Three storylines, spanning thousands of years, intersect and reflect on hope, connection and the circle of life.
In The Blink Of An Eye is directed by Andrew Stanton director of Finding Nemo (2003), WALL-E (2008), John Carter (2012) and Finding Dory (2016).
I appreciate Andrew Stanton for attempting to try live action again, however In The Blink Of An Eye is a complete and total mess. There are really good ideas here exploring three stories that take place across history of the world is a fascinating idea that has potential. But sadly the writing, character writing and execution is just not there at all, making the experience incredibly empty and forgettable.
The best thing you can really say about In The Blink Of An Eye is that the acting isn’t bad and that’s mainly due to a lot of talent involved. Kate McKinnon, Daveed Diggs and Rashida Jones all give decent enough performances, unfortunately for them the character writing just isn’t there outside of a few moments towards the end that somewhat attempt to try and save the movie.
The writing tackles the very typical “meaning of life and everything and everyone that surrounds us” sort of idea which can bring the viewer into the experience when done right. However this is not one of those movies that does this well at all, it’s a very surface level exploration of the idea that pretends it’s saying something incredibly profound. A majority of the time you are waiting for the big moments to come which never end up arriving, it feels like the mindset going on here is just because the movie mentions a theme that is quite deep that will keep the whole movie afloat. You have to execute that theme well in order to make it work.
What seals this movie’s fate is that none of the three periods of time immerse the viewer, all three stories are generic, flat and very uninspired. The cinematography editing or even music although not terrible, does not help the experience grow or stand out, all three stories feel identical to one another except they have a few tweaks here and there. This ultimately destroys the whole idea of the movie and makes the whole experience feel like nothing.
Overall In The Blink Of An Eye is a movie with great ideas with very lackluster execution that fails to immerse the viewer. The technical elements and acting are passable, but everything else especially the writing completely breaks the movie.
A detective is on trial for his wife’s murder and must convince an AI judge of his innocence before time runs out.
Mercy is directed by Timur Bekmambetov director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), Ben-Hur (2016), Profile (2018) and many others.
Mercy is one of those movies where just looking at the poster you already know it’s going to be terrible, yet somehow it gets even worse when you actually sit down and watch it. It’s a poorly constructed mess that basically has Chris Pratt sit in a chair for 90 minutes along with some very laughable dialogue that tries to present itself as being clever when in reality its incredibly basic and not saying anything.
The acting is terrible, Chris Pratt is overacting throughout and Rebecca Ferguson is incredibly bland. Which I got to say that is one hell of an achievement, I’m not entirely sure how on earth you make Ferguson bland but somehow this movie accomplished that. The acting alone makes Mercy incredibly hard to sit through. It does not help that Christopher Raven (played by Pratt) and Judge Maddox (played by Ferguson) are poorly written characters who have very little going for them. Judge Maddox at one point basically shows the viewer a bunch of footage of Raven’s past just so we know his backstory, a lot of it is completely pointless and very unrelated to the case that the movie is supposedly focusing on.
The writing is baffling, first and foremost as I said before the character writing is just not there at all. Second the screenlife elements aren’t used to their full potential, which confuses me a bit since Bekmambetov directed Profile (2018) a film that used its screenlife elements quite well. So it’s a bit surprising to see him do a complete 180 here, the dialogue leans into laughable territory. There are some genuinely embarrassing moments that truly amaze you in just the idea of “who came up with this?” the confused message at the end as well leaves the viewer with a terrible taste in their mouth. This whole “Ai makes mistakes like humans can” is truly egregious, a man is being put on trial for something he did not do this isn’t some sort of “oopsie!” type of mistake.
Overall Mercy lacks any sort of depth and fails to fully invest the viewer, it’s a slog to get through, it’s poorly acted, written and one of the worst movies of the year so far.
A father trains his daughter to survive monsters from an alternate dimension that have invaded Earth, but they are eventually found, forcing them to fight for survival.
Worldbreaker is directed by Brad Anderson director of Session 9 (2001), The Machinist (2004), TransSiberian (2008), The Call (2013), Fractured (2019) and many others.
Not a whole lot to discuss here which is why this one is not getting a full review. The main notes I took during this movie were.
It’s an incredibly formulaic post apocalyptic movie, at times there is decent world building but not nearly enough to save this movie or make it interesting.
