Genre: Adventure/Family
Director: Jared Hess
Cast: Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Sebastian Hansen, Jennifer Coolidge
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 3 April 2025
Synopsis: Welcome to the world of Minecraft, where creativity doesn’t just help you craft, it’s essential to one’s survival! Four misfits—Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Momoa), Henry (Hansen), Natalie (Myers) and Dawn (Brooks)—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like Piglins and Zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Black). Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.
Movie Review:
We’ve always believed that Jack Black makes every movie better than it would have been without his presence, and nowhere is that truer than in ‘A Minecraft Movie’. He is the very life, zest and spirit of this enterprise, which we can attest, can be as enjoyable for someone who is new to the cultural phenomenon that has captivated over 300 million players (that’s the number of copies of the videogame sold) since 2011.
Black is also – for the uninitiated like us – the guide to the titular blocky world that offers its players limitless resources to discover and create in the Overworld. Everything is blockish, from the snow-capped mountains, to the bumblebees, to the pink sheep, to the shrubs and trees, to a wolf whom Black’s character adopts as his pet dog, to baby Frankenstein zombies, and to the hog-like denizens of the underworld known as the Nether.
After being denied as an 11-year-old boy the opportunity to work in the mines, Steve grows up to become a sad doorknob salesman in the town of Chuglass in Idaho; that is, until he decides once again to chase his dream, whereupon he stumbles onto a glowing orb that introduces him to the Overworld. As those familiar with the game will tell you, the theme at its core is about the importance of creative freedom; and whilst enjoying boundless amounts of that in the Overworld, Steve is taken prisoner by the pig lord Malgosha (voiced by Rachel House), who is determined to get her hands on the Orb to turn the Overworld into her own dominion of repression.
It should be obvious that the Orb is the MacGuffin of the story, alongside a not quite so imaginatively named box called the Earth Crystal, which when combined, opens up a portal for four mismatched individuals to return to Earth, after accidentally stumbling into the Overworld. Among them are a pair of recently orphaned teenagers Natalie (Emma Myers) and her younger brother Henry (Sebastian Hansen), their animal-loving real estate agent Dawn (Danielle Brooks), and former videogame champion turned washed-out videogame store owner Garrett ‘The Garbage Man’ Garrison (Jason Momoa).
Chemistry might be a science, but onscreen, it is often an art, and the pairing between Black and Momoa is testament to how surprising onscreen chemistry can be. Decked mostly in a pink-fringed jacket with heavy-metal locks, Momoa injects the Gen X boomer stereotype with herculean cartoonishness, and even brings unexpected poignancy when revealing his self-awareness of how much of a failure he has been in life. While initially competitive, Steve and Garrett come to forge a steadfast friendship over their similar circumstances chasing for purpose in life, and Black and Momoa prove not only perfect buddies but also perfect comedic foils for each other.
It is also to their credit that the movie rests almost entirely on their shoulders, especially in the CG-heavy sequences that would otherwise come across utterly derivative. Though now in his mid-50s, Black has never lost the child in him, and even though he reprises the same brash, high-octane persona in many other movies, there is no denying how thoroughly committed and therefore thoroughly enjoyable his irrepressibly unique comic energy is. Momoa is clearly cast against type here, but demonstrates his sharp sensibilities defining his own against Black; in particular, their ‘full man sandwich’ act (which has to be seen to be believed) is absolutely hilarious.
With Black, Momoa and plenty of world-building, it is somewhat inevitable that the rest of the characters as well as the story plays second fiddle. The former is especially true of Dawn, as well as Jennifer Coolidge’s Vice-Principal Marlene, who gets a fish-out-of-water subplot that has a nice payoff at the end but belongs only at the side. The latter also means that despite being credited to five writers, the plotting is hardly inspiring, serving merely to get the characters from Point A to Point B so that we can be wowed by the next CG-heavy sequence.
Although the writing hardly lives up to the creativity espoused in the game, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ gets some surprising creative sparks from its ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ and ‘Nacho Libre’ (which also starred Black) director Jared Hess. Those familiar with Hess will immediately recognise his brand of offbeat, absurdist and irreverent humour, and to his credit, despite taking on an expensive, IP-driven studio property, Hess still brings his distinct personality to the material. Thanks to Hess’ sensibility, this adaptation retains its own edge and flavour, even as it knows that it has to play fan service.
