Moana (2026)

There are two ways of doing a cash grab movie. One is subtle, which is to take something that people like and give us a new instalment in that series (TRON Ares) and then there are the more blatant ones like 2026’s Moana which continues Disney's ongoing mission to turn their animated back catalogue into live action. What is strange about this movie is that the original animated version is only 10 years old. It hasn’t had time to develop a cult like following to get people excited by it.

The plot of this follows the original so there is no point going into that but there are subtle differences which were most likely done more for budgetary reasons than anything else. The performances were all really good. I thought that Catherine Laga’aia played Moana as someone who wants to help her people and yet be an adventuress even though her father doesn't want her going beyond a certain point. Laga’aia and Dwayne Johnson’s dynamic works very well and like in the 2016 version, its the main thing to like in this. Dwayne Johnson brings his usual charm and charisma to the role of Maui but I am sorry its the hair that I found distracting. When I saw the trailer I could have been convinced it was an SNL sketch because the wig looks cheap. It looks like he is wearing a wig which isn't the point of a wig unless you plan to make it part of the story. I thought that rest of the performances were really good as well with John Tui as Moana’s father Chief Tui, Frankie Adams as Moana’s mother Sina delivery lovely performances but I thought that Rena Owen stood out as Gramma Tala. Her performance might come across as cliched by Disney standards but it was lovely and the scene where Moana leaves just as Gramma is dying is beautifully done by both Laga’aia and Owen.

The songs are all really good although I think that Laga’aia struggles with the ‘How Far I’ll Go’ song but the advantage of having Johnson star in both versions is this version of ‘Your Welcome’ is as good here as it was in 2016. Mark Mancina is another constant from 2016 and I think does a great job here.

Moana isn't bad by any means but it does feel largely pointless. The story is basically the 2016 version with some subtle differences and it directed competently by Thomas Kail. As I said earlier, not enough time has passed for people to get nostalgic about it. On a side note, I saw this in IMAX which is the first time I have seen a film in this format and to be honest I thought it was quite good. The size of the screen was massive and sitting in my usual spot in a screening (front row, furthest seat away from the entrance) meant I got a great experience. Moana should be a cautionary tale of how not to do a cash grab movie. You need to leave films at least a generation before remaking them.

The Last Viking (2025)

The Last Viking (or Den sidste viking) sees director Anderson Thomas Jensen and Mads Mikkelsen reunite in this black comedy which sees Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) task his brother Manfred (Mikkelsen) with hiding a bag of money in the woods near where they grew up when they were younger. He story then moves forward 15 years and Manfred has been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder and is now called John because he believes he is John Lennon. Whenever John is called Manfred he tries to kill himself and Anker needs John/Manfred to show him where the money is buried.

Anker is persuaded that the way to get John to tell him where the money is is basically by everyone around him playing along and so they get some other people who think they are the other members of the Beatles to play some songs although one of the band also think they are Bjorn from ABBA. This whole part of the plot might seem ridiculous but in the context of this film I found it worked quite well. I also thought setting this in the woods in the middle of nowhere helped make it work. The house where they grew up is now an Airbnb run by Margrethe (Sofie Gråbøl) and Werner (Søren Malling) who don't have the best marriage. It’s at this stage that the black comedy aspect of the story really shows although the slightly humorous ways that Manfred tries to kill himself was an early hint. The humour doesnt seem out of place alongside the flashbacks to when Anker and Manfred are growing up and due to Manfred always wanting to be a Viking, gets punished and this goes on until Anker takes an axe to their father and blanks it from his memory. This delicate balancing act in terms of tone is quite well handled by Jensen.

It seems like Margrethe has been killed by having her head smashed in with a sledgehammer but she isnt dead and appears at the end of the film with the side of her face disfigured. When the car Flemming was in crashed I did half expect him to turn up later on but I suppose one miraculous escape from death is the limit in this film. Having watched the Killing (the original and best version), I liked that Gråbøl and Nicolas Bro were in this film although they only had the sledgehammer scene together. The relationship between Anker and Manfred/John is at the heart of this film and both Kaas and Mikkelsen still have a lovely dynamic even though their characters are at odds. Mikkelsen is always able to give a great performance but this is definitely different to what I have seen him do in the past. 

I really enjoyed this film. I thought that it had a good plot with very good performances. If I had an issue with the film then it would be that the animated stuff at the beginning and end of the film don't really add anything but that is about the extent of my negatives. It felt quite appropriate to be watching this film that centres around the Beatles whilst in Liverpool. This was a nice surprise but not on the level of Blades of the Guardians but it is still worth watching when it makes its way to streaming.

