The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

3/10

Starring the voices of

Chris Pratt

Anya Taylor-Joy

Charlie Day

Jack Black

Keegan-Michael Key

 

Directed by: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic

 

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is soulless and boring, even though it is well animated. For a movie which already had a good layup from the massive take in of the first movie, this to me was a big letdown. This movie was done by Illumination Studios and based on all the work they have been doing, I am starting to think all these sequels are beginning to burn out their creativity, because this movie is all about nostalgic references with an all-star voice cast, which I have to say were epic.

Now remember how the first movie had the Peaches moment, where Bowser was singing that wonderful song with the beautiful Jack Black showing off his vocal range? Well, this movie does not have anything like that, there is no magic moment, no key thing that made me go, “Hey! This happened.”

All I have is a wonderful voice cast, which represented each character in a way I would think they would sound in my head, and animation filled with stuffed references like the producers had a checkmark on all the game references they needed to get done.

So, as you know, the movie is an adaptation of the Super Mario game, specifically Super Mario Galaxy, and it features two princesses, Peach and Rosalina, alongside Mario, Luigi, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser and Bowser Jr.

Here is what the movie is actually about. We get a glimpse of the past in this story of Rosalina and Peach as sisters, when Rosalina sent Peach to the Mushroom Kingdom to keep her safe.

Now the movie itself starts with Bowser Jr. kidnapping Rosalina, and one of the Lumas she cares for escapes and reaches Peach to tell her what happened. Peach leaves to rescue her sister and puts Mario and Luigi in charge of the Kingdom. Bowser Jr. then attacks the Mushroom Kingdom trying to free his father Bowser, who at this point is a miniaturised prisoner in Peach's castle and genuinely trying to reform himself.

Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Bowser end up on their own trail across space trying to find Peach. Bowser was so reformed that even when he got his size and power back, he stayed with Mario. When Bowser Jr. eventually rescues his father, he is able to pull Bowser back to the dark side by reminding him of who he is.

The story that ties them all together is thin and jumps from what is supposed to be a redemption father and son arc for Bowser, to a save the princess, save the universe arc for Peach. Then there is the connection between Princess Peach and Princess Rosalina as sisters and, let me not forget, a small taste of romance brewing between Mario and Peach.

There are too many things happening in this movie and nothing sticks, it all plays around a reference stuffed animation that, if not for the coffee, I would have dozed off.

So yes, the animation is good, colourful and memorable, the voice casting is amazing and I specifically enjoyed hearing Jack Black again, and worth noting, Brie Larson as Rosalina and Donald Glover as Yoshi were both excellent, but that is about it for this movie as it was just lacking anything that could have made it matter.

So I think you have a better chance of enjoying yourself playing the game again than going to see this movie.

 

Mortal Kombat II (2026)

 

Mortal Kombat II (2026)

 

6/10

Starring

Karl Urban

Adeline Rudolph

Jessica McNamee

Josh Lawson

Ludi Lin

 

Directed by: Simon McQuoid

 

Mortal Kombat II is actually fun to watch, but the issue I had with it, and I think many will, is that it seems the show wanted to focus on big-time actor Karl Urban, with the hope of drawing more people to come see it.

I liked the effects, and right from the start the show is packed with a lot of fights, which keeps going fight after fight, making it easy to enjoy the film because, if not for the action, the bad dialogue and cheesy lines would have made this a disaster.

Now special effects wise and acting wise, I actually was impressed by the cocky Johnny Cage, played by Karl Urban. It was not too flimsy or too serious, it was played with the right touch of both to make you like the character, even if the events around him were not pleasing.

Mortal Kombat 2 follows from part 1, but the good thing is I went to watch it with someone who has not seen part 1 and knows nothing about the whole thing, yet was still able to keep up because part 2 is very good in that aspect of the writing. It fills you in on things, except the Scorpion and Sub-Zero biff, so Earthrealm’s fighters are ready to defend their realm.

This time the real Mortal Kombat is taking place, not just the path to it, which I also liked.

So Earthrealm fighters go one on one with their Outworld counterparts, and there are five fights, with the group that has more fighters standing winning.

But Earthrealm is short one fighter, so Johnny Cage, a washed-up actor, is brought into the team while Liu Kang, Sonya, Jax, and Cole train for a brutal conflict that could decide the fate of Earth.

