Film Fight 2025: August

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 11:35:00 +0100

Six films for August and they’re mostly good!

Bring Her Back

Bring Her Back is a creepy supernatural horror that digs its claws in very early, with some unsettling VHS footage.

The main plot follows a pair of orphans being moved around the foster care system, and their new foster parent, played fantastically be Sally Hawkins. It’s not a spoiler to say that not everything is as it seems in her home.

This is the kind of horror that you remember.

Very good.

The Pickup

Prime seem intent to shove out a terrible action film every month. This month it’s The Pickup.

The movie follows to armored van drivers who are pulled into a heist. None of it really makes sense, none of the action really works, and you’ll be bored quite quickly. While it’s good to see Eddie Murphy get back to acting, he deserves better than this.

Skip

Nobody 2

Nobody 2 takes the surprising sequel route of not trying to go bigger and better. If anything, this feels like a slightly smaller film with a few slightly bigger action set-pieces.

Bob Odenkirk is, once again, good as the former-agent and now downtrodden dad, as he takes his family on a vacation to the amusement park he spent his childhood at. Trouble inevitably catches up with him and the plot plays out how you’d expect.

It might not do anything new, but it does a very solid job of playing the hits.

Sovereign

Nick Offerman is excellent as a father who has gone off the deep-end in Sovereign, a look into the murky world of the sovereign citizen movement.

It humanizes the desperation that these people come from, while not letting them off the hook for their disconnect with reality. Jacob Tremblay is great as Offerman’s teenage son, pulled along in his father’s wake.

Affecting.

F1

F1 delivers a masterclass in big, summer blockbuster movies.

The racing action is gripping, the pace is maintained through the lengthy runtime, and no-one lets the side down. It’s a very easy watch, if entirely predictable. The most popcorny of popcorn movies.

Good.

Weapons

Zach Cregger’s followup to Barbarian was always going to be one to watch, and Weapons doesn’t disappoint.

We jump between multiple tellings of the story of a class of missing children, slowly learning more about what might have happened. The very strange goings-on build up to something unexpected, but satisfyingly creepy. To say more would be a spoiler. If you like horror, you’ll already have seen this.

Very good.

The August Winner

Some good contenders, but I think Weapons is the best of the bunch.

Film Fight 2025: July

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 11:03:00 +0100

A fairly busy July with 8 films!

Heads of State

Heads of State is a cliche-ridden, slop action film by Prime.

Idris Elba and John Cena play the British Prime Minister and US President respectively. Circumstance takes them from not liking each other to friends over the course of the runtime. There’s very little new or interesting here, a couple of action sequences aside.

Bad.

The Old Guard 2

The first Old Guard was a fun two hours, with some heavy-handed world building. The Old Guard 2, meanwhile, is a lot of heavy-handed world building, with maybe one good action sequence.

In trying to pad out the world and bring in new threats, the film is left feeling entirely unfinished. The main plot stops long before any kind of conclusion is reached, as they clearly want to build out an even bigger franchise.

Fairly boring.

Warfare

Alex Garland’s most intimate film to date is about war. Warfare is kept almost entirely within a single building under siege, and the soldiers trapped inside.

The tension is a slow build that never becomes a full-blow crescendo, instead focussing on small moments. Very good for both the action, and the human moments.

The Surfer

I’m hit or miss on Nicholas Cage, but The Surfer is definitely a hit for me.

It’s a fever dream of a film: a man goes to buy his childhood home near the beach he used to surf in, but a gang makes it clear he doesn’t belong. The world shifts around him, and you’re left not knowing what’s real and what’s him simply losing his mind.

Very good.

Superman

The latest attempt to build a cinematic universe to rival Marvel appears in DC’s Superman.

It’s… fine. It smartly skips all of the origin story that we’ve seen too many times, but doesn’t spend a lot of time replacing it with a particularly interesting plot. Nicholas Hoult is great as Lex Luthor, but that’s maybe the high point. Everything else is one disconnected sequence after another, with a bunch of cameos crammed in to pad things out.

Mindless spectacle.

Fantastic Four: First Steps

It’s not high praise to say that Fantastic Four: First Steps is the best Fantastic Four film we’ve gotten, so poor were the other attempts.

Setting the movie in a 60s Americana universe was a smart choice, helping us move passed the goofiness inherent in the characters. The story is a fairly straight forward FF story: the Silver Surfer heralds the coming of Galactus as Sue Storm is about to have a child, so the heroes have to come up with a plan to stop a world-eating god.

Honestly, it’s what you’d want: enormous, sugary spectacle. The plot slows down a lot around the 2/3rds mark, but it has enough good will to get you to the end.

