Reviews

Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn
Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Wendell Pierce
Released: July 10, 2025
Grade: A-

Superman

 

Tina Turner said it best with her famous song lyric from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - “we don’t need another hero.”  That sentiment has grown in popularity given an over-saturation of the superhero genre on film and television across the past two decades.  Interest is waning, at least based on box-office figures, so how many more times can risk-averse Hollywood studios roll out the same familiar characters and cliched ideas (power, sacrifice, good vs evil) before their investments become unprofitable?

Hold on though!  Despite my jaded outlook, I’m happy to report this new Superman is very good. In the same vein as Top Gun: Maverick, the premise isn’t wildly original, but it makes a bunch of great artistic choices which, when blended, add up to a worthwhile movie.  The person worthy of the most credit is writer-director James Gunn who has a proven track record having made all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Let’s start the cast.  I applaud the idea of casting a lesser-known actor in the title role as he doesn’t come with baggage or preconceptions.  David Corenswet (Pearl) provides the character with physicality but also a softer, vulnerable side that makes him easier to connect with.  Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) adds spark to Lois Lane and, as we see from an early scene in her apartment, she’s as much a valuable muse as a love interest.  A bald Nicolas Hoult (The Great) impresses as a psychotic villain with credible plans and keeps-you-guessing motives.  His henchmen must be well paid as they seemed to enjoy the destruction too much.

The structure is also a winner.  Gunn doesn’t want this to be another “origin story” and he gets straight into battle with the opening sequence.  The Superman we meet is already part of society and his identity is known to Lois (they’ve been dating for several months).  We therefore avoid unnecessary guff, and the 2-hour runtime moves quickly.  Gunn, working with editors William Roy and Craig Alpert, finds the right balance in blending humour with drama.  The tone skews more towards the heavy side but there’s moments of levity, such as a romantic subplot involving a Daily Planet photographer (Gisondo), that fit nicely within the broader narrative.

The action scenes are well choreographed.  The camera often moves at a rapid pace (very quick pans) but you always have a clear sense of what’s going on.  Composers John Murphy and David Fleming have used John Williams’ distinctive music from the 1978 Superman and crafted a slower, gentler remix which adds weight during the film’s emotional sections.

The themes are a touch heavy handed (misinformation and “fake news” is a drummed home repeatedly) and a few supporting players are comedically over-the-top (Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern) but Superman is still an entertaining jaunt.  Maybe we do need another hero?

Directed by: Chris Miller
Written by: Pam Brady
Starring: Rihanna, James Corden, John Goodman, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Sandra Oh, Kurt Russell
Released: July 10, 2025
Grade: C

Smurfs

 

The way things weave their way into popular culture – it’s as much luck as it is skill.  The Smurfs were the creation of artist Pierre Culliford and first appeared in a Belgian comic book in 1958.  It wasn’t until the late 1970s that they randomly attracted the attention of several influential American TV folk and in 1981, an English-language cartoon series premiered on NBC as part of its Saturday morning kids programming.  There would be over 250 episodes in total, and the show can still be watched today in syndication.

Two live-action, Sony-produced Smurf movies were released in 2011 and 2013 but after the later underperformed at the box-office, relative to the original, the franchise was rebooted with a fully animated feature in 2017.  The rights were then transferred to Paramount Pictures in 2022 who are now having their first crack at the material.  It’s simply titled Smurfs and while it’s described as an “animated musical”, the number of keynote songs is low.  Story is given more prominence over the music.

Don’t get too excited though as the plot isn’t much.  The central character, voiced by Tony Award winner James Corden, is referred to as No Name Smurf.  While all other Smurfs have a designation based on their respective skillset, or lack thereof, No Name can’t work out his place within the community.  The obvious titles are taken (Brainy, Grouchy, Lazy) and even the obscure ones (Sound Effects Smurf) have been ticked off the list.  Guess it was bound to happen given the growing population as there’s only so many adjectives in the English language and jobs to be performed.  It’s an odd crux to build a film around.

No Name’s services will be called upon however when Papa Smurf (Goodman) is kidnapped by the villainous Razamel (Karliak), brother of the well-known Gargamel, and taken to another dimension.  He wants Papa Smurf to spill the beans about the location of a magic book which provides the holder with unlimited power.  We can’t have that… and so the Smurfs must team up to rescue their beloved patriarch before it’s too late.

I enjoyed the television cartoon series growing up but haven’t connected with any of the film adaptations.  You can therefore take my opinions with a grain of salt.  Perhaps it’s because I’m too old or perhaps it’s because the storylines are so uninteresting.  It’s a weird, chaotic narrative with a sci-fi, magic focus that struggles to generate humour and emotion.  We barely get to know the characters.  You can cast all the celebrities you want, such as Rihanna as Smurfette, but unless you’ve giving them something interesting to do, the movie won’t work.

