Zora Bennett leads a team of skilled operatives to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park. Their mission is to secure genetic material from dinosaurs whose DNA can provide life-saving benefits to mankind. As the top-secret expedition becomes more and more risky, they soon make a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is directed by Gareth Edwards director of Monsters (2010), Godzilla (2014), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and The Creator (2023). The film takes place three years after Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) and serves as the fourth installment in the Jurassic World series as well as being the seventh installment overall in the Jurassic Park series.
I had some sort of hope that Gareth Edwards could turn the ship around with the Jurassic Park franchise, a franchise that has been struggling in terms of quality for years now. While this movie is a lot better than Fallen Kingdom and Dominion that’s hardly anything worth celebrating, as Rebirth has a ton of issues of its own that completely stop this movie from being any good.
The cast does the best they can with such a bland script that gives them characters who are about as interesting as cardboard cutouts. Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey are all very talented actors who do have a few scenes here that work. But unfortunately most of them are heavily affected by the script that does not give them anything investing to do. I get the audience of these films mostly care about the dinosaurs but when you have your characters reduced to flip notes that are instantly forgettable after watching that becomes a huge problem.
The only real positives here are some of the dinosaurs, solid visuals and the camerawork. The camerawork does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to moving the story along mainly due to the lack of an investing script, the dinosaurs are admittedly pretty neat and it’s nice to see them in action during some of the movie’s surprisingly decent action scenes. But those can only get you so far because soon after you are reminded of how bland everything else really is.
The movie tries to recapture what made the first Jurassic Park so magical and large in scale, they even try to flat out recreate these scenes but of course they don’t match the original. Instead they feel like half baked attempts of trying to recreate it only because they will get people pointing their finger at the screen and saying “Oh I know that scene it’s like from the very first film!” it’s painfully obvious what they were doing here and as you probably have guessed it completely misses. When it comes to scale there’s moments where Gareth Edwards works his magic, even in Edwards’s weaker films he is always bring this large in scale feel which is present throughout this movie. But like most of the movie, the writing really holds it back from potentially having these beautiful moments.
Finally there’s the writing which is the main culprit of why this movie just doesn’t come together, it’s very much a below average adventure movie with dinosaurs. If the Jurassic Park or World name wasn’t on it this would have been ignored. The characters are cliched with very little going on development wise, the story is generic and has no stakes at all. The movie wants to brand itself as this new experience for the franchise yet it desperately tries to do what the first Jurassic Park did.
Overall there really isn’t much more to say about Jurassic World: Rebirth this might entertain some viewers and I guess it’s an improvement over the last two films but is that really anything worth celebrating?
Jurassic World: Rebirth is available on all VOD platforms.
Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as reporter Clark Kent. As the embodiment of truth, justice and the human way he soon finds himself in a world that views these as old-fashioned.
Superman is directed by James Gunn director of Slither (2006), Super (2010), The Guardians Of The Galaxy Trilogy and The Suicide Squad (2021). Superman serves as the first film in the new DC Universe and as a reboot of the Superman franchise
I’ve said before in the past (at least I think I did) that I was never personally a Superman fan, outside of the first two Christopher Reeves films and the Superman animated series that came out in the 90s (which you should absolutely watch if you haven’t it’s such a fun series.) I was never that invested into Superman…with that being said I am absolutely amazed by Superman (2025).
It’s absolutely no surprise that Superman is high in quality given that this is yet again James Gunn showing he knows his talent for directing incredibly well done comic book films, much like he did with The Guardians Of The Galaxy movies (2014-2023) and The Suicide Squad (2021) not only does he put excellent action in the film but he captures so many important themes of Superman that has been missing from a lot of these other films for quite a while now.
