Movie Reviews from Chris

★★★  out of ★★★★ F1 (2025) Runtime: 155 minutes MPAA: Rated PG-13 for strong language, and action. Joseph Kosinski helmed Top Gun: Maverick a few years back, a massively successful blockbuster that also managed to be personal in some ways, while correcting the lightheartedness of its predecessor. Cruise was the grounding element, the film allowing his character to face his inner demons, while reconnecting with old friends in quiet, meaningful ways. It wasn't perfect; it did occasionally retreat from deeper themes and employed one tiny Deus ex machina, but these were minor complaints in what was an immersive ride.  Now, Kosinski returns with the same technical precision and splendor in F1: The Movie, written by Ehren Kruger, with one of the producers being a real Formula 1 driver (Lewis Hamilton). F1 is a fictional story, but set against the backdrop of the real Formula 1 World Championship. Its title is also accurate to the storytelling mechanics. The tried-and-true underdog s...

1/2  out of ★★★★ War of the Worlds (2025) Runtime: 91 minutes MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some sci-fi action violence, strong language and bloody images. “Students, don't forget to submit your video project by the end of the semester!" a teacher kindly reminds the whole class. This was the exact line that came to my mind watching the newest War of the Worlds remake, directed by Rich Lee and starring Ice Cube. Part of the fun in consuming critical reception and watching the movie yourself is to see whether you agree, disagree of have new things to say about it. Hearing perspectives from everyone, then forming your own independent thoughts and feelings about it, is just exciting in a way. Which brings me to this. Ok, I'll admit that War of the Worlds probably isn't the worst thing made in existence, but it's still unwatchable, morally bankrupt, disorienting (not in a good way) and didn't need to be made at all. Ice Cube plays a DHS officer Will Radford, who has access ...

★★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★ I Swear (2025) Runtime: 120 minutes MPAA: Rated R for language throughout and some violence. It's interesting to draw parallels between two biographical movies released around the same time (I Swear was released in the UK in October 2025, but would only reach international markets in April 2026). Michael was a passable, greatest-hits biopic. It somewhat covered aspects of his life, provided solid entertainment value and has experienced great success with audiences, becoming the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time. Most people will overlook the far superior I Swear, unafraid to depict the uncomfortable, full of empathy, and anchored by great performances. John Davidson is a Scottish activist for Tourette Syndrome. It's a condition that comprises of uncontrollable tics - fidgeting, spitting, uttering phrases (sometimes expletives), kicking, sudden movements in hands or other body parts, and other person-specific habits. I Swear, which is based on David...

★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★ A Minecraft Movie (2025) Runtime: 101 minutes MPAA: Rated PG for violence/action, language, suggestive/rude humor and some scary images. Firstly, a word. I have fond memories playing Minecraft growing up, from building anything that came to my mind in creative mode, to exploring terrains, structures and fending myself against hostile mobs in survival mode. There are also servers where players can interact with each other, play custom-themed maps and do so much more. Minecraft was and is still prevalent in media; funny videos do occasionally pop up when I'm browsing the internet. Minecraft gave you a sense of wonder and inspiration. It also united people together. A Minecraft film adaptation has always been in the works, and it kept getting delays, shifts in directors, producers and writers, until all anticipation slowly died down. Well, for me at least. Until director Jared Hess and a team of five writers (Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, a...

★★ 1/2  out of ★★★★ Warfare (2025) Runtime: 95 minutes MPAA: Rated R for intense war violence and bloody/grisly images, and language throughout. It surprised me a little when the first thing that appeared in Alex Garland's Warfare was Call on Me by Eric Prydz, which made me wonder whether I even opened the correct movie in the first place. This cuts to platoon members watching the video enthusiastically and mimicking the moves in the next scene. Was it really necessary, huh? Former Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza was deployed to Iraq admist the then-ongoing Iraq War which would eventually end in 2011. Drawing from his experiences and the testimonies of platoon members, Warfare depicts an encounter on 19 November 2006 after the Battle of Ramadi. He rounds up an ensemble cast of D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Joseph Quinn and Charles Melton. True to its story, Warfare is essentially narratively non-existent, yet focused on the group of soldiers...

