Latest news with #moviereview
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Love and insecurity are the ties that bind in ‘Oh, Hi!'
It's tough to review 'Oh, Hi!' without giving away a major plot twist that comes early in the movie, but, so help me, I'm going to try. A suspense comedy as breezy and noncommittal as its title, this sophomore feature from writer-director Sophie Brooks is a deceptively low-fi affair, but it keeps a cheeky premise going for longer than it has any right to. Not that I can tell you what that premise is.
Geek Vibes Nation
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Vibes Nation
‘Smurfs' (2025) Review — Take Your Kids For Some Smurf And Punishment
The new Smurfs movie is an absolute mess. The animated film veers wildly in tone and style, jumping between a dozen different animation techniques and comedic approaches. Slapstick, situational humor, and wordplay are all attempted, but nearly every joke falls flat. That is despite a few mildly amusing moments, like the 'Sound Effects' Smurf and the rapid-fire introduction of the one-note characters. Unfortunately, those brief highlights can't save the film from feeling like a desperate, kitchen-sink effort. By the end, I was starting to think Gargamel might be the sympathetic one, as I cheered for him and his brother's victory. If you really want to punish your kids, take them to see Chris Miller's film, which would be an act of Smurfs and punishment. James Corden and Rihanna, in Smurfs (2025) | Image via Paramount Pictures The story follows the Smurfs, who are living their best lives in a hidden village within a magical forest. Papa Smurf (John Goodman) walks around like a boss—rocking a front-facing hat, fitted shirt, well-groomed beard, and tight pants—truly a leader among men in Smurfland. That said, the population is 99% male, with Smurfette (voiced by superstar Rihanna) as the sole female Smurf in the entire village. Everyone knows their role and place in the magical forest. Personally, it sounds more like communist propaganda. However, there is one Smurf—No Name (James Corden)—who's having an identity crisis. No Name doesn't have a 'thing.' (However, he complains constantly, so we could have called him 'Whiney' Smurf, and call it a day.) Hefty Smurf, you see, is strong. Vanity Smurf is vain. Brainy Smurf is smart. Yes, it's that kind of writing. The kind that refuses to go beyond skin deep and is as three-dimensional as a triangle with body dysmorphia. However, on a brief walkabout, No Name taps into his inner B.o.B. and Rivers Cuomo and discovers he is, in fact, Magic Smurf. The magic had been inside him all along. Papa Smurf is confounded, unsure how he failed to notice this. When No Name demonstrates his power by shooting energy beams into the sky, it triggers an alert. Razamel—Gargamel's brother (both voiced by JP Karliak)—detects the burst of unusual energy, exposing the hidden location of the magical forest. James Corden and Rihanna, in Smurfs (2025) | Image via Paramount Pictures Pam Brady wrote the script, which takes an unusual turn when Papa Smurf is abducted, leaving only No Name with the power to bring him back. It's the kind of plot twist you'd expect in a sequel, not the opening act. The film then shifts into a fish-out-of-water comedy-adventure, as a brave group heads to Paris to rescue their patriarch. This is where things begin to feel scattershot, with the movie constantly jumping between genres and visual styles, resulting in the animated equivalent of whiplash. That is perhaps how shocking the final product is. Brady is well known for comedic escapades with Trey Parker and Matt Stone, helping them pen the gut-bustingly hilarious South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut , and Team America: World Police. Heck, even Hot Rod, in my opinion, is a misunderstood comedy classic. At some point, you would hope someone would bring the origin story of the Smurfs with some reverence, since Peyo's vision was born out of wartime politics. The script had the potential to explore deeper themes of identity and moral ambiguity while still delivering clever, light-hearted humor to appeal to its core young audience. However, Brady's jokes fall flat almost immediately after the opening credits. The comic delivery from Corden and Rihanna feels forced, lacking any natural charm. What's left is more like a chaotic storyboard—so many ideas are thrown at the screen in short bursts that the film becomes humorless, disjointed, and stagnant. John Goodman in Smurfs (2025) | Image via Paramount Pictures Frankly, Miller and Brady's screenplay is in the middle of an existential crisis that never finds their way. Some may argue that's the point—but that would be giving the film too much credit. It never fully embraces the heart or themes behind No Name's story. He's experiencing an existential crisis, yet the film glosses over it. Movies like this, especially those aimed at children, should teach a lesson or convey meaningful themes while still entertaining. Instead, the story never truly revolves around this core idea, making Smurfs feel like an exercise in cinematic futility. However, this isn't about my tastes, as I take note of the kids' reaction at the Saturday morning screening. Most were bored, and very few laughed, which made me think they either hated the movie or were a gathering of ADHD children's self-help group. Simply put, Smurfs is not worth watching, and certainly not worth theater prices, because the film fails to create something meaningful and entertaining for family viewing. The movie is a messy and unfocused jumble of thoughts (I wouldn't dare call them ideas) with no coherence or payoff. Smurfs will debut exclusively in theaters on July 18, 2025, courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Tin Soldier review – Jamie Foxx leads with his hairdo in thriller about a soldier infiltrating a cult
