for the moment, but he just isn’t good enough.

I am surprised that this doesn’t feel like a bigger mess though, considering at least half a dozen writers were responsible for the screenplay. While it lacks any big laughs, and even skimps on the milder chuckles, it works well for most of the runtime due to the potential of the premise. There’s also a very enjoyable second act that shows “Ricky” stealing the show and living up to his legendary reputation.

Efron has always been someone I enjoy seeing onscreen, and he is fine here as the man who desperately hopes to get through a busy time without being caught out for his many lies. Santino is okay, but not as funny as he should be, and the same can be said of Fowler, who is given a plot strand that never feels fully developed, making you wonder why it was included anyway. Lex Scott Davis and Anja Savcic have a few good moments, playing the partners of Efron and Santino, respectively, and William H. Macy is fun as their boss (accompanied in one or two scenes by Jane Badler, playing his wife). Cena is the star though, given another chance to showcase his comedy chops, and he tries hard to make up for the weaknesses elsewhere in the script, whether oozing confidence and knowledge about subjects that Ricky should be fluent in or being shown performing his act onstage as “Rock-Hard Rod”. He’s certainly game to give anything a go, and I appreciate how well he transitioned from one incarnation of his personality to the next, sensing an opportunity to turn Ricky into his big break.

The enthusiasm and talent of Cena isn’t enough though. This isn’t a good movie, although it also isn’t the horrible car crash I thought it might be. It’s just average. I was moderately entertained while it was on, but I am never going to revisit it. At least it doesn’t end in a way that seems to set up any sequel opportunities. There should only ever be one Ricky Stanicky.

5/10

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Argylle (2024)

The publicity and marketing for Argylle seemed to signify that it was going to be a fun spy romp for film fans. It would though, of course, because publicity and marketing is designed to get us all eager to buy whatever is being sold. Then the film was released, seemed to stumble at the box office (which may be putting it mildly), and one negative review after another started to make it clear that this wasn’t going to be a shining star in the 2024 movie calendar.

I am not sure why others seemed to hate this quite so much. I enjoyed it. I am not going to say that I loved it, and there are certainly moments that go a bit too far (in terms of the ridiculousness, the CGI, or both), but I had a fun time while it was on, and I would easily watch it again. It will never be top of my rewatch pile though.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays a writer, Elly, responsible for a successful series of spy novels about a special agent named Argylle. It is a world far removed from her own, where she simply likes to stay comfortable and spend time with her cat (Alfie), but worlds collide when she is approached by a real spy (Aidann, played by Sam Rockwell). People are after Elly, believing that she knows far too much about the world she is writing about, and there are twists and turns on the way to a final act that will ultimately reveal the true identity of “Argylle”.

It doesn’t matter if you are unfamiliar with writer Jason Fuchs, someone who has a limited number of full screenplay credits. The writing here is one of the least interesting components, and the plot is full of too many big holes throughout. This isn’t a well-constructed piece of work. It is a slice of silliness that seems designed to let director Matthew Vaughn have fun with some ridiculous set-pieces. That is how I saw it anyway, and that is how I managed to enjoy it. Not every action sequence works, but at least four of them kept me hugely entertained for the duration.

It helps that the cast is so good. Maybe I am missing a lot of the conversation happening around this, but I don’t think it can be underestimated how atypical Howard is for this kind of lead role. Does it make sense? No, but the way she is used here more than makes up for the lack of logic. She has to spend most of the first half of the movie looking dazed and vulnerable, but the second half gives her a lot more to do, and she acquits herself well. Rockwell gets one of his most fun roles in recent years, being the light-hearted and cocky pro that he does so well, and always ready to dance at any opportunity. Cavill is fun as the fictional avatar, even if he doesn’t suit the bad hairstyle he is given, and there is room for fun performances from Catherine O’Hara, Bryan Cranston, and, to a much lesser extent, and I do mean MUCH lesser, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena, Dua Lipa, and Ariana DeBose.

