Dog Man (2025) Film Review

When a police officer and his faithful police dog get injured in the line of duty, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together — and Dog Man is born. As Dog Man learns to embrace his new identity, he must stop feline supervillain Petey the Cat from cloning himself and going on a crime spree.

Dog Man is directed by Peter Hastings director of The Country Bears (2003). Dog Man is a spin-off and story within a story of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) and serves as the second film in the Captain Underpants franchise.

Dog Man was a nice surprise, it’s not anything groundbreaking but I would be lying if I said it did not have any charm. There is a lot of detail that went into this movie and much like Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) it’s just a whole lot of fun from start to finish.

The voice cast is pretty strong here, Lil Rel Howery is quite fun here that gives a decent amount of laughs. Pete Davidson is the standout here and actually gives a pretty solid performance as Petey, Petey at first is your basic rival to the hero but eventually does grow into his own character. Davidson’s voice acting does some great work here he gives the character this emotional punch needed to really pull it off while also fitting the atmosphere of the source material, there isn’t really anything new being said about his character but it’s still charming nevertheless.

The animation is gorgeous and has a lot of attention detail put into it, the film manages to capture the spirit of the illustrations from the books and translates it well into CG animation. It’s described as “high-end handmade” and you can really see that while watching, the crafting is incredibly well done here and gives these characters life especially with the range of emotions shown here. It captures the world of the books incredibly well and lets a lot of the animation do the talking even when the characters are talking on screen.

The story is also quite a lot of fun, Dog Man himself doesn’t talk but he still makes the story incredibly entertaining to watch and we can still piece together his character through his emotions. It’s enough to connect the viewer to the character and make you root for him, as I said earlier there really is not anything ground breaking that’s being said here very usual power of love and friendship. Although I do like the theme of loneliness being discussed here, it’s not incredibly deep but showing how lonely Dog Man is or Li’l Petey feeling like a mistake or a unwanted child at times really does give the film the emotional core it needs.

Overall Dog Man is a blast, there was clearly a lot of passion put into the film and the love for the source material just like with the previous film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), really benefits the film incredibly well!

Dog Man is available on all VOD platforms.

6/10 C+

Love Hurts (2025) Film Review

A realtor is pulled back into the life he left behind after his former partner-in-crime resurfaces with an ominous message. With his crime-lord brother also on his trail, he must confront his past and the history he never fully buried.

Love Hurts is directed by Jonathan Eusebio which is his directorial debut.

I was excited about this one because of Ke Huy Quan being in the lead role, he’s one of those actors where it’s next to impossible to not root for him. He seems like a genuinely nice person who clearly has a love for film and is very thankful, so it’s incredibly disappointing to see how much of a mess this movie really is.

Ke Huy Quan really tries his best with the script but he can only do so much, occasionally there’s one or two jokes that land which is mainly due to Quan’s charm and I do appreciate the enthusiasm he brings to a very familiar character. But for the most part it’s a complete miss, the chemistry between him and Ariana DeBose is bland and fails to even really be romantic. Ariana DeBose is in another role that doesn’t allow her to show her ability as an actress, she’s given such a cliche and underwritten character part that ultimately the viewer forgets by the end of the movie.

Marshawn Lynch is quite honestly the film’s best part, sure his character is really nothing more than “funny henchmen” but he is clearly having a blast and he’s kind of just doing his own thing which leads to the film’s few good comedic moments.

The writing is what completely breaks this movie, it’s not romantic nor is it funny. It’s a huge mess that doesn’t utilize its elements, especially when it comes to characters. Most of the supporting characters are there for nothing more than terrible jokes, cliches or just to fill in some gaps.

Some of the action scenes are fine enough combined with violence there was actually a lot of potential to do something interesting with it here, but what ruins it is the sloppily put together set pieces that really don’t have any distinctive style. Nothing really stands out at all unfortunately, it very much feels like an early terrible 2D fighting video game where it has no really push to it at all. Quan’s fighting choreography can only do so much before the action scenes become incredibly bland.

Overall I’m just more confused than anything else, Love Hurts leaves a lot more questions than answers a couple of them being “what exactly happened here?” How does such a simple concept lead to such a cobbled together mess that wastes so many talented actors and actresses? By far the most disappointing movie of 2025 so far.

Love Hurts is available on all VOD platforms.

