|
|
Silent Night
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
It's the willingness to actually take this kind of dumb action movie seriously, not having to shoot bad guys a dozen times to make sure they don't get back up, that makes this a classic John Woo movie - though there is a fair bit of that in there too.
Posted Nov 28, 2023
|
|
|
Thanksgiving
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Tonally this is a little shaky and the early promise of some serious satire is never really followed up on. But plenty of annoying losers die very gory deaths and that's exactly the point of this kind of film.
Posted Nov 20, 2023
|
|
2.5/5
|
Five Nights at Freddy's
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
With its mix of not-scary-enough horror and too-extensive backstory, this ends up feeling more like franchise maintenance than entertainment. It's a film that exists to further the brand rather than be enjoyable in its own right
Posted Oct 31, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
Expend4bles
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
If they're going to make Statham's Lee Christmas the star, time to latch onto the latest action trend. Set it during Christmas, give it a Christmas pun for a title, wrap some tinsel around a knife, and 5LAY RIDE is a sure-fire hit.
Posted Oct 17, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
The Creator
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Washington's performance comes direct from a smaller, better film, but those big science-fiction backdrops he's standing in front of definitely have an appeal of their own.
Posted Oct 08, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Retribution
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Efficiency is an underrated virtue in thrillers, and while there's not a lot that's new here, the basic emotional through-line - why is this happening to me, how can I keep my kids safe, how long before I can get revenge - is refreshingly solid
Posted Sep 21, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
The Nun II
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
The scares are decent concepts well executed - there's one involving a magazine stand that's a high point - but they're rarely truly scary. You get why the people in the film are freaking out; in the cinema, maybe not so much.
Posted Sep 07, 2023
|
|
|
Biosphere
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
In this loose-limbed and sometimes ramshackle buddy comedy what matters most is the chemistry between the leads, and Duplass and Brown are both charming and convincing as buddies
Posted Sep 06, 2023
|
|
|
The Equalizer 3
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
There's not a lot of suspense when McCall goes up against the bad guys, but there's definitely a lot of satisfaction. Both he and The Equalizer 3 get their deadly job done in admirably efficient fashion.
Posted Aug 30, 2023
|
|
|
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Despite all the early focus on gamers, Gran Turismo turns out to be a fairly traditional sports movie. Fortunately, it's a good one: sometimes sticking to the basics pays off.
Posted Aug 10, 2023
|
|
|
Sisu
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
At 90 minutes it gets the job done and then some with a minimum of messing about. If Finland wants to be the home of thrilling pulp action, they're off to a rip-roaring start.
Posted Jul 26, 2023
|
|
|
Oppenheimer
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
For a film touted for its stunning visuals and IMAX cinematography, it's surprising how much of this gripping film is just men in suits in small rooms; there are other ways for a film to be big, and when it counts this delivers big time
Posted Jul 19, 2023
|
|
|
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
This is a film stripped of all but the basics: all but gone are the shock betrayals and complicated high-tech heists, replaced by what seems to be the sole remaining selling point: Tom Cruise risking his life doing amazing and brutal stunts
Posted Jul 06, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Harrison Ford is a charming and charismatic actor (obviously), and here he's the star from start to finish. Everything else is good enough; it's a mostly fun romp where most of the parts work
Posted Jul 02, 2023
|
|
|
No Hard Feelings
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
No Hard Feelings works because both leads are believable, likable, often funny characters you want to see succeed. When the jokes don't work there's still reason to keep watching; when the jokes do - and they do most of the time - it's a winner.
Posted Jun 22, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Director Steven Caple Jr serves up a perfectly respectable and often exciting tale of giant transforming robots and the humans who love them, but the gleefully demented approach of previous franchise director Michael Bay is sometimes sorely missed
Posted Jun 21, 2023
|
|
|
The Flash
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
The story moves fast (sorry) and the action scenes are thrilling, but the big surprise here is how funny it often is. And while it's there, the angst isn't overdone - all of which makes this one of the more solidly satisfying DCU movies to date.
Posted Jun 14, 2023
|
|
|
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
As teen metaphors go, having a broken heart be your anchor in a world constantly exploding (both visually and emotionally) around you is better than most. Which handily is also where Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse falls on the superhero movie scale
Posted Jun 01, 2023
|
|
|
The Little Mermaid
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
It's no secret that the Disney version of The Little Mermaid doesn't have a whole lot in common with Hans Christian Andersen's original. It's a shame they didn't take as many liberties when they decided to remake their own version.
Posted May 25, 2023
|
|
|
Plane
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
A big part of the fun of Plane - and Plane is a lot of fun - is the way it rapidly cycles through genres fast enough to touch on all the good stuff without ever making it too obvious that we've seen it all before.
Posted May 17, 2023
|
|
|
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
This third and seemingly final installment is the kind of film with too much going on for everyone to like all the moving parts equally, but the high notes are high enough that the flat patches don't linger
Posted May 03, 2023
|
|
|
Polite Society
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Kicking arse in every possible way, Ria (Priya Kansara) is a powerhouse lead who deserves (and could easily carry) a dozen spin-offs.
Posted Apr 26, 2023
|
|
|
Air
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
This is a subdued return to directing for Affleck, and while the small scale helps the story - these guys really do feel like underdogs - this isn't a tale of sports excellence: these are marketing guys putting together a deal, and the winner is money.
Posted Apr 09, 2023
|
|
|
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
The story ticks all the fantasy boxes without feeling like an exercise in ticking boxes, but more important is the tone, which Honour Among Thieves gets exactly right - it's funny without making fun of itself
Posted Mar 29, 2023
|
|
|
John Wick: Chapter 4
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
This film is intentionally too much of a good thing, everything dialed up to eleven in a way that reflects Wick's own exhaustion even as he beats down a dozen goons using nunchucks
Posted Mar 23, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
This manages - at least some of the time - to hang onto the charm of the first film, even if there's a little too much going on and not all the jokes land.
