Elio (2025)

 

Elio (2025)

6/10

Starring the voices of

Yonas Kibreab

Zoe Saldaña

Remy Edgerly

Brandon Moon

Brad Garrett

Jameela Jamil

 

Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi and Adrian Molina

 

Elio is the next animation from Disney/Pixar after Inside Out 2, which was a great success. The challenge this movie is facing at the box office is sparking debate about how new ideas no longer pull in numbers the way recycled IP does.

But back to the movie itself. I have to say, the whole concept was new to me. The way things unfolded caught me off guard a lot of the time. That made the movie very engaging because you had no idea where it was going. I was locked in to see how it would all end.

The movie is very family-friendly. Disney/Pixar sticks to the routine of lacking a parent, or in this case, lacking parents, as our lead, Elio, grows up with his aunt on a military base. As you’d expect, the effects are amazing and the voice acting is well done enough to get you lost in the viewing.

But the story wasn’t as humor-based as I would’ve liked. I worry that children may not get as engaged in the story as adults would. The plot leans more into the thrill of the quest than the comedy in it. Adults will appreciate the themes. There’s the disconnect between real issues and overconfidence that many of us face, the challenge of trying to fit in, and the idea that maybe the place to find “your people” isn’t where you think it is.

The movie coasted a lot. It picked up toward the end but never got high enough to make me say this is one of the best animations out there.

Elio is about a young boy named Elio who becomes obsessed with aliens and life on other planets. This obsession makes him beg to be abducted, and one day, it actually happens. He’s taken by the Communiverse, a collection of leaders from other planets. Elio, a child, lies that he’s the leader of Earth.

While they’re showing him around, another leader, Lord Grigon, gets rejected from becoming a member of the Communiverse. Infuriated, he decides to take over the Communiverse by force. Elio, not wanting to be returned to Earth, volunteers to negotiate with Lord Grigon to avoid an invasion.

The failed negotiation leads to Elio meeting Glordon, Lord Grigon’s son. They come up with a plan to save the Communiverse. The success of the plan depends on Grigon not being deceived and not recognizing his own son.

Would I recommend this animation? Sure. But it’s miles away from the best things I’ve seen from the mouse factory.

Ballerina (2025)

Ballerina (2025)

 

5/10

Starring

Ana de Armas

Anjelica Huston

Gabriel Byrne

Lance Reddick

 

Directed by Len Wiseman

This movie takes place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and Chapter 4 (2023), and it is the fifth installment in the John Wick franchise.

I agree with a friend who described this movie as meh! This is just another revenge flick we've seen before. The story and plot aren't masterful, nor do they jump at you. It's a movie you can watch, but if you happen to miss it, you're fine, it's not that great.

I have to be honest, the movie starts strong, with the level of action you'd expect from the John Wick franchise. The way it delves into a different aspect of the franchise is fine, and you'll like the idea of John (Keanu Reeves) actually being a supporting character in this one. The movie plays around with his story arc from the first John Wick to the third. But after the initial twelve-minute start, it hits a point of boredom. There are many aspects that, if removed, wouldn’t have mattered at all in the end.

There’s a whole ten-minute segment of her getting trained and shaped into the badass she becomes, I felt that could’ve been summarized. The old '90s flicks managed to pass that on in less than 2 minutes and we have a fully fleshed ninja or lead-actor ready to take down a whole army.

Then comes the acting of the lead (Ana de Armas). Everyone else seemed fitted to their roles, but I felt she didn’t quite hit the mark, even though a lot of reviews loved her performance, I didn’t.

The movie plot is about Eve Macarro, the daughter of a Ruska Roma hitman and a cultist. When her father is killed by the cult, she’s rescued by Winston, who hands her over to the Ruska Roma. She’s turned into an assassin — the ballerina. While on an assignment, she discovers the same cultists are planning to kidnap another girl. Still bent on revenge, she tries to foil their plan. Her mission takes her to Prague and the Austrian Alps, where she uncovers family ties and it is during all this, she encounters John Wick, who tries to step in and stop her only after she disobeys the rules.

If you're into this movie for the action and the John Wick-style fights, visuals, and effects — this movie has you covered. But it lacks a good story, in my view, to make it all worth it. In the end, I wouldn’t watch this again as it just wasn’t worth it, I feel the franchise has had it’s time in the sun and should just relax for now.

The Old Guard 2 (2025)

 

The Old Guard 2 (2025)

2/10

Starring

Charlize Theron

KiKi Layne

Matthias Schoenaerts

Marwan Kenzari

Luca Marinelli

Veronica Ngô

 

Directed by Victoria Mahoney

 

Now the only good thing about this movie is that it has filled a longing I’ve had to see a part 2 of this franchise. I liked the first part, which was released in 2020, so when my friend sent me a message today that a second part was out, I decided not to watch it at home but with a friend so we could enjoy it together.

The first thing that jumped at me was the visual effects. They felt very poor, and my memory of the first Old Guard didn’t showcase such bad effects. Then I noticed the awful cinematography. When there were zooming back shots, the fighting felt like I was watching too close to the action, annoying the hell out of me. All this happened in the first 10 minutes of the movie. I was not ready for the hour of absolute nonsensical boredom that was waiting for me. Nothing seemed to happen.

Then we have Quỳnh back, Andy’s first ride or die, until she was sunk underwater. And there’s a new villain, Discord, whom we don’t know much about—just her intention, and that was it. She wasn’t shown much, and there was no connection to her character at all.

The movie is about another immortal who is older than Andy herself. This immortal seems to know more about how the whole immortal thing works than anybody, and she has her own intention of going after Andy and her crew.

