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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 November 2025

It’s been a sluggish few months for cinema owners.  The last film to open with more than $100 million at the U.S. box-office was The Fantastic Four: First Steps back in July 2025.  That depressing streak will end with the arrival of Wicked: For Good.  The original, released on the same weekend a year ago, become the highest grossing Broadway-to-film adaptation in history and earned 10 Academy Award nominations including best picture.  The hype is even bigger this time around!

The original is worth a rewatch because the sequel, directed again by Jon M. Chu (In the Heights), gets straight into the drama.  There’s no “previously on Wicked…” introduction to set the scene.  The crux of the narrative is centred on Elphaba (Erivo), who has been ostracised by the Wizard and his cronies from the Emerald City, and Galinda (Grande), the “good” witch who hates conflict and is doing all in her power to defuse the growing tension.

Wicked: For Good is another winner thanks to the impeccable casting of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the two lead roles.  They were nominated at the Oscars a year ago and there’s a strong chance they’ll be nominated again this year.  Judging from those at the Brisbane premiere who were pulling out tissues and crying openly during the final act, Erivo and Grande have created two likeable, heartfelt heroes.  Audiences are passionately invested in their fate.  The darker tone to this instalment also requires the two actors to widen their range – less laughs, more emotion.

My thumbs are up but the screenplay is messy.  There are too many subplots to wrap up in a clear, satisfying manner.  Outside of Elphaba and Galinda, every other character feels less relevant this time around.  The fate of Elphaba’s sister (Bode) and her Munchkin servant (Slater) is covered in two rushed scenes.  The themes surrounding the banished animals gets next-to-no airtime.  As the keynote villains, Madame Morrible (Yeoh) and the Wizard (Goldblum) aren’t threatening.  Oh, and the introduction of Dororthy, who we never get a clear look at, is a weird distraction.

I’m not here to diss too strongly though.  It isn’t perfect but Wicked has become a cultural phenomenon since its Broadway debut in 2003.  The music, the costumes, the production design… it adds up a wonderful big-screen experience.  The “enchanting” essence of the theatrical show has been captured across two movies which will be enjoyed by fans, both young and old, for decades to come.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 November 2025

Movies set in a dystopian universe with high wealth inequality where poor folk risk their lives in a reality television program as entertainment for the masses.  It sounds extremely niche but it’s a growing genre.  We saw it earlier this year with The Long Walk (it’ll make my annual top 10 list) and other entries include The Hunger Games franchise, Series 7: The Contenders, and Battle Royale.  The Running Man can be included too – not just this entry but also the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.  A 1982 novel authored by Stephen King provides the source material.

Directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), this remake has been adapted to integrate 21^st Century technology.  Desperate for money to help his sick child, Ben Richards (Powell) has reluctantly entered “The Running Man”, a popular TV show where contestants start at the TV studio, get a 12-hour head start, and are then hunted by trained assassins.  If they can evade capture for 30 days, they’ll win a life-changing one billion “new” dollars.  There’s a slight catch though.  In the program’s history, not a single player has survived to win the cash.

Richards hopes he’ll be the man and Wright’s film starts promisingly.  We’re introduced to Dan Killian (Brolin), the show’s producer who cares about television ratings above all else.  There’s also the charismatic host, Bobby T (Domingo), who energises the audience and provides nightly updates about the whereabouts of the contestants and killers.  An early sequence where Richards evades capture in a rundown apartment building, wearing just a towel, is a highlight.  The odds are stacked against him but he's a fit, shrewd, intelligent individual.

Sadly, The Running Man peters out with an increasingly unrealistic narrative.  As the villainous producer, Josh Brolin (Milk) is a lacklustre, one-note character who exudes confidence but never feels threatening.  He’s smart enough to manipulate footage using visual effects to galvanize the public against Richards… and yet he’s foolish enough to let Richards live so attacks can be shown “live”.  Why not just pre-record and say it’s live?  The finale itself is a chaotic mess.  Subplots are resolved too quickly, and the sudden shift in crowd sentiment feels phoney.

The tone is also muddled.  This should be an intense thriller but, as illustrated by a scene headlined by Michael Cera (Superbad), it’s too light in places.  Do we really need Home Alone-style escapades and a kooky grandmother?  Further, the silly way Richards miraculously dodges a barrage of bullets conjures up, unnecessarily, memories of action tropes and cliches.

Wright adds energy with colour, spectacle and fast-paced editing and while it helps stave off the boredom, it’s not enough to overcome the script’s limitations.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 November 2025

Given the abundance of sequels, reboots and remakes, someone recently asked me if we’ve run out of interesting stories to tell on screen.  My answer was a simple no.  There are millions of worthy events that happen every day in the world, both good and bad.  The hard part is finding filmmakers, investors and publicists who have the passion… and the money.  To quote the late film critic Roger Ebert, getting any movie made is a “small miracle”.

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is a documentary from Sepideh Farsi, an Iranian-born woman who now resides in France.  To describe her as “courageous” would be an understatement.  In 2009, she was unable to get permission from the Iranian government to shoot a doco about life in Tehran and so she covertly made one using an old Nokia camera phone.  In 2023, she won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for best animated feature in telling the story of a boy and his grandfather caught up in the Iran-Iraq War.

