Movie Reviews

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

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  • Title: The Fantastic Four: First Steps
  • IMDb: link

The fifth time’s the charm? With the exception of The Incredibles, Hollywood has had a pretty bad record adapting a good Fantastic Four to film. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is easily the best attempt (even if the bar is ridiculously low). The first thing director Matt Shakman, writers Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, and Jeff Kaplan, and producer Kevin Feige get right is capturing the proper setting for a film as we open a world set in the kind of 60s futurism that spawned the original comic book. From its opening moments to its closing credits we believe this is a world where the Fantastic Four could thrive, where a robot like H.E.R.B.I.E. would help babyproof the Baxter Building, where you could see the Fantasticar pass by, and where the fate of the world would rely on a family coming together to save the day. A strong argument could be made that the look of the film is its unsung hero.

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Eddington

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  • Title: Eddington
  • IMDb: link

Writer/director Ari Aster‘s latest is an absurdist dark comedy where the humor comes from the stupidity and poor decision-making of its characters. And, oh boy, do we get some stupid decisions from its characters. Set in the town of Eddington, New Mexico, during the COVID-19 lockdown, we’re introduced to an entire town of incredibly dumb characters all following their own agendas while shouting their opinions at each other and rarely, if ever, truly listening to another person. In some ways, Aster has brought Internet discourse to life which, while intriguing, isn’t always interesting.

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I Know What You Did Last Summer

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  • Title: I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)
  • IMDb: link

Other than the basic concept, and a few minor details, I have no strong memory of 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer which, although is credited for helping revive the slasher genre following closely on the heels of the much more successful Scream, was ultimately a rather forgettable example of the genre. Skip ahead nearly 30 years and you’ve got a new version of the film which offers a similar set up of a car accident caused by a group of friends (Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, and Sarah Pidgeon) who make a pact to cover it up rather than face the consequences of their actions. One year later, however, someone with a hook (and also knives and a speargun) begins targeting them and their loved ones. Are they smart enough to find the killer before they are all killed? Probably not as these aren’t exactly the smartest crop of victims to be targeted by a killer in a slasher flick.

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Superman

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  • Title: Superman (2025)
  • IMDb: link

It may not be great, but James Gunn‘s first outing with the Man of Steel certainly outshines any recent depictions of the character. Not shying away from the immigrant story of an alien adopted by human parents making Earth his home, 2025’s Superman does what David Goyer and Zack Snyder struggled so mightily with every step of the DCEU – it finds the heart of the character who, despite being alien, is human in all the right ways.

Superman captures some of the feel of Richard Donner‘s original while also adding enough of its own touches (including teasing us with variations to John Williams‘ original theme) to make it stand out more than Superman Returns. It’s a bit too zany in places for me, and a bit too obvious in nods to current events, but when Superman stays focused on its titular character there’s an awful lot to like here.

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Jurassic World Rebirth

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  • Title: Jurassic World Rebirth
  • IMDb: link

Good news, bad news. The good news is that Jurassic World Rebirth is better than the last couple Jurassic World movies where the franchise offered us the disappointing Dominion and dreadful Fallen Kingdom. The bad news is it’s not all that much better. A far cry from the franchise’s best, Jurassic World Rebirth struggles with what to keep and what to throw out in a formulaic adventure that is smart enough to make fun of the lagging interest in dinosaurs decades after the original Jurassic Park but not smart enough to offer anything new other than shoehorning in Black Widow. Still, for a summer popcorn movie with dinosaurs, you could do worse (as the franchise has proven).

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