The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

I think it was a surprise to pretty much everybody that the last Super Mario movie was as good as it was. It eradicated the awful memory of the 1993 live action film which managed to set movies based on video games back several years. This film introduces Brie Larson as Rosalina who is Peaches’ older sister. We are also introduced to Donald Glover as Yoshi and it is practically impossible to dislike Yoshi and we are also introduced to Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr who spends the film trying to rescue his father. Rosalina has been kidnapped by Bowser Jr and Peach goes to rescue her.

As this is made by the studio that made the Minions the animation is amazing. The amount of things going on at any one time shows the attention to detail they had and also it looks stunning and obviously its supposed to appear to a young audience but it still appeals to people in their 40’s. All the voice work is really good and I like how they have so far resisted the urge to put conflict between Mario and Luigi. They are friends throughout and that is always nice to see. The closest that the film gets to friction between the main characters is when Toad appears to be slightly jealous of Yoshi although this was very minor and didn’t last for long. It was also quite funny.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie features lots of references to the games and most of them were ones that were familiar to me but there were some that weren’t but I never felt like I was being left out of a joke or something which shows that some care was taken to the story. They knew that their main audience were fans of the games but knew that there might be people who aren’t as familiar and wrote it so that everyone can still enjoy the film. 

Despite enjoying this film a great deal, I don't think this is as good as the previous film but it was still a highly enjoyable film. I was in a fairly full screening at 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon and the kids were very well behaved. I have been in screenings where adults behaved worse than kids but it was nice to see that people will still come out to the cinema when the film is right. One final thing and this is pre-film related, there must have been about six adverts for Nintendo Switch. I don't mind one but the amount that they showed pre-film seemed a tad excessive especially as this was aimed at a kids audience.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026)

I am a big fan of Ready or Not. So there was a certain amount of trepidation when I went to see Ready or Not 2 cause I am still wary of sequels being better than the first. Despite coming out six years after the original, this film takes place immediately after the first one. As Grace survived the game the scriptwriters scrambled around for a way of rehashing the original plot and introducing her sister Faith played by Kathryn Newton.  The additional aspect of the plot is that the Le Domas’ were part of a group of families and Grace now being the winner is forced into playing double or nothing/ There are suppose to be six but with  the Le Domas’ were wiped out and Kevin Durand’s Bill Wilkinson and his family were wiped out so we are already down to four.

We meet Francesca (Maia Jae) who was originally suppose to marry Alex in the first film but he ditched her for Grace for some reason so this seemed to be introduced to add some drama. Her father Ignacio (played by Nestor Carbonell who is frankly chewing the scenery) seems to be lousy with a weapon and then when Francesca has a bazooka she is also rubbish with it, firing it in the opposite direction. If they wanted to they could have made her the driving force of the conflict but then again Maia Jae isn't Sarah Michelle Gellar. When Virat is killed, his brother Madhu he forfeits his position in the family to his wife who then decides to leave. She is actually the smartest of the entire cast and she drives off into the sunset and out of the movie. All the supporting characters of the supporting characters add nothing to the plot.

My main issue with the film is that its the first film but way more bloated in terms of story. Not just in terms of the cast numbers that don't do anything substantial but there are also way too many plot points where they try and get themselves out of a hole only to dig themselves into another hole. The first one was simple and effective, this time it just felt bloated and unnecessarily so. It’s not a terrible film by any means but I think that it's a classic sequel in that it does the first film but with a bigger budget so it’ll be bigger and louder and most of the time it doesn't work.

I don't think that this is a terrible film by any means because Samara Weaving is likeable as Grace and the absurdity of the whole film is used well enough but I don't think that this needed to exist. The script is weighed down by having to do too much and whilst it ends in a satisfactory way, it makes life very difficult for itself. There is potential for more if they wanted to although I think that they should stop now but I suppose it depends what happens at the box office.

They Will Kill You (2026)

They Will Kill You was a film that I got interested in purely because of the trailer. It’s advertised as being produced by Andy Muschietti although he didn’t direct it. Zazie Beetz plays Asia who starts a job at a fancy apartment block. It is soon revealed that she is looking for her sister who she abandoned 10 years earlier when they were trying to escape their abusive father. The film takes place primarily inside the complex and that is one of the things that appealed to me because I really like a film that has just one setting. There is a nice sense of claustrophobia about it and even though there are plenty of rooms, the isolated setting is used quite well here. 