Take the kids but don’t expect much.

Directed by: Gerard Johnstone
Written by: Gerard Johnstone, Akela Cooper
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Amie Donald, Jemaine Clement
Released: June 26, 2025
Grade: C+

M3GAN 2.0

 

Another week, another horror film.  We’ve reached the midpoint of 2025 and by my count, a dozen have been released in Australian cinemas.  They’ve included the wildly unconventional (Sinners, Bring Her Back) through to cliché-laden trash (Final Destination: Bloodlines, Heart Eyes).  I’m not sure we’ve needed that many but the fact they’ve outnumbered comedy and romance movies is a sign of the times.  They appeal to younger crowds and they’re a demographic more likely to visit cinemas than older audiences.

The original M3GAN was released in January 2023.  A computing engineer, Gemma (Williams), created an android doll for her 8-year-old niece, Cady (McGraw), but things went haywire when the overprotective doll started killing people.  It was predictable but director Gerard Johnstone added a few creative flourishes, such as the song choices, to make it worthwhile.  The public clearly agreed as it took in $182 million USD at the global box-office against a budget of just $12 million.  That’s a recipe for a sequel in anyone’s book.

If you’ve seen any of the promotional material for the cutely titled M3GAN 2.0, you’ll realise they’ve spun the robot’s character around and transformed her into a helpful hero.  The villains this time are a group of dodgy government military folk who have covertly used M3GAN’s programming to create their own doll, called AMELIA, who is being used as an assassin on a secret Middle Eastern mission.  AMELIA develops a mind of her own and goes feral (surprise, surprise) and so it’s up to the robot-turned-good to take down the robot-gone-bad.  As returning characters, Gemma and Cady will also have a role to play is saving the world.

It’s not a total write-off but M3GAN 2.0 is subpar.  The first movie felt like a credible “this could actually happen” tale with its exploration of robots utilised as a substitute for friendship and parenting.  This feels clumsier by trying to bring in shady government departments, with endless funds at their disposal, and goofy agents.  The drama doesn’t feel as “dramatic”.  The same can be said of the comedic elements with much of the humour falling flat.  The tones change far too often.  It’s hard to care about a character’s fate when they seemingly have no care themselves.

A new model isn’t always better than the old one and sadly, that’s the case with M3GAN 2.0.

Directed by: Gareth Edwards
Written by: David Koepp
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ed Skrein
Released: July 3, 2025
Grade: C+

Jurassic World Rebirth

 

We’re up to the 7th film in the successful Jurassic Park franchise and, as expected, the filmmakers are low on ideas.  Ironically, the opening act of Jurassic World Rebirth tries to convince us that public interest in dinosaurs is waning.  The theme parks no longer exist (guess there were a few too many fatalities) and patronage of dinosaur exhibits in museums is at record lows.  It’s an odd plot point given reality is the exact opposite.

The characters in this instalment are all new but the storyline is not.  Once again, we have a loathsome pharmaceutical guy, Martin (Friend), who wants to make big bucks by using dinosaur DNA to cure human diseases.  He must travel to a remote island guarded by government agencies, take blood samples from the three largest categories of dinosaurs, put them in a silver briefcase, and escape without being killed.  It sounds like the premise of a video game where you collect points along the way.

Martin can’t do it alone and so he recruits a team headlined by three savvy individuals.  Henry (Bailey) is a struggling palaeontologist who can identify the dinosaurs they seek.  Zora (Johansson) is a jack-of-all-trades mercenary who orchestrates the dangerous mission in return for a $10 million pay cheque.  Duncan (Ali) is an experienced boat captain who can get them to the island undetected.  Also in the mix are a father (Garcia-Rulfo) and three youngsters who have weirdly decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a small sailboat despite limited skills.

You’ll know where Jurassic World Rebirth is heading after the first 30 minutes.  It’s a simplistic action piece with one-dimensional heroes and villains making head-scratching decisions.  David Koepp, who co-wrote the original Jurassic Park screenplay, makes it clear who we need to cheer for and who is dispensable.  Further, character arcs lack credibility.  The Zora we’re introduced to is a money hungry felon but considering she’s played by the likeable Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation), the film quickly transforms her into a “quality person” who cares deeply about the boat family and the world’s free access to medical research.  Go figure?

English director Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) can’t make the film stand out from its predecessors.  It lacks genuine performances like we’ve seen in the past from a scene-stealing Jeff Goldblum or a crafty Sam Neill.  Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel) is an accomplished composer, but he leans too heavily on riffs of John Williams’ iconic theme as opposed to creating something new.  There’s a splash of suspense in a several action pieces but not enough to hold one’s attention for a lengthy 133 minutes.