Decent.

Happy Gilmore 2

Making a sequel to a (somewhat dated) classic is difficult, and the makers of Happy Gilmore 2 seem to think the best way of tackling that is mostly a bunch of references to the original.

Like many legacy sequels, this lacks any kind of originality or character. It’s a pale shadow of the original, and absolutely cannot stand on its own.

Avoid.

Megan 2.0

Megan 2.0 makes the regrettable choice of switching genres from horror to action-tinged comedy. Or maybe it was supposed to be comedy-tinged action. It’s not really successful at either.

I genuinely can’t remember a great deal about this film, other than feeling bored and checking the remaining runtime.

Meh.

The July Winner

The July winner is The Surfer. I don’t know if I’d reach for it again soon, but it left a lasting impression.

Film Fight 2025: June

Sun, 17 May 2026 14:47:00 +0100

Turns out life got in the way and I’m now almost a year behind in Film Fights. Oh well. June 2025 has 9 films.

Mountainhead

Mountainhead is a well-pitched, barely satirical look at a group of narcissistic tech bros taking over the world. While the characters are a little shallow, given both their nature and the runtime, they serve the story well - as they blunder through geopolitics.

The cast is strong, with Steve Carell a slight standout. Funny, worryingly prescient, and terrifying. Worth seeing.

Sinners

The world of Sinners is bathed in music and blood, an affecting horror story about family and ties to tradition.

Twin brothers (Michael B. Jordan) open a backwater bar in deep South, and are soon visited by multiple unwanted guests. The film revels in its soundtrack as much as it does gore, with extended musical sequences a welcome distraction from the brewing horror.

Very good.

The Amateur

In The Amateur Rami Malek plays an analyst turned agent after something unfortunate happens to his wife. The film doesn’t quite live up to the threat it tries to portray. Malek, even after training, isn’t credible as a vengeful agent, and the movie fails to reflect his words in his actions.

Fine, but forgettable (in that I have now forgotten significant portions).

Ballerina

Or to use it’s full name From The World of John Wick: Ballerina.

Ana de Armas is sufficiently engaging as the titular ballerina, from one of the Wick franchise’s crime families. The plot itself is nonsense, leaning heavily on the Wick name to keep it propped up, and at a little over 2 hours feels very long.

The action, however, is very good. The flamethrower battle in the last act is pretty incredible by itself.

Worth seeing.

The Accountant 2

I don’t think we needed a sequel, but The Accountant 2 turned up anyway.

Given I was between indifferent and bored by the original on first viewing, I wasn’t expecting much here, but I was entertained. There are day’s I’d roll my eyes at how utterly stupid this film is, but it hit the spot on the night I watched it.

Some good action, nonsense plot, but fun.

(I also rewatched the original shortly after and found it a bit more enjoyable second time.)

Good Night And Good Luck

Clooney’s live version of Good Night, and Good Luck is something of a marvel. It adapts the source material for the stage, pinging between scenes and locations at breakneck speed, and captures it as a movie.

It does have the feel of being compressed for the medium: characters and moments don’t get time to breathe.

Okay.

Final Destination: Bloodlines

Silly, bloody, messy: Final Destination: Bloodlines takes a revival tour around the franchise and does something big. It has spectacular set pieces, over the top gore, and stays just on the right side of ridiculous.

This was a lot of fun, even if the final scenes did feel forced.

The Phoenician Scheme

Wes Anderson isn’t for everyone, but I’m not convinced that even the most arden fans will love The Phoenician Scheme. Sure, I laughed at certain moments, but the whole thing felt tired. No real driving forced, nothing new. We’ve seen this movie several times before, and far better.

Meh.

28 Years Later

A return to the fast zombie franchise, 28 Years Later moves us forward to a Britain that has been isolated by the world, as the Rage virus continues to mutate. The world building works well: isolation, corruption, madness, but with a thematic theme of kindness.

At it’s heart, this is about a son’s love for his mother, and his inability to accept losing her (and not in the way you might think).

Good.

The June Winner

Some very strong contenders this month, but I think Sinners wins for building such a vibrant world

Film Fight 2025: May

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 13:16:00 +0000

For May, there are 7 films in the fight.

Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts is a mixed bag. It’s a Marvel film (for good and bad) that tries to do something different, particulary with the villain. However, in bringing together the characters that it does, it forces tension that really shouldn’t be there.

Some good moments, definitely a breezy popcorn film, but only looks good in comparison to their recent output.

The Cleaner

The Cleaner sees a former solider turned high-rise window cleaner take on some terrorists attempting to… honestly, who knows? The plot here isn’t really notable. I actually forgot the ending by the next day and had to rewatch it. The action doesn’t even make up for it.