We cannot speak on their behalf, but for those who are new to ‘Minecraft’, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ has a goofy, off-kilter appeal that we found unexpectedly entertaining. We’d say upfront that we are superfans of Black, which is a big part of why we liked the movie; and of course, we dug Momoa’s self-skewering doofus act, which we hitherto never knew the action star had in him. You probably know as well as we do that video games have had a spotty track record from game to screen, so we’d actually count this silly but nonetheless quirky and eccentric crowd-pleasing block-buster as a win for the genre. Like Steve says in the movie – ‘first we mine; and then we craft’ – and thanks to Black, Momoa and Hess, you’ll be delighted by what they have mined from the game and crafted into this adaptation.
Movie Rating:
(Jack Black is the life, zest and spirit of this offbeat, absurdist videogame adaptation with ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ sensibilities, that also surprises with an against-type comic turn from Jason ‘Aquaman’ Momoa)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Sasha Rainbow
Cast: Joyena Sun, Jess Hong, Eden Hart, Jared Turner, Sepi To’a, Xiao Hu, Ginette McDonald, Gideon T Smith, Mark Mitchinson, Sam Wang, Mohan Liu, Phil Brooks, Andrew Munro
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene and Gore)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 27 March 2025
Synopsis: When a brilliant but disfigured Chinese scholarship student is shunned by her fellow classmates at a prestigious New Zealand university, she decides to achieve the popularity she so desperately craves by putting her science studies to a new and terrifying use.
Movie Review:
Coming so soon after Demi Moore’s ‘The Substance’, it is somewhat inevitable – though unfortunate – that ‘Grafted’ will be compared to that similar exercise in body horror. We say unfortunate, because Sasha Rainbow’s filmmaking debut is sadly a pale shadow in comparison, not because it is any less timid about being squelchy, but rather because it isn’t sure just what it wants to say or wants to be about.
Does it simply want to be a straightforward horror-revenge thriller, centred around brilliant but socially awkward biochemistry student Wei’s (Joyena Sun) comeuppance against her mean-girl cousin Angela (Jess Hong) and the caustic, Barbie doll-like Eve (Eden Hart)? Or does it want to be a satire about the cruelty of societal beauty standards, what with Wei’s newfound ability to apply her father’s skin-grafting invention to perform facial transplants? Or is it meant to be a metaphor about the horrors of assimilating into a new culture?
In truth, ‘Grafted’ is probably trying to be all of the above; but that same ambition ultimately proves too much for a first-time filmmaker like Rainbow to truly digest. Instead, it offers a menagerie of grotesque face-swapping sequences, that begins with a desperate attempt to cover up her accidental murder of Angela by assuming her looks and then soon turns into a series of clumsy plottings to get back at Eve as well as her sleazoid professor (Jared Turner) who steals her father’s work to claim it as his own (and oh, he also happens to be sleeping around with Eve).
Whether due to budgetary or other reasons, the movie hardly moves beyond these few characters or a number of familiar backdrops – including Wei’s estranged aunt’s house and backyard; the university laboratory where Wei and her professor spend their time advancing her father’s research; and last but not least, the professor’s own house that Eve frequents for their sexual dalliances – and while narrative simplicity isn’t always a bad thing, it here constraints the storytelling into a meandering chain of events without much build-up, rising danger or ensuing consequence.
That said, those looking for an old-school horror comedy will probably still enjoy the shlock-horror that ‘Grafted’ offers, with colourful style to keep it from losing your attention over the one-and-a-half hour it lasts. What it lacks though is substance, characterisation and ultimately purpose, and it is the lack thereof these attributes that make it fall short of ‘The Substance’ or for that matter, any well-deserved body-horror. It is a promising enough debut for Rainbow though, and let’s hope the New Zealander builds on this to go beyond the superficial the next time around..
Movie Rating:
(What it packs in squelchy body-horror, it unfortunately lacks in substance, characterisation or purpose, so 'Grafted' remains a genre outing that stays only skin-deep)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Michelle Dockery, Gwilym Lee
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Scene of Intimacy)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 3 April 2025
Synopsis: Here is an original film about multiple families and a special place they inhabit. The story travels through generations, capturing the most relatable of human experiences.