I can see why this wasn’t a resounding success, mainly because of the plotting and the overuse of CGI, as well as a fairly lengthy runtime, and there are a few too many edits between Rockwell and Cavill as we are shown the action from the befuddled POV of our main character, but I just don’t see why it has been so lambasted. The big moments that work, in my view, work really well, including an action sequence on a train that is as energetic and inventive as I hoped it would be. Okay, the film doesn’t maintain that standard throughout, but it keeps trying, and Vaughn once again tries hard to complement his visuals with just the right soundtrack (although maybe it is obvious this time around that he is trying a bit too hard). 

Admittedly a bit complicated and needlessly confusing at times, which stems from the lack of proper plausibility in the plot, this is a good film that tries to be great fun, but only succeeds occasionally in that regard. It’s a mess, sure, but a messy film isn’t automatically a bad film, and I remain in the minority of people who will insist that this isn’t actually a bad film.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: Hidden Strike (2023)

What a combination we have here. The director of Need For Speed and the writer of Grace Of Monaco, working together to deliver an action comedy that pairs Jackie Chan with John Cena. What could possibly go wrong?

If you're assuming that my opening paragraph is dripping with sarcasm then you'd be right. Not that I want you to think that Hidden Strike is a complete waste of time. It's just that, knowing the people behind the camera, I can see why it feels like such an odd feature.

If I summarised the plot of Hidden Strike then I suspect it would make the whole thing sound either too complicated or too dull. Basically, John Cena plays someone who ends up working alongside Jackie Chan to take on an oil-thieving villain (Pilou Asbæk) in the desert environments of Iraq. Obvioiusly, Cena and Chan don't immediately trust one another, but their friendship grows as they work together against increasingly growing odds of mission success.

The second half of Hidden Strike is quite good. There are some enjoyable fights, although nothing comes close to the prime Jackie Chan work of yesteryear, and occasional moments in which the leads work well together. You have to get through the first half though, and that's a bit of a slog. There's a big action set-piece that takes place in an artificially-created sandstorm that isn't as thrilling or impressive as it should be, and the script isn't witty enough to help viewers warm naturally to Cena's character from the beginning. The lack of wit, or lack of great wit, remains a problem throughout the whole film, but it's easier to overlook when Cena and Chan are complementing one another in the busier fight sequences of the second half.

Aside from our leads, Asbæk is good value as the baddie. That's a relief, especially with nobody else making much of an impression. Chunrui Ma and Wenli Jiang are the two main females, both there to serve a script that wastes their presence, and everyone else is onscreen to be a generic fighter or placed in jeopardy. Okay, you get one other "boss level" opponent, but that is it.

Arash Amel's script seems to think that viewers will want time spent alongside Cena trying to be funny (emphasis on the word "trying" there). This isn't the right approach, but nobody figured out how to improve the material. Scott Waugh's direction is competent enough, even when making use of some wildly varying CGI, but nobody here is at their best.

Fans of Jackie Chan will already have a dozen films they know they can rewatch ahead of this, but it's worth noting that this IS a film boosted by his presence. He may not get to deliver the kind of hijinks he used to, due to a flat script, as well as his advanced age (the man is one year away from turning 70), but he is still an undeniable star when given even the briefest opportunity to shine. It's because of Chan that I didn't hate this, but almost everything else here ensured that I didn't love it either.

5/10

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Fast X (2023)

I have mentioned it many times before, but I have a strange relationship with the Fast & Furious franchise. I was never a fan, but they became so ubiquitous that I eventually gave in and started to enjoy them. When things for more preposterous, I became less impressed. Then things got even MORE preposterous and I was won around again. I didn’t love the eighth instalment in the main series, but I really liked the ninth, so I wasn’t sure where I would land on this outing.

I hated it.

Linking back to the end of the fifth film, the plot concerns a villain named Dante (Jason Momoa). Dante is out to avenge the death of his father, and he aims to do that by hurting Dom (Vin Diesel) where he will feel it most. His FAMBLY. Of course, he hasn’t counted on Dom being the best at doing everything ever. Urgh.