The major part of what makes Superman so excellent is the cast, whether they play a major role or a small role they all feel like a natural fit into the film’s world. For starters David Corenswet embodies the role of Superman, whether he’s fighting the villains of the film or in more quiet scenes with the many characters of the film. There’s always this kind, empathetic and vulnerable person we see when we look at Superman or Clark Kent, this debunks the idea of Superman being this perfect and unstoppable person. There’s so much heart that Corenswet gives to his portrayal to the character that it even captures a lot of what made Christopher Reeves’s Superman so iconic, his chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan (who plays Lois Lane) is some of the best moments of the film, the conversations they have with another feel surprisingly grounded and we see Clark Kent open up about how he feels about being Superman, what it takes and how much it affects him. Corenswet masterfully captures all of these moments so well and so earnestly that this ends up being one of the best performances in a comic book film in recent memory.
Rachel Brosnahan is also quite fantastic here, when it comes to portrayals of Lois Lane there’s an argument to be made that she’s the absolute best. I’ve said before that the chemistry between her and Corenswet is absolutely beautiful, but her interactions with the rest of the characters are a lot of fun as well. The film starts with Clark Kent and Lois Lane already dating, for some that might be rushing into things but I think that works here. Mainly due to how it’s talked about and acted during one of the film’s first scenes. We can almost immediately gather that the two really care for each other and the chemistry is just oozing out of the screen. Her portrayal of Lois Lane determined to find the truth is also fantastic and leads to some of her best moments throughout the film.
Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor is quite possibly the best portrayal of the character, he captures the incredibly unhinged parts of what makes Lex Luthor such a fantastic villain. He’s both comically evil and genuinely terrifying mainly because he believes every single word he’s saying and believes every action he is taking is justified, we especially see this towards the end where his determination to destroy Superman goes from already being an obsession to downright psychotic. Hoult captures all of this so wonderfully in this incredible performance that ends up being one of the best takes on a comic book villain in recent memory. His interactions with Superman are filled to the brim with destruction and desire that we see how much more corrupted he really gets.
The rest of the performances are fantastic, The Justice Gang which consists of Michael Holt/Mister Terrific (played by Edi Gathegi), Guy Gardner/Green Lantern played by Nathan Fillion) this is one of the many versions of the Green Lantern this universe is going to have) and finally Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (played by Isabela Merced) are all a lot of fun here. Merced does not get a whole lot of scenes but it’s a nice introduction to Hawkgirl as a character and Merced still delivers. Nathan Fillion gets some great moments as well and his interactions with the rest of the group and even Superman have some genuinely funny moments, there’s a moment towards the end while short does a great job of capturing his character. Edi Gathegi gives such a neat performance as Mister Terrific, he’s given the most to do in the group and especially gets one particular moment that is one of the film’s best. It’s very much like some scenes from The Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy but still manages to be incredibly fun especially combined with the song choice, camerawork and the attention to detail with the action.
Speaking of which the action is quite exciting, it really captures the whole Superman vibe especially with the cinematography from Henry Braham, while there might be a few silly shots they actually do fit with the film’s world and they most certainly do not take away from the world building of the cinematography. While Metropolis is not given straightforward world building development it is through the cinematography and it’s citizens, as the viewer when you look around you realize that the film is large in scale and that’s reflected through the action scenes and cinematography. It’s not closed off or limited the film wants you to explore, it’s incredibly fascinating and even quite beautiful at times.
Finally there’s the writing and the themes of the film that are genuinely beautiful, the character development that goes on with Clark Kent, Lois Lane and many of the other characters really feels natural. There’s a few particular moments here that really highlight this, one of them being the conversation Clark has with his parents Pa Kent (played by Pruitt Taylor Vince) and Ma Kent (played by Neva Howell) it’s such a touching scene that really does capture a lot of the heart of the film and even Superman as a character, it helps that the acting in this particular moment is especially fantastic. Ma and Pa Kent are down to earth, humble and care for their son Clark, they are proud of Clark yet are still worried about him. Even if Clark might be one of the planet’s strongest they see that he still needs to understand that he is loved, this is a very real take on parenthood even if it’s only for this scene it’s still incredibly impactful.
