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My parents thought I wouldn’t like this film due to its emphasis on dialogue scenes over action, but I did. It surprised me in a lot of ways, mostly good. It feels a lot like a Quinton Tarantino film, with its aforementioned heavy use of engaging and sometimes genuinely witty dialogue, and heavy violence and gore. Yes, this mostly very serious and shocking film does have funny dialogue at times. I also really like its social commentary on what America is slowly devolving into. Covering topics such as price hikes, power greed, racism, needless violence and hatred, every man fighting for himself, etc, all issues facing modern America, and the wider world. The message of the film seems to boil down to; “We’d all better start getting along or else things are going to get well out of control.” The ending also really took me by surprise. I’m not going to say what happens though. On the filmmaking side of things, it’s also pretty awesome. The cinematography’s fantastic, the use of sound, sound effects and sound editing is surprisingly creative and poignant, the special effects are fantastic, seemingly prioritising practical effects over CGI, despite there being the occasional rough patch of CGI, but it’s forgivable considering the film’s modest budget and independent distributor, and the film’s very well edited as well. If I had anything negative to say about the film though, it would be that the characters had slightly generic tropes and personalities, and could’ve done with more backstory, development, and better arcs. And the dystopian America itself could’ve done with more world building, such as telling the audience how the war started and exactly how America became the dystopia it is in the film, and what world building the film did establish could’ve gone into more depth. These are criticisms I share with ​⁠@TheCriticalDrinker ‘s review of this film. But overall, Civil War is a surprising and engaging breath of fresh air in this current rocky state of modern film and tv, with fantastic action, and really well-written dialogue. Definitely go and watch this film at the cinema, especially as non-franchise films need more support than ever these days. Final Grade: A.

As many of you know, this film is underperforming at the box office, but quite honestly, even though at base level it’s just your typical Romeo and Juliet romance story, it really doesn’t deserve to be underperforming. I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would. It does a very nice spin on the Romeo and Juliet plot by not only making Ember and Wade’s relationship disapproved by their society, but also making it their relationship physically hard because fire and water literally cannot mix. Though there is a scene in the film which shows that they actually can, which is quite impactful, but I’m not going to spoil it here. So the story might be quite cliche, but it’s one of those films where the cliche story has to be overlooked because of everything else it does. The main thing that made this film better than I was expecting it to be was very wide range of emotions it made me feel, something which Pixar films are ace at. There were just as many moments that made me laugh as those that pulled at my heartstrings, and there were even a few moments that genuinely made me fear for Ember and Wade’s lives. Yes, this film makes it very easy to care about Ember, her parents, Wade, and every other side character. Wade and his family might be seen as weaklings because of how much they cry, but its who they are, and I didn’t mind it too much, Wade was a cute guy for me, and his attitude towards life is very understandable given his past with his dad. Ember thankfully isn’t a condescending and spiteful “strong female character”, who thinks she’s better than everyone else. She’s very well written and likeable, with a strong character arc and relatable flaws, especially for me, mainly her temper problems. I don’t care if a story is cliche, as long as I can care about and genuinely feel for its characters, or it delivers genuinely emotional moments, and this film does both. I also have to mention the animation, because apparently, this is Pixar’s most technologically advanced film to date. They had to use the most computing power they’ve ever had to for a single film for this one, to create every little flicker and glow of the fire characters, every little ripple of the water characters, and anything else they may have had to do for them as well as the earth and air characters, ON TOP of lighting, rendering, texturing and composting every single environment and visual effect. This film is a technological marvel, something computer animated films rarely are these days. See guys, it’s not CGI itself I have a problem with, it can create some fantastic visuals in films, the problem comes when its used too much in live action films, but this is not a live action film, a film like this would be near impossible to make work in live action, it was hard enough for Pixar to make it a computer animated film. Usually I think that $200 million is too much to spend on a film, but given how much work and computing power had to go into this film, for once I can understand why it cost that much. Overall, despite its cliche story, Elemental is yet another strong entry in Pixar’s library. As I said at the start of this review, it does not deserve its box office underperformance, nor does it deserve the harsh criticism some critics are giving it, they expect far too much of Pixar. Please go and see this film and give it the support it’s missing out on, especially if you’re a Pixar fan, or a fan of animation in general. Final grade: A.