Movie Review:
It is not difficult to see what drew Robert Zemeckis to Robert McGuire’s graphic novel.
What if you could tell a story about love, life and loss just by following different generations inhabiting the same house over the years, and indeed the millennia, from the same location within the living room? And indeed, in that regard, you can see why Zemeckis had convinced his longtime muse Tom Hanks to likewise embark on this experiment, continuing a partnership that began with the Academy Award-winning ‘Forrest Gump’ and has seen as many successes (like ‘Cast Away’) as valiant failures (like ‘The Polar Express’).
‘Here’ unfortunately belongs in that latter category. As much as we loved to embrace its “mediation on life” – as Zemeckis himself describes it – the movie is ultimately unable to convince that it is more than just a gimmick, and if we wanted to be kind, a failed but brave experiment.
Notwithstanding a prologue that opens with a prehistoric swamp with rampaging dinosaurs, followed by the Ice Age, and thereafter the blossoming of lush flora, ‘Here’ primarily follows a group of 20th-century inhabitants that live in the house built on that piece of land from around 1900.
They include a couple (Gwilym Lee and Michelle Dockery) whose husband has a deep passion for airplanes at the time when they were first invented and later dies of the Spanish flu; a bohemian couple in the 1940s (David Finn and Ophelia Lovibond) whose husband invents a reclining armchair that he names the ‘La-Z-Boy Recliner’; Al and Rose Young (Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly) who will become the parents of three kids, Richard, Elizabeth and Jimmy; and last but not least, Richard and Margaret (Tom Hanks and Robin Wright) whose ups and downs as a married couple we follow most closely, and ultimately come to identify with most intimately.
Much has been said and debated about the de-aging technology that Zemeckis had deployed on both Hanks and Wright, but frankly, it is a lot more accomplished than when say Zemeckis first pioneered motion-capture with ‘The Polar Express’. Thanks to these veterans, we are reminded of how important it is to attain fulfilment in marriage, and not simply let the years go by without ever really achieving the things that matter to either partner. It is credit to both actors that the heart of their story isn’t lost despite the approach that Zemeckis has taken to the material, in particular transporting his viewes in and out of the main story with frankly unmeaningful subplots.
As its title implies, ‘Here’ ultimately proves fleeting because Zemeckis takes not only a non-linear approach to the storytelling but also criss-crosses multiple narratives without much coherence or logic. Even more furstrating is Zemeckis’ use of frames within the same frame, which while faithful to the inter-frame transitions of the book, are just distracting and irrelevant. And last but not least, though reuniting also with ‘Forrest Gump’ screenwriter Eric Roth on this endeavour, the writing feels contrived and often histronic, likely because of the need for each scene to try to make the most impression within the limited time it has to establish its respective subplot.
Though we’d very much like to relive Zemeckis’ brand of sentimentality with Hanks, ‘Here’ undermines what emotions there is within its inter-generational story with visual techniques that come off more like gimmicks than artistry. Zemeckis has never shied away from visual experimentation, and like we said, as much as it is a brave experiement, 'Here’ is ultimately a failed one.
Movie Rating:
(Too many perspectives, too many storylines and too little focus render 'Here' too much of here and there and ultimately nowhere)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Set in present-day London, a group of radical activists take over an energy company's annual gala, seizing 300 hostages in order to expose the corruption of the hosts. Their just cause is hijacked by an extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world. It falls to an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, played by Ridley, suspended 50 storeys up on the outside of the building, to save those trapped inside, including her younger brother.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Daisy Ridley didn’t really have a smooth-sailing acting career despite being cast in one of the most lucrative franchises ever. Yet she remains a formidable presence whenever she is onscreen. In this disposable action flick, she plays a foul-mouthed window cleaner, Joey. She is a former UK soldier, has a tough childhood and has to take care of his autistic brother, Michael (Matthew Tuck). In short, she is the imperfect heroine that the world needs.