The themes of what makes being a hero and the people believing in Superman even when things are dire is captured so beautifully here. There’s one particular scene where Raising The Flag (one of the film’s many great tracks) is played, it’s the song from the first trailer and it perfectly fits here. From the people chanting Superman, to the booming and quiet moments of the song. It’s a beautiful and powerful representation of who Superman is and why so many people love him both in the film’s world and our world, it’s the theme of a hero determined to help the people because it’s the right thing to do. He does not expect anything in return he just does it because it’s bravery and his actions saves lives.
Overall Superman is one of the best films of the year, this is quite a fantastic way to start off the new DC universe. If this is the quality that a lot of these upcoming projects will showcase then I am very excited to see what happens next.
A world-renowned K-Pop girl group balance their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as demon hunters.
KPop Demon Hunters is directed by Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang! Appelhans previously directed Wish Dragon (2021) and this being Maggie Kang’s directorial debut!
KPop Demon Hunters is the biggest surprise so far this year, this was a film I was not originally going to watch mainly due to my huge lack of knowledge of K-Pop as a genre of music. I only really know the more mainstream groups and that’s about where my knowledge ends, luckily for people not super into the genre like myself you do not need to be that knowledgeable to jump right into this film. It incorporates elements of the genre while also focusing on being just an overall fantastic film that has so much going for it and even more to really love.
Right off the bat, the voice cast is brilliant the main three characters we follow Rumi, Mira and Zoey almost immediately are filled with charm when they are introduced. The voice acting from Adren Cho, May Hong and Ji-young Yoo is beautifully done, all three have this natural chemistry that you feel from their words and emotions. There’s so much fun dynamics, banter and even character moments shared between the three, it all meshes into this beautifully told story that really captivates the viewer due to the attention to detail that goes into the character designs. Ahn Hyo-seop who voices Jinu is also quite fantastic as well, his moments with Rumi are some of the film’s best that help push the film forward as well as bring out the film’s themes.
The animation is absolutely gorgeous, there’s a lot of attention to detail here that not only went towards the character designs but also the background, the film’s world and the overall atmosphere. There is so much to explore in this world with tons of fun moments during the song sequences, it’s electrifying and never leaves the viewer with a dull moment. The film’s background also tells the story as well, when the foreground is not exactly busy there is always something going on in the background whether it’s fun character movements or just beautifully done animation.
The music is well done and does a great job of translating this style of music to the film, Golden, Free, Takedown and How it’s Done are some of the film’s standouts although the whole track list is quite great. Each of the songs has its own personality and flavor to them that keeps things incredibly fresh throughout the film. The song sequences are also beautifully animated with a lot going on and so much energy in the air that it ultimately builds to beautiful finale.
The story might not exactly be anything new and has a few hiccups, with that being said that is not nearly enough to stop the film’s story from being effective. There’s this 90s classic anime feel such as Sailor Moon that when paired with this exciting style of animation is absolutely exciting and almost feels like it’s putting this era into a different perspective. The visual storytelling is also fantastic there’s a lot of moments here where lines do not have to be said, the music pushes it forward in this way that the viewer can clearly understand.
Overall KPop Demon Hunters is so far the best animated film of the year as well as being one of the best films of the year in general. Be sure to watch this one if you haven’t!
U.S. President Will Derringer and British Prime Minister Sam Clarke have a not-so-friendly and very public rivalry. However, when Air Force One gets shot down over enemy territory, they find themselves on the run and working together to thwart a global conspiracy that threatens the entire free world.
Heads Of State is directed by Ilya Naishuller director of Hardcore Henry (2015) and Nobody (2021).
Heads Of State is not as bad as you would think, that’s mainly due to the fun cast, the direction from Naishuller, some decently timed comedic scenes and even some fun action scenes. The movie unfortunately does fall apart due to the story not really being that investing and a bit formulaic, having that said there’s a lot to like here.
The performances are fun especially Idris Elba and John Cena who both play the buddy cop duo very well, they play off of each other and have fun little banters that keep the movie going at this solid pace. The two’s back and forth are great with fun dialogue that does end up giving the viewer a decent amount to laugh at, it helps that Cena and Elba have the charm to make it work.