Written by Justin Lin and Dan Mazeau, and directed by Louis Leterrier, this is a rambling and laughable mess for most of the runtime. The editing is horrible, genuinely feeling at times as if scenes have been randomly chopped up in the wrong places to intersperse with other scenes, ensuring no real flow or building of tension. Even the ridiculous stunts fail to impress, weighed down by CGI that somehow feels worse than what we were given in the first few movies in the series. There’s one fun sequence set in Rome, thanks to some impressive motorbike work, but the rest will have you feeling more exasperated than excited.

Diesel is the least interesting member of the main group, and when he is asked to show emotion on his face it just looks like he’s been filmed trying to empty his bowels, but the rest of the gang are unable to do much better in a number of scenes that feel like nothing but filler. Okay, John Cena is good fun in the scenes he shares with the youngest main cast member (the kid who plays “little Brian”, but watch this and tell me that we couldn’t have done without the sequence featuring a star cameo when Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Sung Kang are all in London. You would be lying. The women generally fare a bit better, with Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, and Brie Larson all having some decent moments, but Jordan’s Brewster suffers from the fact that she doesn’t feel as capable as the rest of the gang, and her involvement just serves as a reminder that Paul Walker’s character is notable by his absence. Scott Eastwood returns as an agent, and an ally, Alan Ritchson is the other agent in pursuit of our heroes, and last, but not least, is Momoa. I can see some people disliking Momoa in this, he is all kinds of anarchic energy wrapped up in some damn fine threads whenever he’s onscreen, but he is the highlight of the film. His energy, his madness (a scene with him conversing with others while applying some nail varnish is THE best moment of the entire movie), his sheer glee as he watched his plan come together, it’s all a welcome change from the moody and stoic attitude of almost everyone else in the cast (hell, even the banter between Gibson and Ludacris is made more sour in this outing). It’s overdone though, and sometimes feels too much like the film-makers relied on Momoa to be a jacked-up Joker in order to make up for all of the weaknesses elsewhere in the film.

The biggest weakness, aside from the technical end result of the film-making seeming hastily put together and shoddy, is a complete lack of consequence. This feels pointless. Main characters seem to be dead, but we have seen main characters “die” before. Diesel won’t let his hero lose, his ego won’t allow it (unless things lead to a finale that can allow him to become a modern Christ figure), and the abrupt ending here, because this is only the first part of the story, feels like a bit of a slap in the face. Calling it an ending is a stretch, considering how the film really just cuts off with no defining moment for either the heroes or the villains.

Of course I will watch the next (final?) instalment in this series. I came this far with it. I won’t be looking forward to it though. Everyone involved needs to do some major repair work to get this tired and broken engine back in order if they want to cross the finish line in first place. A large fanbase will be cheering them on, but it’s all on those behind the wheel (metaphorically speaking . . . but also literally, in this instance).

4/10

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Dolittle (2020)

Here is a perfect example of a film that, while not necessarily as bad as the very worst of them, stands out in the way it saps some fun out of the central concept and makes everything worse by over-reliance on CGI to make everything possible.

Robert Downey Jr. plays the man who can talk to the animals, and he has decided that his Dolittle should have a strong Welsh accent. He also doesn't want to deal with people any more, spending many years locked away after the loss of his adventuring wife. He is forced to change, however, when young Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett) sneaks in to his home, carrying with him a squirrel that he accidentally shot. Dolittle is also forced to accept a request to help save the life of Queen Victoria, who has been struck down by a mysterious malady that can only be cured by the fruit of a tree that nobody has ever managed to reach. It's time for an adventure, and Dolittle has plenty of animals to help him on his quest. He also has at least one person, Dr. Blair Müdfly (Michael Sheen ), trying to stop him from succeeding.

After a slightly unsteady start, scenes giving viewers a quick summary of the life of Dr. Dolittle and then showing him talking to animals IN animal noises before we then get to the more enjoyable format of Dolittle and the animals all talking in English, Dolittle becomes a decidedly okay bit of family entertainment. The animals are enjoyably exotic (with three of the main characters being a parrot, voiced by Emma Thompson, a gorilla, voiced by Rami Malek, and a polar bear, voiced by John Cena),  things look bright and lively enough, and there's a sense that the whole adventure could be a lot of fun.