3/10 D-

Kinda Pregnant (2025) Film Review

When Lainy’s plan to settle down and start a family falls apart, she puts on a fake baby bump, tells a lie – and accidentally falls for her dream guy.

Kinda Pregnant is directed by Tyler Spindel director of Father Of The Year (2018), Deported (2020), The Wrong Missy (2020) and The Out-Laws (2023).

I really don’t think you need me to tell you that Kinda Pregnant is atrocious, it’s one of those movies where just the idea and who is involved is enough to turn anyone off. You remember how last year Katy Perry tried to make a comeback last year but failed miserably? Well that’s Amy Schumer with this movie and would you believe me if I said that this is far worse than anything Katy Perry could have conjured up?

Amy Schumer is of course atrocious here, she’s doing her usual shtick that worked back when she was at the peak of her career. But now it’s predictable, old and incredibly unfunny (I think it was never funny but people clearly liked it), Schumer seems insistent on this type of humor still working throughout the movie but ultimately falls flat with none of it landing outside of maybe two or three jokes from the beginning.

The supporting cast unfortunately can’t salvage a terrible script (which is partly written by Schumer), Will Forte and Jillian Bell aren’t horrendous here but they aren’t given good material to have their characters standout. They are basically here as support for Schumer’s obnoxious character Lainy Newton who I promise by the end of the movie you will absolutely hate, it also doesn’t help that Forte and Schumer have absolutely no chemistry between one another. Leaving a lot of their scenes with such an awkward feel that never goes away.

Kinda Pregnant also drags out for way too long, despite being 98 minutes long the movie feels like it’s 2 hours that’s mainly due to just how the movie is structured. It’s basically Schumer being obnoxious with wacky shenanigans occurring, some unfunny jokes are told and then it moves on to the next scene rinse and repeat until the movie decides to end. It’s no surprise that a Netflix movie starring Amy Schumer is terrible but to be this unimaginative, lazy and unfunny is truly something else.

Overall Kinda Pregnant is horrendous in just about every single way possible, it’s a movie that pretends it’s about female empowerment yet it portrays pregnant women as stupid. This is a prime example of a movie that is sort of baffling to see and wonder how nobody said “actually let’s do a rewrite” easily the worst movie so far this year.

Kinda Pregnant is available on Netflix

No Good Qualities Just Horrendous (that’s the new rating replacing Disgrace To Cinema) F

You’re Cordially Invited (2025) Film Review!

A woman planning her sister’s ideal wedding and the father of a bride-to-be discover their destination weddings at a remote resort are double-booked. When both parties decide to share the small venue, chaos ensues and disaster awaits.

You’re Cordially Invited is directed by Nicholas Stoller director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Neighbors (2014), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Bros (2022) and a few others.

You’re Cordially Invited is very much a bad early 2000s romantic comedy movie that somehow ended up releasing in the 2020s, while it’s not one of the absolute worst out there (trust me they could have done a lot worse) this movie suffers from some of the exact same problems as a lot do in the genre.

I will say for the first 30 minutes or so the movie actually had a promising start, the jokes were decently funny, Will Farrell was giving a genuinely touching performance as a father who desperately wants to make his daughter’s marriage the best it can be. Geraldine Viswanathan was actually not bad here in the supporting role, she gives a genuine performance that isn’t really affected from the movie’s over the top style it tries to use for the rest of the movie. It’s not a mind blowing performance by any means but it is a decent one that does make you feel invested towards her.

Unfortunately the rest of the movie goes towards a very over the top style that was common in the 2000s, sometimes it worked other times it didn’t and here is an example of it NOT working. Will Farrell’s usual shtick appears that takes so much away from his character and turns him into familiar territory that we have already seen Farrell do before. Reese Witherspoon is fine enough of here but much like Farrell doesn’t really do anything we haven’t seen her do before.

The writing is filled to the brim with predictable plot elements, terrible jokes and it becomes incredibly cliched. It’s also one of those movies where it does not know when to end, there’s so many points where the movie could have easily ended as all of the plot points were wrapped up but it still kept going on and on. There’s absolutely no reason why this needed to be 109 minutes long, stretching a romantic comedy like this is already asking for issues to arise but to cram in as many gags that go on for way longer than they should seals the movie’s fate.

Overall You’re Cordially Invited is incredibly forgettable, while it’s not the worst romantic comedy out there it is one of those movies where you put it on in the background while doing chores and don’t think much of it.