How many more Jurassic Park movies are we going to see using this predictable template?  The title refers to a “rebirth”, but this is best described as an underwhelming “rehash”.

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Written by: Ehren Kruger, Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Kim Bodnia
Released: June 26, 2025
Grade: B-

F1

 

F1 is the Happy Gilmore of motor racing movies.  You can enjoy it as simple entertainment, but it bears no resemblance to the sport itself.  This is a cliched, Hollywood-ised action piece, and you don’t need to be a Formula One aficionado to recognise that fact.  As is so often the case with sporting films, there’s no substitute for the real thing.  If looking for a “crash” course on Formula One, I’d suggest watching a live race on television or connecting through the popular British documentary series Drive to Survive.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick), F1 is centred on the fictitious Sonny Hayes, a washed-up, 50-something-year-old who had a fleeting career in the 1990s which amounted to nothing.  He’s played by Brad Pitt in a very Brad Pitt-type role.  He’s a jokey, playful, carefree character who goes “against the grain” like we saw in Moneyball, The Big Short, Bullet Train, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  Pitt also serves as producer with the film co-funded by his own Plan B Entertainment company.

Sonny is lured back into the sport when approached by a former driver, Ruben Cervantes (Bardem), desperate for help.  Ruben now runs the APXGP team but, having burned through $350 million over three years and not earned a single place on the podium, he’s reached the bottom of the barrel in search of answers.  He wants Sonny to serve as #2 driver for the team while also mentoring the young Noah Pearce (Idris) who has natural talent but lacks maturity and experience.  They’ve got 9 races to prove themselves or else it’s “curtains” for their respective careers.

The production values are top-notch.  Kosinski and his team had permission to shoot scenes on actual Formula One race weekends over two years and it’s why the sets, costumes and extras look so genuine.  They don’t have much in the way of speaking lines, but the film finds a way of incorporating a bunch of real-life commentators and drivers, including Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, into the drama.  The race sequences will get the blood pumping and composer Hans Zimmer (Interstellar) adds further energy with a pulsating music score, nicely showcased during the opening titles.  I’ll be adding it to my soundtrack collection!

It’s a shame the script doesn’t offer more.  It’s as if they filmed all the racetrack stuff first and tried to cobble together a narrative in the editing room.  I realise that’s not the case but it’s how the film comes across.  From Sonny Hayes rediscovering his skills with next-to-no training, to a group of ignorant investors with minimal knowledge, to a pioneering female engineer (Condon) who becomes a token love interest, to a pit crew member lacking confidence when changing tires… yeah, it’s hard to swallow.

While it has its fair share of positive attributes, F1 suffers by being a movie which “features” Formula One but is not “about” Formula One.

Directed by: David Cronenberg
Written by: David Cronenberg
Starring: Vincent Cassell, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt, Elizabeth Saunders, Jennifer Dale
Released: July 3, 2025
Grade: B

The Shrouds

 

If you’ve seen Naked Lunch, Crash, eXistenZ and Videodrome, you’ll known Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg is someone who gets audiences’ eyebrows raising.  A quick artificial intelligence search on the internet comes back with the following adjectives to describe his works – visceral, unsettling, disturbing, erotic, and psychological.  They’re all accurate and appropriate.

The Shrouds is his latest film and it’s based on a messed-up premise.  A savvy entrepreneur, Karsh (Cassel), has developed a unique business – a cemetery where cameras are placed inside buried coffins.  Loved ones can tap into the surveillance on their phones and watch the bodies decompose over time.  It’s a warped way to “stay in touch” with a deceased family member and Karsh crafted the idea when his wife passed away four years ago.  He’s now looking to roll out the niche idea out across the globe.

As you might expect, not everyone is a fan, and his cemetery is desecrated by vandals one evening who smash tombstones and uproot technology.  To make matters worse, they’ve hacked the cameras and locked clients out.  Are they after ransom money?  Is it intended to be a protest?  Do they perversely want to look at the dead bodies themselves?  Karsh doesn’t want to engage the local police and so he enlists his tech-savvy brother-in-law, Maury (Pearce), to obtain answers.  As this transpires, Karsh experiences a series of hallucinations involving his late wife which results in even more questions.  Weird and perverse enough for you?

I like the concept more than the narrative.  This idea of voyeuristic, 21st Century cemeteries is thought-provoking and will generate a range of views depending on your personal perspectives and ideologies.  Could something like this be constructed today?  The film’s whodunit elements are less compelling.  Cronenberg throws in red herrings (that’s a plus) but when it’s all wrapped up and the closing credits roll, I wasn’t fully satisfied by Karsh’s character arc and the mystery’s resolution.

It has taken over a year for The Shrouds to reach Australian cinemas after it premiered in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.  It’s interesting but not fully satisfying.