Luke Evans gave a solid performance, most of the movie it’s him training a teenage girl how to swing a sword. Yet he somehow squeezes a good performance out of it (whatever it takes to get a good performance I guess.) It might be because Evans is just naturally a great actor but there are some parts of his dialogue that are interesting enough.
Mila Jovovich is barely in this movie, if you are going into this movie as a Jovovich fan you are going to leave incredibly disappointed. Despite the poster making it seem like she’s a huge part of the movie she barely shows up, it’s kind of hilarious but at the same time it’s an incredibly odd choice.
My final note was simply “how did they get Brad Anderson to direct this movie?” Not every single one of Anderson’s films have been great, but Worldbreaker in particular feels very phoned in. At least with some of Anderson’s weaker films you can tell there was some sort of attempt to bring some charm, you simply don’t get that with Worldbreaker. The ending in particular is especially laughably bad, it really does feel like we watched a prologue scene from a bad video game and as soon as you get into the actual game it just ends.
When a highly dangerous fungus escapes from a secret laboratory, a former bioterrorism agent is called back into action. Alongside two young employees, he must confront an invisible and out-of-control threat.
Cold Storage is directed by Jonny Campbell director of Alien Autopsy (2006).
Cold Storage is a classic case of stumbling upon a late night B sci-fi horror movie and having a decent time with it. There is plenty of flaws here that you would think would bring the movie down, however there is a lot of charm here that helps keep the movie rolling along at a decent pace and ends up finishing with an expected yet fun outcome.
The cast is mainly what holds the movie together. Georgina Campbell and Joe Keery work very well together, the two’s chemistry is the heart of the film and why everything meshes decently well together. Georgina Campbell’s execution with her dialogue has some great humor and Joe Keery’s charming screen presence works wonders here. Liam Neeson is also quite solid here, while this can feel like he’s doing the same sort of deal with a lot of his action movie roles. There is some more heart put into this performance which I’m still not exactly sure why that is, maybe it’s due to part of Cold Storage being a comedy and Neeson does incredibly well with the genre. Whatever the case may be, Neeson turns in a great performance and works well with Campbell and Keery.
The writing is decent overall, there is some character moments here that are shockingly decently written. There isn’t any groundbreaking character work going on here, but it is nice to see these characters not feel like an afterthought. The self-aware humor can be a little grating at times but a majority of the time it’s used sparingly and the movie mixes it in with some gross out humor that is actually quite fun!
As far as atmosphere goes the film nails it well enough, Cold Storage is going for a much more comedic tone and throws in some sick looking mutations with slime, fungus and such to create some neat creature designs. It’s zombie adjacent but goes about it in its own way. The CG can be questionable but considering this is (assumably) on the lower budget side of things, this isn’t very surprising.
Overall Cold Storage is decent for what it is, it’s a very quick 99 minutes that isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel in the horror genre. It’s a fun little movie that has a good cast, some neat action and makes great use of its location. Give this one a look!
In Hong Kong, a young woman haunted by visions of her future self meets a stranger who changes the course of her night-and possibly her life.
Zi is directed by Kogonada director of Columbus (2017), After Yang (2021) and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025).
Zi is a return to form for Kogonada, after last year’s disappointing A Big Bold Beautiful Journey it is nice to see Kogonada return to what he’s best at. Although Zi is heavily flawed and is still not as great as Kogonada’s first two films, there is still a lot to like here and there’s some genuinely great moments that make Zi shine.
The performances from Michelle Mao and Haley Lu Richardson are both quite strong here, the two have great chemistry that over the course of the film builds into something beautiful. There are some silly moments in between it all, Richardson’s character El immediately starts crying for Zi (played by Michelle Mao) after only meeting her for 10 minutes. However that actually does work here as the film is going for a much more experimental direction and I do think what ends up getting revealed later on justifies this. Mao and Richardson play their characters well and have some very real moments, there is some great facial acting and quiet moments that help build their bond. Jin Ha who plays Min gets the short end of the stick, his character is underdeveloped and just not all that interesting, he does however show off his great singing voice (he’s been on Broadway).
The writing is the film’s weakest point, the story is a very thinly written narrative. The premise here is Zi gets visions of the future and sees an older version of El, the two meet and from there very little happens. There’s just not a whole lot to chew on here writing wise, with that being said there’s beautiful moments that do happen and I do think the ending wraps it up nicely.