The Die Hard inspired story has it that a group of activists or terrorists depending when you are coming from storm into the Agnian Energy building where the owners, brothers Gerald Milton (Lee Boardman) and Geoffrey Milton (Rufus Jones) are holding a party for their powerful business associates and politicians. The group led by Marcus Blake (Clive Owen) and his unhinged second-in-command, Noah Santos (Taz Skylar) wants the people to confess to their crimes on video. Blake is the cool as cucumber leader who wants no one dead while Noah is the extremist who wants everyone dead so that the world will be a better place.
Cleaner is as predictable as it gets even though veteran director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Goldeneye) is at the helm. Clearly, it lacks the fun and intensity of Die Hard. Running at a brisk 97 minutes, the actioner spends almost an hour filled with a prologue that runs longer than expected and numerous talking heads rambling about human beings’ poor choices and the environment. Yup this is an action movie with a muddled eco message thrown in. And you are practically stuck with the preaching as Noah Santos gets wilder and erratic by the minute.
As for our promising heroine, Joey. She is relegated to the platform, suspended in the middle of the skyscraper and trying hard to break into the building to save her brother and the hostages for most of the runtime. Perhaps due to budgetary concerns, the action only takes place in the last 20 minutes or so. The fight choreography is decent at best while the gun toting sequences lacks any evident creativity and impression.
Daisy is absolutely fine here at least she is not typecast in the action department. That can’t be said for Clive Owen who we assumed is playing the Alan Rickman’s baddie role. Without elaborating further, it’s simply a joke not well-played. Cleaner in short is a wasted opportunity. Instead of featuring over-the-top thrilling action sequences, the lead star is confined to a platform listening to instruction from a police Superintendent (Ruth Gemmell). The script tries to be smart and educational but it’s a poor choice for sure.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: James Hawes
Cast: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Adrian Martinez, Danny Sapani, Laurence Fishburne
Runtime: 2 hr 2 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website:
Opening Day: 10 April 2025
Synopsis: Charlie Heller (Malek) is a brilliant, but deeply introverted decoder for the CIA working out of a basement office at headquarters in Langley whose life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack. When his supervisors refuse to take action, he takes matters into his own hands, embarking on a dangerous trek across the globe to track down those responsible, his intelligence serving as the ultimate weapon for eluding his pursuers and achieving his revenge.
Movie Review:
American actor Rami Malek first made waves as a computer hacker in the TV series Mr. Robot. His socially withdrawn character, paired with an occasional glint of intensity, made him an ideal choice to portray someone who seems unassuming in a crowd but could be a serious threat if provoked.
He rose to international fame with his portrayal of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in Bryan Singer’s Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), a role that earned him the Best Actor award at the 91st Academy Awards. Since then, we've seen him take on darker roles, such as a psychotic villain in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s No Time to Die (2021), and more cerebral ones, like a nuclear physicist in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023).
In his latest role, Malek plays a cryptographer — a fitting choice — who also takes on a Jason Bourne-style vigilante persona. We're a bit doubtful whether the 43-year-old can convincingly pull off the action-hero side of things, given it likely involves a fair amount of kicking and punching bad guys.
Turns out that this action thriller directed by James Hawes doesn’t actually require Malek’s character to get physical with the villains. Instead, he wreaks havoc from afar — calmly watching as doom descends upon those he’s out to avenge.
Malek plays Charles Heller, a CIA cryptographer leading a quiet life with his wife (Rachel Brosnahan). He commutes to work with a backpack (classic IT guy look) and operates out of a nondescript office tucked far away from civilisation. With limited exposure to sunlight or nature, it’s no surprise that Charles isn’t exactly radiating joy.
Charles’ world is shattered when his wife is killed in a terrorist attack in London. After multiple failed attempts to get his superior (Holt McCallany) to act, Charles uncovers a conspiracy and decides to take matters into his own hands. He receives training from an agent (the ever-intimidating Laurence Fishburne), and there are some funny moments which show why he is not cut out to be a field operative. What follows is a globe-trotting revenge mission, where he eliminates his enemies one by one using the tools he knows best: cutting-edge tech and cold precision.
