Genre: Thriller
Director: Sean Bryne
Cast: Jai Courtney, Hassie Harrison, Josh Heuston, Rob Carlton, Ella Newton, Liam Greinke
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene and Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 19 June 2025
Synopsis: When Zephyr, a savvy and free-spirited surfer is abducted by a serial killer and held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below.
Movie Review:
Shark, Alligator or Snake? Take Your Pick.
Hollywood loves reminding us that apex predators are not to be messed with, delivering at least one or two nail-biting thrillers each year featuring helpless humans pitted against terrifying creatures.
In Dangerous Animals, however, a serial killer is thrown into the mix to spice things up. For once, sharks aren’t the primary villains here. That title belongs to Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney), the captain of a tourist boat offering up-close shark encounters.
Enter Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), an American drifter who crosses paths with Tucker after a one-night stand with a handsome young real estate agent, Moses (Josh Heuston). In hindsight, she probably should’ve stayed for the pancakes.
If you’ve seen enough survival horror, you’ll likely predict how Dangerous Animals unfolds. Zephyr wakes up on Tucker’s boat, only to witness another tourist being torn apart by sharks, all filmed gleefully by Tucker himself. He’s not just a serial killer; he’s a shark enthusiast with a sadistic streak. What follows is a tense, gruesome fight for survival as Zephyr refuses to be his next victim, finding inventive ways to fight back.
For the most part, Dangerous Animals works, though it relies on some convenient plotting. What are the odds of a one-night stand turning into a full-on rescue mission? Yet, director Sean Byrne knows how to keep things engaging, even if the story occasionally drifts into repetitive territory despite its lean runtime.
The violence here is unflinching but playfully gruesome, more slasher fun than shark terror. If you’re expecting another Jaws, adjust your expectations: this film’s true horror lies not with the sharks, but with the humans. That’s exactly what the title is hinting at.
Jai Courtney is the heart and soul of the movie, embodying the deranged Tucker with unsettling conviction. He’s never been the most memorable actor until now. Without veering into Nicolas Cage-style camp, Courtney makes Tucker’s twisted malevolence compelling to watch.
Meanwhile, Hassie Harrison earns her place as horror’s next scream queen. Let’s hope she had a bottle of Pei Pa Koa nearby because she spends much of the film screaming her lungs out. Bruised, battered and nearly shark food, Harrison’s performance alone is worth the price of admission.
For a modestly budgeted film, Dangerous Animals impresses with its underwater cinematography and surprisingly solid visual effects. Familiar? Predictable? Sure. But packed with enough tension and gleeful trashiness to keep genre fans entertained. Just don’t get too hung up on the sharks.
Movie Rating:
(Sadistic humans are scarier than sharks)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Gareth Edwards
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge, Bechir Sylvain, Ed Skrein
Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 2 July 2025
Synopsis: Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind. Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.
Movie Review:
In this writer’s opinion, the best part of the seventh instalment in the Jurassic Park franchise is seeing the iconic T-rex return to the big screen. With its bone-crushing jaws, thunderous footsteps, and a roar that echoes through the valley, the T-rex remains the ultimate prehistoric predator.
The T-rex sequence in this movie directed by Gareth Edwards features the fearsome dinosaur charging after a group of terrified humans as they frantically paddle down a river. With its teeth bared in pursuit, the T-rex is a breathtaking, heart-pounding sight - one that thrills audiences even as it terrifies the characters. And who could blame them for being scared out of their minds? Interestingly, this scene was originally featured in Michael Crichton’s 1990 Jurassic Park novel but was left out of Steven Spielberg’s classic film due to technical limitations at the time.
It might be a sign that this reviewer is a sucker for nostalgia - because beyond the T-rex, he was also gleefully delighted by the brief appearances of old-time favourites like the Velociraptor and Dilophosaurus.
But perhaps Edwards wasn’t aiming to please longtime fans. Much of this standalone sequel to Jurassic World Dominion (2022) introduces dinosaurs we haven’t seen on the big screen before - including, unsurprisingly, mutated creatures. While species like the Titanosaurus and Spinosaurus deliver visual impact, it’s the genetically altered dinosaurs that may leave an impression, though not always in a good way in this writer’s view.
The Mutadon (a mutated Velociraptor with pterosaur-like wings that allow it to fly) and the Distortus Rex (this big baddie looks like it wandered in from the Alien franchise are hybrids that detract from the primal awe that made the original films so captivating.
