James Berardinelli

For fans of the genre, Wake Up Dead Man delivers exactly what they have come to expect: a sharp, stylish puzzle box that is a joy to unlock.

With its curious fusion of tear-jerking drama and fish-out-of-water humor, Rental Family is indeed a strange brew—one of those films that sounds slightly ridiculous in synopsis but blossoms into something unexpectedly tender when experienced moment-to-moment.

It’s a seamless continuation of the stories and relationships introduced in Zootopia, moving things forward without making any radical changes to the underlying formula—and that consistency may be exactly what audiences want from a return trip to this animated menagerie.

It’s quirky, a little unpredictable, and never feels like warmed-over leftovers. There’s a bite to things – an edginess that doesn’t cut too deeply but keeps the sentimentality in check. One of the year’s most pleasant surprises.

Although not as good as the first Sisu—which made my 2022 Top 10 and has since become a cult favorite—Road to Revenge is a worthy follow-up.

Hamnet ultimately feels like the sort of mid-budget literary drama that used to be commonplace from the late 1980s through the early 2000s but has since become rare. It proves a better fit for Zhao than the blockbuster ambitions of Eternals: the intimate scale and emotional concentration suit her strengths.

Suffice it to say that those who love the play will sit enraptured through Wicked for Good and not think it’s a minute too long. Those without the same depth of connection may leave wishing Chu had hired a less generous editor and made better use of his pruning shears.

Although I didn’t find the film particularly noteworthy, I enjoyed visiting Paris in the late 1950s and appreciated the behind-the-scenes tour. Like many hangout films, it’s simply enjoyable to spend time with the characters, even if nothing momentous occurs (depending on one’s definition of whether the making of a classic movie qualifies as “momentous”).

The entire affair is so badly bungled that there isn’t even a briefly satisfying moment of catharsis. The obvious next act for these Horsemen is to vanish—and never come back.

Given some of the dubious decisions made in crafting the 1987 film, there was ample opportunity to make vast improvements. Unfortunately, this Running Man fails to take advantage and, while stumbling on approach to the finish line, it trips and falls in the final moments.

Del Toro's filmmaking instincts are solid and he makes this an engaging 150-minute journey, but when it was over, I never felt I had truly explored something fresh, and that was a mild disappointment.

When the story moves into the 2000s, Christy finds its true identity—not as a tale of athletic triumph but as a portrait of endurance and survival. It’s messy, painful, and deeply human, which makes it far more compelling than the average true-life sports drama.

The film lingers, not because it’s enjoyable, but because it refuses to let go. It’s the sort of movie you admire for its daring and endurance but would never want to watch a second time.

The decision to partially reinvent what a Predator movie can be is what makes Badlands work. While it leans on familiar sci-fi tropes and doesn’t exactly revolutionize the genre, it feels fresher than the other sequels and far less beholden to the original.

There are moments of brilliance, but overall this is a bit of a chore—and the ending renders the whole enterprise kind of pointless. Of the director’s six English-language films, this is his biggest misstep and the one I’ve liked the least.

Deliver Me from Nowhere wants to be profound, but it mostly feels like it’s still searching for a chorus.

Taut, relentless, and uncompromising, A House of Dynamite’s greatest strength is its sense of plausibility.

In truth, this feels more like a half-baked comedy sketch stretched far beyond its breaking point—until even the last traces of humor have leaked out like the gooey innards of a Stretch Armstrong toy that’s been tortured by a sadistic kid.

The Black Phone 2 stands as a strong companion piece to the original—firmly rooted in horror, maintaining continuity, yet not shackled by the tropes its predecessor embraced.

There’s enough suspense to keep an itchy trigger finger from changing the channel but viewers hoping for more won’t find it here.

The movie makes a variety of changes to Jeffrey’s story to make it more cinematic, but without the kind of narrative reworking needed to streamline the material, the result feels unfocused and shapeless.

Tron: Ares is fan service at its finest: a bold, brash spectacle that can’t get enough of its Easter eggs and callbacks. But there are two problems with this approach: it can be alienating for those outside the inner circle, and it prioritizes sensory overload over storytelling.

It’s rich material, but despite having one of the greatest actors of his generation at his disposal, Ronan manages to fumble it—delivering a film that functions more as a sleep aid than a drama.

The film, anchored by a towering performance from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Mark Kerr, is at once a sports drama, an addiction-and-recovery story, a tale of toxic romantic love, and an ode to male friendship. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fully succeed as any of these, because with so many elements competing, none has the room to truly emerge.

Destined to be counted among 2025’s best, One Battle After Another is proof that September isn’t always the cinematic wasteland it’s often made out to be.

Kogonada's direction crafts a variety of visually arresting—though not ostentatious—set pieces. Yet somehow, it doesn’t all come together. The whimsical magic evident early on grows stale. The movie’s tone is herky-jerky and never settles. And the ending feels undercooked and unearned.

Like Nicolas Winding Refn with The Neon Demon, Tipping approaches it all with deadly seriousness, convinced he’s delivering a profound statement when in reality he’s just serving up an overwrought, futile mess.

Despite a number of narrative holes, The Long Walk succeeds largely on the strength of its performances.