There’s not much to really like here.

Skip.

Summer Of 69

Summer Of 69 is a teen comedy that sees an awkward teen hire a stripper to help her gain the skills she thinks she needs to get a guy.

While the specifics are unique, you’ve definitely seen movies like this before - and ones that are done a little better. That’s not to say it’s bad, I definitely laughed at points, but it’s not great.

Fine.

Drop

Drop is a fixed location horror about a women tasked with killing her date at a fancy restaurant, or face repercussions against her family.

It is, at times, ridiculous but mostly manages to build tension effectively, ratcheting up the pressure nicely.

Definitely one worth seeing.

The Ballad Of Wallis Island

The Ballad Of Wallis Island follows the fictional reunion of a folk duo for a superfan.

Mulligan, Basden, and Key all play their parts well. It’s sad and resentful as much as it is funny, but it all works.

Good.

Opus

Opus sees a former popstar (played by John Malkovich) reappear after decades of being a reclusive cult leader, promising his best album yet. Ayo Edebiri plays a journalist sent to review it - and find out what’s been happening.

While the last act will have you rolling your eyes, there’s fun to be had on the way there. There are enough moments of cult weirdness to draw a smile.

Okay.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is a lengthy action movie that tries to wrap up and tie-in far more of the previous entries than it really should have attempted to.

Bloated storytelling aside, it does what you’d expect: some of the biggest action sequences committed to film done as practically as possible. There are some genuinely excellent set pieces in here, that are worth the runtime.

Good.

The May Winner

Not the strongest month but I think the winner is Drop - a very solid horror thriller that does most things just right.

Film Fight 2025: April

Sat, 03 Jan 2026 12:04:00 +0000

I’m very behind on film reviews. Between some challenges in my personal life, a busy work year, and largely exiting social media, I’ve not felt very motivated to write - and I’ve seen fewer films.

That last reason, leaving social media, is an important, practical concern here. For a long time, I’ve posted my reviews on Twitter (and then Mastodon) and used a plugin to pull them into these reviews. I’ve barely used social media for quite some time now, and the few interactions were to push film reviews through what has become an increasingly circuitous route.

No more. I’ve decided that, for now, I’m just putting the reviews directly here, while maintaining the size constraints I originally found appealing. I’ll likely post the blog post links onto social media.

Because I’ve got April 2025 onwards to do, and I don’t want to see this as something I do grudgingly, I’m not going to rush getting caught up. I’m aiming to clear the 2025 reviews by the end of January 2026. We’ll see how much life gets in the way of that.

For April, there are 6 films in the fight.

Black Bag

Black Bag is Steven Soderbergh at his most confident - a spy thriller with an excellent cast, and the requisite twists and turns.

Fassbender and Blanchett lead a cast trying desperately to get one over on each other, or attept to get away with something devious.

Well-paced and fun.

The Brutalist

The Brutalist is an unevenly paced film about an uneven man, who finds himself in oscillating circumstance.

Brody puts in a powerful performance as the architect at the centre of the film, going between quiet and tired, and outright rage in a moment. The runtime isn’t quite warranted, but it’s a good watch nevertheless.

Good.

G20

G20 is more streaming slop from Prime: a high-stakes plot that makes little sense on its face.

Viola Davis does what she can with what she has to work with, but that’s not a lot. The action is weak, the story is silly, and nothing really matters.

Skip.

Death Of A Unicorn

Death Of A Unicorn is a mixed bag. At times funny, nudging towards farce, but at others trying to take itself too seriously; a mistake given how badly it affects the lighter moments and pacing.

The cast are all pretty good, and it’s fairly well stacked, but this is not a movie you’re going to watch again and again. Okay for what it is.

Fine.

Novocaine

Novocaine is at the lighter end of the Taken-inspired, man-with-a-mission action genre that has appeared in recent years.

Quaid plays a man who cannot feel pain, but can be badly hurt, who gets involved in the aftermath of a bank robbery. The action itself is perfectly fine - not many big moments, but what is there works well.

Decent.

Alto Knights

Alto Knights is a meandering gangster film that, perhaps unwisely, puts De Niro in as both leads.

Each of this characters have plot threads that don’t really go anywhere, and sequences that take far too long. Flabby, dull, and disappointing.

Skip.

The April Winner

I’m surprised to say the winner is Black Bag. The Brutalist had a lot going for it, but I can’t imagine watching it again any time soon.

Film Fight 2025: March

Sat, 05 Jul 2025 13:05:00 +0100

Only two films in March…

The Last Showgirl

#FF25 The Last Showgirl is a look at a world that's being left behind, and the people being left behind.