It’s a much more experimental film compared to A Big Bold Beautiful Journey it’s an incredibly small budget of these characters walking around in the city. Admittedly the city element does bring some excellent atmosphere that does create this beautiful tone to the film. The score is beautiful as always when it comes to Kogonada’s films, it fits the atmosphere that is required and brings this level of beauty and warmth that helps elevate the film.
Overall Zi is definitely an improvement over A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025), it’s a nice return of what Kogonada is best at. If you can get past the thin story you should be able to enjoy this one for what it is.
Cast out from its clan, an alien hunter and an unlikely ally embark on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Predator: Badlands is directed by Dan Trachtenberg director of 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), Prey (2022) and Predator: Killer Of Killers (2025). The film serves as the seventh installment in the Predator franchise.
When Prey (2022) revived interest in the Predator films I was very excited to see what he had in store next. To everyone’s surprised he had not one but TWO films planned out. Earlier this year Predator: Killer Of Killers released and as I said in my review it was excellent and that trend continues with Predator: Badlands, watching all three of these films it’s very clear that Trachtenberg loves the Predator franchise and that is especially clear here. Badlands has excellent performances, satisfying action scenes, this large in scale exploration and beautiful yet simple character writing that really goes a long way.
The performances are excellent, the center focus is Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning both of who give some of the best performances of the year. The two also dive quite deep into their characters and really bring out some truly fun and beautiful moments. Koloamatangi plays Dek a young Yautja outcast, while his character may seem like the typical warrior who needs to prove himself. The film goes a lot further than that, as he goes on his journey we get to see his character slowly but surely build over time, Koloamatangi’s performance really puts in the work as well. We can hear tons of emotion even through the Yautja speech, it gets to the point where you want to root for him and hope he accomplishes his mission. There’s a surprising amount of depth here that you do not see very often with these films, it might be a bit simple yes but it’s there and it helps build Dek into this quite interesting character we follow.
Elle Fanning plays a dual performance, Thia a damaged Weyland-Yutani Corporation synthetic who travels with Dek and Tessa a Weyland-Yutani synthetic and Thia’s sister, she serves as the antagonist of the film. What Elle Fanning captures the excellent balance of good and evil masterfully here, in one corner you have Thia who is hilarious, fun and a person who just wants to see the good in people. Then you have Tessa the cold, evil and whose only goal is to complete her mission. She puts up this fake act of caring for Thia all for taking advantage of her to get what she wants. Elle Fanning does such a brilliant job of bringing depth to both these characters, she’s able to show off just how wonderful she is as an actress while having so much fun with the performances. The trope of clone/evil versions of characters can be a bit on the lame side, however it absolutely works here due to just how much personality and power Fanning puts into both her performances.
The world building is quite fantastic, it’s definitely one of those films where the visuals of the film’s world as well as the large in scale nature does all of the talking. The film feels like an open world video game, that you lose yourself in and never want to leave. This large in scale nature lets the viewer explore all the different landscapes and creatures on the planet, even if some of the creatures are on screen for a few minutes it still feels like we know a lot about them simply due to the detail and how large in scale the film really is.
The film’s writing has this depth to it that really adds on as the film progresses, the underdog story that may have started as something simple evolves into a bigger beast. The film’s depth also has plenty of fun moments of dialogue, the humor works surprisingly well which is mainly due to the bond of Dek and Thia. The two characters have this fun and surprisingly wholesome bond that we slowly get to see form throughout the film. Which makes later scenes a bit more devastating when future events unfold.
Overall Predator: Badlands is yet another fantastic installment to the Predator franchise. It’s not known yet if Trachtenberg will be directing another Predator film, but I sure do hope we get to see even more of his love for this franchise.
When a new test matching soulmates together comes between two best friends, they spend the next twelve years trying to resist the urge to disrupt the paths their lives have taken despite the undeniable feeling they belong together.
All Of You is directed by William Bridges which is his directorial debut.
Not a whole lot to report on here, All Of You is a romance movie that starts out promising enough but then quickly runs into a lot of the exact same problems that a lot of modern romance movies do. The main one being that the chemistry between the leads is about the only part going for it.
Brett Goldstein is incredibly charming and Imogen Poots is gives a pretty touching performance that has a lot of beautiful moments. Unfortunately the side characters only serve the story and have very little going on which takes away a lot of the power this movie was building up. The side characters ultimately feel disposable which in turn hurts the movie quite a bit.
