It’s difficult to think of too many essential four-quels. Too many are failed money-spinning ideas and struggle to justify their own existence. Well, Pixar laugh in the face of preconceptions and have given us an epilogue to a perfect ending with Toy Story 4. As immaculate as the trilogy is, there can’t have been many who were hankering to see more from our favourite toys knowing the only direction Pixar could head is down. Miraculously, bringing the band back together for on

It’s June and that can only mean two things: frustrating weather and unnecessary franchise reboots. Rain? Check. Bringing back the Men in Black without Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones? Check two. We’re presented then with: Men in Black: The Further Adventures of Thor and Valkyrie [checks notes] ok, so that’s not the ‘official’ title but it works as well as Men in Black: International. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson bringing their Asgardian chemistry from the MCU is easily

The X-Men never had a villain problem, a setting problem and certainly not a casting problem. What it had, well has, is a gaping timeline issue. Rebooting the series after the lacklustre X-Men: The Last Stand was a universally approved decision (especially with the actors on board) but taking the stance that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine could never be improved upon, and warranted the middling side-line films, has proven to be its convoluted downfall. Don’t get me wrong, Jackman’s

Odd as it sounds, I believe Disney may have missed a trick by not, somehow, placing these live-action interpretations of their classic animations into some sort of 'shared cinematic universe.' Maybe I’m still reeling from Avengers: Endgame but a shared character or all-seeing narrator would have given the project some cohesiveness. At the very least, it’d be nice to have a consistent style or unifying mood and tone to the entire enterprise. The Jungle Book is largely the cata

With so many biopics being released in recent times, we can start to hone in and deduce what makes a truly great one. I believe the answer lies in truly representing the person in story, mood and aesthetic. Granted, this seems a fairly intangible barometer but some films just leave you with the 'feeling' and add to the person’s character, legacy or personality. The sleekness and theatre of Steve Jobs, the strikingly stark black and white of Control and now we can add the exub

Revolution. Evolution. Changing the formula. Preconceived expectations. When is the right time to ‘update’ an existing franchise? In most cases you’d be rebuffed by fan revulsion. In the case of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, it might just be a masterstroke. Bringing the animated ‘Pocket Monsters’ into the real world works surprisingly well. The realism suits most of the animal-esque Pokémon (yes, they’ve made Pikachu even more cute) but does jar slightly with those with less re

A biopic has the unenviable duty of people pleasing. How best to convey a real person’s life that presents them as they are, prints the facts not the legend (well, sometimes) and caters to the uninitiated without generating groans from the fans? Choosing a historical figure is a sure-fire way to at least avoid the latter and some of the best recent examples fall under this umbrella (Steve Jobs and First Man to name just two.) It’s fairly surprising that J.R.R. Tolkien is only

Much as with last year's Avengers: Infinity War, you don't need any encouragement, good or ill, to go and see Avengers: Endgame in the cinema (IMAX is worth the price of admission.) As such, I have once again composed a Haiku in honour of Mr Thanos and our beloved Avengers: So, we meet again, and the second meeting is greater than the first. A staggering achievement that rewrites what is possible in this genre. The Infinity War/Endgame double-bill will take its place in histo

It’s easy to romanticise the past and slip into cringey ‘it was better in my day’ rhetoric but Eighth Grade really does articulate and present the difficulties faced by the youth of today. Bo Burnham’s directorial debut may surprise any fans of his stand up and recorded work but those who know his journey through the early days of YouTube will be aware that he’s keenly aware, conscious and, go on then, ‘woke.’ His first film follows the travails of a thirteen-year-old girl as

As a superhero fan, it would be downright wrong to say that there’s too many superhero films. You can never have too much of a good thing right?! All any of us ask though, especially now when we’re trekking to the cinema five or six times a year to see the latest caped-crusader, is a smidge of originality, a fresh spin on a now well-worn and over-saturated genre. Gun to head, I’ve always preferred DC's characters mainly down to a certain Dark Knight but the fact that the MCU

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, vintage hip hop (Wu-Tang Clan, Tupac et al) and Goodfellas are just three examples of things from the 90’s we should be thankful for and all show up in Jonah Hill’s directorial debut: mid90s. This is a long-in-the-works passion project for Hill, clearly long thought over and thoroughly and unashamedly independent. Don’t expect any comedy cameos here or pandering to fans of his other work. This is the dramatic, coming-of-age tale of 13-year-old St

Marvel have long been at the stage where they can do anything they damn well please. That much has been apparent for a while as each film in Phase Three has casually subverted expectations, flipped the script of what a superhero film ‘should’ be, brought auteur styling into a multi-film, populist franchise and still topped box offices worldwide. Captain Marvel places itself at the very beginning of the MCU timeline as a prequel. It requires knowledge of the entire universe to