Predator: Badlands (2025)

 

Predator: Badlands (2025)

7/10

Starring

Elle Fanning

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi

 

Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg

 

I liked Predator: Badlands, this movie changes the perspective of this franchise. Usually, we have seen it from the prey’s view, as they are being hunted by these alien predators, now we are seeing it from the alien predator view.

This movie has some good fight scenes, and the main character is not a human, but a synthetic being, played by Elle Fanning.

The movie shows us that the Predator clan is very focused on strength, and we see there are some emotional arcs to them, it is not just hunting. Elle Fanning in this movie is amazing in her dual roles as Thia and Tessa, making up for the lack of humans in the movie with her performance.

The way she balances her emotions with the pure focus of this Predator alien is what drives this movie. I will let you know, this movie does drag in places, especially when Thia tries to connect with the Predator whose name is Dek. All that talk about the wolf pack and trying to make him form a family unit made me tired sometimes.

The plot starts on the planet Yautja, where we see Dek, a runt Predator, trying to best his brother Kwei. Since he is smaller than all the other Predators in his clan, he is considered weak. Kwei was sent by their father, the leader of the clan, to kill Dek. But Kwei did not want to, so he told Dek to go hunting to prove himself. Dek then chose to hunt the Kalisk, an unkillable apex predator on the lethal planet Genna.

Before he went on his hunt, their father showed up and killed Kwei for his disobedience, with Dek heading off to the planet hoping to kill the creature and gain respect.

On the planet is where he meets Thia, a synthetic who lost her legs to the Kalisk and is separated from her friend and companion, Tessa, another synthetic.

In the end, this was a good ride for a movie, looking at things from another perspective. You can also see where it crosses paths with the Alien franchise, when we discover the Weyland-Yutani team arriving to capture what they believe is theirs to experiment on.

It was a nice time at the cinemas with this movie, and I recommend you take the time to go see it, it is fun. You can see where this movie is heading, probably a crossover later on in the future, but the short runtime makes it an easy watch in the cinema.

Frankenstein (2025)

 

Frankenstein (2025)

5/10

Starring

Oscar Isaac

Jacob Elordi

Mia Goth

Christoph Waltz

 

Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro

 

I did not like this movie.

The Frankenstein book by Mary Shelley is dark and has a lot of tragic incidents, which made the whole situation of Victor creating the creature itself a form of pride that came back to haunt him. The book placed Elizabeth in a more tragic position, and her death due to Victor’s hubris of creating this creature and then denying it a mate was very painful.

Now, this Guillermo Del Toro Frankenstein is visually stunning, wonderful acting all around, but it painfully missed the point of the book’s portrayal of Elizabeth. Here she is the soon-to-be wife of Victor’s brother, which Victor tried but failed to win her heart. In the book, they are together, and it was her death at the hands of the creature during her wedding night that caused Victor to come full circle with the thing he had created.

This movie made Victor out to be, right from the start, selfish, cruel, and scheming, all in the name of trying to paint him as a complex character, and for me, killing the idea of the book. In the book, Victor was not innocent either, and you can call him all those things, but you can see the pride that drove him.

I do not get why there is a bonding between Elizabeth and the creature in this movie. I get what it was to represent in the movie, I do not get why Del Toro felt it was needed, the book did fine without it.

This is Del Toro, I went to see this hoping to have my mind blown, but in the end, all the changes made me feel he took something that was not broken and tried to fix it.

The movie was also, in my opinion, thirty minutes too long. We did not need two viewpoints of what led to the two (Victor and the creature) to be at the arctic circle. One version would have been enough. I know Frankenstein’s lonely path in the film is a bit similar to that in the book, but I felt the movie could have done better if it summarized that.

Well, if you do not know the story, this is the story of how Victor Frankenstein created the creature we call the Frankenstein Monster. We see how he grew up with a stern dad and how the death of his mother made him want to cheat death. When one day a wealthy benefactor, who is the carer of Elizabeth and who is to be married to Victor’s brother William, came across Victor’s work, he bankrolled him, and Victor created the creature.

