Film Review - Despicable Me 4 (2024)

Despicable Me 4 is the newest entry in the Despicable Me series and this time Gru (Steve Carrell) is enjoying family life and working for the Anti-Villain League when he apprehends Maxime Le Mai (Will Ferrell) but when he escapes with the help of his partner in crime (Sofia Vergara) he vows revenge against Gru and his new baby son could be the key to helping him do that.

Despicable Me 4 does what you expect from this series and in these shaky times in which we live in that was enough for me for the most part, we get Gru doing his thing, we get Lucy and the daughters doing theirs and we definitely get the Minions (some of whom become superheroes which goes about as well as you could expect) doing their thing and it all worked and the storytelling in these films can at times feel episodic which sometimes bothers me and sometimes not feels more focused here in terms of bringing the various strands of storyline together.

As for Gru and his family they go okay but again it’s not that much new, Carrell is still fun to listen to as the character and the family moments are fun as well but what helps this part of the film is a new character named Poppy voiced by Joey King, her side quest with Gru is great fun and delivered some good laughs.

What also delivered good laughs were the Minions and yes I still enjoy their visual gag comedy moments and they still deliver great out loud laughs instead of the odd chuckle or giggle here or there that most comedies can sometimes feel like or when movies/TV shows try for comedy only to fall flat on their face but not here and the Mega Minions who were featured in one of the previews for the film is also good fun.

Where I do feel this movie falls a little short is the Le Pens, don’t get me wrong their not bad villains but their also not as fun to watch as Wild Knuckles and his group were in 2022’s The Rise of Gru or Balthazar Bratt was in 2017’s Despicable Me 3 but their also not as unmemorable as the villains in the first 2 films, instead they feel more like a repeat of Scarlet Overkill and her partner in crime from the first Minions spin off film.

And so that was Despicable Me 4 and it’s good fun if not as fun as the last 2 films in this series, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Inside Out 2 (2024)

Inside Out 2 is the new Pixar film and the sequel to 2015’s Inside Out and this time Riley (Kensington Tailman) is turning 13 and her emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira) run their headquarters like a well oiled machine but when the Puberty alarm goes off on their console a wrecking crew comes in and a new console is installed and new emotions come in Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) and Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos) and they cast off the old emotions feeling they aren’t needed anymore but the old emotions still want to feel valid as well.

Inside Out 2 is a film that I have mixed feelings about, I don’t think it’s a bad movie per se but it’s also one that the more I think about it the more I find myself wishing it was a better movie.

But first what I do like first and foremost is Hawke as Anxiety from her fast talking, the way her hair looks like an explosion and how when she’s up and running it looks like a storm that consumes everything in it’s path and that character was a lot of fun to watch.

As for the other new emotions their okay but only really do one thing which is their core emotions, Embarrassment gets Embarrassed, Envy becomes envious and Ennui is bored by everything outside of their phone and I wish they had a little more to do in the film.

As for the old emotions again, Joy takes the lion share of the screen time and she has some good scenes but feels like the same over protective “my way or the highway” character she was in the first film and the other old emotions again don’t get a huge amount to do which is a bit of a shame as in the first film they felt like real characters who got their standout emotion moment and here you don’t really get either.

And this leads into why I feel mixed on this movie as watching it and thinking about it I wanted it to be better than it was, perhaps more emotional, more emotion character moments and a sense of growth and continuation now granted this movie deals with adolescence but not every kid goes through that time in their life the same way and I wish this sequel did that.

Instead this feels much more like Incredibles 2 than Toy Story 2 which I still feel is the gold standard of Pixar sequels and that film like this one was one that delivered a straight bat movie wise, it was out to give you exactly what you want and expect without rocking the boat too much and I wish the boat had been rocked more this time around as Toy Story 2 gave you something new, gave you a sense of growth and continuation and memorable moments for characters old and new.

But that also felt familiar in terms of its characters and storytelling to a certain extent and this movie doesn’t do that and I can see why as Disney has had a really bad time coming out of COVID (in both of my State of the Studios roundups from 2022 and 2023 they were in the bottom 2 places) and this is an easy sequel to make easy money and it delivers that but a part of me wanted something more to go along with the familiar like Toy Story 2 did.

And so that was Inside Out 2 and its okay if nothing you’ll go back to like you do with the first film or Toy Story 2 but given how good Pixar can be you want something better instead of middle of the road, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Watchers (2024)

The Watchers is the new film by Ishana Night Shyamalan (daughter of M Night Shyamalan who also produces this movie and has his own film Trap coming later this year) and concerns a young woman named Mina (Dakota Fanning) transporting a rare bird to an Irish Zoo but gets trapped in a mysterious forest and is later taken to the coup where Madeline (Olwen Fouere), Clara (Georgina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) reside and every night the Watchers come to watch them but there is more, much more to them than meets the eye.