The action scenes and the camerawork are actually decently effective here, you get some genuinely great shots during the action filled moments. This does not come to much of a surprise due to Naishuller who’s worked on two incredibly well shot and beautifully done films that ooze with the action film atmosphere, Heads Of State has some of the DNA from Hardcore Henry (2015) and Nobody (2021) although on a much lesser scale (which is not a surprise given that this went straight to streaming.) the film’s action scenes are not anywhere near as good as the previously mentioned films but Naishuller is clearly having a lot of fun and does everything he can with these scenes. For the most part it ends up being effective, taking whatever he can to make a straight to streaming action film work. From what’s presented here and considering what he had to work with, he does a pretty solid job here.
The main flaw with Heads Of State is mainly the writing, while it’s certainly not terrible. It’s not that investing and does land in the formulaic territory, the movie does admittedly get weaker as it goes on mainly due to its nearly 2 hour run time combined with the slow pacing (Cena and Elba can only do so much when it comes to moving the film along.)
With that said, Heads Of State is not a bad movie, it’s one that misses some marks but is a fun enough time that will satisfy most action movie fans.
Heads Of State is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Forensic accountant Christian Wolff teams up with his estranged but highly lethal brother to track down mysterious assassins
The Accountant 2 is directed by Gavin O’Connor director of Comfortably Numb (1995), Tumbleweeds (1999), Miracle (2004), Pride and Glory (2008), Warrior (2011), Jane Got A Gun (2015), The Accountant (2016) and The Way Back (2020). The film serves as a sequel to The Accountant (2016).
The Accountant (2016) was a pretty solid action thriller that actually became a hit at the box office which is always nice to see a mid-budget film do well. A sequel was quickly announced as expected and well it definitely was not a bad attempt at a sequel, there really is not a whole lot to comment on here. Some people stand by The Accountant 2 being an improvement over the first film, while others stand by this one being weaker and I definitely think I fall into the latter.
What does remain the same is the strong acting, Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal are both fantastic here. The two blend in with the film taking a more comedic approach this time around which actually does lead into some surprisingly charming moments, Affleck and Bernthal just work so incredibly well together to the point where even if you are not really into what’s going on in the film. You can at least how well done their chemistry really is and how much they carry this film.
The film takes much more of a comedic approach this time around, yes there are thrilling and action filled moments but those are clearly not the main focus. You will get a focus on this people trafificking/conspiracy plot (which admittedly is really not that interesting) and then the film focuses on Affleck and Bernthal having a grand ole time at the bar, dancing and chatting about their lives. It’s a bizarre switch in tone but it mostly works due to the film’s ability to transition from scene to scene well.
The final act is your traditional action filled section which is admittedly pretty neat, it’s not anything groundbreaking but there is the excitement factor that’s present and the build up is quite solid as well. The main criticism here is the running time, it goes on for way too long especially with a lot of scenes where you can really feel they are dragging it out for the sake of doing so.
Overall there is not much else to be said here, The Accountant 2 is a sequel that while fun in it’s own way. Just sort of exists because of how well the first film did, I am admittedly interested to see how the third film will be done (at the time of writing this the third film has been confirmed.) Definitely not a terrible film but not one I will ever go back to.
The Accountant 2 is available on all VOD Platforms.
When her father’s puppet samurai show gets ambushed by a notorious gang, Tornado vows to seek vengeance and forge her own destiny by stealing their ill-gotten gold.
Tornado is directed by John Maclean director of Slow West (2015).
Tornado has this interesting idea going on here where it combines samurai and western films, even if the story being told here does not have the full emotional firepower it needs to. There is still a decent amount to appreciate here that does end up help the film ultimately stand on its own.
The performances are great, Kōki gives a solid performance as Tornado. She absolutely carries the film even when it’s in some rough patches, she balances the action moments along with the quiet moments where she is just bonding with her father very well. The writing may not give her a whole lot to go in depth with, but she’s able to turn certain scenes into decently exciting ones from just being quite talented.
