Novocaine (2025)

Novocaine is what would be called a ‘high concept idea. The film sees Jack Quaid play Nathan Caine who is the Assistant Manager at a bank when he falls for Sherry the cashier at the bank and after they go on a date, the bank is targeted by robbers and takes Sherry. The thing about Nathan is that he was born with a condition where he cant feel pain. He has to watch what he eats and goes to the toilet. When Sherry is taken by the hostages, Nathan is racing to save her but also try and avoid the police who naturally think that Nathan is working with the robbers. 

Jack Quaid is quite good as Nathan. As Nathan, he is a terrible fighter but realistically he isnt going to be very good because he works in a bank. He isn't suddenly going to be John Wick so he wins sort of by luck more than anything else and that might be a problem for some but I think that it works for the film. Amber Midthunder is also very good as Sherry. The last time I recall seeing her in was Prey the Predator sequel and she was very good in that and whilst she doesn't really have much to do she makes all her scenes seem important and you notice when she’s not around. Also making Sherry seem like someone worth saving is tougher than you would think yet because of Midthunder, you want Caine to save her. Ray Nicholson is ok as the leader of the bank robbers but only really gets to be any good in his fights with Caine. Jacob Batalon plays the sort of role that is use to playing in the Spider-Man films although he is good at doing it so why not play the comic relief that the protagonist can rely on.

There are issues with the film but they are mainly plot related. Firstly we are told quite early on that Sherry is related to one of the robbers long before Nathan finds out so the twist of him finding out is wasted because it sort of makes Nathan look like a fool even if he doesn't know it yet. The other issue is at the end when Nathan gets 6 months under house arrest and Sherry gets 2 years (??) in prison. I think that what Nathan does is way worse than what Sherry does and yet Sherry gets the tougher sentence. 

Those two issues aside, the film is a lot of fun. Quaid has a lot of charisma that gets you through the early part of the film when nothing really happens and the fight scenes are enjoyable and mixing that in with the gore helps create a fun film that sort of knows what it is but has fun doing it. There are a couple of wincing moments which did make me want to look away. The first was when Nathan has not one but two finger nails pulled out. The next is when Nathan hammers his thumb back out of place so he can get the handcuffs off him and then snap it back. That looked horrible. Then there is a bit at the end when Nathan has his ulna bone (fancy name for his arm bone) broken and his hand is sort of flapping away at the side but it does lead to the death of Nicholson’s character and it's the last of many great deaths.

Novocaine is definitely worth your time. The only thing that ruined my movie experience was two people talking constantly throughout the film. Normally people talk during the trailers and shut up once the film gets started but these two a**holes carried on talking. I would like to watch this again but without talking. I thought this film did what I was expecting and wanted it to do.

The Alto Knights (2025)

The Alto Knights is the answer to what a Martin Scorsese film would look like if it had no involvement from Scorsese. The Alto Knights sees De Niro play crime bosses Frank Costello & Vito Genovese. At the beginning of the film someone tries to kill Frank and he decides to give up the power to Vito and the rest of the film is about that and how Vito doesn't trust Frank.

One of the few plus points of the film is Robert De Niro. Quite why he is playing both roles is a mystery. It’s either money or vanity. It made sense for Tom Hardy to play the Kray twins in Legend but seeing as Vito and Frank aren't related it can only be that they offered him more money cause it worked out slightly cheaper than hiring another actor. To be fair, De Niro does a good job in playing both roles differently enough that it makes it worth the hassle it must have been to do all of this. 

The big scene comes obviously at the end when there is a big meeting and Frank has it arranged under the premise that he will hand over power to Vito in front of all the bosses and it's just a hoax so that the bosses can get arrested by the police. This felt like Scorsese would have done it and that is about as good as it gets really. 

The main problem with the film is that it lacks the flair and style that Scorsese films have which isn't always a bad thing but when that is the style you are going for it does make it an issue with the film. There are moments which are quite fun to watch but there is always something that takes me out of it and wishing I was watching Goodfellas or Casino or something like that. This is the first film for quite a while that made me wish it was longer. It could easily have been another 25-30 minutes and it would have made all the difference cause it felt like things were cut to get it under the two hours run time (even though with credits it's just over 2 hours).

I wasn't expecting a lot from this film and seeing as it didn't deliver I can't say that I was made about what I saw. It's something that might be worth seeing when it appears on streaming but it's not something that is worth making the trip to the cinema on a Monday night (or any night for that matter).

Mickey 17 (2025)

Mickey 17 is the first film from Bong Joon Ho who directed the amazing Parasite and is based on the novel Mickey 7. The story sees Mickey Barnes who joins a program that will clone him to do the grunt work and when he dies there will be another one but when he survives and the company think that he has died they create a new one and there is a rule about duplicates and the film then becomes a battle between the two Mickeys and the company.