Anderson is well cast - embodying a somewhat naive performer who can't let go of the past. The plot struggles in the back half, having said what it needed to already.

Decent
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 5, 2025

Mickey 17

#FF25 Mickey 17 is a mixed bag.

There are moments of comedy and action that work, but mostly it's weird for weird's sake. It drags on significantly, long after it has nothing left to say.

Meh.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 5, 2025

The March Winner

It has to be The Last Showgirl - not a masterpiece, but decent.

Film Fight 2025: February

Sat, 05 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0100

Massively delayed on posting this (and the first half of the year), but there are 7 films for February.

Companion

#FF25 Companion is a somewhat predictable but fun film.

The premise is clear early and the subsequent twists are... also pretty predictable. Despite that, the cast scrambling around to fix a plan gone wrong, and screw each other over, is plenty of entertainment.

Decent.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 5, 2025

Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera

#FF25 Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera is a dull slog of a movie.

Where the original is a surprisingly fun, over the top, and occasionally smart action movie, this seems to want to sit in the reputation of the main characters without having them actually do anything.

Boring.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 5, 2025

September 5

#FF25 September 5 is a tense look at the journalists trying to cover the 1972 Olympics attack.

It's fast-moving pace pulls you in and doesn't stop until the very end. The cast are solid, but it's the tightness of the plot and editing that really propel this forward

Worth seeing
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 5, 2025

Babygirl

#FF25 Babygirl fails to live up to its own premise.

There are moments of real clarity in the central relationship, but they're undermined by indecisive actions and serious consent issues. The movie fails to explore the dynamics it sets up - and doesn't do much else instead

Skip
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 5, 2025

Captain America: Brave New World

#FF25 Captain America: Brave New World is a pretty tired take on the Marvel formula.

It's nice to see Mackie take on the lead, and for certain threads to come back, but there's nothing particularly new here and a serious lack of interesting action.

Meh.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 5, 2025

The Gorge

#FF25 The Gorge is some silly nonsense.

The chemistry between Teller/Taylor-Joy doesn't work, and the entire story is propped up on that. The rest feels like it was a plot generated by an AI - it's that level of ridiculous.

Skip.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 5, 2025

The Monkey

#FF25 The Monkey is some over the top, gory fun.

The premise (an evil toy monkey haunting a family) is tongue in cheek, and the gore is wildly over the top. Go in expecting a ridiculous horror that verges on comedy and you won't be disappointed.

Good.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) July 5, 2025

The February Winner

It’s good but not amazing but The Monkey is the best of the bunch.

Film Fight 2025: January

Sun, 09 Mar 2025 12:00:00 +0000

There are 11 films in the January Film Fight…

A Real Pain

#FF25 A Real Pain is about a fraught interpersonal relationship with the weight of history behind it.

Eisenberg is good as both performer and director, Culkin puts in an excellent performance. The film weaves from funny to sombre to infuriating and back with deftness.

Very good
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

Nosferatu

#FF25 Nosferatu is a moody, atmospheric take on the legend.

This is Eggers at his most divisive - as much about the atmosphere and tone as the plot, it pulls. Hoult puts in another fantastic performance. This won't be for everyone but it's well worth seeing.

Great.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

The Order

#FF25 The Order is a solid crime-thriller about an FBI agent chasing white supremacists.

Law puts in a darker performance than normal, with an edge to his usual swagger. The pacing is a little uneven, but the threat and menance throughout carries the movie.

Very good.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

Saturday Night

#FF25 Saturday Night is about the making of the infamous US TV show's first episode.

It tries to show the chaos of making it but doesn't do much to draw attention. Many of the issues we see aren't particularly interesting and most are repetitive.

It has moments but mostly dull
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

Here

#FF25 Here is about the history of a house and its inhabitants through time.

At times the gimmick (one locked off camera) is interesting and downright clever, but the film is cheesey and stagey in the worst ways. It looks abysymal - plasticky, overlit, fake.

Boring.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

The Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger

#FF25 The Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger is another look at doing business differently.

It's earnest and small, which at times can be charming and at times a bit repetitive. It lacks some of the charm and warmth of the original.

Fine for a while.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

Back In Action

#FF25 Back In Action is more action slop from Netflix.

So forgettable I had to look up what it was. The action is dull, the plot is nonsense, the leads seem bored. There's nothing to like here.

Bad.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

Wolf Man

#FF25 Wolf Man revisits the classic werewolf tropes.

Garner and Abbott are both solid as couple in a remote cabin. The film builds atmosphere and is somewhat fun, but stumbles in the back half of the movie - just a little bit slow, and too many of the same scares.