Now the many directions this show could have taken that would have made this a masterpiece were ignored, instead the show created and forced many situations just to make Johnny Cage, Karl Urban, the star. They wanted to make him the focus, and when in the end they needed to destroy the amulet that held Raiden’s power, it had to be his shadow kick that did it, not the blast from Jade, the laser from Kano, or the fire from Scorpion.

I felt that was bad writing on display, and the way the show handled Kung Lao cutting Raiden, then trapping his powers, was just filled with holes.

How come Raiden did not heal instantly, but Shao Kahn does when he had the amulet? How come Raiden then healed instantly when he was about to be attacked by Shang Tsung?

Look, this is a fine film, which I enjoyed watching in the cinema, but I will advise you to go see this with your brain switched off, or else you are going to hate this movie and wish the writers made a better effort.

 

Incarnation (2022)

 

Incarnation (2022)

 

3/10

 

Starring

Tsai Hsuan-yen

Huang Sin-ting

Kao Ying-hsuan

Sean Lin

RQ

Directed by: Kevin Ko

 

 

The movie starts with an idea of hope, then it just ends the way I expected it to, everyone dies.
Oops, spoilers.

This movie borrows ideas from The Blair Witch Project and The Ring, but the bottom line is, I did not like it. I was asked to see it by my wonderful sister from another mother, because she wanted to hear my thoughts on her thoughts about the movie. So, looking forward to that discussion.

I expected a fun time seeing this, but what I got instead was that feeling that this movie wants to drag out fear in me rather than actually make me scared. Halfway into the movie, and I have to be honest, it felt like nothing was even happening.

Some things in this movie, makes me wonder the logic or common sense in these people’s decision.

Rohan and her two friends go to a village to investigate whether the supernatural things done there are real, and then weird things start happening. One of which is, the people who conduct the rituals locked them in a room after being asked to follow their rules and they refused. They break out, and instead of now leaving, they decide, “let us sneak around some more.”

Then they find a girl who is in critical condition, instead of leaving with her to the hospital, one of them team decides to go explore a spooky tunnel and the other follows.

I was like, call me stupid, but this does not make sense.

But this movie all together does not add up to anything remotely coherent.

In this movie, the child actors are just amazing, they carry the movie better than the adults do.

So what is this movie about? Well, as I said above, a lady named Rohan went to a village with two of her friends to cover a spiritual ritual. Rohan happens to be pregnant, and when they get there, she is asked to leave.

As you can guess, she does not, and they start sneaking around recording things they were told not to. What happens next is exactly that, the two men go to explore the tunnel and never come back, or never came back the same.

So what happens to Rohan? Well, she has her child, and she suffers a mental breakdown because of it, putting her child into foster care.

Later, she gets the child back, and then weird things start happening on day one of the child being back with her.

It is obvious the time in the village something has entered the child, and that thing wants to kill everyone and anyone who saw the footage of the tunnel.

One of the other issues I have with this movie is the time jump between now and six years ago. It just happens, and I always have to catch myself to be sure what time period I am looking at.

There are also times when the found footage does not make sense. There is a moment where she is fleeing with the man who helped care for her daughter, and she is recording. Then later, when she feeds her daughter and the spiritual horrors start to happen, she goes to the shop of the couple who helped her, pushing her child in a wheelchair while recording everything with a camera.

I am like, time and place.

In the end, was I scared? No.

I just felt like this is why I do not watch horror movies anymore, because they do not make sense, and the fear factor is not real to me anymore.

The Legend of Hei 2 (2025)

 

The Legend of Hei 2 (2025)

7/10

 Starring the voices of

 Shan Xin

Liu Mingyue

Zhu Jing

 

Directed by: MTJJ (Ping Zhang)

 

The Legend of Hei 2, to me, is just as good as the first one, and as I said in the previous review, both movies beat Ne Zha 1 and 2 when it comes to pure fun and excitement.

That said, the first half of this second part can drag a bit, and I felt the motivation behind the growing conflict between the spirits and the humans was not explained clearly enough. It takes its time setting things up, sometimes too much time, and you can feel the pacing slow down as the movie focuses on discussions instead of movement.

But once it picks up, my my, the fights and battles are memorable.