This new movie has become her most talked-about project.  She was looking to shoot a documentary about the Israel-Palestine war in Gaza but, prohibited from travelling there, she instead developed a friendship with 25-year-old Palestinean photographer, Fatima Hassouna.  The film is largely a series of Facetime chats between the pair as Hassouna talks about her existence.  They’re spread across several months and they include uplifting conversations about her background and family, and depressing conversations about a lack of food, internet and shelter. 

There’s added context which, I believe, is important for audiences to know going in.  On 15 April 2025, Farsi learned that her completed movie had been selected for the Association of the Distribution of Independent Cinema section at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.  She spoke to Hassouna that same day and, having never met in person, they discussed the idea of attending the festival together to help promote to the world.  Hours later, Hassouna was killed when an Israeli missile struck her home in Northern Gaza.  It led to hundreds of actors, directors and producers signing an open letter stating, “we cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza.”

Despite the important context, I realise not everyone is going to interested in a two-hour documentary consisting largely of iPhone calls that keep cutting out due to a poor internet connection.  I’ve listened to podcasts featuring folks caught up in the war which are equally effective in telling the tales of ordinary people caught up in an unspeakable tragedy.  Still, it’s a powerful film where the emotion builds with each scene.  The more we get to know Hassouna, the sadder it feels knowing her fate.

Receiving a limited release in Australian cinemas, the suitably titled Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is a reminder that we all have a story worth telling.  

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 November 2025

An action movie doesn’t have to be wildly original.  Provided you get the technical elements right, you’re on a winner.  That’s my best attempt to explain my appreciation for Predator: Badlands.  You’d think the 9^th instalment in a 38-year franchise might be running on “low fuel”, but American director Dan Trachtenberg has crafted a tale with an interesting world and interesting heroes.

I’ll concede the story is rudimentary.  Dek (Schuster-Koloamatangi) is a fearsome alien predator who can kill almost anything… but that doesn’t exempt him from family drama.  His powerful dad thinks he’s the weakest member of the clan and demands that he be killed.  Dek escapes in the nick of time and, via spacecraft, flees to one of the most dangerous planets in the universe.  He intends to prove his worth by slaying an “unkillable” creature known as the Kalisk but before doing so, he’s forced into an alliance with Thia (Fanning), a damaged robot sent from Earth.

As strange as it sounds, I cared about these two characters!  I realise one is an alien, one is an android, and dialogue is minimal… but that doesn’t mean you can’t cheer for them.  It taps into our tendency to root for underdogs and those down on their luck.  It’s satisfying to see them get the upper hand over their adversaries even if the film succumbs, at times, to action cliches.  Elle Fanning (The Great) brings well-timed humour to the role of Thia.  He’s unrecognisable but I also admired what New Zealand actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi brings to Dek – a balance of strength and vulnerability.

It’s the crew who do the heaviest lifting in taking the script and realising it on screen.  I can’t imagine how many different sound effects were required – from the weird noises generated by the planet’s varied inhabitants, through to the swishes of attacking plants and sharp-edged grass.  It’s easy to overlook the work of sound designers and editors but movies like Predator: Badlands place their work front and centre.  The same can be said of the make-up and prosthetics teams (Dek is great) and the visual effects folk in creating a planet where deadly trouble lies around every corner.

The predicable finale can’t quite deliver a memorable, knockout punch but if you’re a fan of the genre or the franchise, Predator: Badlands is above-average entertainment.   

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 November 2025

When it comes to the Now You See Me franchise, I disliked the 2013 original, and I hated the 2016 follow-up.  The bar was therefore set incredibly low for this third outing which reunites our heroes, known as The Four Horsemen, and sees them team up with a group of upcoming magicians in pursuit of a common goal.  They’re trying to expose South African Veronika Vanderberg (Pike), the heiress of a large diamond mining company which serves as a money laundering operation for skilled criminals.

It’s another average, convoluted storyline and while I wouldn’t be rushing out to see this sequel, it’s the best of the trilogy so far.  The injection of young actors Justice Smith (I Saw the TV Glow), Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers), and Ariana Greenblatt (Barbie) provide a necessary boost.  I’d argue they’ve got more nuance and personality than the returning quartet who make a few jokes but do very little in advancing their characters’ arcs.

I liked these newcomers and when it comes to their illusory tricks, we get a sufficient understanding of their methods which are both well planned and well trained.  The movie is too tricky for its own good in places, such as the convenient way funds are stolen and redistributed in the opening scene, but as simple entertainment, I can see why some will enjoy (even if I don’t).

Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) goes “all out” with her villainous performance.  She’s of English descent but the strong, over-the-top South African accent she’s adopted for the character makes her the most memorable of the cast.  That said, it’s hard to imagine how she became so successful given her blasé approach to security, the ease with which she is duped, and the openness of her dodgy business enterprise.  In true action movie style, she’s also silly enough to let the film’s heroes get away despite often having the upper hand (it’s Austin Powers-esque).  While very little about her actions makes sense, she’s a fun character to loathe.

More instalments are touted and while Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is a step in the right direction, I still see it as lightweight baloney.  The flashy cast and flashy locations provide the “illusion” of something sexy and cool but the more you think about the narrative, the dumber it appears.