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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 May 2025

Final Destination premiered in 2000 with a novel idea.  A high school student foresees his death in a plane crash and so just before take-off, he freaks out and is removed from the aircraft along with his friends.  Lo and behold, the plane explodes into a fireball seconds after take-off. The kids are incredibly lucky but since the afterlife doesn’t like it when you “cheat the system”, Death comes after them one-by-one in a grizzly manner.  It may not have been the best inflight movie choice, but it spawned four sequels released between 2003 and 2011.

The characters continue to be killed in alarming fashion but the only thing that won’t die is the franchise itself.       After a 14-year hiatus, the creatives are back with Final Destination: Bloodlines.  I enjoyed the original but future instalments have disappointed by rehashing the same idea.  It’s reminiscent of the Saw franchise.  Instead of developing characters and creating interesting new plot points, it’s devolved into a series where the main talking points are the gruesome deaths.  Warped shock value will have it fans, particularly those into the horror genre, but it’s not enough for me.

There’s an early glimmer of hope that Final Destination: Bloodlines might be sufficiently different.  We start in the year 1968 when a young woman saves dozens of people at a rooftop restaurant when she accurately predicts a deadly disaster will take place.  The restaurant is evacuated and closed without a single fatality.  We then slip ahead to the current day and, yeah, Death has come knocking again but because of a particular event (which I won’t spoil), it’s also after the children of the survivors.  The narrative is centred on the Campbell family and their efforts to avoid Death’s grasp.

Try as it might, Final Destination: Bloodlines ultimately succumbs to its history and feels like a “same old, same old” cash grab taking next-to-no chances.  The characters aren’t worth caring about and their actions lack logic.  The writers concoct a series of increasingly bizarre deaths and, as if to pad the film’s running time, drag them out as long as possible with obvious visual clues in the lead-up.  The final half hour is contrived and there’s nothing to suggest you’ll remember much about the movie, except a few nasty beheadings, in the weeks to follow.

The 2020s have been a strong decade for the horror genre with releases including Talk to Me, Titane, The Substance, and Barbarian.  I wish studios spent more time finding these rich, original scripts instead of clinging to tired franchises which have been milked for all their worth.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 30 April 2025

If you think the current state of U.S. politics is a soap opera, wait until you see where things are at within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The last movie, Captain America: Brave New World, saw the President institutionalised after turning into giant red monster.  This time, the power-hungry director of the CIA, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Louis-Dreyfus), has been impeached by Congress for her involvement in O.X.E. Group, a secretive company engaged in illegal superhero-developing activities.

To ensure there’s no physical evidence which can be used against her, Fontaine enlists her cronies to destroy laboratories and torch evidence.  The last “loose ends” are a group of super-powered undercover agents she wants killed to ensure they don’t testify.  They include supporting characters we know from previous outings – Yelena Belova (Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt) and Antonia Dreykov (Kurylenko).  This eclectic crew become aware of Fontaine’s plan and if they have any chance of surviving, they must team up and fight back.

We’ve seen this formula utilised successfully by Marvel with the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.  I’m referring to a group of chatty “misfits” uniting in pursuit of a common good.  Thunderbolts* (yes, there’s an asterisk in the title) lays this theme on thickly at times but I liked the exploration of their darker personalities.

As an example, Yelena is a lonely, depressed figure who is scarred by her traumatic upbringing and the recent death of her sister.  Fontaine’s description is apt in that the light within Yelena is “dim even by Eastern European standards.”  Mental health issues can be tricky to depict visually, particularly within the confines of a CGI-laden action movie, but Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Little Women) calls on her full emotional range and makes an impact.

I can’t reveal names but Thunderbolts* is also to be praised for the most interesting villain we’ve seen since Thanos in the Avengers flicks of 2018 and 2019.  The way they dispense of innocent civilians is chilling (loved the simple, thudding sound effect) and the depiction of their mindset has a warped, Being John Malkovich-type quality.  Thumbs up to American director Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank) for not going overboard on action and maintaining the film’s humanity.  The comedic elements are well timed, but I did tire of Red Guardian’s (Harbour) continually jokey nature.

Closing out Phase Five, Thunderbolts* is one of the better entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to its script and performances.  As always, stay for the full closing credits!

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 02 May 2025

The title isn’t a metaphor.  This is a straightforward horror flick where yes, there’s a clown and yes, they’re in a cornfield.  The premise is centred on a teenager, Quinn (Douglas), and her father who have moved from the big city to a small industrial town following a family tragedy.  It’s the kind of place time has forgotten about.  The mobile reception is garbage, the buildings are rundown, and the residents are old-fashioned.

On the first day at her new school, Quinn becomes friends with a mischievous bunch who enjoy making scary clown films on their mobile phones and posting to social media.  It’s an odd hobby but it keeps them busy and brings out their creative sides.  With the stage set, it’s now time for the horror to kick in.  Another clown, unconnected to the teenagers, comes after them with murderous intentions.  Who will survive and who’s behind the nasty-looking mask?

The clown-theme will have audiences drawing parallels with Stephen King’s It but this isn’t as intricate or flashy.  It’s a more “routine” slasher movie that provides shock value through gruesome deaths (lots of fake blood) and a moderately interesting whodunit.  I went along for the ride but wasn’t convinced by the finale where instigators and motivations are revealed.  I understand the intention/themes of screenwriters Eli Craig and Carter Blanchard, who have drawn from a 2020 novel authored by Adam Cesare, but the more you think about it, the less sense it all makes.