The animation artwork makes every action scene look slick and fluid, and when this movie decides to go all out, it really goes all out. The depiction of Naza, a clear parody of Ne Zha, is far far better here than the version we get in the Ne Zha movies themselves, and his fight with Wuxian was genuinely cool to watch. Also, the moment when Wuxian takes on multiple spirits to stop them from going into full war with humans is a must see.

Still, the best fight in the movie is when Hei and Luye take on the elder, and Hei removes his restrictions. That moment alone made the whole build up worth it. Class.

I watched this in the original Chinese language with subtitles, and I have to say the voice acting carries this movie emotionally and dramatically, especially during the quieter moments between fights.

Story wise, this continues directly after the first movie. Hei has been training under Wuxian when he suddenly gets summoned to the guild. It is there we learn that several spirits have been killed using a special kind of wood that carries spiritual power, and surveillance footage shows the person responsible appears to be Wuxian. Of course, we all know this is a setup, because he is clearly the good guy, so the real mystery becomes who framed him and why.

We are also introduced properly to Luye, the last disciple of Wuxian before Hei. She has a deep hatred for humans, and her distant nature clashes heavily with Hei’s more hopeful, can we all get along outlook.

By the end, I did not feel like I wasted my time at all, and honestly, I walked away feeling like this story needs a part 3.

So this is a fine animation to see.

The Legend of Hei (2019)

The Legend of Hei (2019)

7/10

Starring the voices of

 Emi Lo

Aleks Le

Howard Wang

 

Directed by: MTJJ (Ping Zhang)

One thing I can tell you is this, the first few minutes of this animation are very captivating. This Chinese animated film has a wonderful English voice cast that captures every moment, and the animation art style fits the feel of the story perfectly. It was only after seeing this movie that I realized it is actually a prequel to the Chinese animated series, The Legend of Luo Xiaohei.

The fight animation is very well crafted, and the movie keeps you at arm’s length when it comes to what is really happening, allowing curiosity to slowly get the best of you. The film does not play around when it comes to excitement from the very beginning, and because of that, there is a slight point of letdown later on.

After the introduction, we move into a chase centered around rescuing Hei, a spirit cat who is captured by Infinity, a human with spirit-like powers. During this capture, Hei begins bonding with Infinity, and we reach a point where the movie wants us to question which side is good and which side is bad. This is where the pacing starts to drop, as there is a lot of dialogue about Stormend, his goals, and the goals of the guild.

To put all this into a clearer narrative, here is the plot. Set in a modern world where humans and spirits secretly coexist, this Chinese animated fantasy follows Hei, a young cat spirit whose forest home is destroyed by human expansion, forcing him into the human world. He is lost, alone, and angry over his loss when he encounters Stormend, another spirit who takes him in and introduces him to a group of spirits living together.

Their home is later attacked by Infinity, which leads to Hei being captured and placed at the center of a much larger conflict involving territory, balance, and coexistence. Hei meets other spirits who belong to Infinity’s guild, a group that believes strict rules are necessary to maintain peace between humans and spirits. This belief clashes directly with Stormend’s views, which lean in the opposite direction.

The film blends gentle slice-of-life moments with bursts of fluid action, which works well with its soft visual style. However, during the calmer sections, the pacing can slow to a crawl before the action pulls it back up again. And then, the lack of full knowledge of everyone’s intent, even when you are more than an hour in, can be a disappointment, as the curiosity withers.

Overall, the movie explores themes of displacement, moral complexity, and finding where you belong. It is a good film and worth watching if you have not seen it already, especially with part two released in mid 2025, which makes it easy to continue the story right after.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

 

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

8/10

 

Starring          

Daniel Craig

Josh O'Connor

Glenn Close

Josh Brolin

Mila Kunis

 

Directed by: Rian Johnson

 

I like this movie a lot for one main reason, the details.

This movie is packed with details that make it very easy to follow and at the same time very easy to trick you. The level of misdirection here is classy, you really will not guess who the culprit is, and the way information is planted feels intentional rather than loud. Those same details also make it easy to see this movie exactly as it is meant to be, a standalone mystery that you can enjoy without needing to have seen the two films before it.

The cast gave it their all, because the performances alone in the first five minutes are enough to make you sit back and settle in, as the movie slowly pulls you into this world of mystery and invites you to solve the case alongside Benoit Blanc. It is the third film in the Knives Out series on Netflix, written and directed by Rian Johnson, and you can feel that confidence in how controlled everything is.