The Watchers has some good ideas and visuals but it ultimately did very little for me as a film and I was keen to see what Shyamalan Jr was going to give us as I am a fan of her father, but it seems she’s learned some lessons from her old man except one key one which I’ll get to.

But first this movie looks pretty good with it’s bold oranges, dark tunnels, mysterious forests and effective atmosphere and it works fairly well in a dark cinema and the film has some good performances from its core cast members though I’m not as big a fan of Dakota as I am of her sister Elle but she’s fine here.

Plus this movie has some good ideas relating to other myths and legends but sadly I felt this movie felt a bit messy tone wise in regards to making these ideas feel fully formed in a way that didn’t feel like a tonal whiplash, at one point your in a horror setting and then it switches gears to something else entirely and those twists and turns didn’t feel as seamless for me.

And also what this movie lacks is memorable characters something that M Night’s films have had for the most part be it the Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Split and even most recently Old and Knock at the Cabin whereas here Ishana I felt didn’t learn that lesson as well but hey this is her first time up at bat whereas dear old dad’s been a seasoned pro for many years so some mistakes will be made, hopefully she gets better with future films.

And so that was the Watchers and it didn’t do an awful lot for me I’m sorry to say, hopefully Trap is better later this year, 1 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the fourth Bad Boys film and the second to be directed by Adil and Bilall who directed 2020’s Bad Boys for Life and this time Mike (Will Smith) has married Theresa (Tasha Smith) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence) has a heart attack at his wedding reception but the late Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) is later accused of being corrupt by his own Miami Police Department and so its up to the Bad Boys to do what they do and what they do best when they come for you.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is one of those films where I go “This does exactly what it says on the box in the video shop” and it is not a bad thing here as I had a good time watching it and firstly it was great to see Adil and Bilall back in the directors chair and showing themselves as talented action directors after the mess of Batgirl at Warner Brothers, here they craft some fun action scenes that don’t use to hyper shaky editing too much and they come up with some neat angles during those moments as well.

Secondly both Smith and Lawrence work well as a duo and their chemistry feels like a shorthand at this point, this film is funnier than 2020’s film For Life but for the most part the humour works here though there were some scenes early on in the film where it didn’t work for me but those don’t last long.

And lastly this movie had some decent villains in it, so many of these action/adventure/sci-fi/fantasy films fail miserably to deliver on this point but this movie had some good ones that helped to enhance the drama on screen and I am very glad for that.

And so that was Bad Boys: Ride or Die and it’s a fun time at the cinema, it doesn’t aim to be anything more than that and it delivers it very enjoyably, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the newest entry in the Mad Max series and George Miller is once again in the directors chair but this Furiosa story is a prequel to the 2015 entry Fury Road and sees a young Furiosa (Alyla Browne and then Anya-Taylor Joy) kidnapped from her home in the Green Place to be the prisoner of Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) who later battles it out with a younger Immortan Joe (Lacey Hulme) for control of the Wasteland while Furiosa seeks her righteous vengeance against Dr. Dementus.

Furiosa was a film that I had mixed feelings about before going to see it as I wasn’t the biggest fan of Fury Road in 2015 despite its rave reviews, for me it felt too much like the many many many imitators that came after the smash success of 1981’s Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior plus this film would not see Charlize Theron return to the role that she did such a good job with in that previous film but the previews for this film did do enough to make me interested.

And I was glad they did as this is a great time at the cinema, it’s not my favourite film of the year (Dune Part Two is and it’s not even close) but this is up there so far, Miller’s direction is very different than in Fury Road but I felt more effective as unlike Fury Road which was essentially a 20 minute chase scene extended to a 2 hour movie this one is willing to take its time a lot more to tell its story while still giving you the high energy kinetic action fans of this series expect and I liked that difference.

Also this movie is full of fun performances and it was great to spot some Australian actors in the cast particularly John Howard, Angus Sampson and Lacey Hulme who I liked more as Immortan Joe than the late great Hugh Keays-Burne who played the role in Fury Road, I also spotted young Quaden Bayles from Miller’s previous film 3,000 Years of Longing in a brief role and it was good to see him as well.

But before I talk more about Hemsworth I have to mention both Browne and Taylor-Joy as the young Furiosa, both do a great job sometimes with just their body language and facial expressions at embodying this role and doing Theron proud as I didn’t miss her in that role in the same way I missed Mel Gibson as Max when watching Tom Hardy play that character in Fury Road.

But as for Hemsworth he is simply fantastic here and he is clearly having a great time playing this character and it shows on screen, he’s equally amusing and menacing with his ocker accent and along with the Harkonnens in Dune Part Two is my favourite villain on screen this year.

