sequel

Film Review: Disenchanted sadly lacks the magic of its predecessor

With Hocus Pocus 2 proving a sizeable success, The Princess Diaries 3 now officially in the works, and both Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan discussing their interest in a Freaky Friday sequel, the House of Mouse is more than proving itself in the business of revisiting original titles for the sake of nostalgia, fan…

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It’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance for Channing Tatum in threequel’s first-look trailer

The gang isn’t all here, but the ultimate front-man is in Magic Mike’s Last Dance, the third installment in the Magic Mike franchise from Channing Tatum and director Steven Soderbergh. Just in time for Valentine’s Day next year, “Magic” Mike Lane (Tatum) takes to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus, following a business deal…

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Film Review: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever injects much-needed bouts of emotion and enthusiasm into MCU’s divisive Phase Four

Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has undoubtedly divided fans like no other that has preceded it.  Whilst there was a certain uniqueness in how characters and narratives were handled – say what you will about Eternals or Thor: Love and Thunder, but they at least attempted to separate themselves from the norm –…

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Film Review: Terrifier 2 is a hyper-nasty, extended horror treat for fans of the original’s gruesome nature

Going into a film like Terrifier 2, audiences can’t help but be versed in the news surrounding the film that has largely focused on just how spectacularly gory this thing is and the fact that such splatter has caused American cinemagoers, who have pushed the micro-budgeted horror film to rope in over 5 times its…

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Film Review: Halloween Ends brings the iconic horror franchise to a close in the most unexpected manner

Despite the fact that last year’s Halloween Kills drove the chant home that “Evil Dies Tonight”, the contrary proved more accurate as the series’ central figure quite brazenly refused to go down with the bloody beatings he was afforded towards the climactic moments of David Gordon Green‘s divisive sequel. Said figure, Michael Myers, has been…

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Film Review: Hocus Pocus 2 is campy, nonsensical, and bathed in a self-aware musicality

Like so many of the House of Mouse’s IPs, Hocus Pocus has been conjured once more.  Disney weren’t entirely sure they had a success on their hands some 30 years ago with the release of the original film – what with the studio releasing a Halloween-themed family film in July, for starters – and were…

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Film Review: Confess, Fletch; the long awaited sequel we didn’t know we needed

The idea of a Fletch remake/reboot/sequel has long been discussed for almost three decades now.  The obvious suggestions of Jason Lee and Jason Sudeikis were thrown around for contention to follow in Chevy Chase’s comedic footsteps during its production, but after consistent stop/starts it has fallen to Jon Hamm to pick up the mantle and…

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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a playful experience that speaks to Rian Johnson’s ease as an intricate storyteller: TIFF 2022 Review

Rian Johnson had far too much fun paying homage to the works of Agatha Christie in 2019’s star-studded crime comedy Knives Out.  To say he executed it perfectly would be putting it mildly, but whilst a sequel to such a set-up seemed like a given, how anything secondary would be navigated was another mystery in…

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Interview: Orphan: First Kill director William Brent Bell on “brutal” horror fans, specific casting and executing the perfect plot twist

When you talk of iconic horror characters, we usually think of Halloween‘s Michael Myers, Friday the 13th‘s Jason Vorhees or Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street.  But what about a demented little orphan who goes by the name of Esther? In 2009’s Orphan, Isabelle Fuhrman and director Jaume Collet-Sera created a new age…

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Film Review: Orphan: First Kill adopts a blackly comic, campy personality that succeeds in shocking its audience

Of all the unexpected horror sequels to come to fruition, Orphan: First Kill would be up there as one of the more unlikely titles.  Yes, it’s a prequel, first and foremost, but original star Isabelle Fuhrman is back in the unsettling role of Estonian psychopath Esther that birthed her career in 2009’s Orphan.  Why this…

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Film Review: Thor: Love and Thunder is a more humorous addition to the MCU

Once Taika Waititi reinvented the Marvel wheel with 2017’s wild Thor: Ragnarok, it made sense that the studio big-wigs would bestow further free licensing in the character’s shift towards a more humorous mentality. And whilst that’s all well and good – we certainly don’t want the character regressing in any manner – Thor: Love and…

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Film Review: The Roundup is beautifully brutal, crowd-pleasing cinema

Korean cinema has always been a hub of unmatched quality.  Whilst those that have enjoyed the fruits of labour over the decades aren’t remotely surprised at such a statement – and have been waiting for the world to catch up through viewings of I Saw the Devil and Oldboy – the recent successes of the…

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Film Review: Minions: The Rise of Gru delivers the safe, nonsensical shenanigans we’ve come to expect from such characters

Even though 2010’s Despicable Me was centred around Steve Carell‘s Eastern European reformed super-villain Gru, it was his hoard of indecipherable henchmen – his Minions – that stole the film from under his considerably rendered nose. They were funny without really trying to be, so it made perfect sense that subsequent films (Despicable Me birthed…

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Film Review: Top Gun: Maverick is both the perfect blockbuster and encompassment of why cinema matters

We bow to thee, Tom Cruise: Saviour of cinema! A film you’ll be best served believing its near-impossible hype, Top Gun: Maverick is not only the type of sequel that surpasses its predecessor in every form imaginable, it’s the perfect encompassment of why cinema matters. Over 30 years in the making, Maverick reunites Cruise with…

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Interview: The cast and crew of Downton Abbey: A New Era on their exciting return home

The Lords and Ladies of Downton have returned. Ushering in a new year and a new era on screen, Julian Fellowes‘ acclaimed drama series has graduated from six television series, to now two acclaimed filmic continuations. To coincide with the anticipated release of Downton Abbey: A New Era (you can read our review here), which…