Based on Robert Littell’s 1981 novel of the same name, the film isn’t your typical action-packed thriller. Instead, it’s a slow-burn narrative that takes its time to build tension, relying heavily on atmosphere and Malek’s brooding intensity. Much of the screen time is filled with his steely gazes and quiet determination. You can’t help but feel for him as he pulls every string and explores every lead in his quest to avenge his wife. Malek delivers the emotional beats with conviction, drawing you into his world — and making it easy to imagine how his inner turmoil might have been expressed in the novel.
The scenes where Charles takes out his wife’s killers are some of the film’s most gripping. Each takedown is meticulously planned and executed, with a flair for the dramatic. One unfortunate target — who happens to be asthmatic — is trapped in a medical chamber filled with pollen. Another meets his end by falling from a glass-bottomed rooftop pool while swimming. These creative kills not only thrill but also underscore Charles’ cold, calculated thirst for revenge.
When the final antagonist (Michael Stuhlbarg) finally meets his fate, you can’t help but feel a sense of grim satisfaction. It’s a fitting end that not only completes Charles’ arc of vengeance but also harks back to a time when characters were crafted with a slow-burning depth and moral complexity. You might find yourself applauding Charles — not just for the justice he delivers, but for reminding us of a storytelling style that favours nuance over noise.
Movie Rating:
(This movie features an intense performance by Rami Malek as he embarks on a journey of vengeance — a reminder of a time when characters were crafted with quiet intensity and purpose)
Review by John Li
Genre: Drama
Director: Chuang Ching-shen
Cast: Chen Yan-fei, Chloe Xiang, Bruce Chiu, Chi Chin
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Golden Village
Official Website:
Opening Day: 3 April 2025
Synopsis: In 1997, Ai enrolls in the night school at First Girls' High, a "special" system of education in Taiwan, to pursue education of higher quality. However, night school students are always considered less capable than their day school counterparts, and Ai thus has a strong sense of inferiority. Later, she and her day school bestie both fall in love with the same student from an all-boy school. Ai decides to pretend to be a day school student but this gradually pushes her into a whirlpool of lies which is later exposed.
Movie Review:
At first glance, the Chinese title of this Taiwanese film might lead you to expect a horror flick. Literally translated as "The Girl from the Night School", it conjures up eerie images of a tormented spirit haunting hallways after dark. The English title “The Uniform” doesn’t offer much clarity either - perhaps hinting at a cursed school uniform? Another version of the movie poster features a lonely Chen Yan-fei looking quietly forlorn. Is she haunted? Trapped in turmoil?
But how wrong those assumptions would be. Directed by Chuang Ching-shen, this film is anything but a ghost story. Instead, it’s a teen romance - very much in the tradition of Taiwanese favorites like Giddens Ko’s You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011) and Frankie Chen’s Our Times (2015).
If you're into coming-of-age stories with a good ol’ love triangle, this one's for you. Set in 1997 Taiwan, it follows Ai (played by Chen), who ends up in the night school at the prestigious First Girls’ High after not making the cut for the regular day school. It’s an interesting setup that we haven’t heard of before. Apparently, the day school students are seen as the “superior” ones, which adds an extra layer to the drama.
Students from the day and night classes share the same classroom, which is how Ai, who is feeling a little inferior as a night school student, gets to know Min (Chole Xiang), a confident and upbeat girl who lights up the room. The two start leaving notes for each other under the desk they share, and their bond grows stronger. Before long, they’re swapping uniforms to skip class, and that’s when the meaning behind the movie’s English title makes sense.
The two girls become best friends, and as you might expect, they end up falling for the same guy, Luke (Bruce Chiu). With his charming good looks, it’s no surprise hearts flutter when he drops a cheesy line like “May the force be with you."
With Ai and Min’s contrasting personalities, their approaches to love naturally differ. It might just take you back to those awkward, dreamy school days, when you admired your crush from afar or found yourself acting like a completely different person around them.
While the plot is fairly predictable, the 106-minute journey is told mostly through Ai’s eyes, as she navigates the pressure of keeping up appearances, especially given her modest family background. She and her younger sister live with their widowed mother (Chi Chin) in a cramped apartment. To make ends meet, their mother gives tuition and doesn’t mind picking up discarded furniture to save money.