The dialogue starts out decent enough but quickly gets tangled in its own web, the idea of time wasted is such a heartbreaking premise that it’s genuinely surprising the movie wastes a lot of time doing way too many time jumps. The sci-fi elements feel incredibly wasted and were begging for a much better script.
Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and the Thing face their most daunting challenge yet as they defend Earth from Galactus and Silver Surfer.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman director of Cut Bank (2014) and WandaVision (2021). The film serves as the 37th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the second reboot of the Fantastic Four movies.
For years Hollywood has been trying to get The Fantastic Four to work. First there was an unreleased film in 1994, then the Tim Story movies which much like a lot of the Fox Marvel movies that were releasing at the time weren’t good, finally there was Fantastic Four (2015)….there is a reason why a lot of people consider this to be one of the worst superhero movies ever made.
Luckily Matt Shakman stepped up to the plate because this is far more in line with what to expect from a Fantastic Four film. The characters mesh well together, each actor brings something exciting to the table and it’s clear that this time around this was handled with so much care to the source material. Combine that with a surprisingly captivating retro look to the film and you have yourself a quite strong film.
The performances all around were very well done, Pedro Pascal is fun and plays the whole scientist type of character incredibly well. There’s some moments where this plays into the film’s humor which works due to the lively atmosphere. Pascal’s chemistry with the rest of the cast is charming especially with Vanessa Kirby which leads to some genuinely cute and beautiful moments. The balance of being incredibly smart yet not knowing how to interact with other people makes for some compelling moments that actually do feel very real.
Vanessa Kirby is definitely the standout here, right from the beginning she completely makes the role of Sue Storm her’s. She’s the driving force of the story, the whole plot line of her trying to protect her son adds this family theme into the film. While it’s not done in any way that would be considered new, it still feels earnest and makes you care for the characters. Vanessa Kirby starts out with a more calm performance but quickly morphs into this powerhouse performance during the film’s third act. She’s an incredible actress who always gives it her all and here is no exception.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm are both incredibly fun, the two work perfectly with each other as well as Pascal and Kirby. The humor the two create feels genuine, it’s shared among the group which almost feels like organic conversations that a real family would have with each other. While the two don’t get these huge character writing moments, what we are presented with is more than enough to feel connected with their characters at the very least they are involved with the story and unlike some of the last Fantastic Four films we get this sense of teamwork and how they feel connected as a team. Maybe that’s due to the actors having such great chemistry whatever the case might be it’s very much present here.
Galactus is a very well done villain who is incredibly menacing as soon as his voice is heard. Ralph Ineson does such a fantastic job of bringing this character life as well as capturing the scale, fear and the menacing atmosphere of the character. The shadow that looms over the environment is more than enough to give the viewer chills, the build up to see his entrance to the film is well worth it and the final act of him taking action is truly large and powerful in scale.
The writing is quite excellent, the film combines its humor that feels much more natural than a lot of other MCU films and is able to capture the more dramatic moments well. As I said before the family element isn’t done in this brand new way, but it has this honesty that comes with it in this charming way that you can’t help but love. The fun banter between our heroes feels like the type of banter and dialogue you would hear from a family.
The film absolutely knocks it out of the park with the cinematography which has this blend of futuristic and 60s retro style. It makes the film standout a lot more and the color pops making this appealing to the eye, it helps that the cinematography from Jess Hall is large in scale, detailed and incredibly striking. There is this sense of wonder and exploration that you feel as the film goes on, which is fitting since a plot point of this film is space and that’s typically the feel and atmosphere you get when you think about space exploration in general.
Overall The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a very strong addition to the MCU, the story might not be anything grand. But it’s filled to the brim with passion, style and charm that you can’t help but fall in love with it.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is available on all VOD platforms.
a high school science teacher who must confront a parasitic alien invasion and his personal life, which gets complicated by a new student who may be his daughter.
Ick is directed by Joseph Khan director of Torque (2004), Detention (2011) and Bodied (2017).
Ick is sort of noteworthy due to the soundtrack consisting of several pop-punk hits you probably heard in the 2000s, Yellowcard, Creed, blink-182, Paramore, The Killers and many others have at least one of their songs appear throughout the movie and I would be lying if I said I was not feeling at least bit nostalgic.
Ick is also a throwback to some of the monster/creature horror films of the 2000s such as Slither (2006), which there are points the movie does a decent job of capturing the spirit of those movies. Even if Ick is admittedly not as good as the movies were.