If you recall from the first movie, Andy is now mortal, and we have to watch as Nile tries her hardest to protect her. This new immortal named Discord rescued Quỳnh, and now Quỳnh, who has been imprisoned underwater for more than 500 years, is angry with Andy for not finding her. So what does this new immortal want to gain by saving Quỳnh, and what does she want with Nile? This is what the movie is about.

I felt Netflix played a joke on me with this bad dialogue, and the acting from the characters felt like a wash, because even though they tried to carry the movie, the terrible story and dialogue let each scene down.

In the end, Andy and Quỳnh made up, which just happened because the last time they parted ways they fought. Then they saw each other again, with Quỳnh holding a bomb, and suddenly they were friends again, with me thinking I must have missed the reunion. Then the end, when Discord and Andy had to face each other, was horribly choreographed, like some of the other fights, and it ended in an anticlimax. For a boring, drawn-out movie, in the last 15 minutes it picked up, then just ended, creating a need for a part 3—which I do not think anyone should see.

If you saw the first part, then you are safe. You don’t need to see this one. It is horrible, and I do not recommend it.

 

Deep Cover (2025)

Deep Cover (2025)

7/10

Starring

Bryce Dallas Howard

Orlando Bloom

Nick Mohammed

 

 

Directed by Tom Kingsley

 

I watched this movie and realised I’m a simple man. I don’t need things to get very convoluted with plot twists and thrillers to make me happy. To be happy, drop me off at movies where three improv actors are tasked with something as simple as buying a box of cigarettes, and I’ll be laughing my head off.

I did not see the things coming in the first 30 minutes, that I can tell you. The surprises hit from the start — then kind of die off. The problem with throwing in surprises like that, and then having the characters wiggle out in the most unrealistic way possible, is you kind of kill the tension and suspense. Because later on when I see similar things, I just know they’ll get away.

This is amazing work from the writers, trying something like this — and for me, it paid off. The blend of these three actors is amazing. Their acting range and comedic timing spread all over the scenes they’re in. It felt more like they’ve been working together for years doing sketches.

So the movie is about three people: two out-of-work actors, Kat and Marlon (Howard and Bloom, respectively), and an IT guy, Hugh (Mohammed). Marlon attends Kat’s improv class, and Hugh, who always wanted to be part of the group at work, decided to join the class. One day, Kat gets approached by a detective who tells her he’s running a sting and needs improv actors who aren’t cops — because the bad guys can spot a cop right away. She had to get two other people to work with her, and since she didn’t have money and the pay was good, her options were limited. So she picked Marlon and Hugh, and the three went in deep undercover to bust a drug ring.

In the end, as much as I loved the movie, I have to admit it felt like watching a one-hour sketch show. That may be one of the things I can see people not liking about this movie — it felt more like jointed segments, which may not go down well with many. For someone like me, who doesn’t mind sketch shows, it was fine. In reality, when watching sketch shows, not every sketch in the episode lands. This movie also had that.

Another thing is the unrealistic way things clear up. But I guess that’s the whole point of entertainment — watching things you either cannot do but find fun watching, or seeing things you know are not possible but enjoy the idea of seeing it. Remember when I said the suspense died in the first 30 minutes? Well, the movie ends in a way you would have been guessing from the start. That’s when questions start to creep in, like why can’t I see other officers working on this? And the first thought that crossed my mind during the whole undercover thing was — wouldn’t I want to speak to someone higher before getting involved?

Anyways, I did enjoy seeing this movie, and I know you will too. So I’ll recommend you give it a shot. I guarantee that at least the very first 30 minutes will have you laughing hard, and chances are you’ll find more minutes to laugh about

 

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

 

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

7/10

 

Starring the voices of

Lindsay LaVanchy

Louis Ozawa

Rick Gonzalez

Michael Biehn

 

 

Directed by Dan Trachtenberg

 

Spoiler alert

 

When you are watching and you see the first battle in 841 AD — when the Predator took on Ursa, a Scandinavian Viking warrioress who leads her clan on a revenge mission — you are amazed. The battle is raw, and even though the Predator seems to have the upper hand in size and gadgets, this woman was no pushover. And this animation starts as such, watching this woman survive and take on the Predator, only to lose everything else.

It is then you can see where this is going, which is not that much of a good thing, as the suspense is gone on who will win in the fights — you can see them all on the Predator ship. This animation is broken into segments, and you know the last segment will tie it all up.

What I like the most is the intensity and the violence, as the animation kind of answers the questions no one was actually asking — how will the Predator be when it takes on a ninja, or Viking, or as we saw in the movie Prey (2022), a Comanche?

The animation in this movie is like that of Arcane, and it flows well. The voice acting, writing, and directing are magnificent as the movie moves fast, with gore violence.

As I said above, the first segment is about Ursa and the Predator. The second segment takes place in Japan, 1609, about a ninja who takes on the Predator. The third segment is set in 1941, about a U.S. Navy gunman and the Predator. These three are then taken to the Predator planet, and as these are warrior races who take joy in the battles, there is a planned fight.

Now, like many of the Predator movies, this one did not handle the introduction well — that I score it low on. If you have no clue what this series is about, then you will be left trying to understand why the Predator is acting the way it does. The movie starts with a brief writing trying to shed light on how the Predator race sees things, but I had people with me not still getting it until I had to flesh it out.

In the end, Dan Trachtenberg did a good job in the writing and story — he was also behind the camera in Prey (2022), so he is not new to the franchise. I would have felt an animation would have given him more freedom to make a lot of things add up, but he did not jump on that and just ran with his idea instead of using this animation to flesh out the Predator race.

Nonetheless, the cinematic fights and flights are worth seeing, and I can easily say — go see this movie because of that. It is streaming on Disney+.