This creation did not play out the way Victor wanted, and his jealousy of wanting to have Elizabeth darkened his view of things, and he ended up making the whole thing worse for himself and everyone around him.

I wish I loved this movie, I wished I liked it more than this, but sadly I do not.

Good Fortune (2025)

Good Fortune (2025)

6/10

Starring

Seth Rogen

Aziz Ansari

Keke Palmer

Sandra Oh

Keanu Reeves

 

Directed by: Aziz Ansari

 

Well, I have gotten to the end of the film, and it is not bad, it is not great or superb, but it is not bad, and it took a different path to get the same predictable ending we all know movies like this go. Acting-wise, everyone delivered, I have no complaints, and I think Keanu Reeves did a nice job playing an angel who just wanted to do good and be respected and then messed everything up.

Story-wise, I think Aziz Ansari, who also directed, wrote, and starred in this flick, did a nice job. I would have loved if the character Jeff, played by Seth Rogen, went back to being himself, that would have surprised me, but like I said, movies like this round things up in a perfect predictable circle.

The comedy is a miss for me, this is more like drama and see-what-happens when a body swap goes wrong, the whole idea is. Imagine a body swap meant to show the character Arj (Ansari) that his life would not have been better if he switched roles with Jeff. Well, the swap happened thanks to an angel named Gabriel, who was hoping to save a lost soul, the one in Arj.

Problem, Arj, now living the life of Jeff, liked it. After a week of being Jeff, never having to actually worry about money, he did not want to go back.

Gabriel, who was hoping that this swap would teach Arj, a man who just lost his job and is living in his car, that his future would always be a struggle, wanted him to see that life is not always greener on the other side. But Arj was now living the life of a millionaire, he happy.

Now, another problem for Gabriel, he cannot send Arj back, Arj has to want to go back. So to guilt him, he returned Jeff’s memory of his life, but Jeff telling Arj he wants his life back did nothing to guilt Arj. Even the girl Arj wanted, he got. Money was actually a solution to all his problems.
So Gabriel gets demoted until he can solve this issue.

So that is what this movie is about, we are watching Gabriel trying to solve a problem he has caused. Now, Gabriel the angel was actually an angel of texting and driving. His job was to alert people who are texting and driving so they do not get into an accident, this whole problem he caused, he did on his own and was not sent.

Well, the other issue with this movie is that it is not rewatchable. It is a good watch if you have a lazy Sunday, but not one I will run back to go see after seeing it. So it is watchable, but just the once.

Look Back (2024)

 

Look Back (2024)

8/10

Starring the voices of

Yuumi Kawai

Mizuki Yoshida

 

Directed by: Kiyotaka Oshiyama

 

Look Back is one of those movies that actually cuts deep when you get to the end and see that the way it starts up is not the way you would have hoped it will end.

I hoped the two girls would later be great together, I hoped it would be one of those fine endings where it is all tied up in bows and they run away into the sun happy together.

But sadly, this wonderful, well-written, fantastic artwork animation with wonderful voice casting does not end that way. I give the voice casting a lot of honors for the way it carries Kyomoto’s mannerisms to make it more convincing, and it worked for the immersion into the story.

The story is about two girls, Fujino and Kyomoto, who love to draw manga strips for their high school paper. Fujino was very talented and used to do this drawing by herself, and she was very popular. Then Kyomoto joined. Kyomoto has social anxiety and does not leave the house, so she and Fujino in the beginning never met.

When Fujino saw how good Kyomoto’s work was and how much attention it was getting, she decided to stop drawing and actually focus on finishing high school. After graduation, she was asked to take Kyomoto’s certificate to her, and that was when the two met. That was how they formed a partnership, where they created manga for years and were successful.

Their partnership broke when Kyomoto wanted to go to art school. Fujino’s reaction to this was selfish, and their friendship parted.

How the story carries on from this is something you will need to watch this anime to enjoy. The fun thing about this anime is that it is not long, it is just 60 minutes, and in that short time, it takes you on a journey, one where we see the challenges of drawing manga and the challenges people with social anxiety face.