Chen and Xiang are fully immersed in their roles, delivering engaging performances that carry the film. One particularly charming detail is how Ai writes letters to her idol, Nicole Kidman, sharing her dreams and aspirations. When a surprise reply arrives with the line “Tom and I are doing fine,” it’s a genuinely chuckle-worthy moment.
The film also weaves in notable real-life events, such as Taiwanese rock band Mayday performing in bars and pubs to promote rock music in 1997, and the devastating 921 earthquake that struck on 21 September 1999. These thoughtful touches will resonate with viewers familiar with the events, adding an extra layer of connection to the story.
Movie Rating:
(Fans of Taiwanese coming-of-age tales will embrace this movie, which adds a bittersweet love triangle to the mix)
Review by John Li
Genre: Thriller
Director: Christopher Landon
Cast: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 10 April 2025
Synopsis: Emmy nominee Meghann Fahy, breakout star of White Lotus and The Perfect Couple, plays Violet, a widowed mother on her first date in years, who arrives at an upscale restaurant where she is relieved that her date, Henry (It Ends with Us’ Brandon Sklenar) is more charming and handsome than she expected. But their chemistry begins to curdle as Violet begins being irritated and then terrorized by a series of anonymous drops to her phone. She is instructed to tell nobody and follow instructions or the hooded figure she sees on her home security cameras will kill Violet’s young son and babysitting sister. Violet must do exactly as directed or everyone she loves will die. Her unseen tormentor’s final directive? Kill Henry.
Movie Review:
For the past decade or so, Christopher Landon has been the creative genius of a number of high-concept B-movie thrillers; that includes ‘Happy Death Day’ and its sequel, ‘Freaky’ and the ‘Paranomral Activity’ sequels.
‘Drop’ belongs squarely in that category, what with its premise of a recently divorced single mother Violet (The White Lotus‘s Meghann Fahy) who on her first date in years is taunted by a series of ‘drops’ that go from weird to deadly. To avoid getting Apple on their backs, the movie positions these under a fictional app called ‘DigiDrops’, although the reference is obvious; and to ensure that it stays grounded to reality, the technology here is similarly confined to the geographical proximity of a 50-feet radius or less.
To up the ante, Violet’s date happens to be at a restaurant called Palate that is located on the top floor of a downtown Chicago skyscraper’s 38th-floor. That not only narrows her options for escape or seeking help, but also turns this into a tense whodunnit as Violet looks frantically around the restaurant to try to figure out who within has been dropping her these threats.
It should not come as a surprise that these demands have something to do with her date Henry (It Ends With Us‘ Brendon Sklenar), a press photographer who happens to work in the Mayor’s office. Over the course of the evening, it becomes clear that the real target is in fact Henry and not Violet per se, and that Henry had discovered something as part of his work that some bad people had wanted erased.
Even if it does unfold in not quite so unpredictable ways, Landon knows just how to crank up the tension bit by bit. Making full use of the confines of the location as well as the limits of the conceit, Landon engineers a number of taut mini set-pieces, including a close shave in the ladies, another at the restaurant’s reception desk while trying to ask for help through an online messaging chat, a message scribbled on a dollar bill for the pianist, and last but not least, an attempt to poison Henry as demanded by her intimidator.
Only in the finale does Landon change the scene of the action, relocating the proceedings from the restaurant back to Violet’s home, where her sister (Violett Beane) has been babysitting her son (Jacob Robinson). That has a similarly claustrophobic feel, not unlike the opening scene in ‘Scream’, and once again Landon demonstrates a firm grasp of build-up and release with a nail-biting finish.
Landon also has an absolutely game performer in Fahy, who delivers a masterclass in restrained panic. You can literally feel her anxiety onscreen as she realises the stakes involved, as well as her nerves trying to keep up a façade with Henry while fulfilling the villainous mastermind’s bidding in order to keep her son and sister alive. Putting her piercing blue eyes to good use, Fahy knows just how to calibrate her portrait of twitchy nervousness to pitch perfection, and thanks to Fahy, you’ll find yourself easily rooting for Violet to get through the night.
‘Drop’ isn’t terribly smart or inventive, but within its high-concept, Landon delivers an efficient, effective and economical Hitchcockian thriller that will keep you enthralled from start to finish. For what it’s worth, ‘Drop’ is a genre exercise that will hold – not drop – your attention with its techno-paranoiac premise, and as long as you’re prepared to go along for the ride, you’ll enjoy its brand of pulpy, nervy fun.