Perhaps this is the clearest way to drive home a message for today’s audiences: don’t meddle too much with science. When you start mixing DNA and experimenting recklessly in the lab, terrifying consequences can follow. As countless films have shown, it’s always the humans who end up paying the price.
This time, the human adventurers include a covert ops expert (Scarlett Johansson, channelling her Black Widow energy), a studious paleontologist (Jonathan Bailey, complete with his much-discussed “slutty glasses”), a gung-ho team leader (Mahershala Ali, effortlessly commanding the screen), and the token corporate villain (Rupert Friend, barely masking his sliminess). Tagging along is a family (because there has to be a kid in the mix) who soon find themselves caught in a series of perilous encounters.
There isn’t much to say about the story itself, as character development is fairly and predictably unremarkable, with nothing particularly standing out on that front. What is surprising, however, is how Edwards allows the 133-minute film to breathe in its early moments, with a fair amount of dialogue before the first major action sequence unfolds.
When the action finally arrives, it does so with a surprising sense of elegance. The scene sees the gargantuan Mosasaurus gliding silently beneath the water as a boat drifts unknowingly toward its doom - a moment charged with ominous beauty. It’s a sequence that echoes Edwards’ Godzilla (2014), where the monster was introduced through a similarly poetic, slow-burn reveal.
Of course, that quiet tension doesn’t last long. This is a dinosaur movie, after all. Audiences come for the action, and Edwards delivers with a series of competent, well-paced set pieces. The result is a solid popcorn adventure and a decent addition to the franchise, leaving the door wide open (because why not?) for future sequels.
Movie Rating:
(A decently entertaining dino romp that checks all the boxes for a summer blockbuster)
Review by John Li
Genre: Action/Comedy
Director: Kang Hyeong-cheol
Cast: Lee Jaein, Ahn Jae Hong, Ra Miran, Kim Hie-won, Oh Jung-se, Park Jinyoung
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References and Violence)
Released By: GV and Purple Plan
Official Website:
Opening Day: 12 June 2025
Synopsis: Wan-Seo (Lee Jaein), Ji-Seong (Ahn Jaehong), Sun-Nyeo (Ra Miran), Yak-Sun (Kim Hiewon), and Ki-Dong come from different backgrounds, but they have one thing in common: they all received organ transplants from one person. Along with their improved health, they also received an unexpected supernatural power. These five people become aware of each other’s existence and form a team. With their different personalities, they often quarrel, and accidents never cease to happen. Meanwhile, Young-Chun (Park Jinyoung), who is the leader of a fake religion, received a pancreas transplant and also gained supernatural powers. He goes out looking for the rest of the transplantees to achieve his dream of becoming the absolute being.
Movie Review:
‘Hi-Five’ isn’t your typical Marvel or DC superhero movie – instead of extraterrestrials, the villain here is altogether human, who like our five ordinary persons turned superhumans, is blessed with superpowers after receiving an organ transplant.
First among equals is Wan-seo (Lee Jae-In), a plucky Taekwondo-loving high-school teenager who recovers miraculously from a long illness after receiving a heart transplant. Not only does she fail to heed her overprotective Taekwondo instructor father’s words not to over-exert, Wan-seo decides soon after the operation to put her newfound abilities to the test by running up a steep slope and realising she can overtake a delivery worker on a scooter as well as leap stories into the air.
It is from Wan-seo’s point of view that we get to meet the rest of the rag-tag quintet. Wan-seo’s extraordinary ability catches the eye of struggling writer Ji-sung (Ahn Jae-hong), who after receiving a lung transplant has acquired the ability of exhaling gale-force winds. Recognising that there may be others like them, Wan-seo and Ji-sung set out to find the rest who had benefitted from the same organ donor.
That journey brings them sequentially to Sun-nyeo (Ra Mi-ran), a meek yogurt saleswoman who rides a delivery vehicle and whose powers will only be known much later both to her and to us; Yak-sun (Kim Hee-won), a factory manager who has gained the powers of healing through his hands after a liver transplant; and last but not least, Ki-dong (Yoo Ah-in), a cocky hipster wanna-be who can manipulate electromagnetic waves after his cornea transplant.