Obviously I wasn’t expecting this film to be as good as Raiders and Last Crusade, and it wasn’t, but like Crystal Skull, I think this film is getting too much hate. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but it definitely has plenty of flaws. The story isn’t really anything to write home about, it’s the familiar Indy formula of “set out on adventure to find (insert supernatural object name here)”. Simple, but still full of the fun, light-hearted whimsy he series is known for. Of course, the best part of every Indiana Jones film isn’t exactly the story, (with the exception of Last Crusade), but the action and humour. And this film absolutely delivers on both. The action scenes that felt most like Indiana Jones were definitely the opening train scene set in 1944, and the Tuk-Tuk chase. And I laughed out loud, SO many times during the film. The set design is also fantastic, I loved the Achamedis’ Tomb sets, with what appeared to be practical, running water. Also, I didn’t really think that Indy was the “sad, broken old man” that many people being critical of this film seem to think he is. He can still hold his own and be the action hero he’s always been known as, despite his age now. And yes, Helena Shaw is a little bit too good at everything she does, but she doesn’t seem to be the overly strong show stealer that other critics have said she is. And the main villain isn’t the best, but still quite good, and fitting for Indiana Jones, given the fact he’s an ex-nazi, and the plan he has. So yeah, characters aren’t the best, but not as bad as critics are saying they are. As I said though, this film definitely has plenty of flaws. And unfortunately, they do bring the film down quite a lot. Let’s start with the visual effects. I respect James Mangold for mainly relying on practical effects and stuntwork, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. I’m sorry, but the CG quality was awful, given how long it’s been around, and this film’s $295 million budget. I could always tell where CG had been used, and it unfortunately was overused. So many things that could’ve easily been filmed on location, in-camera, or with miniatures were instead CG, and they always stuck out like sore thumbs. Although I will proudly admit that the digital de-ageing on Harrison Ford in my opinion did look better than what practical make up and prosthetics could’ve done. But other than that, the digital effects were just no. Also, this film is way too padded, it may not have felt as long as 154 minutes, but this film’s pacing is messy, and at least 30 minutes could’ve been shaved off, making this film the same length as all the other Indy films. But overall, despite its flaws, I still had a fun time with this film. I’d rank it about the same as Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which as I already said, I feel gets too much hate. Temple of Doom is still the weakest Indy film for me, but still good, and also as I said, this one was never going to top Raiders and Last Crusade. Definitely go watch this if you’re a big fan of Dr Jones. Indy and Harrison Ford’s final big screen adventure could’ve been FAR worse in my opinion, I mean, at least Indy wasn’t killed off like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Daniel Craig’s James Bond, though he admittedly did come close. Final grade: B+