Minions & Monsters (2026)

With the world being the joyless slog that it is right now, what the world desperately needs is a minion movie.  This is the third one to feature the Minions in the lead and sees James and Henry attempt to make their own movie but things go wrong when they bring Goomi back. The film feels like a celebration of early cinema.  When the Minions travel to Hollywood during the period of the silent movies and this part was a joy to watch cause there were references to Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, Buster Keaton’s house falling on him from Steamboat Bill, Jr and Harold Lloyd hanging from the clock in Safety Last.

I was worried that the Dort part of the story would get in the way of the main story but credit to writers Brian Lynch and Pierre Coffin, the story zips along so fast that there wasnt the time for anything to get in the way of the main plot. I like the trio of James and Henry along with Ed who was deaf and I wonder if that it is it the first deaf Minion. It is hard to dislike the minions as they are funny and adorable even when they are using slapstick violence against each other. 

The jokes are coming at you so fast that its is clear that it is going to require multiple viewings to get everything. Just the portion where all the Minions are in the space pods with one pressing a button and a chicken comes out for…..reasons and then there is another one where two of the minions are sharing a bubble bath The setting is the main reason why things work as well as they do. 

I really enjoyed Minions and Monsters and left the screening in a really good mood which isn't something that happens very often and this is definitely the best animated film I have seen this year. This is a film which on the face of it is a silly 90 minute animated film but has jokes coming at you at such a high rate and yet still work for adults and kids. I am still working my way through the minions films so I don't know yet where this ranks amongst them but rating it on its own I would say that it was a fun film that nods lovingly to the early days of cinema.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

2001: A Space Odyssey is regarded as one of the best science fiction films of all time and I have always rated it highly on a technical level. I had the opportunity to watch it on the biggest screen in my cinema with the best sound system. Whenever people question why I still go to the cinema when we have Blu-rays and DVDs as well as streaming I will point them to experiences like seeing this film. There was something magical about what I was seeing, especially all the final 20 minutes or so after Dave removes HAL’s memory and there is all the psychedelic imagery.

The opening portion with the apes really affected my hearing. It felt like my ears were gonna burst. Thankfully that moment passed. The score and soundtrack is absolutely fantastic. During the many long sequences where there is no dialogue there is some great music which helps maintain your interest. The model work is fantastic and the sets are equally as impressive. There are some decorative blunders but on the whole on a technical level the sets are superb. It is unclear to me how they managed to pull off some of the shots. I know how it would have been done today but in 1968 the amount of work that would have gone into making these things work would have required a lot of planning.

As for the story its….well complicated. The film starts off with the apes (make and prosthetics that lost out to Planet of the Apes at the Oscars yet is far superior) going about their lives until the monolith appears and freaks them out. Then we meet Heywood Floyd who is the head of the US National Council of Astronauts who is sent to the moon to investigate a monolith that has been found buried in the moon. Then the story moves along to the Discover One spacecraft where we meet scientists Dave and Frank who are on their way to Jupiter along with their computer HAL9000 but when there is a dispute with HAL, the astronauts decide to disconnect HAL but HAL starts to go a bit crazy and then Dave ends up in some fancy bedroom with another monolith looking at him. The plot does become a bit confusing once Dave deativates HAL but even then I still felt involved in the story and that is the reason why the film works so well. Even when the plot is slightly confusing or some things dont make sense, there is enough intrigue to keep things ticking along nicely.

I really enjoyed seeing this at the cinema. Not only is it great on a technical level but seeing it on the biggest screen has made me enjoy it even more. At nearly two and half hours the entire film flies by and even with the awkward intermission in the middle which might have worked in 1968 but in 2026 doesnt, this film rightly deserves its place in the discussion of greatest sci-fi films of all times. There are technical feats here that look just as good as stuff made today. I dont know if its the best Stanley Kubrick film but its up there.

The Invite (2026)

This was a mystery screening at my local cinema but one that I was aware of because of the trailers and right of the bat I have to say that this was another great choice. The Invite is the latest film from Olivia Wilde who co-stars as Angela alongside Penelope Cruz (Pina), Seth Rogan (Joe) and Edward Norton (Hawk). The two couples are very different with Joe and Angela’s marriage coming across as broken and not happy whereas Hawk and Pina’s relationship is very……different and they offer Joe and Angela the opportunity to partake in one of their sex parties. The nature of the invite was obvious if you have seen the trailer but that doesnt mean that isnt a good part of the plot and the reactions of Joe and Angela are priceless.

All four performances are really good. I typically have a mixed opinion of Seth Rogan but after Good Fortune and this I think my opinion might have shifted to a more positive way of looking at his acting. I thought that he seemed just as baffled by the situation as the rest of us. Normally as he is the ‘funny’ one of the group he would be the only one who was funny but I actually found Olivia Wilde funny. Some of her facial expressions aimed at Seth Rogan were really funny and did have me chuckling many times. I did find myself feeling a bit sorry for Angela as she must have had a very dull day and the chance to entertain visitors must be too good to turn down. I thought that this was the best performance I have seen from Edward Norton for quite a long time. As Hawk it would be so easy to come across as a spiritual idiot but Norton manages to make him seem likeable and the story of how he got the name Hawk was tragic and funny because of how he delivered it and how Seth Rogan responded. Penelope Cruz does a great job with Pina. She is the polar opposite of Olivia Wilde’s Angela and works perfectly with Edward Norton. All four work in their respective couples but work well together and that is one of the things I liked about this film.