You’re Cordially Invited is available on Amazon Prime Video!

4/10 D+

Back in Action (2025) Film Review!

Former CIA spies Emily and Matt are pulled back into espionage after their secret identities are exposed.

Back in Action is directed by Seth Gordon director of Four Christmases (2008), Horrible Bosses (2011), Identity Thief (2013) and Baywatch (2017).

I don’t think anyone should be surprised that a Netflix January action comedy ends up being terrible, the whole selling point of this movie was that Cameron Diaz came out of retirement from acting. Which that’s great we all love Cameron Diaz but coming out of retirement for this movie really leaves me with a lot more questions than answers.

Cameron Diaz isn’t terrible here and is trying her best with the script given, but her performance is not exactly great here either. She’s capable of far better performances and here it just seems like we get almost absolutely nothing, a lot of what people love about Diaz as an actress is absent and feels more like “we got Cameron Diaz but everything that audiences love about her acting is not here.”

Jamie Foxx falls in the same boat, while the chemistry between Diaz and Foxx isn’t bad and has a few sweet moments, it’s not quite enough to really save the movie. Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz are stuck with such a terrible script that tells horrible jokes and throws as many sequences at the wall with none of them sticking, Glenn Close is just kind of here and is nothing more than a poorly written side character.

The movie itself as I said before is so poorly written, this is about as dull as you can get when it comes to action comedies. Everything that you expect is going to happen unfolds almost immediately, there’s no sense of direction with the plot being strangely convoluted for such a straightforward premise. The movie is also Spy Kids (2001) but instead of kids it’s adults, which doesn’t work mainly because 90% of spy films are already like that. Spy Kids at the very least had an audience in mind and is goofy fun even if the movie doesn’t hold up well, Back in Action is just a mishmash of terrible ideas and cliches thrown into a blender nothing more and nothing less.

There really isn’t a whole lot else to say about Back in Action it’s a movie you are going to remember 30 minutes after watching and then move on. The only reason why this movie is known is because of Cameron Diaz coming out of retirement, without that this movie would not have gotten a single ounce of advertising.

Back in Action is available on Netflix.

1/10 F

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024) Film Review!

Gromit’s concern that Wallace has become over-dependent on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a smart gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. Nick Park has previously directed Chicken Run (2000), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005) and Early Man (2018). While this film is Crossingham’s directorial debut.

I have always had a soft spot for Wallace & Gromit from the charming atmosphere to the beautifully done stop motion animation it’s always been able to put a smile on my face. Which is why I found it quite exciting when a new film was announced and it absolutely lived up to expectations.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl has the atmosphere we all know and love when it comes to Wallace & Gromit the charming and humorous atmosphere that has this cozy feel too it, the movie starts off immediately with a bang as Feathers McGraw from The Wrong Trousers (1993) makes his return and takes his revenge on Wallace and Gromit. McGraw is such a fun villain here, him being just a Penguin with a glove on his head while also being dangerous is just a humorous combination that makes for some wonderful gags throughout the film.

What makes this film work is mainly a lot of the gags, whether it’s commentary on AI, just a bunch of puns or the dialogue in general. The film always finds a way to get a laugh out of the viewer, not every single joke lands but even the ones that don’t still have their charm too them. Wallace and Gromit as characters help keep the jokes fun with their charming feel and likable personalities (although Wallace does get obsessed with the robotic garden gnomes).

As far as the plot goes it’s not anything new, it’s very much a story about someone getting too caught up with AI and heavily relying on it. However the way the film tackles it is still very entertaining and there was clearly so much love and passion put into it, the film moves at an incredible nice pace with a 79 minute running time. The beginning is definitely the weakest bit of the film however it still does serve as a nice re-introduction to the characters we all know and love.

Overall there really isn’t much else to say here. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is incredibly entertaining and a film that fans will absolutely love.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is available on Netflix.

8/10 B+

Nightbitch (2024) Film Review!

An artist who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mum seeks a new chapter in her life and encounters just that, when her nightly routine takes a surreal turn and her maternal instincts begin to manifest in canine form.

Nightbitch is directed by Marielle Heller director of The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015), Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) and A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019).

Marielle Heller is one of my favorite directors working today, the way she executes these stories and brings so much emotion and connects the viewer with these films is truly beautiful. When I heard she was going to tackle the horror genre with Nightbitch I was pretty excited about it, unfortunately the movie leaves so much to be desired and is a huge step down from her previous work.