This is a film I’m not too sure how to feel about. It’s great when it’s a superhero film, but not quite so much when it’s a comedy film. Some of the comedy was done well, like Merton’s (mostly) censored swearing. And PB saying that she’s a “big fan” of the Justice League, when she’s in her big form. But this is not a film that I was laughing my arse off at. And I knew it wouldn’t be. The only joke that got more than a chuckle out of me was a reference to Paw Patrol. Which I was not expecting at all, and made even more hilarious by the fact that the pets get their powers from an orange kryptonite meteor, similar to how the Paw Patrol become the Mighty Pups, and the fact that Paw Patrol The Mighty Movie is coming out next year. I’m convinced that Warner Bros got the idea to make a DC Super Pets film after watching the Mighty Pups 45 minute special and sub series, and if not, then it seemingly takes a noticeable amount of inspiration from it. Getting back to the jokes, some of them are quite good, but not all of them. The flatter ones did cause me to lose my engagement in the film at times, but not for long. So the humour may not have been as strong as it could have been, but being a superhero film is definitely this film’s bigger strength. The action scenes are well paced, and thrilling enough. Although not the most thrilling I’ve seen this year. Lightyear’s action scenes were definitely a lot more thrilling. The thing I like best about this film though, is the characters, and their chemistries between each other. Krypto and Superman’s chemistry I found to be the cutest, even through the staining of their relationship that happens because of Superman proposing to Lois Lane. Krypto’s character development, while nothing special, I also found very cute. And Ace’s backstory I found quite heartfelt, and the message behind it was something I could relate too. What I also loved was how the entire Justice League was seen in the film. The action scenes with any one member of the Justice League, with or without one or more of the super pets, were definitely this film’s best. If this film had ditched most of the comedy, in favour of more focus on the Super Pets teaming up with the Justice League, and the action that comes with it, rather than shoving the Justice League aside for the entire 2nd act, I feel I would have enjoyed this film a lot more. What I also just ADORED was how some of the music from the Justice League members’ respective films were used in the relevant scenes. Most notably where Superman and Krypto were escaping from the destruction of Krypton at the beginning of the film, John Williams’ Krypton theme is used, as well as his main Superman theme a couple of times in the film. And Tim Burton’s Batman theme is used a couple of the times he shows up. This film’s animation is also brilliant, but hey, this is from one of the 5 major studios, so of course it’s going to be very high quality. Of course not Pixar-Level quality, but still very high quality. Overall, DC League of Super Pets is not one of the best animated films I’ve ever seen, but if you’re a fan of superhero films and animal films, I’d recommend this film to you, especially if you have/know kids who you really want to get into DC. However, if you’re not a fan of talking animal comedies, then I say give this film a skip. Final Grade: B+

I really do not get why some critics, audience members, and Pixar fans are hating on this film. It’s absolutely epic! It has a complete perfect balance of action, tension, heart, and comedy. It knows exactly when it can be funny, and when it has to be serious. One of the scenes towards the beginning of the film tugged at my heartstrings a lot, in true Pixar fashion, said scene reminded me of Ellie’s death in Up. This film has absolutely perfect pacing, it moves at a fast, but not too fast, yet steady pace. This is mainly what helped to keep me engaged throughout the whole film. This perfect pacing also really helps with the action scenes, which are all thrilling, and incredibly well realised, with their strong use of editing and camera angles. The comedy is very well done too, there are many funny moments throughout the film. I completely get how and why a lot of people would find Sox annoying, and his jokes getting old pretty quickly, but personally, especially in comparison to a lot of other comic relief characters from Disney animated films, I hardly found Sox annoying at all. If anything, he became less and less annoying as the film went on. I also adore this film’s many, many references, not just the references to Live Action Science Fiction films, such as to Star Wars when Zurg’s ship blew up, to Aliens when the hypersleep bay of the massive Star Command exploration ship is shown, to Star Trek The Voyage Home in the multiple times Buzz’s spacecraft slingshots around T’Kani Prime’s sun, before time travelling 4 years at a time, to 2001 A Space Odyssey when Buzz finally achieves hyperspeed, and to Interstellar with the film’s use of the time dilation plot device. But also the many Toy Story references. Mainly Buzz’s usage of lines that his toy counterpart used in the first 2 Toy Story films. Such as: “And there seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere.” And: “You’re mocking me, aren’t you?” But my absolute favourite was when Zurg said: “Prepare to die!” And Buzz said: “Not today, Zurg!” Those are 2 of my favourite lines from Buzz and Zurg respectively, and I was beaming when they said them. Speaking of Zurg, there’s actually a plot twist surrounding him that I was absolutely flabbergasted by. I’m not saying what it is though, you’re going to have to see this film for yourself if you want to find out. Other more minor positive things I’ll say is that the animation is a visual marvel. But I mean come on, this is a Pixar film, that should go without saying really. And the soundtrack is so damn epic! Without question one of my favourite Pixar film soundtracks. If there was anything even the tiniest bit negative I’d have to say about this film though, it would be that the story and characters could have been slightly more original, but every other aspect of this film is so perfect, I feel that saying that is a nitpick. Overall, Lightyear is without question worthy of the praise it’s gotten from its positive reviews, and without question unworthy of the harsh criticism it’s gotten from its negative ones. Again, I completely do not understand why some people are being so critical of this film. I say it deserves more than 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. That said though, I don’t think it’s quite one of my favourite Pixar films, but I’d still unquestionably put this in my top 10. Final Grade: A