Movie Rating:
(A high-concept B-movie done right, 'Drop' offers pulpy, nervy fun in a Hitchcockian-style thriller)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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PIKE TAKES US ON A D-JOURNEYPosted on 28 Mar 2025 |
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Pierre Morel
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Rupert Friend, Ray Stevenson, Ben Miles, Goran Kostić, Jaz Hutchins, Romina Tonkovic, Saffron Burrows, Masayoshi Haneda
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 24 April 2025
Synopsis: After an assignment in Tokyo, the dangerous CIA assassin Avery "Ave" Graves returns home in Croatia to celebrate her marriage anniversary with her beloved husband David Brooks. Ave is a lonely woman that was raised to be a CIA operative since she was a teenager by her chief and friend Jarvis Hedlund, the only person she trusts besides David. Out of the blue, David is kidnapped, and the kidnapper orders her to retrieve the Canary Black file that is hidden in the tooth of a CIA prisoner. She lures Agent Maxfield, who is responsible for the prisoner, but she does not find any file in the tooth. Now she is chased by the CIA that believe she is a traitor and has the Black Canary file; by the criminals who abducted David, since they also believe she has the file; and the Croatia Secret Service that has team up with the CIA to capture her. Meanwhile the clock is ticking, and David's life is in serious danger, and Ave needs to retrieve the Black Canary to save him.
Movie Review:
With no new instalment from the Underworld franchise in sight, Kate Beckinsale however is still bent on kicking asses and demonstrating her action-heroine vibes in this euro-action spy thriller from the director of Taken, Pierre Morel.
As predictable as it is, Beckinsale plays Avery Graves, an outstanding CIA operative who just came back from a “working” trip in Japan. You see, Avery is blissfully married to David (Rupert Friend) in Croatia and David is the ideal man every lady loves. He is handsome, charming, cooks and he even loves puppies! What David doesn’t know is his spouse just lethally killed a dozen men over a flash drive.
Soon, David is kidnapped and Avery receives a call demanding that she finds “Canary Black”, basically a file that can cause widespread cyberattack and hands it over or David dies. Thus Avery went on a rampage with help from her superior, Station Chief Hedlund (the late Ray Stevenson) and Sorina (Romina Tonkovic), a young hacker.
Apparently, there’s no question where Avery’s loyalty lies the minute she knew her beloved hubby is kidnapped. Betraying her country in an instant without taking a moment to find out the truth. That’s how trashy the story of Canary Black is. The screenplay by Matthew Kennedy is hardly convincing let alone delivers any form of suspense and excitement. The so-called diabolical scheme to cripple the entire world sounds like it’s recycled from any other spy movies out there. On the fun side, our small little island is mentioned and featured. Got to give it to Kennedy for the free tourism shoutout.
Pierre Morel hasn’t direct a worthy action thriller since the success of Taken. For a lack of a better description, Morel is simply going through the motions here. Despite the numerous gunfights, fisticuffs, a messy car chase and “Bouncing Betty”, none of the action sequences actually leaves you wanting more. There is nothing impressive or exceptional and Morel is content in delivering noisy sequences disguised as action overload.
At the age of 51, Kate Beckinsale is at best serviceable as the heroine. At times, she moves and sways like a dedicated trained agent though at certain junctures, the action choreography seems uninspiring and lazy that it makes you wonder if her stunt double is getting paid enough. Plausibility is also missing here as a scene calls for Avery to hang on for dear life on a flying drone to infiltrate a building. Maybe it works better elsewhere however it’s just silly and incomprehensible right here.
Originally shown on Prime video in selected territories, Canary Black is a cheap spy mishap shot in Croatia. The story is all too familiar especially the twist in the end. The globe-trotting, high-tech spy element is never convincing and Beckinsale herself looks too worn out to be dodging bullets and body blows. Give Selene back to us please.
Movie Rating:
(A phone-in effort from Morel and Beckinsale)
Review by Linus Tee
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VAL KILMER (1959 - 2025)Posted on 02 Apr 2025 |
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