Before I wrap this review up I must talk about this part of the film that to me felt like a disgrace and that is the near erasure of the involvement of Village Roadshow Pictures from the making of this movie, their logo and branding did appear on the initial previews but on the later previews and then the film itself it was nowhere to be found and may I just remind everyone reading this:

Roadshow Gave Warner Brothers this series TO BEGIN WITH!!!!! As when they were looking to take the original Mad Max film to overseas markets in 1979 they went to Warner Brothers as at that time they had a distribution partnership with them here in Australia and WB later produced Mad Max 2 and Beyond Thunderdome in the 80s and then Warner Brothers and Roadshow co-produced Fury Road together in 2015 in what felt like to me a full circle moment but with this movie, just Warner Brothers and before that here in Australian cinemas, the fucking Universal logo as WB at the end of 2020 took a near 50 year old distribution partnership with Roadshow and flushed it down the Dunny.

And given that Mad Max is predominantly a brand that means most to Australia as compared with the rest of the world it is very disappointing personally that Roadshow’s involvement with this movie has been swept away like this and before some think “That David Zaslav’s done it again, what an utter clown” the ending of the WB/Roadshow distribution partnership wasn’t his doing, it was something he inherited when he took over the studio in 2022 and I sincerely hope he puts it back together as that would make me a very very happy boy.

With that out of the way that was Furiosa and it is the most fun I’ve had in the cinema so far this year with a more engaging story, great action and fun performances, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - IF (2024)

IF stands for Imaginary Friends and is written and directed by John Krasinski and he also stars in it as a young father needing heart surgery which his young daughter (Cailey Fleming) is sad about as she has already lost her mother to illness beforehand, one day while living in her grandmother’s apartment (Fiona Shaw) she meets a neighbour named Cal (Ryan Reynolds) who runs a matching service for abandoned imaginary friends.

IF is a lot of fun and I had a big smile on my face, it made me emotional in places and it made me laugh on occasion while also thinking that Krasinski has delivered another winning film as writer and director (his 2 previous films were the first 2 A Quiet Place films which I also really liked) and along with Wonka from late last year is a good example of what family entertainment can be like for children and grown ups.

And Krasinski manages to balance the pathos and the lightness very well, the lighter moments are full of joy and good humour (I particularly like Steve Carrell as Blue, a big Grimace like imaginary friend) and the more mournful moments are handled with sincerity and touches of sadness that tugged at my heartstrings effectively enough.

The film’s Imaginary Friends are also a lot of fun to watch, there’s a slime creature, a unicorn, a marshmallow man and even a superhero bear amongst others and they feel creative and imaginative in their scenes and one touching one for me was an old teddy bear named Louie voiced by the late great Louis Gossett Jr and sadly he didn’t live to see this movie as he passed away earlier this year and it is a sad loss.

As for Ryan Reynolds I thought he was okay but for a lot of the film he acted like a bit of a grump and after a while I started getting a bit sick of it as Ryan is at his best when he’s either playing the smart ass like he does in the Deadpool movies or when he’s radiating good natured comedy that makes you smile and that isn’t really here for the most part and it hurts the movie to a certain extent.

And so that was IF and I really liked this movie, Krasinski delivers another winner and I hope families will go and give it a look but with Garfield, Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 coming up I suspect many will save their movie going money for either of those films, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the newest entry in the series and is directed by Wes Ball who you may remember from such films as the Maze Runner series, many generations have passed since the death of Caesar (Andy Serkis) at the end of 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes and Apes now rule the Earth with humanity regressing to a primitive state but a young Ape named Noa (Owen Teague) must travel beyond his village home when his clan is captured in a raid and what he finds will open his eyes to the world beyond.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was a movie that when I was watching it I was really enjoying it but the more I’ve sat with it it has faded for me a little bit, now this isn’t to say it’s a bad movie because it isn’t, it was just another film that I liked and then that was it for me.

Firstly the Visual Effects work here is remarkable, the way the performance capture work and the locations blend together is near seamless, I saw an interview with Wes Ball a while back where he talked about one of his big influences on this movie being the Avatar series from James Cameron and that influence shows here as you really believe the world of the film your in.

And the other part of this is what I call the scale framing, the way the 2.35:1 aspect ratio is used here to frame the locations is terrific as they are framed in the film in a way that makes you believe that the characters are looking at the locations the way you yourself might look at them with the human eye like how you view a great vista from on high or a sunset or how you look up at a building or a clifface or forest of trees, scale framing is very important and most movies don’t put a lot of effort into it being memorable but this movie does.

This movie also has some good performances in it as well, Owen Teague is good as Noa and he holds your attention well for the screen time he has, Peter Macon is also very good as Raka one of the few to really remember Caesar’s teachings from the 2010’s trilogy of Apes films while Kevin Durand is a good villain in Proximus the leader of the masked clan who want to be the dominant Ape tribe.

But this movie is also too long for me, the film runs for 140 minutes but it felt like a long 2 and a half hours and because of that I also felt that the storytelling felt a little stretched and had the film been around the 110 to 120 minute mark I think it would’ve been a much better film with a tighter pace to make its storytelling feel punchier and more focused.

And so that was the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and it’s a solid entry that doesn’t match the 1968 original or even the 2010’s trilogy but it won’t make a monkey out of you, 3 out of 5.