Posted Mar 17, 2023
|
|
|
Scream VI
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Scream VI feels fresher than you'd expect a sixth film to be, with just enough brutality to the murders to keep things on edge
Posted Mar 09, 2023
|
|
|
Creed III
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
When it comes to delivering genre thrills, Creed III really knows the ropes, powered by a pair of knockout performances that pack the kind of punch that'll leave you flat on the canvas
Posted Mar 01, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Cocaine Bear
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
This is not just a collection of scenes in which a crazed bear eats people, which is cinema's loss as every single scene that doesn't involve Cocaine Bear eating people is completely forgettable.
Posted Feb 23, 2023
|
|
|
Knock at the Cabin
(2023)
|
Anthony Morris
|
At just over 90 minutes and with the action almost entirely confined to the cabin, this is about as small scale as apocalypses get, driven by the idea that we'll want the characters to do the right thing rather than the entertaining thing
Posted Feb 02, 2023
|
|
|
Tár
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Tar (and Cate Blanchett) dominates her world through sheer force of personality, and she builds that personality in every conversation. It's when she stops talking - and people realise they can stop listening - that her world falls apart
Posted Jan 26, 2023
|
|
|
M3GAN
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
We all know how this story goes, and the instantly meme-able M3gan is programmed to give us exactly what we came for - sassy one-liners, smooth dance moves, and a murderous rampage most of the cast don't believe is happening until its too late
Posted Jan 13, 2023
|
|
|
The Banshees of Inisherin
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
The suffocating nature of a small community is on full display here, with petty grievances and barely-concealed sins all around. And yet it's also an extremely funny film, long past the point where you'd expect the laughs to fade
Posted Dec 24, 2022
|
|
|
The Menu
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
This is a full-bodied swipe at foodie culture from top to bottom. If you're worried you might miss the joke, don't worry - chances are you know more about food than you think.
Posted Nov 21, 2022
|
|
3/5
|
Ticket to Paradise
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
It’s not like Roberts and Clooney are without their charms, yet the end result here is little more than a forgettable wander through some scenic countryside waiting for the sun to go down and the drinks to come out.
Posted Oct 24, 2022
|
|
|
Barbarian
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Barbarian is the kind of film where pretty much everything beyond the initial set-up is a serious spoiler. It's packed with twists and misdirects, all of which are in service to one thing only: making this the wildest, scariest ride possible.
Posted Oct 19, 2022
|
|
|
Fall
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Director Scott Mann knows that when you're this far off the ground doing pretty much anything is extremely risky, and the "less is (usually) more" approach cranks the tension high while still keeping things grounded
Posted Sep 22, 2022
|
|
|
The Retaliators
(2021)
|
Anthony Morris
|
The Retailators moves from zombie levels of gore to hard-boiled crime and back again with the kind of ease that films with five times its budget can only envy.
Posted Sep 09, 2022
|
|
|
Orphan: First Kill
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
While at first this seems to be a solid but unsurprising retread of the original that's content to hit many of the same beats, events rapidly spiral down a new and almost as demented path. Sometimes a pint-sized serial killer just can't catch a break.
Posted Sep 01, 2022
|
|
|
The Black Phone
(2021)
|
Anthony Morris
|
At heart this is a well-oiled suspense thriller where angry ghosts provide plot shortcuts, but the horror moments can be genuinely disturbing.
Posted Jul 17, 2022
|
|
|
Men
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
[director] Garland isn't all that interested in explaining much of anything that's going on here, at least not on any kind of logical level. It's a horror movie titled Men: that's pretty much all you need to know to get the gist.
Posted Jun 16, 2022
|
|
|
Top Gun: Maverick
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
As a glossy, fast-moving fantasy this hits all the right notes, serving up cliches with a smile and fan service with a wink while still delivering plenty of thrills.
Posted May 26, 2022
|
|
3/5
|
How to Please a Woman
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
This is a surprisingly sensitive (considering the set-up could have come from a 70s sex comedy) look at what it is that women want, and it turns out it's a man who's good at cleaning and good in bed
Posted May 19, 2022
|
|
|
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
This isn't an interrogation of Cage's career, or even a celebration of it; it's just a fun romp about a struggling movie star who just happens to look exactly like Nicolas Cage
Posted Apr 21, 2022
|
|
|
The Northman
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
The secret to The Northman's success is simple: it delivers everything you could want from a Viking movie.
Posted Apr 20, 2022
|
|
|
Ambulance
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
It's definitely entertaining in a shouty way, but while there's always something happening - removing a spleen, dodging snipers, singing along to Christopher Cross - it almost always feels like the same thing
Posted Apr 06, 2022
|
|
|
X
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
The characters (and the performances) are strong enough to make sure this avoids the usual pitfalls that come with making a film about film-making, giving the slaughter just enough of an emotional core to keep it from being a collection of flashy slashes
Posted Mar 24, 2022
|
|
3/5
|
Uncharted
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Holland is the real draw here and he gives it all he's got, providing a charming, relentlessly likable performance that's easily the best thing about this film.
Posted Feb 18, 2022
|
|
3/5
|
Blacklight
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
Neeson is given various bits of personal business to keep him occupied, and there are a handful of striking and well thought out action scenes, but at times this feels like he's been dropped into a story that really doesn't need him.
Posted Feb 11, 2022
|
|
|
Death on the Nile
(2022)
|
Anthony Morris
|
If you're on this film's wavelength and not just wishing you were watching Knives Out instead, Branagh's approach as director is clearly the right way to go
Posted Feb 10, 2022
|
>