The apartment complex is led by Lily (Patricia Arquette) and her husband Ray (Patterson Joseph) and a group of residents which include Tom Felton as Kevin and Heather Graham as Sharon. I thought that they were both quite good and it's always funny seeing someone from Harry Potter doing a role that is as far removed from Draco Malfoy as its possible to get. Patricia Arquette is fine as Lily and her story as to why she is there was interesting enough but Arquette is putting on the worst Irish accent I think I have ever heard. There are a couple of moments where I could hear some decent Irish words but for the most part it was pretty bad.

The film owes a debt to Ready or Not in a good way. People have to be sacrificed and one woman who isn't trained for this sort of combat has to try and defy the odds. I thought that Zazie Beetz was quite good as the older sister trying to go through the madness so she could rescue her sister. The final act of the film is where things start to fall apart a little bit. I thought that the relationship between Asia and Maria was quite good and I thought that Myha’la was quite good but her character doesn't really have much to do when she is on her own. It’s only when she is with Asia that her character works. The idea that the big boss is a headless pig that is keeping people’s names on him and the pen is tied to him is strange but it doesn't feel in keeping with the whole vibe of the film.

I thought the fight scenes were all pretty good. They looked great on the trailer and in the context of the film they looked even better. They did remind me of the fight scenes in Atomic Blonde and the director managed to show restraint by not having shaky cam so that we can’t see what’s going on. Things moved but you were still able to follow what was happening and appreciate the kills. 

I enjoyed this film but I think that it doesnt quite have the ending that it should have. I thought that the performances were really good (minus Arquette’s accent) and the style was something that I really liked. The film has a simple premise and the film was paced perfectly and ended at the right time. I thought Kirill Sokolov directed the film well and I look forward to more films from him.

Project Hail Mary (2026)

Project Hail Mary is one of the first ‘big’ films of 2026 that I have been looking forward to.  This is based on the novel written by Andy Weir who wrote The Martian which is a film that I really liked and made me want to read the novel and that's not something that I normally do. It was clear from the trailer that Project Hail Mary was going to have a more comedic tone than The Martian.

The set up of the film is that Ryan Gosling plays Roland Grace who is a science teacher and is brought in to help try and stop the sun from dying out. As he says in the film he puts the not into astronaut. The story starts off with Grace waking up from hibernation not knowing who he is or how he got there and the film then jumps back in time to see him start off as a science teacher and future things out to effectively being thrown onto the space shuttle. The story after he wakes up sees him try and solve the problem alone because the two crew members he went with have died and he soon comes across as rock creature that is either a spider or a crab like thing and the two form an unlikely friendship. 

The friendship between Grace and Rocky is the highlight of the film. I think the fact that Rocky is a physical prop and not some CGI creation helps make the friendship seem a lot more genuine. When Rocky left his pod to help save Grace’s life I did find myself saying ‘Dont Rocky’ which being a 42 year old man is not something I thought I would have expected to think but this is where I am right now. Given that Gosling spends about 80% of the film on his own, its quite an achievement that his performances are as good as they are. You can only do so much with a prop.

Another thing I like about this film is the humour. It might not be to everyone’s taste but I think that it was pitched just right. There is a scene where Grace and Rocky are testing out voices for the translation software and the different accents are quite funny. The humour is much more a part of the film than it was in The Martian but I think that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller walk the line of how much comedy to use perfectly. This shows how much better that Han Solo Star Wars film would have been had. 

If I had one issue with the film it would be that the film is slightly too long. It is 156 minutes and could have lost 20-30 minutes. I think that this would have made the film even better because even in its current form, I really enjoyed this film. The flashback parts could have been trimmed down. We didn’t really need to spend so long just to see how Grace ended up in space considering we knew from the very beginning that he would end up in space. The upside to these flashbacks is that we get to see Sandra Huller who I first came across in Anatomy of a Fall and thought she was really great in that equally great film. Here she plays Eva who is the one who hires Grace and basically makes sure he ends up on the space shuttle. 