Like we said, it’s a motley ensemble and writer-director Kang Hyeong-cheol makes the best of his conceit for goofy, laugh-out-loud fun. Much of the first hour gets its verve from the back-and-forth bickering between Ji-sung and Ki-dong, whose respective egos clash in humorous ways, including fighting over a plate of ‘chikin’ (or ‘fried chicken’ in Korean) at a fried chicken joint that comes to be their default gathering place. There is also the occasional run-ins, which double up as occasions for the five of them to unleash their powers and discover how best to complement each other.
In particular, their biggest threat is Young-chun, a cult leader who is rescued from the verge of death after a pancreas transplant, and who gains the ability from there to absorb the youth of others. First played by veteran actor Shin Goo, Young-chun morphs into Park Jin-young over the course of the movie, much to the chagrin of his equally megalomaniac daughter Choon-hwa (Jin Hee-kyung). It is Choon-hwa who first sends a crew after the quintet, in a bid to harness their powers; although after discovering that there are others like him, Young-chun sets out to acquire their powers for himself.
So yes, this is ultimately a story about the responsibility that comes with power, pitting the despotic Young-chun against our noble quintet (who only decide to adopt the titular moniker at the end of the movie). Kang saves most of the superhero action for the extended finale, which sees Young-chun demonstrating his powers of youth and healing (after usurping Yak-sun’s abilities) to a stadium-sized crowd of his followers before being (literally) brought back down to earth. It isn’t Hollywood standard to be sure, but the VFX is very respectable for an Asian production.
Still, the draw of ‘Hi-Five’ is less spectacle than just scrappy exuberance, buoyed by the earnest and warm performances by each of the actors. Nowhere is this better displayed than in a high-speed vehicular chase where our heroes have to outrun two sets of baddies after them atop Sun-nyeo’s yoghurt vehicle powered by Wan-seo’s strength and speed, all set to Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. That’s exactly the sort of dumb, unpretentious fun that Kang has set out to deliver in ‘Hi-Five’, and we must say that it sticks the landing.
So even though the constant diet of superhero movies may have left some jaded and fatigued, ‘Hi-Five’ revels in being nothing like the typical Marvel or DC mould. It is simply about five ordinary people suddenly granted superhuman strength and who have to summon the best within themselves to face up to one among them who has chosen to use his powers for bad than good – and we aren’t shy to say that because we went in with little expectation, we found ourselves pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable and entertaining it turned out to be. ‘Hi-Five’ indeed!.
Movie Rating:
(More fun than the typical Marvel or DC superhero film, this fantasy of ordinary persons turned superheroes is unpretentiously enjoyable and entertaining)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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TIME TO GET A JEEPPosted on 24 Jun 2025 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Mayiduo
Cast: Mayiduo, Charlene Huang, Xixi Lim, Regina Lim, Sai, Cayydences, Henry Thia
Runtime: 2 hr 8 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References & Coarse Language)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment and Double Up Media
Official Website:
Opening Day: 27 June 2025
Synopsis: Ah Hua (Charlene Huang) is a humble owner of her family’s small Fishball business, her life revolving around being a loving wife and running the market stall together with her husband. When her husband cheats on her with an influencer, BBGirl (Regina Lim), and her heirloom business is snatched from under her, she seeks revenge by trying to become a famous influencer. Taking up a challenge from BBgirl to out-shine her and win everything back, with the help of her best friend CC (Xixi Lim) and short-tempered, has-been cinematographer Hock (Mayiduo), she struggles to become a social media influencer in the age of TikTok. Every time she comes close to giving up, Ah Hua sees visions of the ancient founders (Cayydences) of her fishball business, urging her to push on. As the deadline to BBGirl’s challenge approaches, Ah Hua eventually realises that the key to happiness might just lie in being true to herself.
Movie Review:
If boomers and Gen X form the core of Jack Neo’s fanbase, then it’s safe to say that millennials and Gen Z are the staunch supporters of influencer-turned-filmmaker Mayiduo’s movie debut.
Directed and co-written by Mayiduo, Follow Aunty La follows Ah Hua (Charlene Huang), a fishball seller who’s unceremoniously dumped by her deadbeat husband (Sai) after he reconnects with an old classmate now turned hotshot influencer BBGirl (Regina Lim). To reclaim her 300-year-old Teochew fishball business, Ah Hua is forced to enter a livestream selling competition or risk losing even more money to BBGirl.
With the help of her best friend and fruit stall seller CC (Xixi Lim), and a former cinematographer with anger issues, Hock (played by Mayiduo himself), Ah Hua has only days to transform from a complete social media noob into a livestream queen with killer sales skills.