It didn’t end up being as badass and action-packed as the trailer made it out to be, but I still enjoyed it enough. One of the things I liked best about this film was the animation. It has a very unique style. Not sure if this is the case, but it looks to a hybrid of 3D and traditional 2D, either that or it’s fully 3D, and was just trying to capture the style of the illustrations of the books this film is based on. Either way, I always love it when animated films based on books try to recreate the art style of the books. It’s also a very well-lit film, though while I did like the designs of all the animal characters, I wasn’t really a that big of a fan of the designs of the human characters. For this reason, I would have preferred it if the world the film is set in was populated purely with anthropomorphic animals, and not a world where anthropomorphic animals and humans co-exist. The writing, while having a lot of cliches that I’d rather it didn’t have, cliches which did affect my investment in the film by the way, did at least try to be clever, with it always trying to leave the viewers unsure which characters are good guys, and which are bad guys. While some may find this aspect of the film confusing and hard to keep up with, I liked it. It’s like every single one of this film’s main characters are good guys and bad guys at the same time. The film was also quite funny, but not all of the jokes worked. But by far the best aspect of the film was the action scenes. While there weren’t as many as the trailer made out they’d be, the ones it did have were still absolutely brilliant, especially the car chases. They gave me just the right amount of adrenaline, were perfectly paced, and one of them even reminded me of the thrills and adrenaline I got from watching Ambulance. I would have enjoyed this film a lot more had there been more action scenes and car chases. Overall, while there was a great deal of room for improvement, The Bad Guys was still a fun and engaging enough film. If you have kids, I’d say definitely take them to see this film. But animation fans, especially Dreamworks fans are sure to enjoy this film enough too. And if you’re a fan of crime films, and like the idea of an animated film that satirises the crime genre, I’d recommend this film to you too. Final Grade: B+

While it wasn’t quite as good as I was expecting, it was still an enormous improvement over the first film. There’s much more lore and references taken from the video games this time. Dr Robotnik resembles his video game counterpart a lot more this time. The entire 3rd act is complete badassness. I laughed A LOT of times throughout the film. And finally getting to see Tails and Knuckles, definitely a plus. The fact that Tails is voiced by his video game voice actress is also brilliant. The film also uses events from the first film to develop its story and world building just brilliantly. Once Sonic and Tails’ adventure starts, the film becomes very Raiders of the Lost Ark esq, with them having to travel the whole world to find the master emerald, similar to how Indiana Jones goes looking for the Ark of the Covenant. Quite like, but not exactly like how I want the first instalment in my Spyro film series to be. As for this film’s production value, it’s just brilliant. A film should always show every single dollar of its budget on screen. And this film absolutely follows that rule. For those interested to know, this film’s budget was $110 million. The CGI is a little overused, but there are still enough practical effects to balance out the digital ones, though some elements, such as the temple protecting the master emerald, would have been nice to have seen done as miniatures rather than being completely computer generated. Don’t get me wrong though, the CGI itself is still good enough, especially with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. As I said at the start though, it wasn’t quite as good as I was expecting. The film does still have some flaws. It did not AT ALL need to be 122 minutes long. A few of the sub plots were pointless, the worst offender of this is the drama between the couple getting married half way through the film. That sub plot has barely any relevance to the story whatsoever. Cutting that out would have shaved off at least 10 unnecessary minutes. And there are quite a few overused story tropes in this film, like Sonic being given the typical hero’s journey arc. But if like me, you don’t mind the stock hero’s journey arc, that flaw shouldn’t bring the film down for you that much. Overall, while the story and characters could have had more work done to it to make it a little less cliche and A LOT less bloated, and while there could have been a bit more of an even balance of practical and digital effects, for what it is, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is fun, hilarious, badass, and epic towards the end, with fantastic production value almost the entire time. I’m still a firm believer that video game films get too harshly reviewed by critics. This film is a must see for all Sonic fans, weather they’ve played the games more than watched the TV shows, or vice-versea. Even if you’re not a Sonic fan, I’d still definitely recommend this film to you if you’re a fan of action-adventure and fantasy films. Little bit of advice before I finish this review: Make sure you stay for the mid-credits scene. Yet another staple Sonic character is shown off in it, who’s definitely going to be a main character in the 3rd film. I’m not saying who it is, you’re going to have to see this film for yourself if you want to find out. Final Grade: A-