I also must admit that I struggled with the whole thing about Venus and what was causing the sun to die out. I think the plot could have been simplified but like The Martian, this film has a lot of science that looks like its somewhat realistic but I think that the overall science fiction aspect to the main plot was a bit difficult to follow but that may have just been me.

Ryan Gosling doesn't get the appreciation he deserves and if you are not convinced by him after watching this film then nothing will convince you. This is a film with a lot of love and goodwill and with the world being the way it is right now, Project Hail Mary is the sort of film we need. 

Heel (2026)

 Good Boy (or Heel as its known on Letterboxd) sees Tommy played by Anson Boon who is a totally unlikeable man who causes fights, takes drugs, has sex and is then kidnapped by Chris (Stephen Graham) who has him chained up in the basement. Chris lives with his wife Kathryn (Andrea Riseborough) and their son Jonathan (Kit Rakusen). The film is directed by Jan Komasa who previously directed Hater which was one of my favourite foreign language films of 2020 and this film sees Komasa make his English language film debut.

The film doesn't get off to the best start with what feels like 20 production companies. It reminded me of the gag from Family Guy where Peter is watching a film and there is what he thinks is the start of the film but its just a production company logo and it keeps going and that is what it felt like in this film. Thankfully things improved immediately although I think for some people the loud dance music might be off putting. The film does a good job of making Tommy (Anson Boon) seem really unlikeable. In fact he could come across as too real because I suspect we have all encountered someone like Tommy over the years. 

The film takes place largely in this big house. Now singular settings always go down well with me because it means that your entire focus can be aimed on what is happening in the house. Yes there are moments where we leave the house and go into a more populated setting but those are very brief and dont distract from the story.

Stephen Graham is very good in this film. I feel like at this point saying that sentence is like saying day follows night and Tuesday is followed by Wednesday but he is really good as Chris. He is doing this horrible thing which isnt made better by the fact its being done to someone that is very unlikeable. There is a suggestion that he is ex police but its never properly explained. In fact there is something off about Graham’s performance which makes it uneasy to watch. It’s difficult to tell if he is the mastermind behind what is happening or is being controlled by Kathryn. I have never been the biggest fan of Andrea Riseborough. I think she is a very good actress but there is something that doesnt quite work for me and i think she seems to thrive in very sad and downbeat roles which in a weird kind of way is why she is so good as Kathryn.  Anson Boon is very good as Tommy. He’s so unlikeable at the beginning but as the film progresses then he matures and becomes a bit more likeable. 

There is one aspect of the plot that feels out of place is the Rina being followed part. I understand that she is at risk of being sent back to Macedonia but having someone follow her in two scenes only for he to be taken by a group of men who don't blink twice at the guy being chained up in the living room but once she is taken then that is it for her story so it seemed to be there just to add a convenient way to write the character out of the story.

At the point where its obvious that Tommy would escape isn't done in the way that I thought it would be. Tommy is allowed to leave by Chris and Kathryn which seemed like a strange thing to do and then we see Tommy going back into the club to see Gabby and the film ends with Tommy ‘kidnapping’ Gabby and bringing her to Chris and Kathryn to the only ‘family’ that he has probably ever had. 

I feel like ‘enjoyed’ is the wrong word to use. I thought this was a very good film but I doubt I would ever watch it again. There was a walkout which wasn't the most surprising thing given that it was quite a downbeat movie although that is about the fourth movie this year where someone has walked out although this is the only one that made sense. It was a mystery screening but another one that I am glad that I watched because I doubt I would have seen it of my own choosing.

Hoppers (2026)

 Disney/Pixar has had a bit of a rough time in recent years but Hoppes shows that it can still produce fun films. Hoppers tells the story of Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda) who at the start of the film is a young school pupil trying to liberate the class pets and after being sent home has to spend time with her grandma who shows her the joys of being in the outdoors. Fast forward a few years and the grandmother has passed away and Mabel is now at college and trying to stop the Mayor (voiced by Jon Hamm) from building a bypass and saving the local wildlife. Through her teacher, she discovers a mind hopping machine where she can become a beaver and her plan is to convince beavers to come to the preservation and bring other animals to stop the bypass being built but manages to get the other animals to launch a campaign to kill the humans. 