Make no mistake: this action thriller is a mangled, dreary, unlovely mess and so much less than the sum of its parts – despite relatively blameless supporting turns from Robert De Niro and John Leguizamo. There's a more culpably hammy performance from Jamie Foxx, who rocks a ginormous, weirdly contoured afro so bizarre that it's almost worth the price alone. (He is also one of many executive producers on the project.) But Foxx's tonsorial effort is not enough to counteract the fact that this is a pretty lousy film, only worth it if you like 'sneerwatching'. None of the big names mentioned above play the lead here. Instead, the hero is one Nash Cavanaugh (a name that sounds generated by an AI bot), as incarnated by a typically lumpen Scott Eastwood. Cavanaugh is a former soldier who was once drawn into the cult created by Foxx's Leon Prudhomme, also known by his much cooler cult leader moniker, the Bokushi ('pastor' in Japanese). It turns out Prudhomme was originally bankrolled by De Niro's Ashburn, a shady government agent who had hoped to create a mercenary army. But the Bokushi has instead created his own private Jonestown, full of other ex-soldiers sold on his self-help preaching about how PTSD need not define them, or something like that. What makes him so charismatic is never well defined, but presumably the veterans must be smitten with his R&B-inflected gospel crooning with a special backup band – a vanity moment that's pure cringe. Viewers will have to pay close attention to parse out all the different timelines that the diced editing keeps flipping back and forth between. In the film's present, Cavanaugh is approached by Ashburn to infiltrate the Bokushi's compound with other secret agents before the FBI messes everything up with their own raid. Cavanaugh is hoping he'll find his wife Evoli (Nora Arnezeder), who is either still part of the cult and will therefore need deprogramming, or is being held against her will. The murkily lensed climax involves, judging by the sound effects, a lot of rushing water and explosions, because only primal forces of such power could vanquish the Bokushi's mighty hairdo. Tin Soldier is on Prime Video from 23 July.
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Tin Soldier review – Jamie Foxx leads with his hairdo in thriller about a soldier infiltrating a cult
Make no mistake: this action thriller is a mangled, dreary, unlovely mess and so much less than the sum of its parts – despite relatively blameless supporting turns from Robert De Niro and John Leguizamo. There's a more culpably hammy performance from Jamie Foxx, who rocks a ginormous, weirdly contoured afro so bizarre that it's almost worth the price alone. (He is also one of many executive producers on the project.) But Foxx's tonsorial effort is not enough to counteract the fact that this is a pretty lousy film, only worth it if you like 'sneerwatching'. None of the big names mentioned above play the lead here. Instead, the hero is one Nash Cavanaugh (a name that sounds generated by an AI bot), as incarnated by a typically lumpen Scott Eastwood. Cavanaugh is a former soldier who was once drawn into the cult created by Foxx's Leon Prudhomme, also known by his much cooler cult leader moniker, the Bokushi ('pastor' in Japanese). It turns out Prudhomme was originally bankrolled by De Niro's Ashburn, a shady government agent who had hoped to create a mercenary army. But the Bokushi has instead created his own private Jonestown, full of other ex-soldiers sold on his self-help preaching about how PTSD need not define them, or something like that. What makes him so charismatic is never well defined, but presumably the veterans must be smitten with his R&B-inflected gospel crooning with a special backup band – a vanity moment that's pure cringe. Viewers will have to pay close attention to parse out all the different timelines that the diced editing keeps flipping back and forth between. In the film's present, Cavanaugh is approached by Ashburn to infiltrate the Bokushi's compound with other secret agents before the FBI messes everything up with their own raid. Cavanaugh is hoping he'll find his wife Evoli (Nora Arnezeder), who is either still part of the cult and will therefore need deprogramming, or is being held against her will. The murkily lensed climax involves, judging by the sound effects, a lot of rushing water and explosions, because only primal forces of such power could vanquish the Bokushi's mighty hairdo. Tin Soldier is on Prime Video from 23 July.