For better or worse, Follow Aunty La plays out like a typical Jack Neo Chinese New Year flick. It’s no surprise, since Neo’s JTeam is credited, suggesting he may have lent a hand behind the scenes. All the usual Neo trademarks are here: loud and zany characters, crying fits, meandering plot, heavy use of dialect and plenty of product placements which Mayiduo thankfully pokes fun at.
To be fair, crafting a five-minute TikTok skit is a whole different beast from making a full-length feature. What works in short bursts doesn’t always translate to a two hour runtime. Still, it’s not entirely Mayiduo’s fault, veterans like Neo and Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Jing have long struggled with these same issues.
Follow Aunty La takes almost an hour to truly get going and even then, the plot takes several detours. The film’s funniest moments come from Ah Hua’s hilariously clueless attempts at gaining followers, CC’s dementia-suffering grandma who’s always ready with a slap and Hua’s ancestral spirits (played by @Cayydences) who appear to offer life advice from the beyond.
Unfortunately, the movie is bogged down by filler content like a pointless PK battle with @theJianHaoTan and some awkward fourth-wall-breaking jokes that feel misplaced and unnecessary. There’s even a melodramatic, Jack Neo-style finale that is out of place in what’s meant to be a dramedy about influencers and livestreaming culture.
That said, if you’re here to spot cameos from a laundry list of local and Malaysian influencers—@ChiouHuey, @Tommyncb, @Simonboyyyyyy, @msqiwiie, @bertandlulu, Overkill, The Daily Ketchup and more—this film certainly delivers.
Credit where credit is due: Charlene Huang and Xixi Lim have great onscreen chemistry and do their best to elevate their characters beyond cardboard cutouts. As for Mayiduo’s acting, let’s just say he might want to turn the volume down a notch in his next role.
In the end, there’s not much more to say about Mayiduo’s big-screen debut. Despite being the creative force behind Follow Aunty La, the film doesn’t seem to have much to say about livestreaming or influencer culture. Worse, it ends up feeling like yet another Jack Neo co-directed and co-written affair. Maybe some of the blame lies with co-writer Link Sng (Long Long Time Ago) but either way, this debut struggles to stand out.
Movie Rating:
(A Jack Neo movie that is not done by Jack Neo, Follow Aunty La is a weak occasionally ticklish satire on the culture of live-streaming)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: James Gunn
Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell
Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: https://www.supermanmovie.com.sg
Opening Day: 10 July 2025
Synopsis: When Superman is drawn into conflicts both abroad and at home, his actions to protect humankind are questioned, and his vulnerability allows tech billionaire and master deceiver Lex Luthor to leverage the opportunity to get Superman out of the way for good. Will the Daily Planet’s intrepid reporter Lois Lane, together with the aid of Metropolis’s other metahumans and Superman’s own four- legged companion, Krypto, be able to help Superman before Luthor can completely destroy him? The film follows Superman’s journey to reconcile his heritage as the Kryptonian Kal-El with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas, and his selfless determination to use his power for good as humanity’s protector. Guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old- fashioned, he is the embodiment of truth, justice and a better tomorrow.
Movie Review:
So much hope, so much expectation, and so much promise has been placed on James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ that we feel lamentable that it is a bit of a mess – and for avoidance of doubt, we say this with complete objectivity, and not because we are a fan of the Synder-verse.
Carrying the weight of the launch of a whole new DC cinematic universe, Gunn throws everything but the kitchen sink at this reboot – from refashioning Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) as a tech megalomaniac, to a Kaiju-like monster that looks like an evil clone of Stitch, to a shape-shifting Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) with nanobots in her bloodstream, and to the superheroes-for-hire Justice Gang comprising Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), it is a busy and even overstuffed affair all right, even if it does stay fun and brisk for the most part.
Ironically, that is also what makes ‘Superman’ lightweight. Determined to free the character from the self-serious and heavy-handed trappings of its immediate predecessor, Gunn keeps the proceedings distinctly fast-paced, flying through two hours at the speed of light that unfortunately renders the developments somewhat impact-less. Oh yes, you barely feel any stakes involved, not the fate of the citizens of Metropolis, or for that matter the very existence of Planet Earth itself.