It's a shame that the script, written by Doug Mand, Dan Gregor, and director Stephen Gaghan, seems to have been written with the idea that the visuals and lead performances will carry everything along. The lead performances, voice acting aside, don't feel as strong as they could be. Downey Jr. may be having fun, I guess, but he doesn't feel right for the role, as much as I often like his onscreen presence. Sheen is more enjoyable, a proper pantomime villain, and Antonio Banderas is a welcome addition, although not involved for long enough. The same can be said for Jim Broadbent. Young Collett does fine, but he's really there to be caught up in the middle of the animal shenanigans. And while it is a bit of a coup to rope in such a variety of big names, including Ralph Fiennes, Tom Holland, and Selena Gomez, for the animals, few of them really add to their roles, unlike the standout, an ostrich voiced by Kumail Nanjiani.

It's also a shame that the makers of the film have decided to let the visuals carry so much of it when the visuals are, despite the fact that some may find me overly critical here, a bloody mess. So many scenes lose any sense of magic because it feels like CGI interacting with CGI, against a CGI background, with some more CGI being used to add flourishes here and there. I wouldn't mind if it was better, and some of the scenes have to contain what I assume is a lot of seamless CGI complementing the action, but some moments are jarring in how obviously fake they look. There's one scene in which Tommy is being taken on the back of a giraffe to catch a departing ship that looks, well, it looks as if it could have been lifted directly from some high-quality BBC programme from the early 2000s.

Younger viewers should find enough to enjoy, and there's an amusing fart gag during the finale that will prompt giggles, but this is a horrible attempt to reinvigorate a property that was handled better back in the late '90s. Maybe we'll get something better next time, when someone more suitable is put in the lead role.

4/10

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The Suicide Squad (2021)

There's an extra factor at play here, something that makes The Suicide Squad feel like it deserves to be relished more than perhaps any previous superhero movie within the recent selection of DC adventures. Because writer-director James Gunn got this gig after some idiot attempted to lose him work with Marvel/Disney, which temporarily worked, allowing him to deliver this film . . . before returning to Marvel/Disney for the third Guardians Of The Galaxy movie. So thanks to that idiot, with a name I have already forgotten, for allowing us to receive even more fun from Gunn.

The plot is relatively simple. A squad is assembled for a mission that doesn't seem to have much chance for survival. That squad includes Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher (Daniela Melchior), King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), and one or two others. They wade into the hostile territory of Corto Maltese, where they end up plotting to apprehend an important figure named Thinker (Peter Capaldi).

If there's one word you could use to describe The Suicide Squad it's gleeful. Gunn gleefully throws around bucket-loads of blood and gore, mixing laughs in with the action to provide the most twisted and anarchic superhero film since, well, Super. Strangely enough, that sense of anarchy still manages to feel very calculated and formulaic. The film is wild fun when compared to other movies within this subgenre, but it's not all that surprising when you know the kind of film it is aiming to be, and Gunn makes that pretty clear from the opening sequence (with great use of the song "People Who Died", by the Jim Carroll Band). Thankfully, the set-pieces are entertaining enough to keep your spirits high, and there are also one or two moments that allow viewers to remember that Gunn is good at giving his high-budget fare a good bit of heart and soul.

Robbie remains arguably the most valuable jewel in the crown of this movie universe, and is once again excellent, while Elba makes effortless cool again look . . . effortlessly cool. Cena is a lot of fun in his role, Melchior and Dastmalchian are both wonderful, and Stallone's vocal work is a lot of fun. But it would be very easy to criticise these characters for obvious parallels, considering the direction from Gunn. King Shark may have more words in his vocabulary, but feels quite Groot-ish, and Cena is as humourless as Drax. Consider Harley Quinn as an equal to Rocket, and that just leaves you wondering whether Elba would be Peter Quill or Gamora. It might seem unfair to think of those comparisons while the film is on, but Gunn practically invites them by the fact that he seems to be drawn to the same kind of ragtag bunch of lovable rogues. 