One thing that really stood out to me is the way the movie handles loyalty and power. I have experienced something similar recently at a job I had, where loyalty to a cruel leader kept everyone in line, and watching that dynamic play out here can either snap you out of the movie or bring back uncomfortable memories if you have been in that kind of situation. The way Jud is slowly boxed in felt very real to me.

That said, some characters felt like they were there just for the sake of it. I could not fully sink my teeth into the lives of characters like Geraldine Scott or Dr. Nathaniel Sharp. I understood their issues and their purpose in the story, but there was a disconnect that kept me from fully caring about them, and that is the only real issue I had with the movie.

I will be honest, unlike the first two films, this one did not have that tiring first hour feeling, even with a runtime of two hours and twenty six minutes. You are not sitting around waiting for the crime to happen so the investigation can start. A lot is happening early on, and it slowly strengthens the one thing you can guess, that the death to be solved will be that of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks. The way the movie builds the tension between him and the young pastor Rev. Jud Duplenticy in the first forty minutes is engaging, and it becomes very clear that Jud is facing an uphill battle from the start.

So what is the plot. Rev. Jud Duplenticy, played by Josh O’Connor, is posted to a small church run by Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, played by Josh Brolin, after Jud punches another pastor. It is framed as a redemption posting, but this church is ruled by Jefferson with an iron fist. He does whatever it takes to keep new people away and maintain control over the old ones, exploiting their money, loyalty, and respect. Jud sees through this quickly and tries to push back, hoping to save the small town from Jefferson’s grip, but the two constantly clash as Jefferson quietly and publicly works to make Jud uncomfortable.

After a day at mass, Jefferson walks off and collapses, stabbed in the back. Everyone introduced to us, including Jud, appears to have been nowhere near him, and that is where the mystery truly begins for Benoit Blanc.

I highly recommend this movie. It is worth every minute, and the ending brings everything full circle, showing how pride, secrets, and greed sit at the root of every evil in this story.

 

Zootopia 2 (2025)

 

Zootopia 2 (2025)

8/10

 

Starring the voices of

Ginnifer Goodwin

Jason Bateman

Ke Huy Quan

Fortune Feimster

 

Directed by: Jared Bush and Byron Howard

 

Zootopia 2 is fun, it has a lot of mushy mushy touchy feelings in the end which kinda dragged for way too long, but it was fun and it was so amazing to see Flash the sloth again. It is not as good as part 1, but it is good enough that I will watch a part 3 if it drops.

So the Hopps energy is back. This Disney animated sequel does not play around, right from the start the jokes start flying in with many references to old films for the adults to laugh at and enough color and action to keep the kids entertained. There are no words to describe how it feels to see these two working together again in this wonderful animated return to the world of Zootopia, and you can see that Disney kept the animation just as fluid as the first while introducing new characters with new voice actors to keep the juice fresh, so it was like I never left.

It was nice to have Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman back as Hopps and Nick, both give fantastic voice acting performances that make you forget you are watching an animation and they pull you into this world of anthropomorphic animals until you feel like you are witnessing everything from the passenger’s seat.

This is Zootopia 2, a sequel to the 2016 classic in my books, and we have the return of the buddy cop duo Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. As you would expect the two do not start the movie sitting down, no, we have already done that in the first part and their story continues from where the first one stops.

Zootopia 2 sees former con-artist and rabbit-cop duo Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde working together in the ZPD, but their partnership is on rocky ground as they are sent to a partner training program, and of course they do not finish the training before they jump on their next case. The case revolves around the arrival of a mysterious reptile, Gary De'Snake, who is the first snake seen in Zootopia in over a century.

Judy puts together that the arrival of the snake has something to do with a priceless old journal belonging to the founding Lynxley family, so she convinces Nick to join her undercover at the event, and sure enough Gary appears and steals the journal. But the two are not praised or celebrated for uncovering this because during their encounter with Gary the chief gets injured, and they end up as the prime suspects.

Now the two must unravel a dangerous conspiracy involving family secrets, a secret reptile community, and clear their name while learning to trust each other again. The character dynamics and how they play off each other still give off that predictable rookie cop duo and angry chief vibe we all know, and how they get on the reptile case lines up with the same detective duo stories we have seen before, but the fun here is how these characters handle these predictable situations.

So fair warning, some aspects are predictable, and do I recommend you see this, yes because I will be doing a rewatch as well.