Film Review - Wicked for Good (2025)

Wicked for Good is the follow on to 2024’s Wicked based off of the Broadway musical and again sees Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo return as Glinda and Elphaba respectively, the story here sees Elphaba determined to prove to the people of Oz that the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) is a fraud but Ozians have become afraid of the Wicked Witch and Glinda must decide whether to fight her friend or try and save her.

I was so keen for this movie for much of this year (only Avatar Fire and Ash I had anticipated more) because I was so thoroughly charmed by the first movie, it had good songs, it had a good visual feel and it had those wonderful wonderful performances by Grande and Erivo at its core and I had really hoped that Wicked For Good would be a Dune Part Two situation where part one was great but part two was something special.

Sadly however that did not happen this time as this movie is nowhere near as fun or as charming as the first film and first reason why is the musical numbers, more often than not they brought the film to a halt too many times for my liking, a good musical will let the songs help to drive the story and bring that part of it to a good climax but here it feels like the movie stops so the songs can start and one song in particular wants so much to be like the Mob Song from Beauty and the Beast but it has not one tenth of the Mob Songs punch or impact.

Secondly the storytelling here is a mess and a big reason for this is the attempts to tie this part of the story into the events of the Wizard of Oz movie and those tie ins and call backs and references felt so obvious and predictable that I was reminded of how Madame Web tied into the broader Spider-man universe with equally as obvious and predictable results.

Thirdly the look of Oz here feels so dull and lifeless, now that criticism was there for the first film but I didn’t really buy into it whereas here I did and again I think that is because of those tie ins to the Wizard of Oz which was so groundbreaking for its use of colour in film in 1939 and in contrast Oz has that standard digigrey murkiness that we see too often nowadays.

And lastly the cast feels wasted here, Grande and Erivo are as good as ever but they only really work in this movie when they share scenes together, Jeff Goldblum was an inspired choice to play the Wizard but here his singing is terrible while Michelle Yeoh was okay as Madame Morrible but her singing isn’t great either while Jonathan Bailey is wasted here as the Prince.

And so that was Wicked for Good and talk about a big downgrade from the first movie to the second, I recommended the first film without question last year but this time I cannot and I take no pleasure in saying that one little bit, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - The Running Man (2025)

The Running Man is based off of the Stephen King story and is also the new film by Edgar Wright, the story concerns Ben Richards (Glen Powell) who has been blacklisted from being hired for a job after an incident with his previous employment and needs money to care for his sick daughter so he auditions for a TV show called the Running Man which is produced by Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) and hosted by Bobby T (Colman Domingo) and Richards has to hide for 30 days from the Network and the Public who win prizes for Dobbing him into the show before he can win the grand prize of a billion dollars and that will not be easy.

I love Edgar Wright as a filmmaker I really do but outside of the Cornetto series he made with Simon Pegg I haven’t loved the movies he’s made and going into Running Man that feeling kept coming back but could Edgar run from that problem or would be the one he can never really escape from.

Well it’s a bit of both as I did have a good time at this movie until its ending but before I go more into that I will go into what does work and first off Wright’s direction is as tight and solid as ever, he’s clearly going for a Paul Verhoeven esque feeling of the future that you saw in his Sci-fi films like Robocop and Starship Troopers and if anyone can replicate that style well enough it is Edgar and he does so pretty well, the editing by Paul Machliss is good as well keeping the pace nice and tight wherever possible while also knowing when to slow things down.

And the cast are pretty good too, Glen Powell makes for an effective leading man and you want to see him succeed in the Running Man game, Josh Brolin and Colman Domingo are a lot of fun as the producer and host behind the show while Katy O’Brian is fun in a small role and Michael Cera reunites with Edgar Wright after working with him on Scott Pilgrim and has a fun if brief role.

But where this film does fall down is its ending because it really feels like it comes right out of nowhere in the worst possible way and I sat there in my seat going “what the fuck” and after that point the film really lost me and I’m someone who will defend the ending of Last Night in Soho because at least I pegged early on in that film that that was kind of coming even if the film crash lands getting to that point but here no such luck as it just derailed the whole experience for me.

And so that was the Running Man and until the ending it’s a good solid time that is far from Edgar Wright’s best, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Frankenstein (2025)

Frankenstein is based on the Mary Shelley Book and is directed by Guillermo Del Toro and concerns Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) who wants to overcome the nature of death in life and seeks to create the perfect creature but those who play God should be careful what they wish for.