But that is precisely what Gunn is trying to convey – wisely opting to skip the backstory with four paragraphs of intertitles to plunge us right into Superman’s story, Gunn begins with our indefatigable hero (David Corenswet) facing his first beatdown against a hulking armoured monster known as the Hammer of Boravia. As we soon learn, despite his superhuman strength, Superman is ultimately not unbeatable, especially when up against the Engineer as well as Lex’s other right hand man known as Ultraman (whose identity and origins will only become clearer at the finale).
Likewise, Superman is powerless to save himself when thrown into a ‘pocket universe’ that Lex had created, a penal colony in a different dimension that Lex uses to house his political opponents in glass cubes. He is also terribly weakened when incarcerated with Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), who conjures a hand of Kryptonite crystals to sap Superman’s power. He is surprisingly vulnerable all right, most of all so when the Engineer doctors the message that his birth parents had sent with his escape pod to Earth to make it seem as if he were here to conquer the planet.
Just as with Synder’s ‘Man of Steel’, Gunn finds real pathos in Superman’s relationship with his adoptive parents – here played by Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell – as well as with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). Though brief, the one scene that sees Superman return to the Kent farm where he grew up to recuperate is perhaps one of the most heartwarming moments in the movie, especially as a poignant reminder to him (as well as to the audience) how Clark was brought up as one of us.
We’d also wish Clark and Lois spent more time together, but their similarly defining scene is that where he agrees to an on-the-record interview with her as Superman, which promptly turns into an intelligently engaging debate about the moral responsibilities of his powers, about checks and balances versus going rogue, about the political consequences of doing the morally right thing, and about whether being a fan of The Mighty Crabtrees is ‘punk’ or not.
Frankly, we wish Gunn spent more time on the relationships to Clark that matter in the movie, instead of stuffing and overstuffing it with so many disparate elements that end up competing with one another for attention. We can’t say we cared much about the automatons at Superman’s Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic, or a too-convenient flirtation between scrappy reporter Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) and Lex’s über-ditz girlfriend Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio), or the supposed border conflict between two fictional nations Boravia and Jarhanpur over the latter’s natural resources, or even the black hole caused by Lex’s ‘pocket universe’ machine tearing through half of Metropolis; it is no wonder that Gunn’s ‘Superman’ has been compared to a live-action Saturday action, and we say this for better and for worse.
What ‘Superman’ does have going for it is perfect casting. We dare say Corenswet makes a damn fine Superman, injecting the character with wit, virtue, fortitude, and an unwavering respect for truth and justice even if he comes at a personal cost. He also shares great chemistry with Brosnahan, and it is to their credit that even without setting up how they got together, we believe in our heart of hearts that they are an actual couple. And together with a startlingly bald but frighteningly good Hoult as a bold, bad and determined Lex, Gunn has assembled a capable, congenial ensemble to usher Clark, Lois and Lex into a new era.
We respect Gunn’s vision for ‘Superman’, and indeed it is clear that the new author of DC Studios’ cinematic universe intends to take it in a radically different direction from where Synder had led it before. Those who have followed Gunn from his early days specialising in B-grade sci-fi horror will also notice how he continues to retain his own voice, notwithstanding the scale and scope of his blockbuster endeavours. But we’d sincerely wish ‘Superman’ had more stakes in it, and didn’t feel the need to do too much at one go, so much so that it ends up overloaded and underwhelming. It’s a promising start no doubt, just not one we’d say soars as much as we had hoped.
Movie Rating:
(Fun but lightweight, intelligent but overstuffed, James Gunn's DC cinematic universe reboot could do with a lot more stakes and a little less indulgence)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: The UK Prime Minister (Idris Elba) and US President (John Cena) have a public rivalry that risks their countries’ alliance. But when they become targets of a powerful enemy, they’re forced to rely on each other as they go on a wild, multinational run. Allied with Noel, a brilliant MI6 agent (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), they must find a way to thwart a conspiracy that threatens the free world.
MOVIE REVIEW:
We can’t believe we’re saying this but Heads of State is surprisingly entertaining for what looks like a disposable streaming action flick. Maybe it’s the second on-screen reunion of John Cena and Idris Elba after The Suicide Squad. Or maybe credit goes to director Ilya Naishuller who previously helmed the equally absurd and action-packed Nobody.
Whatever the reason, this cartoonishly violent film is undeniably fun and well-executed, filled with slick action and solid laughs.
Cena stars as Will Derringer, a hotshot Hollywood actor-turned-President of the United States. Elba plays his British counterpart, Prime Minister Sam Clarke. Naturally, the two alpha leaders don’t get along. Their constant bickering and one-upmanship form the core of the film’s buddy-comedy dynamic.