I went into this film not thinking that this film would be as good as Parasite. Parasite is a perfect film and this at best was going to be a close second. There are things to like about this film including Robert Pattinson. Pattinson is very likeable in this film and it's hard to believe how far he has come since the Twilight days. Here he has to play two different versions of himself and make them work. The horrible version of him is likeable enough so that when he ends up dying it does feel like a sad moment. His nicer version is the one that we want to see make it to the end and get the life he deserves. There is a nice aspect of the plot that his life is a result of a bad decision when he pressed a red button that led to his mother’s death. Naomi Ackie is also very good in this as the only person that seems to care about Mickey. Last time I saw Ackie was in Blink Twice which she was good in and here she continues to show what a good actress she is. 

The film isn't perfect as they do waste Steve Yeun who pops up every so often and does contribute to the story but I would have liked to see more of him. The biggest problem with the film is Mark Ruffalo. I can remember how impressed I was with his performance in Poor Things and yet it seems like he has gone backwards with this. It’s undeniable that he is doing what I think he thinks is a Trump performance and it's just boring now when people do a parody of Trump, even if he hadn't won the election in 2024, it would have been an eye rolling performance. There was potential to make him a decent villain but either the director or Ruffalo himself thought this was ok. Even Toni Collette is a bit of a let down as she is just there to be the one that is pushing Marshall to do certain things but she is never presented as being the main villain but she gets overshadowed by Ruffalo’s performance.

Despite these few issues, the film is as good as I hoped it would be. There are things that are very Bong Joon ho and these add to the quality of the film. The effects of the creepers is very good and the fact that they are portrayed as not being terrorising monsters works very well. The film has hints of Starship Troopers and Moon which are good films to include in this film and overall the film works because of the central performances from Pattinson and Ackie. I think the way that the film is pitched might put some people off but I think that it deserves people’s time as it's a fun two hour film and shows that Bong Joon ho is a very good director.

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

When it was announced that Marvel were effectively hitting the reset button with the Fantastic Four it meant that two films were already pointless. The other film is Thunderbolts but Captain America 4 is the big casualty. Coming six years after Steve Rogers handed over the shield and four years after Winter Soldier and the Falcon TV show which I admit that I haven't seen, this film shows Sam Wilson walk from one scene to another saying things while grumpy pensioner Harrison Ford who is now President (playing the role previously held by William Hurt) from going Red.

GOOD POINT 01 - ESPOSITO & FORD SAVE THE FILM

There are very few standout performances in this film but the only ones that stayed in the memory are Giancarlo Esposito and Harrison Ford. Esposito is wasted in this film but he still gives it his all and if I were involved in production I would have told Esposito to do the role he did in Breaking Bad because that would have made him much more valuable to the plot. Ford might be getting grumpier by the day (something thats probably been happening since 1982) but it was good seeing Ford get that sweet sweet Marvel paycheck.

GOOD POINT 02 - NICE CONNECTION TO ETERNALS

Nice is probably stretching it but I thought it was unexpected that they referenced Eternals which came out 4 years ago and to the best of my knowledge has not been referenced since. So it is a bit random that they did this now but at least it was on screen for more than a split second and was the backdrop behind one of the best scenes in the entire movie.

GOOD POINT 03 - NEVER BORED

Whilst it's not the greatest film ever made, I was never bored at any point during the film. It was just under two hours long and the film never felt like there was any padding. Admittedly it wasn't very good but it still managed to maintain my attention for the entirety of the movie.

BAD POINT 01 - ACTION SCENES HAVE NO ENERGY - I DIDNT CARE

It didnt take very long for me to come to the conclusion that the action sequences were going to be disappointing. The very first one in fact helped me draw to this conclusion. The ultimate problem is that while things are happening, nothing is really happening and there doesn't seem to be any energy to what we are seeing. Action sequences should be entertaining and at best the strongest one in this film were passable. 

BAD POINT 02 - SAM WILSON IS CAPTAIN BLAND

It’s alluded to in the trailer but missing from the end film but there is a line about Sam Wilson not being Steve Rogers and this normally wouldn't be a thing but Wilson is very dull and whilst Rogers was never the most charismatic person in the world, he did have a charm and this is missing from Wilson. Whether this is Anthony Mackie’s fault or the writing, I never felt like he could be a leader and would have made a substandard deputy. Wilson seems so wrapped up in clearing some old person’s name that he never shows us why he would make a good avenger.

BAD POINT 03 - VILLAINS MOTIVATION IS RUBBISH

So Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder would have made a good villain but he’s the secondary villain for some. The film decided that Samuel Sterns is the villain to show people the reason President because he’s a bit grumpy. Not only is Sterns a terrible villain but his motivation is mediocre at best. I just didn't care. I think I miss the days when the villain would want global domination instead of getting a tiny bit of revenge. Marvel has always had this problem and it shows no sign of being sorted out.

OVERALL

My expectations were low for this film and they were met. The film isn't terrible but it felt like a film that cost a lot of money but never felt like it had been spent on any important areas. The performances are ok at best and pointless at once and the directing is fine but never felt like it has any vision behind it or anything that would ever make me want to watch this again and I think even the Marvel shills will not be rushing to recommend this anytime soon. Hopefully this is the last time that Sam Wilson leads a film because I dont think Disney/Marvel can afford many more films like this especially the way their films have been received at the box office since Endgame.