If this film had been made a few years ago then they really have sacrificed the characters and the story for the environmental message but thankfully Disney and Pixar have learnt that people want to be entertained and what they have managed to do is to mix the environmental story into the rest of the film and not make it feel like it was being preachy. The animation is really good and it shows why Pixar are the kings of this sort of thing. 

I thought that Mabel was a good character and despite being caring and determined to try and save the wildlife she doesnt come across as insufferable and trying to refuse help so she can do things on her own. She is very likeable and you really feel for her when she loses her grandmother. Even though the grandmother is only in the story for a couple of minutes, her impact last throughout the film. King George (Bobby Moynihan) is another likeable character, the way he is introduced is quite funny cause it's made to look like Mabel is going to face the King that is going to be no nonsense and it turns out that he’s the opposite. He becomes Mabel’s sidekick and is a good sidekick.

I’ll be honest I didn’t realise at the time that Dave Franco was in the film as the voice of the Insect King or that Meryl Streep was in the film as the Insect Queen. They have quite distinctive voices and the fact I didn’t spot them shows how good the story was and how the performances matched the characters instead of overpowering the animation. 

I thought it was a fun film and was surprised how the environmental message wasn’t as heavy handed as I was expecting. It does feel like family audiences have been underserved by the movie industry in recent years although we have had stuff like Zootropolis 2 and GOAT but if we get a few more films like Hoppers then it could show that the family audience that cinema so craves would be willing to come back more frequently.

The Bride! (2026)

The Bride! will probably go down as the most polarising film of the year and the film had already some negative reviews and my expectations were high when it seemed to suggest that this film was a musical akin to the second Joker film. This is a remake/reimagining of the 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein and stars Jessie Buckley in her second cinematic role of 2026 as Ida and The Bride and also Mary Shelley who speaks through Ida at several points of the flm. After being killed by members of the mob, Ida is brought back to life so that she can be the titular bride to Frankenstein’s Monster played by Christian Bale. Annette Benning’s Dr Conelia Euphronius is this film's Dr Frankenstein and there are a couple of detectives trying to catch Frank and the Bride in something that resembles Bonnie and Clyde.

Second film of the year starring Jessie Buckley and once I heard about this film I thought that the only thing stopping Jessie Buckley from walking away with an Oscar would be this film. I don't think that this will affect her chances at all which is a relief. She is very good at playing Ida and Mary Shelley. There is something about Ida which even when she is speaking as Mary Shelley she becomes mesmerising. Whenever Buckley was on screen I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen and was totally engrossed with what was happening. I couldn’t quite make my mind up about Bale’s version of Frank because it has come relatively recently after Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi’s version and whilst it is unfair to compare the two because they are two very different films. This version of Frankenstein’s monster doesn't quite have the menace that Elordi’s does. Together though I thought the chemistry between Bale and Buckley was great and the film works because you buy into their relationship.

The only real issue with the story was the use of Myrna played by Penelope Cruz. The recurring gag that she was overlooked because she is a woman felt a bit weak and wasn’t really needed. In fact the whole detective part of the plot felt a bit unneeded and whenever the story moved away from the Bride and Frank was the time of the film where I was less interested in what was happening. The impression that the film gave or was given by some that this was a musical is very misleading. There are musical moments but these can all be written off as just happening inside Frank’s head and they are totally bonkers but somehow the film manages to pull them off.

I enjoyed The Bride!  The film is the most batsh*t thing I have seen for quite sometime and its obvious that it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea due to how disjointed it feels. The film totally flips all over the place and you are either going to be on board with it or not and I was on board from the very beginning. It’s not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination but the film's flaws are kind of why I like it. I think that the idea that a major Hollywood studio would give someone $80 million to do this sort of film is such a risky thing to do especially for one like Warner Bros. and I am glad they did. I think this will not do well at the box office which is a shame but this worked a lot better than the second Joker film and was a genuine surprise.