The plot kicks off with a botched CIA and MI6 mission to take down Russian arms dealer Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine), resulting in multiple casualties and the disappearance of agent Noel (Priyanka Chopra Jonas). Now in control of the CIA’s global surveillance system, Gradov sets his sights on revenge, putting both Derringer and Clarke squarely in his crosshairs.
Let’s be clear: Heads of State is formulaic and predictable. The usual “buddy cop” tropes are all present, right down to the mismatched personalities forced to work together. Thankfully, Cena and Elba have undeniable chemistry and their banter helps elevate the clichéd script even if some of the puns wear thin.
Still, Naishuller delivers where it matters: the action. From hand-to-hand combat to over-the-top set pieces, the choreography is impressively inventive. There’s even a hint of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton-style physical comedy woven into the chaos. The final car chase featuring the President’s limo barreling through bullets and explosions is more thrilling than the last few Fast & Furious entries combined.
A few supporting players also stand out. Priyanka Chopra Jonas impresses as a badass field agent and Clarke’s potential love interest while Jack Quaid steals his brief scenes with a hilarious cameo as an enthusiastic low-level operative.
While the tone remains light and ludicrous, Heads of State does sneak in a few jabs at the current state of American politics including a subtle dig at NATO dynamics. Still, any deeper commentary is mostly drowned out by the film’s preference for spectacle and wisecracks.
In the end, Heads of State is a slick, dumb-but-fun action-comedy that knows exactly what it is. Thanks to a game cast, stylish direction and more charm than expected, this is one streaming title that punches well above its weight.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Horror/ Thriller/ Sci-Fi
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Cast: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Amie Donald
Runtime: 2 hrs 0 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 26 June 2025
Synopsis: Two years after M3GAN, a marvel of artificial intelligence, went rogue and embarked on a murderous (and impeccably choreographed) rampage and was subsequently destroyed, M3GAN’s creator Gemma (Allison Williams) has become a high-profile author and advocate for government oversight of A.I. Meanwhile, Gemma’s niece Cady (Violet McGraw), now 14, has become a teenager, rebelling against Gemma’s overprotective rules.
Unbeknownst to them, the underlying tech for M3GAN has been stolen and misused by a powerful defense contractor to create a military-grade weapon known as Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno; Ahsoka, Pacific Rim: Uprising), the ultimate killer infiltration spy. But as Amelia’s self-awareness increases, she becomes decidedly less interested in taking orders from humans. Or in keeping them around.
With the future of human existence on the line, Gemma realizes that the only option is to resurrect M3GAN (Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis) and give her a few upgrades, making her faster, stronger, and more lethal. As their paths collide, the original A.I icon is about to meet her match.
Movie Review:
Proving that bigger isn’t always better, ‘Megan 2.0’ may represent a step up in terms of scale and scope over its predecessor, but in entertainment value, it certainly is a step down.
You can hardly accuse Gerald Johnstone for a lack of ambition – returning to write and direct this sequel, Johnstone imagines a world whose ubiquitous digital connectivity becomes its most pressing weakness, exploited by an Autonomous Military Engagement Logistics and Infiltration Android (otherwise known as AMELIA) hell bent on unleashing global chaos.
As the overwrought prologue explains, Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno) was developed by the US Army’s Defense Innovation Unit using M3GAN’s source code and was deployed in the field by ambitious scientist Colonel Sattler (Timm Sharp), whose mission for her is to rescue a kidnapped scientist taken hostage on the Turkish-Iranian border; unfortunately, she ends up killing him and wiping out an entire research facility.
On the other hand, after being destroyed by her creator Gemma (Allison Williams), M3GAN has hidden herself behind Gemma’s smart-home network, where she continues to keep watch not just on her inventor but also her niece Cady (Violet McGraw). After sensing both Gemma and Cady in danger, M3GAN reveals herself to them, although it will be some time before she assumes physical form, in order to eventually go head to head with AMELIA.
We shan’t give any more away of Johnstone’s unnecessarily convoluted plot – suffice to say that there are betrayals and double-crosses along the way, which has something to do with either Gemma’s quasi-love interest Christian (Aristotle Athani) or tech billionaire Alton Appleton (Jemaine Clement). After what happened in the first chapter, Gemma has turned into an advocate for stricter AI controls, and found a fellow bleeding heart in Christian.