Each main act here has enough inventiveness and energy to blow away that feeling of over-saturation that many film fans have been experiencing lately. Superhero movies aren't going away any time soon, but that's not a problem when we get some more variety from the films being released. And if that variety sometimes comes from focusing on "the villains" then all the better, because I enjoyed this more than I enjoyed Suicide Squad. And I liked Suicide Squad well enough.

8/10

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Fast & Furious 9 (2021)

Although it may seem redundant to review any Fast & Furious movie at this point, that hasn't stopped me before. I have watched this series develop over the years, I have fallen out of love with it, I have revisited most of the entries and ended up enjoying them more on repeat viewings, and I have accepted that every instalment will have some car action punctuated by Vin Diesel looking moodily at people while he growls "FAMILY". I wasn't really looking forward to this instalment though. The main character being given a hitherto-unmentioned brother, the return of yet another character we thought was long dead, and some people being launched into space all seemed to point towards a blockbuster with the wrong ratio of dumb to fun, and the previous film had already given me my fill of that.

Surprisingly, I ended up thinking this was a blast. And I don't see why fans of the series would be disappointed by it.

The plot is, in a way, a bit simpler than some of the previous instalments. A group of baddies, led by Jakob Toretto (John Cena) are trying to get all of the components to something that can be assembled into an extremely powerful device. Once the data is uploaded to a satellite, the device could basically be used to hold the world hostage. Or simply give absolute power to the right bidder. Dom and co. set out to do what they do best, with the added complication of Jakob being Dom's brother, estranged due to events that are shown in various flashbacks throughout the movie (with Dom and Jakob played, respectively, by Vinnie Bennett and Finn Cole).

Is this absolutely ridiculous? Yes, but these films have been that way from the start. At their best, they are ridiculous in a way that is self-aware and laced with good humour. At their worst, they are ridiculous in between moments that we're supposed to view as completely grounded and earnest. Fast & Furious 9 leans towards the best of the series, and even has a theory being posited by one character that they may be supernaturally invincible, considering all of the mad missions that they've been on over the years. You could argue that the backstory between the Toretto brothers drags everything down, but it somehow works well, thanks to the younger actors and the way it is interwoven throughout the main narrative.

Director Justin Lin returns to the series, making this his fourth entry, and he also helps to write the script with Daniel Casey. It doesn't seem like too difficult a task. Get everyone together. Have some whacky driving antics. Be sure to visit some different locations (as biased as I am, I was able to overlook the strangely twisted geography of Edinburgh during an extended action sequence set there). Ensure that Vin Diesel is always the best at everything that needs doing well, be it fighting, driving, or impressing women. Job done. Having said that, as already mentioned above, some entries in this series even manage to falter while following such an easy formula. As small a detail as it may seem, Fast & Furious 9 actually starts with a car race sequence, and punctuates the action throughout with enough vehicular mayhem to keep petrolheads satisfied. That includes a conversation between Diesel and Helen Mirren that could easily have taken place in any environment, but takes place while Mirren is driving a fast car and evading police. Lin may not do as well with shooting the action, the editing has to work hard in some places, and it's all too, well, fast and furious to keep track of everything at times, but he and Casey create a solid foundation with the writing.

Cena is a fun addition to the cast, even if he never feels like a major threat, and everyone else slips back into their characters as if they were just putting on their favourite jackets. Diesel keeps himself at the centre of most of the biggest moments, of course, but Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris get to riff off one another again, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster both feel a bit more involved with the action this time around, Nathalie Emmanuel returns as Ramsey, Charlize Theron returns as Cipher, with much less screentime, and you also get Sung Kang, Lucas Black, Mirren, Shea Wigham, and one or two others reprising their roles. Bennett and Cole are the main newcomers, and both do excellent work in the flashbacks, Anna Sawai is a formidable young woman named Elle, and Michael Rooker makes a welcome appearance.

The music from Brian Tyler may sound as if it is wanting to swell into The Avengers theme at points, but it generally works just fine in between some high-energy soundtrack choices, and it goes along with the constant momentum that the film has, moving from one over-the-top action beat to the next with just enough rest in between to allow characters to connect with one another and/or have some more exposition.