Frankenstein is quite enjoyable and this feels like a natural story for Guillermo Del Toro to make into a movie given that so many of his movies deal with monsters and gods and the role of humanity in those stories be it Pan’s Labyrinth or Pacific Rim or his Oscar winning The Shape of Water and here he does a great job with the writing and directing of the film and visually this movie is immaculate, the production design by Tamara Devell, the costume design by Kate Hawley, the music score by Alexandre Desplat and the cinematography by Dan Lausten are fantastic and I really feel for those who will not watch this in a dark cinema instead of at home on Netflix because it really looks great on the big screen.

Most of the cast also delivers as well, Jacob Elordi deserves an Oscar nomination for his work here as Frankenstein the creature, the way he moves/the way he walks/the way he gestures himself with his body language and his voice is really impressive and I don’t know if the movie would work as well if he wasn’t as good in the role, Mia Goth is also very good in a small role as well along with Charles Dance/David Bradley and Christoph Waltz in their roles.

But someone I didn’t like as much was Oscar Isaac as Dr Frankenstein himself, after a while his portrayal left me a little cold as it started to feel a little one note in terms of his obsessions and his desire for vengeance against his own creation and that didn’t work as well for me but these things happen.

And so that was Frankenstein and its quite good and if you can see it in a cinema please do so you will not be disappointed, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Black Phone 2 (2025)

The Black Phone 2 is the sequel to the 2022 horror film The Black Phone and again sees Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill return as director and writers respectively, Finn (Mason Thames) has been trying to live his life since being abducted by the Grabber (Ethan Hawke) but one day his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) has bad dreams about an old youth camp in the Colorado Mountains and her and Finn go to investigate.

The Black Phone 2 is not as good as the first one but this is also a watchable sequel and the first reason for that is the locale, the Colorado Mountains with its abundance of snow, a near empty youth camp and a frozen lake makes for a great location and the use of blizzard like winds really helps to add to the tension of the film.

What also makes this movie work is the cast, Thames is good here like he was in the first film and Hawke is also great as the Grabber but this is really Madeleine McGraw’s movie as Gwen is much more of a co-lead this time around and she more than steps up to the plate nicely.

But where this movie does sadly fall over somewhat is in its storytelling, the Grabber was a memorable horror foe in the first film whereas here he feels more like a riff on Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street and while the film does a good job distinguishing between Gwen’s dream world and the real world the dream sequences after a while kept making me think of “1, 2, Freddy’s Coming for You” and it didn’t work as well for me because of that.

And so that was the Black Phone 2 and while its not as good as the first film I still enjoyed this sequel enough to recommend it, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - The Travellers (2025)

The Travellers is the new movie by Bruce Beresford and stars Luke Bracey as Stephen an Opera set designer living in Europe who returns home to Western Australia to visit his dying mother and elderly father (Bryan Brown) as well as his sister Nikki (Susie Porter) but when family sometimes comes back together it can be an uneasy time.

I mainly saw the Travellers because of Bryan Brown being in the movie and it is a sweet little movie that I enjoyed watching, Brown is a loveable old grump here and he generates a lot of the films best comedic moments, Bracey is also good as the slightly ponce son who has gone overseas to find his way in the world and he also has a good easy going charm about him that I liked, Porter is also good as Nikki the concerned sister who wants to protect her father as much as possible.

The film also has some nice Western Australian scenery in it as well from the lovely city views of Perth to the rural areas where water glistens on the sun, the pub is central and the desert isn’t too far away and also I enjoyed Celia Hassingham as Jenny, a former flame of Stephen’s based in Perth and she had that great Perth look about her as well especially in one scene where she wears a nice blue dress.

And so that was the Travellers, not much to say here but it is an enjoyable little movie that is worth seeing, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - One Battle After Another (2025)

One Battle After Another is the new movie by Paul Thomas Anderson and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, once a member of the revolutionary group the French 75 who leaves to raise his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) but an old enemy of that group Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn) resurfaces to find the remaining members and the chase is on to evade him and the authorities.

I had heard so much hype for this movie before I got the chance to see it which was 2 weeks or so after its national release date because of its release during the School Holidays period here in Australia and the hype began to build more and more but when I finally got to see it could it live up to that hype or fall under the weight of it.

Well sadly it is a case of the latter, now none of that is to say that I think it is a bad movie as it isn’t but it was also not as good as I had hoped nor was it as good as the hype I had read for it but before I delve more into that there is plenty to like here.