Much of the first hour is spent with Gemma and M3GAN bickering with each other, the former struggling to trust the latter’s intentions and the latter sincerely and occasionally sarcastically trying to convince the former that she only has Cady’s interests at heart. If it isn’t yet obvious, M3GAN is no longer the villain here; instead, against Amelia, she is now the heroine, willing to go out on a limb (even if robotic) to save Cady as well as to save the world.
It is as drastic an about-turn as it gets, and as much as we respect Johnstone for his gumption, we cannot say that we enjoyed this sequel as much as we did the original. To be fair, M3GAN still retains some choice lines that will have you chuckling in delight as well as some occasionally silly gags (case in point: when she is first brought back, M3GAN returns in the body of a small, plastic, Teletubby-like robot); yet, that edge is rather dulled having her be the good doll. It also doesn’t help that Johnstone approaches this as a sci-fi action extravaganza, without the horror thrills on which its legion of fans was built on.
Compared to ‘M3GAN’, this version 2.0 is probably best described as a serviceably entertaining but utterly disposable reboot. Though it runs at close to two hours, the pace is brisk enough to hold your attention; that said, it is also absolutely forgettable, and devoid of the sharp blend of horror and comedy that made its predecessor an unexpected success. Like we said, bigger isn’t always better, and ‘M3GAN 2.0’ proves that it sometimes pays to stick to a winning formula.
Movie Rating:
(Abandoning its killer horror comedy formula for a sci-fi action extravaganza, 'M3GAN 2.0' loses what made its predecessor so enjoyable in the first place)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Tak Se-woong
Cast: Joo Hyun-young, Jeon Bae-soo, Choi Bo-min
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: NC16 (Horror)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 July 2025
Synopsis: The Video Goes Viral! People Mysteriously Disappears at Gwanglim Station Da-kyung (JOO Hyun-young), a horror YouTuber desperate for views, uploads a video about the eerie urban legends surrounding Gwanglim Station – the site of the highest number of missing person cases in the country. The video goes viral overnight. Despite everyone's warnings, Da-kyung's thirst for views only grows stronger. But as she digs deeper, she uncovers a shocking secret behind the station... The Gwanglim Station legend – never before revealed. "Do you believe in the rumours?"
Movie Review:
Underground train stations are the perfect setting for spine-chilling stories. Their dim lighting, eerie silence, and long, empty platforms naturally lend themselves to unsettling tales. Think flickering lights, strange echoes, or the mysterious sound of footsteps when no one else is around. One of the most common fears many people share is being alone late at night, anxiously waiting for the last train, eyes fixed on the glass doors - half-hoping, half-dreading that nothing out of the ordinary will suddenly appear.
This Korean horror flick taps into exactly that fear, turning the everyday experience of taking the train into something terrifying. If you're easily spooked, you might want to sit this one out.
Directed by Tak Se-woong, the film centres on Da-kyung (Joo Hyun-young), a female content creator who specialises in producing horror YouTube videos. She’s determined to rise to the top by chasing viral hits, but her rival is a beauty YouTuber from the same company, and the competition is fierce. So when Da-kyung gets wind of a chilling series of disappearances linked to the eerie Gwanglim Station (don’t bother Googling it—it’s fictional), she sees it as her golden opportunity. Driven by ambition, she dives headfirst into uncovering secrets that were never meant to resurface.
Given the plot, the filmmakers have a solid excuse to structure this 95-minute film around episodic stories. The upside? You don’t have to wait long for the scares to kick in. There’s no need to sit through lengthy backstories, slow build-ups or deep character arcs - just dive straight into the tension and enjoy the final jolt. However, this approach comes with its drawbacks. The storytelling lacks depth, and with so many characters introduced in quick succession, it’s hard to feel invested in any of them.
As with most anthology-style films, some stories land better than others. One of the more gruesome tales involves the beauty YouTuber, who develops a horrifying skin condition after touching a strange, sticky substance on a train handrail - cranking up the film’s gore factor. Another surprisingly poignant segment follows a homeless man who discovers a mysterious coin and uses it to buy a drink from a vending machine. It hits a quiet emotional note, subtly reflecting the harsh reality of how the homeless (especially in urban subway systems) can vanish without a trace, often unnoticed and uncared for.
Naturally, the story circles back to Da-kyung in the final segment, but this is where the film starts to feel like it’s stretching to reach a conclusion. Still reeling from unrequited feelings for her boss (Choi Bo-min) who seems more interested in the beauty YouTuber, Da-kyung turns to the station master (Jeon Bae-soo), the mysterious figure behind much of her content.