I have seen views from people who didn't like this, which leaves me bemused. You know what you're getting into with these movies. And if you know what you're getting into then I'd say that this absolutely delivers what fans want. The vehicles are cool, the fights are creatively staged, and there is so much fun involving large magnets that I expected Jesse Pinkman to join the crew for the third act. I'm already tentatively looking forward to the next instalment, thanks partly to a small mid-credits scene that you shouldn't miss, and I hope more people enjoy this one as much as I did.

8/10

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Playing With Fire (2019)

Smokejumpers, they're a special breed. They are parachuted into the middle of raging fire sites and tackle the raging infernos like absolute heroes. Like firefighters, except they're not like firefighters. Certainly not according to the characters in Playing With Fire.

John Cena is Jake, the stoic leader of his team, a group made up of Mark (Keegan-Michael Key), Rodrigo (John Leguizamo), and the fairly uncommunicative Axe (Tyler Mane). Jake has the chance for a big promotion, which would allow him to feel as if all the years living under the shadow of his beloved, departed, father have all been worthwhile. Which makes things even more stressful when the team end up temporarily caring for three young children (played by Brianna Hildebrand, Christian Convery, and Finley Rose Slater). 

Absolutely harmless family fun, as predictable as it is amusing, Playing With Fire has an okay mix of youngster causing trouble alongside a number of very enjoyable turns from the adults. As well as those already mentioned, Judy Greer pops up to be a love interest often overlooked by Cena as he tries to focus on his career, and Dennis Haysbert is the man who will make the final decision on the promotion, which means he is due to visit just after the kids should be dealt with and moved from the station by that point.

Director Andy Fickman feels like a good enough person for the job here. He's done family fare before, even if he's also given us Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and he's helped by a decent script from Dan Ewen and Matt Lieberman. When I say the script is decent enough I mean that it gets you from A to B to C without any major turbulence or ill-advised tangents. You should know what you're getting with this movie, and you get it.

Cena is fun in his main role, required to look stern and straight-laced until shown how good life can be when you loosen up slightly. Key is hilarious, Leguizamo is a fun addition, and Mane is enjoyably intimidating to look at while having a soft heart. Greer and Haysbert are also pluses, but the latter is really nothing more than the required third-act obstacle/problem. As for the young co-stars, they're bearable. Hildebrand is actually pretty good, but it's not necessary for her to be as annoying or problematic as her younger siblings.

Few of the set-pieces feel as good as they could be, but they're pitched at just the right level for younger viewers, but this moves along nicely enough from start to finish, providing a good opportunity for Cena to grow his audience demographic. Disposable fun, and it leaves you chuckling with some fun out-takes over the end credits.

5/10

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Blockers (2018)

Blockers is a comedy that looked pretty awful from the first trailer. The rest of the advertising I saw for it didn't make it look much better. Then people went to see it and I started to hear some say that it was actually quite good. Some even said that it was very funny, with particular praise going to John Cena for his performance. I was willing to give it a go, and started to feel more optimistic about it. Well, it wasn't as bad as those trailers made it out to be, but it wasn't great either.

Cena, Leslie Mann, and Ike Barinholtz play three parents who discover that their daughters (Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Gideon Adlon) have made a pact to lose their virginity on prom night. Yes, this is a nightmare scenario for most parents. So they set out to put a stop to things. Well, Cena and Mann want to make sure nothing happens. Barinholtz is the cooler (aka less responsible) parent who tags along because he doesn't want the others embarrassing his daughter. And that's the premise.

Directed by Kay Cannon, making her feature debut in this role (although she has a number of decent credits as a producer), and written by Brian and Jim Kehoe (who have one previous feature and a couple of shorts under their belts), Blockers is handled slickly and professionally enough. The characters are sketched out quickly, although they're not the deepest, and the various elements that will cause more problems for the parental pursuit are made glaringly obvious. This is not a film that cares for subtlety.