Fine.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

Star Trek: Section 31

#FF25 Star Trek: Section 31 squanders its cast and lore to turn in a boring Guardians of the Galaxy meets the Rick & Morty Heist episode - which sounds better than what we get.

An absolute mess of a plot, terrible additions to the canon, cheesey, boring, and cheap.

Bad.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

Flight Risk

#FF25 Flight Risk has a few moments of fun setup, but not much payoff.

The premise is reasonable but the leads are all way over the top - this is not a subtle film at any point. Doesn't have quite enough fuel to keep the plot going.

Skip.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

You’re Cordially Invited

#FF25 You're Cordially Invited manages to do poorly with a fine setup.

Everything in the movie seems setup to get to the next pre-canned sketch, rather than feeling like an organic extension of the situation. I remember laughing one time, and being pretty bored for the rest.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 9, 2025

The January Winner

A big month but A Real Pain is the obvious winner for me.

Film Fight 2024: Finale

Sun, 02 Mar 2025 13:00:00 +0000

This is the latest its been in quite some time, but here we are. There are some genuinely great films, but the quality definitely feels like it dipped towards the end of the year.

As per the caveat every year, Film Fight is done in a (non particularly serious) knock-out style: it can pick my favourite film of the year, but nothing else.

The honorable mentions: films that weren’t good enough to win their own month, but still worth seeing.

The Holdovers
Society Of The Snow
Poor Things
The End We Start From
Self Reliance
The Iron Claw
The Zone of Interest
Shirley
Monkey Man
Abigail
Hit Man
Kill
Jackpot!
Alien: Romulus
Bad Boys: Ride Or Die
The Substance
Wolfs
Speak No Evil
It’s What’s Inside
Heretic
Conclave
Kneecap
Juror #2

And now the monthly winners:

January: Priscilla
February: American Fiction
March: Dune Part 2
April: Civil War
May: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
June: The Bikeriders
July: Kinds of Kindness
August: Blink Twice
September: Rebel Ridge
October: Strange Darling
November: Caddo Lake
December: Anora

This one is quite difficult to pick. There are some epic action movies, with Dune Part 2 and Furiosa working at the high-end of action blockbusters. Villeneuve and Miller continue to be the masters of their craft.

There are some very good indie films that have made it through, like Strange Darling and Caddo Lake - both films that are presented in very specific orders that become puzzles without distracting.

In very different ways, Priscilla and Anora centre women who are being pushed in directions that they don’t want - with the consequences becoming inevitable.

I think that the winner, though, is Rebel Ridge. It’s incredibly shot, energetic, with a magnetic lead and a strong cast.

Film Fight 2024: December

Sun, 02 Mar 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Seven films for December 2024…

Rumours

#FF24 Rumours is a slightly self-indulgent, dry, absurdist comedy about the political classes.

The humour is amusing in moments, but the whole thing doesn't hang together. It overstays it's very short run time, reiterating short bits on the same, thin material.

Meh.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 2, 2025

Juror #2

#FF24 Juror #2 is a courtroom drama where we know early the outcome unless one man steps up.

Hoult gives a career best performance as the titular character, with Collette hardly slacking.

The rarest of films: one that arguably ends at exactly the right moment.

Very good.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 2, 2025

Carry-On

#FF24 Carry-On is slightly better than your typical streaming service, action movie slop - but not by much.

Egerton is fine in the lead, but Bateman is clearly having a lot of fun.

Almost nothing in the film holds up to scrutiny, but it's fine for a couple of hours.

Okay.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 2, 2025

Dear Santa

#FF24 Dear Santa is a Christmas film you'll probably watch once.

Jack Black plays an over the top demon who grants a kid three wishes. Some of it plays out in a fun way, but it's mostly forgettable with some pretty terrible moments.

Meh.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 2, 2025

Subservience

#FF24 Subservience is part of the growing genre around lifelike robots that eventually turn to murder.

You'll see every single beat of this film coming, but that doesn't stop it occasionally being fun.

Fine.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 2, 2025

Red One

#FF24 Red One, despite its short cinematic release, is the worst kind of streaming slop.

Clearly built with franchising in mind, it failed at the first step of being interesting, well-made, or vaguely sensible. With an enormous budget, you won't see any of it on screen.

Awful.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 2, 2025

Anora

#FF24 Anora is torn between tense drama and black comedy.

Madison is excellent, managing the slight tonal shifts perfectly. The film is exciting, dark, (mostly) propulsive - and heading for an obvious conclusion. I have nits to pick, but this is well worth seeing.

Great.
— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) March 2, 2025

The December Winner

A clear and easy victory for Anora - a late contender for Film of the Year.