The anime showed the problem of not forgiving and the issue that comes when you try to hold on to someone who wants to fly. My problem with this anime is, I felt there is a lack of emotional connection to Kyomoto and her social anxiety issue. Yes, it is well voiced and shown, but because the movie is easily from Fujino's view, her own character development seems overlooked.

Kyomoto's character development is, one day she just goes I am going to art school, there is no proper build up to this.

I wonder if the ending would have been different if Fujino was a better friend to Kyomoto, we will not know. Although the movie hinted at that possible alternate ending, it then pivoted back to the path it started on when these two did not run away into the sun, holding hands.

I do recommend you see this movie, it is worth your time.

Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc (2025)

Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc (2025)

6/10

Starring the voices of

Kikunosuke Toya

Reina Ueda

Fairouz Ai

 

Directed by: Tatsuya Yoshihara

 

Spoiler Alert

It is not often you get an anime movie that feels like a continuation of something big and not just a filler. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is that a full continuation of the series, and it is fun.

The moment Reze showed her true colours, and Denji was saved from being killed, and we see the wonderful animation of Reze morphing into the Bomb Devil, the tone and pace of the movie changed.

Before watching this movie, I stayed far away from the trailers because I wanted to experience it fresh, and I am glad I did. The animation here is slick, but the movie does start slow and feels a bit uninviting at first, because you sit there expecting Chainsaw Man’s dark, gory, action-packed energy, and instead you get forty-five minutes of Denji and Reze connecting emotionally and getting a bit intimate.
That slow start is what you have to bear through before the tone shifts.

This movie picks up after the events of Season 1, with Denji trying to live a normal life despite everything he has been through. Then comes Reze, a girl who seems to understand him, laughs at his jokes, and finds him interesting. That is the first warning sign, the moment you realize something is up. In the world of Chainsaw Man, when things seem too peaceful, you should be suspicious.

If you have read the manga, you know that Reze is the Bomb Devil, trying to cut out Denji’s heart, so all her intimate play is just a setup to get close enough to do it.

Now, I will say this movie is not for anyone who has not seen the anime series or read the manga. You need that background to understand what is happening and why it matters. For those who know the story, though, watching Makima’s manipulative hold over Denji, and how she continues to twist him, is as fascinating as ever. Her control over him is chilling and the movie does a good job showing how trapped Denji still is, even when he thinks he’s free.

The focus here is very much on Denji and Reze. Their chemistry is believable, and the build-up to what eventually happens is handled well. But it also makes Denji feel one-dimensional at times, stuck in that loop of wanting love, attention, and something physical. That focus slows the film’s pace during the middle section, where it becomes mostly about emotional tension, dark themes, and quiet dialogue. The action takes a while to come, but when it does, it delivers hard.

The fight scenes are brilliant, exactly what you would expect from a Chainsaw Man project. They are brutal, fast, and beautifully animated, giving the movie a powerful punch in its second half. The explosion of chaos when Reze’s real identity as the Bomb Devil is revealed is one of the highlights. It turns what looked like a love story into heartbreak and carnage.

As expected, the voice acting is great. Everyone brings their A-game and helps you connect with the emotion and madness of the scenes. It is easy to get lost in the sound of it all, from Denji’s frustration to Reze’s charm, to the dread that lingers in the quiet moments.

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc does what it needs to do. It moves the story forward, develops the characters, and keeps the world of Chainsaw Man alive. It is not perfect, the pacing could be better, and some parts feel stretched, but it never feels pointless and I recommend you see it.

 

Your Name (2016)

 

Your Name (2016)

7/10

Starring the voices of

Ryunosuke Kamiki

Mone Kamishiraishi

 

Directed by: Makoto Shinkai

 

The anime Your Name is a very good film. I’ll be honest, I was not hooked from the start the way I expected myself to be, as the pacing starts slow. The body swapping and what they did in each other’s bodies were not well detailed enough for me to catch interest, but I continued to watch, and I was glad I did. The moment we got to the point where we discover that they are three years apart, the pacing picked up, and so did my interest.