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Film Review: Downton Abbey: A New Era is a jaunty, dramatic continuation sure to please long-time fans

2019’s Downton Abbey, a filmic continuation of the long-running upstairs/downstairs television series that very much played to its strengths of catering to its devoted fans, was a product that very much felt like it had little interest in truly introducing a new dynamic. For Downton Abbey: A New Era, its bi-line is particularly apt, with…

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Win a family in-season pass to Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Thanks to Paramount Pictures we have 5 family passes (Admit 4) to give away for the upcoming release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, set for release exclusively in cinemas from March 31st, 2022. The world’s favourite blue hedgehog is back for a next-level adventure in SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2. After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is eager to prove…

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Win a double in-season pass to return to the Wizarding World with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures we have 5 double passes (Admit 2) to give away for the upcoming release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the anticipated continuation of the Wizarding World, starring Jude Law, Eddie Redmayne and Mads Mikkelsen, set for release in Australian cinemas from April 7th, 2022. Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude…

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The nightmare begins in latest Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer

A new dimension of Strange is upon us. With Spider-Man: No Way Home STILL going strong at the global box office, the Marvel hype for the anticipated Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is at an all-time high, with Sam Raimi‘s sequel seemingly looking to pick up where Benedict Cumberbatch‘s Strange left off. A…

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Film Review: Death on the Nile is a campy mystery that succeeds as a knowingly melodramatic affair

Whilst most films set for release over the last two years were understandably shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenneth Branagh‘s Death on the Nile has been more than just a casualty of coronavirus.  Though its initial late 2020 release was pulled due to the ongoing pandemic – and industry insiders spooked by Tenet‘s “underperformance” –…

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Film Review: Jackass Forever‘s cringe-inducing lunacy caters to a fanbase who know exactly what they’re getting

They say that with ageing comes the idea of wisdom.  Whoever stated such a bumper sticker statement though clearly hadn’t met the Jackass crew, a group of middle-aged men old enough to know better, but too famous to care. A reality slapstick comedy show that heavily relied on its shock value – garnered either through…

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Film Review: Scream is a joyous and violently unpredictable film that honours the spirit of the original series

In 1996, when horror was a bad word and the slasher subsect had been relegated to bargain bins and a straight-to-VHS lifespan, genre maestro Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes) and a (then) relatively unknown Kevin Williamson dared to defy the conventions by creating a film that played into the…

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Film Review: The Addams Family 2 is a little too safe for a property built on creeps, kooks and ooks

Whatever creepiness, kookiness and all together ookiness that has been evoked by previous incarnations of The Addams Family is sadly nowhere to be seen in this safe-playing sequel, one that manages to bury any of the morbid humour and likeability we’d expect from the usually reliable pens of Dan Hernandez (Pokemon: Detective Pikachu), Benji Samit…

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Interview: Nick Kroll on enjoying the free rein of voicing Uncle Fester in The Addams Family 2

Despite his prolific status within comedy, chances are you’re likely to recognise Nick Kroll‘s voice before seeing him in person.  Biding his time between family fare – just this last month he was heard as Gunter in the animated Sing 2 – and more adult aimed comedy – if you’ve laughed at either Coach Steve,…

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Film Review: Ghostbusters: Afterlife heavily winks to fans of the original in its bid to conjure up nostalgia

There’s a lot of DNA shared between Jason Reitman‘s Ghostbusters: Afterlife and the 1984 original that his father, Ivan Reitman, helmed to fruition.  But it’s not just a familial bond that links the respective films, with several portions of the film’s plot and its character line-up clearly based off what came those near-four decades prior. …

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Film Review: The Matrix Resurrections toes the line between familiarity and freshness as it reconsiders reality

Few movies from 1999 can boast as much as The Matrix.  A groundbreaking effort, both in terms of its special effects and its allegoric mentality, The Wachowski‘s post-apocalyptic, philosophical action film pushed the boundaries of modern cinema, exceeding audience expectation in the process. Maintaining a cultural relevance in the decades since essentially allows such a…

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Film Review: Sing 2 is a harmless, uplifting family outing that wins over with its charm and soundtrack

For better or worse, Illumination will always be known as the studio that gave an extended life to Minions.  Originally something of a throwaway gag to provide easy laughs within the Despicable Me films, they took on a force of their own and seemed to pull focus from any other studio property.  One such charmer…

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Film Review: Spider-Man: No Way Home is an emotional and extravagant sequel that pays specific service to its devoted fanbase

Arguably 2021’s most anticipated film – and safely the most anticipated Spider-Man title in the history of the character, thus far – Spider-Man: No Way Home is the epitome of the sweeping superhero epic.  Already a release that comes with an unreasonably high set of expectations (the are they or aren’t they debate surrounding the…

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Film Review: The Boss Baby: Family Business commits to its ludicrous premise and enjoys playing with its narrative insanity

I think it’s a fair assumption to state that not many people expected Tom McGrath‘s 2017 effort The Boss Baby to clear the half a billion dollars it did at the global box office.  It was a bizarre comedy that entirely banked on its central premise – a baby that spoke like an entitled adult…

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Interview: James Marsden on recording The Boss Baby sequel during a pandemic; “I made a makeshift studio with duvets and pillows”

Four years after an infant Alec Baldwin steered Dreamworks’ The Boss Baby to over half a billion dollars at the global box office and an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated feature, the troublesome tyke is back in The Boss Baby: Family Business, and he’s bringing his household along for the ride. Joining Baldwin and…

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