This is not a thriller film, it’s a thriller film and a half. It’s fast paced all the way through, has all the destruction, gunfire, and shots of American flags you’d expect from a Michael Bay film, though not as many explosions as you’d think, but the ones it does have are still absolutely spectacular. Almost everything appears to have been done in camera with practical effects, and no CGI, and if there was CGI, it likely was only used in a few scenes. If you know me, you know I prefer practical effects over digital ones. This film is not for the faint-of-heart though, there is a lot of violence and blood, practical blood too, which unquestionably justifies this film’s R-rating, especially as there’s an incredibly graphic operation scene in the Ambulance while it’s still moving, admittedly at only 20MPH, but still moving. It’s not all serious though, there’s a lot of quippy, humorous dialogue and scenes that lighten the mood from time to time. The characters, while not the most developed and complex in film history, were still written well enough for you to care about them, and while most of them get a happy ending, a couple of them don’t, and deservedly so for one of them. The ending itself is somewhat bittersweet, but happy enough in my eyes. Overall, Ambulance is action-packed and thrilling, yet very bloody and violent, but if you’re a fan of bloody, violent, and action-packed R-rated films, I cannot recommend this film to you more. Final Grade: A-

I wouldn’t call any of illumination’s films high art, with the debatable exception of Despicable Me 1, but personally, after seeing Sing 2 last night as of when I’m typing this, I felt it was a very fun film, it was better than I was expecting, and even, dare I say it, slightly better than the first one. Sure it mostly uses familiar tropes, but I don’t care. I just felt it was a fun, escapist film that wasn’t too assaulting on the senses, simple, but most importantly, entertaining. Sing 2 has made me realise more than ever that films don’t have to tell original, deep, thought provoking stories. I mean that can help a story a lot, but at the end of the day, as long as it’s entertaining, and isn’t too overblown on its ideas, messages, action, or editing, then why should anyone care if it’s story isn’t overly original? I donno, maybe I just had more appreciation for Sing 2 than the average person because of how much I appreciate the entertainment industry, and I could therefore relate to more of the characters, and found seeing each of the elements of their Sci-Fi show coming together more satisfying than most people would. Either way, this is a film that deserves more credit than most internet critics are giving it, and I’d recommend it to both families and animation fans. Grade: A-

It wasn’t quite as good as I was expecting, it was a little too fast paced for my liking, some of the plot points and themes could have been a bit more ambitious, and weather they go back to Adventure Bay, or will stay in Adventure City for season 9 and beyond is left unanswered. But apart from those things, everything else was spot on my expectations. The animation is gorgeous, the stakes are high enough for the rescues to be taken seriously, the soundtrack absolutely slaps, the characters are extremely likeable, even more so than in the show, the voice acting is top-notch, both kids, and adults will laugh at the the humor, and the climax is epic, with a damn well satisfying payoff. This is one hell of a fun popcorn action movie, as if Michael Bay, Roland Emmerich, or Renny Harlin directed it, parents will enjoy watching it with their kids, and even if you don’t have kids, but are still an adult Paw Patrol fan, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll enjoy it. 9/10.