Amy Adams is by far the best performance in the movie and is really putting in the work, there’s some moments that really bring out Heller’s touches when it comes to directing. Amy Adams mixes with these moments incredibly well and is able to give some touching and emotional moments that really put you in the perspective of her character. The way the movie attempts to tackle and explore motherhood is interesting and even works at certain moments.

The main problem here is the rest of the movie, the movie starts to repeat itself quite a lot and even gets lost as to what it’s trying to say exactly. There’s some nice dialogue between Amy Adams and Scoot McNairy but that ultimately gets lost when it’s followed up with unfunny quips that feel like they belong in a late night show rather than a film. The body horror elements are unfortunately incredibly underwhelming, when the movie does focus on them they are neat but there’s just not a whole lot going on with them to get the viewer fully invested.

I do think Nightbitch has the right ideas to make a great film, those pieces are just placed in the wrong spots and ultimately build a very incomplete picture that really does not have as much depth to really dive into as the movie was leading on.

Nightbitch is available on Hulu

5/10 C

A Real Pain (2024) Film Review

Mismatched cousins David and Benji tour Poland to honor their grandmother. Their adventure becomes complicated as old tensions resurface while exploring their family history.

A Real Pain is directed by Jesse Eisenberg who previously directed When You Finish Saving The World (2022).

Something I absolutely love seeing in film is a director improving, Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut When You Finish Saving The World (2022) was incredibly flawed and overall very forgettable. A Real Pain is the direct opposite of that, what we have here is such a personal and powerful story that quite clearly means so much to Eisenberg and he shares that with the viewer in such beautiful ways.

The performances are really what make this film work as wonderfully as it does, Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are fantastic and work so naturally together. We get to explore the two’s characters in great detail, David Kaplan (played by Jesse Eisenberg) has a wife and kids in New York City, has his life together and while is yet another one of Eisenberg’s socially awkward characters it actually really works here. Benji Kaplan (played by Kieran Culkin) does not have a job and hides a lot of pain that bothers him, sure he might seem like he “lights up the room” when he enters it. But on the inside he is hiding battles that do get to him.

The character is truly fascinating and really builds the bond of the two and leads to some incredible moments. Culkin is of course fascinating throughout the film, one moment he’s a jokester who means well in what he’s saying. Then the next moment he takes a stance of how the way the tour guide talks about the Nazi Germany Holocaust tour wanting more emotional authenticity rather than focus on statistics. Jesse Eisenberg gives a career best moment during the dinner table scene, Benji makes uncomfortable comments and leaves which leads to David to explain that Benji tried to kill himself which ended up drifting the two apart. Eisenberg’s acting in this scene is truly beautiful and so gut punching that it makes you cry, it’s such a powerful way of previously setting up a character (Benji) who seemed to be happy and comfortable with himself be shown to be going through a whole lot. Eisenberg really puts in the work for this scene alone he should absolutely be nominated for an Oscar (as well as Kieran Culkin).

The haunting yet beautiful piano score that’s used throughout the film is truly beautiful and really captured the atmosphere the film is going for. The theme of pain is present throughout the score and ultimately delivers some truly touching quiet moments, it’s a score that’s also very therapeutic that slowly brings you into the film. It’s a very smart way of easing the viewer in, getting you comfortable and just setting up beautiful scenes.

The writing and direction from Jesse Eisenberg is just absolutely brilliant, Eisenberg creates some of the most raw and human performances of the year. The scene where the group visits the concentration camp is absolutely haunting and is about as perfectly directed as you can get. The silence, the atmosphere, the cinematography and the sound of the group’s steps as they look at the remains of the camp it’s all there. It’s one of those scenes that never leaves your mind after watching, Eisenberg proves he can write a meaningful scene after meaningful scene, everything in this film really mixes so well together in the end and paints this beautiful and emotional picture that you never want to stop looking at.

Overall A Real Pain is one of the best films of the year. The compare and contrast element of David and Benji as characters is fascinating, their bond rebuilding is absolutely beautiful and the film is just so well done. I am absolutely interested to see what Eisenberg does next as a director.

A Real Pain is currently in theaters!