Firstly the film is well made, I’ve not really gotten into Paul Thomas Anderson as a director (I’ve only seen a small handful of his movies and the rest haven’t interested me enough to track them down to watch) but he clearly knows his stuff and he does a good job directing the film, the editing by Andy Jurgensen is exceptional and should win him an editing Oscar for his work here as while the film is long you rarely feel it and the pace of the film is tight and concise and you rarely feel the length as a result.

The music score by Jonny Greenwood is also very good here as well with one music cue in particular towards the end of the film reminding me a lot of Mad Max 2 in terms of how it sounded.

And also the film has a slew of good performances, Chase Infiniti is in her big screen debut here and she is excellent, more than holding her own against titans like DiCaprio and Penn with ease even though I’m sure she was extremely nervous to be in a big movie like this first time around, Regina Hall and Teana Taylor are also very good even though their roles are smaller and Taylor in particular has only a very small role at that in the film.

Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro deserve Oscar nominations for their work here, Del Toro is my actor of the year with his role here and in the Phoenician Scheme as he steals the scenes he’s in and shows a deft hand for comedy in both of those roles, Penn is an excellent villain and his drive to do his duty and bring justice to the French 75 make him a compelling villain and I loved watching that role unfold on screen.

But here is where my issues with the film will begin and first off I have to start with DiCaprio’s character, Leo himself is perfectly good in the role and balances his leading man persona with his eccentric goofball qualities well but the character of Bob Ferguson at times feels as much a reactive character than a proactive character and I wish he was more proactive as a leading character as his reactiveness bothered me a little after a while.

And also the French 75 as a resistance group came across as more amateurish than not in much of the film and for me that dragged down the overall storytelling as most resistance groups or revolutionary outfits throughout history or other works of fiction either feel like and/or come across as more professional and disciplined outfits with a tight circle formed around them and/or acting very much on a need to know basis so that in the event that someone from the resistance cell or broader unit is captured they don’t compromise the rest of the group.

Here all too often it feels like whenever they or friends of Willa’s come under even the slightest amount of questioning or interrogation they immediately crack and give up the information the officers want and that really began to grate with me because it made me think “you guys really suck at this” because any real friend of Willa’s wouldn’t dob her in unless under extreme duress and a proper resistance movement wouldn’t give out sensitive information so easily like you see in this movie.

And it makes me wish those interrogation scenes were darker scenes, one gets waterboarded for example or another is tortured, Lockjaw is a good villain but all too often those under him go easy on those they question and it really got my goat a little as it robs the film of a certain sense of danger or tension that you want to be there with a movie about characters on the run who risk getting caught at every turn they take and every corner they cross, Andrew Davis’s The Fugitive from 1993 does this brilliantly.

And lastly this movie has a side plot in it regarding Penn’s character that ultimately didn’t really add up to much in the broader storytelling and didn’t really need to be there as Lockjaw’s motivations were already perfectly clear by that point and didn’t need anything new added to them.

And so that was One Battle After Another and this was a big letdown for me and I wish I had gotten to see it either before or just as the hype for it had taken off because I probably would’ve liked it more than I ultimately do and again this is not to say it’s a bad movie it isn’t but it was one that was also not as good as I had hoped or not as good as the hype, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Bad Guys 2 (2025)

The Bad Guys 2 is the sequel to the 2022 animated movie The Bad Guys and sees Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Tarantula (Awkafina), Shark (Craig Robinson) and Snake (Marc Maron) trying to go good but struggling to adapt when they hear about a heist regarding the MoonX Space Rocket but they aren’t the only group interested in the rocket.

The Bad Guys was a fun animated movie that had a loveable cast of rogues, good animation and some good twists and turns along the way and I was pleasantly surprised by it but this is a sequel and well these can easily go bust.

Happily this one isn’t as I had as much fun with this film as I did with the first film and for a lot of the same reasons, firstly the cast are as lovable and roguish as ever and though they are now trying to live life on the straight and narrow they still can’t say No when a good heist comes along and the voice cast play off each other well and Wolf is turning into one of Sam Rockwell’s best roles.

The film also has some good animation that feels less like the Pixar style and more like the Spider-Verse sketchbook style and while this style doesn’t quite work as well in computer animation as compared to traditional hand drawn animation it still is good to see and I enjoyed the animation work done here.

And lastly this movie has some good villains in a rival criminal gang (Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne and Maria Bakalova) who looked up to the Bad Guys and want to heist the MoonX Rocket and they are good to watch as well.

And so that was the Bad Guys 2 and it’s a case of if you liked the first film you’ll like this one too and this has become a surprisingly solid animated film franchise and I’ll happily sit down for a third film but given the low box office for this sequel I don’t see it happening, 3 out of 5.