Cena IS very good in his role, and he's the funniest of the three concerned parents. Barinholtz can be slightly irritating at times, due to his character, but also does well. Mann gets the short end of the stick, given the least of the comedic material as the writers instead focus on her stress and overprotective nature (similar to the way Cena is shown, but his ends up creating more laughs). That's a shame, because Mann can be very funny with the right material. What proves to be a pleasant surprise is that the film doesn't focus on the parents as much as you might think. It also gives plenty of time to Newton, Viswanathan, and Adlon, showing how they differ from one another and complement one another in their close friendship. All three young women do well, although it seems as if, once again, the writers had less to give the one of them (Newton, playing the daughter of Mann's character, funnily enough). You also get to find out more about their dates for the evening, and another potential love interest (Ramona Young) for one of the three, despite the fact that she is hoping to forge ahead and see if sex with a guy will change how she feels about her sexuality.

Considering the main premise, Blockers takes time to consider what the younger characters are going through, in terms of friendship, peer pressure, being on the brink of adulthood, and relations with their parents. It also manages to move deftly enough from the comedy to the sweeter moments, which come along, predictably enough, in the final act. What it doesn't do so well is provide the big laughs. You get a lot of chuckles, which are fine, but there aren't any great set-pieces here, and the script isn't smart and/or tight enough to make up for that.

Enjoyable enough, especially if you find Cena likable, but it's not one I can see anyone revisiting too many times.

6/10

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American friends can buy it here.

Daddy's Home 2 (2017)

Let me start this review by saying that I enjoyed Daddy's Home. Yes, I know the comedy banter between Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg isn't something that many people admit to enjoying (aside from their best work in The Other Guys) but they made me laugh many times in the tale of a sensitive stepfather (Brad, played by Ferrell) being infuriated by the alpha male biological father (Dusty, played by Wahlberg) swanning back into the lives of his children and disrupting their lives.

This sequel finds the extended family living a fairly harmonious life, even if there are still some resentments that hide below the surface. Brad and Dusty take turns with activities, Linda Cardellini (playing Sara, mother to the children, and Brad's partner) seems happy with the situation, and everyone seems settled. Except for the fact that they're not, something that becomes evident when young Megan (Scarlett Estevez) decides to tell people that she hates moving back and forth for Christmas festivities. This leads to one big Christmas being planned, a day with everyone in the same place and the kids not having to move from one family to another. And it's going to be even more special, because Dusty's father (Kurt, played by Mel Gibson) is going to join them. As is Brad's father (Don, played by John Lithgow).

Most of the main players return here, with director Sean Anders also co-writing the script once again (also with John Morris, but no Brian Burns this time around), and it's clear from the early scenes that this is an easy, comfortable, comedy sequel for all involved. You won't find any real depth here, and you won't find anything plausible, but you will get a cast having fun, and a number of amusing moments.

Gibson is there to be an even more toxic male than Wahlberg was in the first film, while Lithgow seems to be, for the most part, even more sensitive than Ferrell's character. This adds plenty of friction, which creates more comedic situations, and then leads to a third act that features both John Cena and plenty of horrible, unearned, attempts at emotional manipulation. All of the male leads get to have lots of fun. Cardellini, on the other hand, is simply left to witness an unfolding sequence of catastrophic events while doing nothing but feel insecure when positioned close to Alessandra Ambrosio (playing Karen, the woman now with Wahlberg's character).

Daddy's Home 2 is a rather weak film, in terms of the art of cinema. It's clumsy, painfully obvious, and suffers even more during the times when it tries to turn Brad into Clark Griswold. It kind of works as a sequel, it fails as a Christmas film (mainly because a lot of the better moments feel as if they have been cribbed from better movies), and it's the worst one yet to pair up Ferrell and Wahlberg.

Oh, I still laughed though. There were quite a few times when I laughed aloud. Hard. For all of its failings, and there are oh so many, it still manages to get the comedy right on many occasions. And that's a good thing for a comedy film. Which is why I still rate this as above average. Fans of Ferrell will find enough to enjoy here. Everyone else should avoid this like a spiked bowl of eggnog.

6/10

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