As strange as it sounds, Clown in a Cornfield works best when trying to be comedy.  It’s not a full spoof (à la Shaun of the Dead) but when characters aren’t being murdered, they find time to playfully mock each other, joke about the absurdity of the situation, and offer memorable one-liners (like when trying to use an old rotary telephone).  The cast, headlined by young Canadian actors Katie Douglas (Ginny & Georgia) and Carson MacCormac (Shazam!), have the right tone and timing in selling the comedic elements.  They’re funny… without trying too hard to be funny.

It’s a shame the film culminates with a contrived, hard-to-believe finale but if you’re a horror fan in search of a simple entertainment, there are enough positives within Clown in a Cornfield to justify the 96-minute watch.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 28 April 2025

It’s hard to make a great film.  It’s even harder to make a successful one.  In a world where box-office is still below pre-pandemic levels and Hollywood blockbusters take a large chunk of cinema screens, it’s difficult for a low-budget independent film to get publicity and weave its way into the hearts of audiences.  As an example, The Correspondent is a terrific Aussie drama and yet, in its first weekend of release here, it made just 4% of that compared to A Minecraft Movie (in its third week).

The New Zealand-made Tinā is worth your attention as a feel-good flick but it’s also to be celebrated for breaking through commercially.  Released in late February 2025, it has generated $5 million in local ticket sales and is now the 6^th highest grossing Kiwi film in history.  For those interested, the five films ahead of it are Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Boy, The World’s Fastest Indian, Once Were Warriors, and Whale Rider.  Good company if you ask me!

Tinā is the tale of a Mareta Percival (Polataivao), a Samoan New Zealand woman who has accepted the role as a substitute teacher at a posh religious school.  Her colourful attire and progressive views create tension with the school board, but she soon becomes popular with a group of students in need in support.  Mareta brings them together and, much to the chagrin of the sabotaging Deputy Headmaster (Irvine), she starts a school choir to help them find their voice, physically and metaphorically.

The film is reminiscent of Mr. Holland’s Opus, Music of the Heart and School of Rock as it’s about a teacher’s efforts to instil a love of music in their students.  I realise this film has been immensely popular, but it uses too many cliches for my liking.  There’s zero nuance when it comes to the Deputy Headmaster and sports coach who are almost cartoonish with their over-the-top villainy.  Then you’ve got characters like the budding star of the rugby side (O’Meagher) who turns his back on the sport because he suddenly wants to sing instead.

That said, the film works is because of the wonderful lead performance of star Anapela Polataivao.  She’s created a fun, feisty leading character who we fall in love with because of past tragedies in her life, and how she’s prepared to stand up against the school’s bigwigs.  Mareta is not a perfect person though and writer-director Miki Magasiva spices up the script by showing how self-pity sometimes works against her.

Not afraid to push darker elements, Tinā is a likeable film that celebrates Samoan culture, puts a smile on your face, and showcases beautiful choir voices.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 02 May 2025

In 1993, upcoming director Ang Lee made The Wedding Banquet, a Taiwanese comedy about a semi-closeted gay man living in New York City who orchestrates a sham marriage with a Chinese woman to appease his conservative parents.  The film grossed $7m USD in the United States, won the lucrative Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign-Language Film.  It kickstarted the career of Lee who then made a slew of great movies of which, two won him the Oscar for best director – Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi.

For Californian-born filmmaker Andrew Ahn (Fire Island), The Wedding Banquet was the first gay-themed movie he ever watched.  It’s stuck with him ever since and it led him to this English-language “reimagining” of the material.  I wouldn’t call it a remake as many details have been changed to reflect today’s 21^st Century society but its intent is the same.  Blending comedy, drama and romance, this new adaptation is designed to provide entertainment while also shining the spotlight on gay and Asian cultures.

The film is centred on two couples who live together in Seattle.  Angela (Tran) is a long-term relationship with Lee (Gladstone) and the pair are trying to have a child together utilising in vitro fertilisation (IVF).  It’s an expensive procedure and with both struggling to stay on top of their personal finances, the process starts to take a strain on their relationship.  Adding to the tension is Angela’s reluctance about whether she’s ready to be a mum.

The other couple is Chris (Yang) and Min (Gi-chan).  Min is the wealthy heir of a lucrative Korean business empire, and having just finished his studies in the United States, his grandmother (Yuh-jung) wants him to return home and help run the company.  Min envisages a different life for himself and when an insecure Chris rejects his marriage proposal, he asks Angela for a “marriage of convenience” so that he can stay in the country and appease his family in Korea.  Grandma senses something is amiss and so she jumps on the first plane to the United States…

Not every joke works but The Wedding Banquet is still a fun ride.  77-year-old Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung, who won the supporting actress Oscar in 2021 for Minari, steals every scene as the inquisitive grandmother.  She’s the most “normal” person in the film – unafraid to ask curly questions while also being a kind-hearted confidante and a shoulder to cry on.  The lead characters are a touch too over exaggerated (borderline insane at times), but the four actors infuse them with distinctive, interesting personalities. 

If looking for an off-beat romantic comedy, The Wedding Banquet should do the job.