The supporting cast is fine here, the best by far has to be Tim Roth who’s just really great at playing a villain. His character Sugarman might be a very generic villain but Roth as an actor helps elevate the role into something a bit more (I’m being generous when I say that), we really do not get a whole lot of information about Sugarman as a character from the script. So it’s really Roth’s acting that does a lot of the talking.
When it comes to the technical aspects Tornado is quite great. The cinematography from Robbie Ryan has this atmospheric feel that you immediately get from a lot of samurai and western films, the decision to shoot on 35mm gave this film a very gorgeous look that actually helps standout well. It’s a smart creative choice and combined with the locations of the film, we get to see how effective this decision really was and how it benefits it in the long run. We get to see how the filming compliments the woods, trails, fields and such in this beautiful and striking detail.
The script is what is mainly holding this one back from being great, the story is a very typical revenge story that you can almost immediately guess what is going to happen. There’s just not a whole lot going on here with the characters, while the film does give some genuinely great character moments such as Tornado bonding with her father Fujin by doing a puppet show for the children. There’s not nearly enough of these moments to really say that the film gives the viewer a lot of emotional depth for the characters.
Overall I do think Tornado is a decent film, visually it’s quite fantastic. When it comes to the writing it drops the ball but it’s not a complete misfire, there’s just not a whole lot going on here narratively and with some writing adjustments this could have been much better.
Andy leads immortal warriors against a powerful enemy threatening their group. They grapple with the resurfacing of a long-lost immortal, complicating their mission to safeguard humanity.
The Old Guard 2 is directed by Victoria Mahoney director of Yelling to the Sky (2011). The film serves as a sequel to The Old Guard (2020).
The Old Guard 2 is one of the most disappointing films of 2025 so far and there’s definitely an argument to be made that it’s THE most disappointing. The Old Guard (2020) was a really great film that was fun and quite engaging, it came out at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and was one of the films that still gets talked about often (I feel like a lot of the films that went to streaming or were going to be released on streaming anyway during that period of time are often forgotten.) that’s mainly thanks to the great cast, fun action and the excellent direction from Gina Prince-Bythewood. A sequel was greenlit in January 2021 which given how great the first film was I was interested to see what they would do next.
Half a decade later The Old Guard 2 releases….and it’s quite a trainwreck, everything that the first film did so well at is just not present here. Instead it’s replaced with terrible dialogue that is actually quite baffling, unfocused direction (Bythewood did not return) and the feel of a straight to DVD sequel is brought in rather than this strong and fun feel from the first movie.
Charlize Theron is the one thing the movie has going for it and even then she can only do so much. When the rest of the cast either gets very little to do or are flat out not great there is not much a single actor can work with. How this movie does not go far enough with a face off between Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman is quite unbelievable and one of the several questions that the viewer is bound to ask after watching. What’s frustrating is the great supporting cast from the first film are wasted here particularly Chiwetel Ejiofor, with very little to work with due to such a shoddy script.
There are some decent hand to hand combat moments, but the action is still heavily downgraded from the first film. It’s nowhere near as thrilling, exciting or has the cinematic feel of the first. It feels very cheap and way too many quick cuts that make it hard to make out what exactly is going on.
The mythology from the first film now feels convoluted and confusing throwing in a bunch of immortality transfers and even more immortals quickly makes the viewer wonder “what exactly am I watching?” The movie never bothers with any sort of explanation or even deep dive as to why there is so much going on it’s all just sloppily put together. It doesn’t help that the movie bounces from subplot to subplot which again is thanks to poor editing and writing.
Within the first 10 minutes you can feel Gina Prince-Bythewood’s direction is missing, it’s a shame because she really brought this focused and thrilling direction that helped the first film find an identity. The Old Guard 2 never finds an identity in fact it does not come close to finding one, Mahoney’s direction settles for a very cringe (I hate using that term but when you hear some of the lines from this movie you will be saying the same thing) inducing script that tries to playoff like it’s trying to be something cool when in reality it’s embarrassing.
The cherry on top in all this mess is the movie ends on a cliffhanger that will absolutely piss off even casual viewers, I really hope that the potential third film was shot back to back with this one because otherwise it’s such a baffling decision when it took five years just to get this one out the door.