What follows is a longer, more elaborate tale involving a cult and former train station employees who met a grim end. By this point, it becomes clear that the movie has played most of its cards. You’re left to sit through the rest of the special effects and jump scares, fully aware that something this over-the-top probably won’t ever happen in real life - thankfully.
Movie Rating:
(Offering some decent scares, this Korean horror flick delivers quick, episodic thrills with just enough shock value to keep genre fans entertained)
Review by John Li
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Matt Shakman
Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: PG (Some Intense Sequences)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website:
Opening Day: 24 July 2025
Synopsis: Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s - inspired, retro - futuristic world , Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family — Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm /Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm /The Thing (Ebon Moss - Bachrach) and Johnny Storm /Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, t hey must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
Movie Review:
Who’s still keeping count of how many movies there are in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)? With over three dozen entries, even die-hard fans might’ve lost track — especially as the sheer volume seems to have come at the expense of quality over the years. And honestly, who even knows which Phase we’re in anymore?
For the record: the 37th MCU film kicks off Phase Six of the Multiverse Saga — if that still means anything to anyone. What does matter is this: the latest reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise delivers. It’s a solid blockbuster that balances action, emotional weight and heart. Most importantly, it lives up to what the trailers promised — a story rooted in family, with just the right touch of summer spectacle.
Director Matt Shakman wisely skips the usual draggy origin story and drops us straight into the action. When we first meet Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four are already established heroes living on Earth-828. Through clever storytelling, we quickly learn how Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm gained their powers during a space mission exposed to cosmic rays — transforming them into Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing and the Human Torch. They've since become beloved figures, having saved the day countless times with their unique abilities and unbreakable bond.
So what’s the deal this time? Reed and Sue are finally expecting a child after years of trying — but their joy comes with a side of cosmic anxiety. Will their baby be fully human, or inherit unpredictable superpowers from parents who’ve been bathed in cosmic radiation? Before they can calm their emotions, trouble arrives — in the form of the Silver Surfer, the sleek and brooding herald of Galactus, a planet-sized being with a very specific craving: Earth.
Over 115 minutes, we’re taken on a high-stakes thrill ride as the Fantastic Four juggle world-ending threats, clash with cosmic villains, and still try to hold their family together. It’s superpowered chaos, heartwarming moments, and a reminder that even saving the world doesn’t get you out of family drama.
Best known for directing the MCU miniseries WandaVision, Matt Shakman brings his signature flair to Fantastic Four, crafting a vivid and immersive version of Earth-828. The world is infused with a charming retro-futuristic aesthetic — think vintage sci-fi meets modern Marvel — full of sleek tech, nostalgic design touches, and bold colours that pop on screen. It’s an absolute visual treat.
Compared to earlier Fantastic Four films — which often fumbled with inconsistent tone, veering too far into camp or gloom — this reboot finds its sweet spot with a confident blend of heart, humour, and spectacle. It feels fresh, polished, and fully realised — a universe that welcomes you in rather than one you’re simply dropped into. And we can’t go without mentioning Michael Giacchino’s delightful score, anchored by an infectious jingle that’ll have you humming “Fantastic Four” long after the credits roll.
The ensemble cast shines just as brightly. Pedro Pascal is effortlessly charismatic as Mr Fantastic, channelling warm, grounded family-man energy with just the right amount of gravitas. Vanessa Kirby anchors the emotional core of the film as Sue Storm — a mother fiercely protective and quietly powerful. Ebon Moss-Bachrach leaves a surprising emotional imprint behind the layers of CGI as Ben Grimm, while Joseph Quinn’s rebellious, cocky Human Torch is sure to ignite some hearts along the way. Elsewhere, Julia Garner brings an enigmatic allure to the Silver Surfer, and Ralph Ineson delivers an imposing performance as Galactus, a villain who quite literally devours worlds.
This Fantastic Four may be the third attempt at bringing Marvel’s first family to the big screen — but third time’s the charm. With its heartfelt storytelling, energetic pacing, and a clear sense of purpose, it’s not just a great superhero movie — it’s a great time at the movies.
Movie Rating:
(Back in top form, the Fantastic Four bring all the best vibes from Marvel’s first family — and we can’t wait to see where their story goes next in Avengers: Doomsday next year)
Review by John Li
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