★★★  out of ★★★★ Iron Lung (2026) Runtime: 125 minutes MPAA:  Rated R for language, bloody images and some gore. Anyone reading this would think that I'm losing my mind at this point, with another connection to, yes, Five Nights at Freddy's. I discovered these indie point-and-click games through popular youtube playthroughs, especially those from Markiplier (real name Mark Fischbach). Several years later, he posted a video gameplay of David Szymanski's horror game Iron Lung. This fascinated him enough for him to adapt it into a film of the same name, his writing and directorial debut, also starring himself. Even more so than Project Hail Mary, this one-man show is clearly a personal project, the whole film giving off-kilter vibes, but surprisingly in a good way. Iron Lung is more of a mood piece, one that has zero jumpscares throughout its entire runtime, instead building and sustaining dread, while simultaneously peeling the psychological deterioration of his character Sim...

★★ 1/2  out of ★★★★  ( 👍 ) Superman (2025) Runtime: 129 minutes MPAA: Rated PG-13 for violence, action and language. Let's continue the funny story which I started in my Five Nights at Freddy's 2 review. My note-taking is so that I'll remember what to unpack and talk about when expressing what I'd like to articulate after watching a movie. Now, looking at what I've typed for writer-director James Gunn's reboot of Superman, it's such a huge mess that I don't even know if I can coherently compile this. The same can also be said about what I feel right now: I don't even know what to say. So here goes trying to synthesise all of my thoughts. Gunn's reimagining of Superman doesn't repeat the origin story, character introductions or setup. It starts off strong, right in the middle of a defeat, Superman retreating to his fortress to recover. What follows in the next half-an-hour is a lot to process. Superman isn't really just a superhero movie,...

★★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★ Weapons (2025) Runtime: 128 minutes MPAA: Rated R for strong bloody violence and grisly images, language throughout, some sexual content and drug use. A certain degree of skepticism is inevitable in movies of almost any genre. Weapons breaks expectations in minutes. From the start, you can clearly feel the artistic drive from writer, director and producer Zach Cregger. Refusing to conform to genre expectations, his elaborate framing, camera movements and editing feel highly personal. The same can be said about the script. Confident and unique, it's not a conventional horror movie in any sense. Jumpscares are inevitable, yes, but they're sparsely used and deployed unexpectedly, relying more on the lack of score, build-up, atmosphere and tension to induce an increasingly unnerving sensation. When characters become possessed and start chasing their targets down, I felt genuine discomfort and dread as the scene unravelled in slow, yet disquieting ways. It's...

★ 1/2   out of ★★★★ The Drama (2026) Runtime: 105 minutes MPAA: Rated R for sexual content, some violent/bloody images, language throughout, and brief drug use. The title reminded me of Gerard Butler's Plane, a movie with a title so memorable because it was so mind-numbingly generic. Now, we have The Drama, written, co-produced and directed by Kristoffer Borgli. I can think of how he'd name movies of other genres: The Action, The Horror, The Comedy, The Animation, The Science Fiction, The Fantasy etc. The list goes on. Again, this is merely an observation and has nothing to do with the quality of the film. Sadly, there's something wrong with this movie. Clearly, it's well-intentioned in examining the tension in a relationship when circumstances forces its characters to test their bond. It starts off as an unassuming romance, before taking a sharp, dark turn into events that throw themes like true love, gun violence and trust across the board. There's an undercurrent...

★ ★ ★  out of ★★★★ Project Hail Mary (2026) Runtime: 156 minutes MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some thematic material and suggestive references. Two-thirds of the way into Project Hail Mary, the latest effort from duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), alongside his alien buddy (voiced by James Ortiz), attempts to collect a substance from a planet orbiting Tau Ceti, after discovering that it has the ability to kill an extraterrestrial organism called "astrophage". It's a legitimately tense moment. Despite repeated struggles, including dangerous orbital altitudes, compartment punctures and relentless piloting, the ship still ends up spiralling uncontrollably, knocking Grace out. What follows next is a moment of silence. It's refreshing, a break from the usually overbearing score that plays in every other scene, dictating how we should feel instead of trusting the (sorry) gravity of the scene. Space is a silent abyss. Let us live with it. Fortuna...