Overall The Old Guard 2 is a disaster, it’s the equivalent of those terrible straight to DVD sequels that are quickly forgotten about. This movie will face the same fate while its predecessor will still be looked at in an even more positive light.
Two years after M3GAN’s rampage, her creator, Gemma, resorts to resurrecting her infamous creation in order to take down Amelia, the military-grade weapon who was built by a defense contractor who stole M3GAN’s underlying tech.
M3GAN 2.0 is directed by Gerard Johnstone director of Housebound (2014) and M3GAN (2022). M3GAN 2.0 is a serves as a sequel to M3GAN (2022).
M3GAN 2.0 is one of those sequels where they go in a completely different direction genre wise, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just something you have to make sure you execute it well, where as the first film was a campy horror movie that I actually quite like (I am not as high on it as I was back when it first released but still a solid movie.) M3GAN 2.0 is an action sci-fi film that goes for this Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) type of feel, which although the movie mostly lands there are some glaring issues.
The performances are fine enough, with the exception of Jenna Davis who once again does a really great job as the voice of M3GAN. Plus Ivanna Sakhno does great as AMELIA although the lines she is given are a bit basic she makes them work quite well, the action scenes involving Sakhno work mainly due to AMELIA as a character actually being quite interesting and fun. M3GAN as a character gets some nice development here, there’s this light theme of redemption going on here which I do think is actually some of the movie’s best moments. There’s some decent dialogue between M3GAN and Gemma (played by Allison Williams), it’s not anything special but it is admittedly quite fun.
Allison Williams and Violet McGraw unfortunately aren’t as good here as they were in the previous film and I honestly can’t exactly pinpoint why, maybe it’s because their characters worked a lot better in a traditional horror film or they never really match up to the chaos the script is asking for. Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps are given a lot more to do this time around, it’s nice to see them more involved but this still does not push their characters in the interesting territory. They fill their roles fine enough but that’s really where it ends.
As I said before this movie goes for a completely different direction from the first movie, if you loved the horror and the tension from the first movie you are going to be incredibly disappointed with this one. Because the horror just isn’t here with the tension being nonexistent, instead we have an action sci-fi film that has very light horror elements. The action scenes are actually pretty fun, there is not anything super impressive here but the fun factor is there. It’s quite neat to see M3GAN and AMELIA fight and I do like the use of the environments while these action scenes are occurring. The choreography is also quite well done which also helps these action scenes stand on their legs.
The writing is a mixed bag, while there is some commentary about AI it’s very surface level. The character writing unfortunately really does not go anywhere (M3GAN is the only one who actually gets some real meat from the writing) and the jokes are the definition of a hit or miss type of situation. There’s some jokes that I found decently funny while others just make you roll your eyes, there’s a lot of ideas that are interesting such as the commentary on AI and the theme of redemption. But they are done in this very surface level way that you ultimately forget about by the end.
Finally there’s the pacing combined with the runtime, this is one of those cases where you can really feel that the movie is dragging out and unfortunately it ends up costing the movie, which is a shame because I do think for the most part it’s a fun little ride.
Despite my problems with M3GAN 2.0 I do not think it’s necessarily a terrible movie, there’s a lot of fun to be had here and I do think M3GAN is a fun character. This is just a sequel that is a step down from the previous movie and not something that I think I will ever revisit, if you like action sci-fi movies you may like this one.
Trained in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma, Eve Macarro takes on an army of killers as she seeks revenge against those responsible for the death of her father.
Ballerina is directed by Len Wiseman director of Underworld (2003), Underworld: Evolution (2006), Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and Total Recall (2012). Ballerina is the fifth installment in the John Wick franchise, the film takes place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023).
The John Wick franchise has proven to be quite a strong series of films, you always know what you are going to get with these films and they always deliver. Ballerina does not really do anything new in terms of world building or character writing (outside of Eve Macarro of course) but the film still manages to bring the atmosphere, action and electrifying energy of the franchise.