Another thing was the singular setting. Apart from 90 seconds at the beginning with Joe pretending to listen to music from his students, the entire film takes place in Joe and Angela’s apartment. Keeping things interesting and the pace going is quite difficult in one location. Ok there are different rooms but it would be easy to get claustrophobic and Wilde makes it feel like there is some energy in their performances despite the fact that it is just four people talking. 

I enjoyed this film a lot more than I was expecting. I thought the trailers made the film seem interesting but after watching it I thought that the comedy was much better than the trailer suggested and whilst most might think that this is a bit like a stageplay, I think that this is actually a big plus point and with Olivia Wilde’s directing and Will McCormack and Rashida Jones’ screenplay work well together along with the performances to give us a small but very well done film with a nice amount of comedy and awkwardness. This film might struggle to get the attention compared to Minions or Supergirl but it definitely should be seen.

Supergirl (2026)

I will be honest and say that I know very little about Supergirl or Kara Zor-El. I was aware but have not seen the 1984 movie or the TV series that ran for several seasons. All I had seen of Supergirl was her appearance in The Flash and Milly Alcock’s cameo in last years Superman. 

The premise is that Kara (Milly Alcock) is going from place to place getting drunk with her cute dog Krypto when the dog is shot by evil villainous Krem and Kara has three days to find Krem and get the antidote. Meanwhile she is travelling with Rutheye (Eve Ridley) who has lost her family at the hands of Krem and wants revenge. Every so often Lobo (Jason Mamoa) pops up from attending a KISS cosplay event to be the quirky funny character.

It may seem like I am being dismissive of the film but I thought that the film was ok. Nothing more. Milly Alcock is a good choice for Supergirl and the best thing about the film. Kara is a strong character but has flaws and the film doesn't try to hide them which is what would have been the tendency in previous years. I don't want to be horrible to Eve Ridley who is 15 at the time of writing this review but she was quite bland in this and the the film needed someone with a bit of personality and someone who we can buy having genuine anger at the loss of her family but unfortunately this wasn't the case with Ridley. She did have a good sisterly bond with Alcock but that was about it. Jason Mamoa just seems to wander in, say his part and then leave before returning and seems to be there to add the personality that is severely lacking in this film. Despite doing his best, Matthias Schoenaerts does his best with Krem. He does mean things but as the main villain of the film the character doesn't quite have the gravitas that a villain in one of these films should have. I’m not expecting Thanos everytime but something approaching that would be good. The whole sex trafficking aspect of the character would have been a better main point but it seemed that Kara was more interested in helping her dog.

The main issue from this film is that it comes across as mediocre. It has the vibe of a James Gunn film with a great soundtrack yet it doesn't have the magic that you would expect so it just comes across as aimless. I thought that the director of Cruella would be able to do a better job of instilling some energy but that seems to be lacking from the movie. 

I doubt that this is the last time we have seen Kara/Supergirl but if we do get a standalone Supergirl film then hopefully they will do a better job of making this cinematic world seem important because we are two films into the James Gunn DCU and it does seem to be stuttering a little bit. This film is directed with very little enthusiasm and whilst its nowhere near the terrible mess that some seem to be saying, neither is it the home run that other are saying. 

Jackass: Best and Last (2026)

Back in 2002, I went to see the first Jackass movie being a fan of the TV show. Over the course of 24 years we have had many more Jackass films but then I felt that I had moved on and so if this is the last then it will have gone out on a relatively high note.  The film is basically a best of from the other films and some moments that have never been shown before so there is enough ‘new’ material to justify this being a movie.

The film does start with a segment that reminded me of that Jamiroquai video Virtual Insanity. It was really well done and that is something all these films have in common (from what I can remember) is that they have great openings. The ending is also quite good as well. To be fair the highlights are quite good and they have chosen wisely. 

My main issue with the stuff with the poo. I just can’t cope with poo and there are way too many examples of poo related humour for my liking. Another issue is that as there are so many members of the team not all of them get much screen time. Rachel being the only woman in the group does pretty much nothing apart from stand with the group. I don't know if there is going to be an extended version cause otherwise there is no point having her in the film.

Normally I would be sceptical about this being the last one but I do think that this might be the case here because they are all way too old to be doing this sort of stuff. I enjoyed this film but I think that there are better films in the series. There was enough in this that made it worth coming out to the cinema but its going to lose anything by waiting for it come out on streaming.