The anime changed gear around halfway in, and now we are trying to see how to make these two be around the same time to meet. There are so many clues dropped along the way about their paths crossing at one point, you just have to watch until it all comes together.

The anime is about two people, Mitsuha, a high school girl from Itomori, and Taki, a high school boy and part-time waiter from Tokyo. Both intermittently switch bodies, and when they wake up back in their normal bodies, we see the difficulty they have in tracking what the other has done.

This body-switching thing is not explained in detail, it seems to happen on Mitsuha’s side of the family, but the ambiguity is one thing I like about the anime. It’s a phenomenon that just happens, so deal with it.

They start to leave notes for one another and set ground rules on how to behave so they can keep track of things, then all of a sudden it stops. So Taki decides to go find Mitsuha and realizes that he doesn’t know where she lives. Using drawings from memory, he tracks her rural area down, only to discover that nobody is there anymore. Then he realizes she was living three years behind him.

Now he’s bent on finding a way for them to meet. How the writers handled the situation to make this happen may not be the best writing I’ve seen, but I guess they wanted to add some mystic feel to the crater scene when both were there at the same time three years apart and also create a happy ending. I think I would have loved it more if the anime had gone with a never meeting flow, where each changed the other’s life and they moved on separately. I guess I’m just sad like that.

Your Name has fantastic animation, wonderful voice work, and handles its character development very well. It was suggested to me on TikTok, and I’m glad I watched it. I recommend that you do too.

A Silent Voice (2016)

 

A Silent Voice (2016)

 

9/10

 

Starring the voices of

Miyu Irino

Saori Hayami

Aoi Yūki

Kenshō Ono

 

Directed by: Naoko Yamada

 

It is not easy to make a movie like this, where you are touching on very delicate issues like suicide, bullying, and redemption. There are many redemption arc movies out there, and A Silent Voice is to me one of the best.

This animation takes you through the motions, from different angles, the bully and the bullied and shows how each thinks the best way out of everything is if they are not around anymore to cause problems. Life can drag you to such a point, and the way Shoko smiles and carries on with her head held up, you would not know that inside, she is broken. She blames herself for everything and just wants to be accepted by everyone.

This 2016 anime is about Shoya Ishida, a boy who used to bully a deaf girl named Shoko Nishimiya. When the bullying got intense and a scapegoat was needed, his classmates turned on him, and he became the outcast. The same way he isolated her, the world now isolates him.

The animation then jumps ahead some years, and Shoya is still living in guilt. He has not been able to get over the pain of isolation and, in a way, understands the pain he caused someone else. He decides to try and make amends. The anime now turns into a redemption story.

But what makes this anime powerful is not just the story but how real it feels. The depiction of bullying, depression, and loneliness is handled with so much care. The movie doesn’t shy away from showing how one cruel action can destroy someone’s spirit and how hard it is to fix what’s been broken.

No amount of “sorry” can whitewash the damage done to a soul from isolation and bullying. We see that even when you are on the path of redemption, you still have to face up to the public for what you have done. And even then, not everyone will be on your side, that is what Shoya learns.

The suicidal themes in this movie are handled with care, and that is what makes it touching, we see how one person’s actions can actually destroy not just their own life, but that of their friends, families, and even the families of the ones who feel responsible.

Shoko and Shoya’s growth in this movie is massive. Watching them try to rebuild their connection, to forgive, and to find peace is powerful. Yuzuru, Shoko’s little sister, is amazing too, protective, strong, and always trying to keep her sister safe even when she doesn’t know how.

The animation is beautiful. The color work and subtle sound design make every emotion hit harder. You will love the voice acting as the cast did their very best to capture all the needed emotions and the difficulty of being deaf. Now, I have to say, the movie is long, it is like two hours and ten minutes, and at some points, it drags.

I liked that not everyone in the story magically becomes good. We still see Shoko face challenges from some of Shoya’s old friends when things were at their darkest.

I will say, A Silent Voice is a hard watch, but it’s worth it. It’s about pain, guilt, and forgiveness, and how even when life gets dark, you can still find your way back to the light.