The performances are decent enough here, Brandon Routh plays the leading role and he actually does a solid job here. He’s able to blend in with Joseph Khan’s messy style decently well and his interactions with the rest of the cast result in a few laughs, the rest of the cast unfortunately don’t leave a mark on the viewer. So much of it is due to cliche character types and very little development all around, while yes at the end of the day Ick is a monster movie so I wasn’t expecting any grand character writing. But lazily written characters who spout just a bunch of one liners are a huge distraction that completely takes you out of the movie.
The writing is what really holds the movie back, within the first 10-15 minutes it’s very clear that “The Ick” is supposed to be a COVID-19 allegory and it’s not subtle at all. I wouldn’t say that the allegory is done poorly here as it does result in some of the movie’s few laughs. With that being said it’s not exactly breaking any new ground either, at this point we have seen the conspiracy theorists, the Alex Jones type of characters and such get the parody treatment in a lot of different media. What Ick does here isn’t any different and if you have already seen these types of jokes before then you are not going to get anything different here.
Lastly there’s the editing which is a mess and is sort of to be expected when it comes to Joseph Khan’s films. Detention (2011) had a similar style, but at the very least it did not feel like overkill and ultimately fit the atmosphere of the movie. With Ick it very much goes into the forgettable territory and much like the rest of the movie fails to leave an impression on the viewer.
Overall Ick has a really solid soundtrack, a decent performance from Brandon Routh and a few good jokes but not much else.
Elio, an underdog with an active imagination, finds himself inadvertently beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide. Mistakenly identified as Earth’s ambassador to the rest of the universe, he starts to form new bonds with eccentric aliens while discovering who he’s truly meant to be.
Elio is directed by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi which is the former’s directorial debut with the latter previously directing Turning Red (2022).
Elio is a pretty solid addition to the Pixar library, while there might not be anything new thematically or even story wise going on here, the huge amount of charm is undeniable and it all adds up to make an incredibly fun and adventurous experience for the viewer.
First and foremost the voice cast does a pretty solid job here, Yonas Kibreab plays Elio a character that the viewer can quickly relate to as soon as the film starts. Losing both his parents at a very young age, Elio’s imagination roams free which leads to some genuinely raw moments that, he’s obsessed with communicating with the outside world. Something a lot of kids did when I was growing up and I’m sure the viewer will have the same sort of feeling. The film portrays all of this in such a beautiful way that makes Elio feel like a very real character, yes the film does take liberties in throwing in fantasy elements when it gets to the aliens. But throughout the film the raw feeling of Elio as a character never goes away.
Zoe Saldaña as Olga Solís (Elio’s aunt) is a very important part in this story, there’s sort of an emotional separation between Olga and Elio. Olga gave up on her dreams of becoming an astronaut so she can raise her nephew. Elio’s obsession nearly costs Olga’s job which causes a distance between them. The film explores the pain of both sides incredibly well, it’s done in this thoughtful and genuinely touching way that really makes the viewer immediately care for Elio and Olga.
The animation is stunning, the use of color is very top notch, when the film reaches the space portion of the film it really does feel like you are in another world. While yes the space theme does feel a bit familiar in a lot of ways, what Sharafian and Shi are able to do with it is what makes it so fun, they are able to bring this fun aesthetic and a silly atmosphere that it’s enjoyable. You have your heartwarming moments as well to even things out. It’s some nice world building that while may not going into very deep territory, is still solid enough to capture the main mood of the film’s world.
The writing has many themes going on here such as feeling out of place, loss and loneliness all of which the film does a pretty solid job of exploring. The theme of feeling out of place in particular is beautifully done, combining it with the whole space theme is a smart move as well. Elio is in this spot where he doesn’t know where he belongs due to the loss of his parents, his connection to the outside world can only help him so much. This all leads to beautiful moments that are captured quite well and really are striking in their own ways.
The main criticism here comes from most of the aliens, outside of Gordon who does get quite a bit of development. The rest of the aliens don’t really get a huge amount of development, sure they have a few key differences from on another but there really is not anything that stands out. The antagonist Lord Grigon is just kind of there, he’s fine and he gets the job done but that’s really about it. I do find it interesting that the world itself has a lot more personality and gets more development than most of its inhabitants.
But as it stands Elio is a very strong addition to Pixar’s library, it’s touching, heartwarming and such a sweet film that you can’t help but smile after watching.
Jerome Reviews... 