Ana de Armas fits perfectly in the world of the franchise, there’s some scenes (mostly at the beginning) that heavily rely on her performance and due to her fitting so well and her ability to have this fury behind her eyes they work. She’s able to connect with Eve Macarro very quickly of course the action filled moments are fantastic which Armas did most of her own stunts, but the character moments are also quite well done. There is not anything groundbreaking going on here with the character moments, but they still have just enough power and this dark atmospheric energy that makes them interesting. Armas’s performance alone keeps these moments afloat and ends up fully connecting with the film’s universe.
The rest of the performances are great, although there is not a whole lot to the characters it’s still quite neat to see them involved. Keanu Reeves is of course great to see as John Wick and Norman Reedus is quite fun for the short amount of time he is in the film. The late Lance Reddick also makes his final appearance in the franchise which is admittedly very sad to see (even if it’s a very brief appearance.)
The action scenes combined with the cinematography are absolutely well done, as I said before Ana de Armas did mostly her own stunts which is quite impressive given the action scenes that are in this film. The film’s use of a flamethrower is both jaw dropping but also quite suspenseful as well, it adds to the action filled chaos of the third act which keeps up the momentum of what the other films of the franchise brought with their third acts. The fight choreography is just as great as well, it’s up close and you feel the impact and movement of the camera. It’s fast editing combined with the film’s typical brutal action makes for some quite exciting scenes that truly do deliver and never fail to keep the viewer entertained.
Finally there’s the writing, while there is not anything new going on here. That does not make the film bad, the first act is admittedly a bit on the rough side at times. However the film quickly picks up and becomes a very entertaining ride from beginning to end. The character writing for Eve Macarro is strong enough to keep the film going and the atmosphere is able to do a lot of the talking during certain moments.
If you are a fan of the John Wick series you will love Ballerina it’s an incredibly fun film that knows what it wants to be and accomplishes that quite well!
A Viking raider, a ninja in feudal Japan, and a World War II pilot encounter a fierce intergalactic hunter.
Predator: Killer Of Killers is directed by Dan Trachtenberg director of 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and Prey (2022). Predator: Killer Of Killers is the sixth film and the eighth installment of the Predator franchise.
After Prey (2022) was released with large amounts of praise, there was no doubt that there would be another Predator film, first they announced Predator: Badlands which releases later this year in November. Predator Killer Of Killers was a secret film that Trachtenberg was working on and the film further shows that Trachtenberg is doing truly creative and exciting things with the Predator franchise.
The first thing you will notice is how beautifully animated the film really is, I could go on for hours of how wonderfully done each and every scene really is. The amount of attention to detail helps build each and every scene, the characters are expressive and finally we have action scenes which in a lot of ways do have this Saturday morning cartoon feel but not in a bad way. The action scenes do such a great job of moving this film along at such a nice pace that compliments the atmosphere which manage to be dark, fun and tense at the same time.
The characters are simple yet effective, there is not any groundbreaking character writing here. But that ultimately does not hurt the film since the characters work just fine on their own. Ursa, Kenji and John J. Torres all get their own segment which ultimately leads up the final segment of the film. Their stories are admittedly a bit of the same in terms of what exactly happens (which is why I chose not to talk about each segment individually), with that being said it is simply very neat to see the predator travel through different periods of time and combine that with some really strong action scenes. Plus there are some genuine moments here where you do want to see the main three character’s loved ones survive.
The final segment is especially really strong, a giant colosseum battle that is so pleasing to watch. The buildup the film has been setting up pays off incredibly well and goes all out, it helps that we also got some pretty effective world building that I do hope we get to see in future films. There is a lot going on during this giant battle that is filled to the brim with fun character moments, the predators speaking in their native language and of course more beautifully done scenes thanks to the animation.
Overall Predator: Killer Of Killers is a lot of fun and one of the best installments of the franchise, it is filled to the brim with creativity even when some segments result in the same outcome that ultimately does not hurt the film as the film is beautifully made, written and executed.
Jerome Reviews... 