10/10 A+

Y2K (2024) Film Review

On the last night of 1999, two high school juniors crash a New Year’s Eve party, only to find themselves fighting for their lives when Y2K becomes a reality.

Y2K is directed by Kyle Mooney which is his directorial debut.

Y2K is a film about the whole Y2K scare that was going on and what if it actually happened. A simple enough idea that for the most part executes its premise decently well, since Kyle Mooney really goes all out to make something incredibly fun.

The cast are quite solid who each deliver some funny moments, Jaeden Martell and Rachel Zegler are charming and the bond that slowly builds over the course of the movie is cute. It’s not anything really special and does have the typical love interest cliches you come to expect but they fit the 90s callback atmosphere going on here. Although I do wish the movie did a lot more with Zegler’s character there’s moments where you could tell they were attempting to do something but kind of forget about it. Kyle Mooney gives a humorous performance that got a lot of laughs out of me, he’s a very basic stoner character but once again it matches the atmosphere.

Fred Durst is the standout and the moment he enters the film he completely steals the show. He matches the atmosphere and really goes all out with his performance, easily connects with the rest of the cast and doesn’t feel forced. Durst’s inclusion could have easily felt forced and would have basically killed the movie right at the moment he enters. However due to how charming the film is, the atmosphere working in his favor and the energy he brings it completely works.

The robot designs are incredibly neat, seeing all the different parts together and the detail of them is fascinating. The music is a nice throwback to the 90s and the kills are a lot of fun, all of these little things really help to mold this movie into something incredibly fun.

The weakest part of Y2K is by far the character writing, outside of Fred Durst a lot of the other characters really don’t have a whole lot going on. Which is to be expected it’s a very silly film about Y2K, but I don’t think some of the characters were exactly strong enough to really make the viewer remember them. Eli (played by Jaeden Martell) is a fine enough main character but if you have seen any coming of age films, sex comedies like American Pie (1999) or teen comedies you basically have seen Eli. The same can be said with the other characters Laura (played by Rachel Zegler) is your usual love interest, Garrett (played by Kyle Mooney) is the typical stoner, Danny (played by Julian Dennison) is the typical best friend and so on.

Despite my problems however I do think Y2K is a surprisingly charming film, there might not be a whole lot going on here writing wise (hence why it’s a bit hard to really go into detail) but the movie undeniably oozes with charm and keeps that up all the way through the film. It’s a very fun watch that I do recommend taking a look at.

Y2K is currently in theaters.

7/10 B

Nutcrackers (2024) Film Review!

A strait-laced man finds his life suddenly upended when he becomes the caregiver for his rambunctious, orphaned nephews.

Nutcrackers is directed by David Gordon Green director of George Washington (2000), Pineapple Express (2008), Joe (2013), Stronger (2017), Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), Halloween Ends (2022), The Exorcist: Believer (2023) and many others.

I’m not going to spend this short review trashing David Gordon Green and highlighting his downfall, because I do think despite Nutcrackers not being something I would call good at the very least it’s a huge step up from his last movie The Exorcist: Believer (2023).

I’ve always rooted for Ben Stiller and even if he really doesn’t give a very noteworthy performance of his career he is still pretty solid here, you can definitely tell during a handful of moments he put heart into them and did what he could to make them work. To his credit there are a bunch of scenes here that actually are kind of sweet and do make you smile a bit, even when the movie falls into cliche territory.

Unfortunately that’s really where the highlights end, the rest of the movie is this weird mishmash of wanting to be a comedy and be taken seriously. The movie makes it clear it’s a comedy, but it also has this indie movie type of style that makes it look serious especially with the atmosphere that acts like it’s going for this depression feel. It’s very odd considering some of the comedic scenes that take place, I get what it’s trying to do but I really don’t think this was planned out well at all.

The finale of the movie needed so much more development, we aren’t really given a lot of information or shown that the kids can do ballet. So the Nutcracker show that’s performed at the end sort of just feels like nothing, it does feel like a giant waste of time considering the movie barely explored the kids’s talent. It’s a shame because I do think what the movie was trying to do with connecting the plots together was interesting, but it was just done in such a sloppy and rushed way that it loses the viewer almost immediately.

Nutcrackers isn’t anything terrible, it has decent performances from Ben Stiller and the kids. But being filled to the brim with cliches, a very unfocused plot and mishmash of atmospheres costs this movie big time.

Nutcrackers is available on Hulu.

5/10 C