Hello there – it’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Film Roundup! Each week we take you through the biggest new cinema releases and why you should be excited for them. This week: bricks, bears, birds and the world’s favourite bearded guy…
Usual disclaimer: unless otherwise stated, I haven’t seen these films. All of my opinions are based on trailers, early reviews and other rumours and buzz.
Red One
When Father Christmas (JK Simmons) is kidnapped, the North Pole’s head of security Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) has to team up with bounty hunter Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) to rescue him.
If it feels a bit early for Christmas films, then a) yes, yes it is, but also b) fret not – this is not so much the sort of cosy Christmas film you’ll be snuggling up to in front of the telly with a hot chocolate in 10 years’ time, as it is a Dwayne Johnson action movie with some tinsel thrown over it. This Santa couldn’t shake his belly like a bowlful of jelly if he tried, with JK Simmons showing off a physique that almost makes the Rock look jealous. The North Pole is a tightly run operation with technology that might as well be magic and a security service that includes one very angry polar bear. Arraigned against our heroes is a gang of magical monsters, including snowman thugs, shadowy giants, and the Krampus (Kristofer Hivju).
None of those ideas are particularly new. Arthur Christmas explored the concept that Santa has a futuristic set-up that plays out like a Mission: Impossible instalment, while Rise of the Guardians had St Nick as a tattooed warrior backed by a guard of yetis. But while those films had the twinkly charm that earns them their spot in the Christmas movie pantheon, I’m not getting that from the Red One trailer.
Will this be a new holiday classic? No. But will it be a fun way to kill a couple of hours? Perhaps. I will gladly watch anything that has JK Simmons in it, even if he is kidnapped and sidelined for most of the film. Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans are pretty dependable veterans of this kind of light-hearted action movie, with Lucy Liu also thrown in for good measure. And there is some nice character and creature design going on, especially with the snowman heavies. It’s not getting great reviews, but a film like this was never going to. Don’t go in expecting a Christmas movie (it is only November, after all) and you might not be disappointed.
- Red One on IMDB
- Red One on Rotten Tomatoes
Paddington in Peru: Lost in the Jungle
From polar bears to spectacled bears, next on the list we have the third live action Paddington film. Joined by the Brown family, Paddington (Ben Whishaw) goes to visit his Aunt Lucy in Peru only to discover that she’s gone missing somewhere in the jungle. And so they set off on an adventure to find her.
The first Paddington film was a breath of fresh air among a slew of soulless attempts at recreating classic cartoon characters in CGI. Scooby Doo, Garfield, Peter Rabbit, Marmaduke, the Smurfs, the Chipmunks and Rocky & Bullwinkle were all varying degrees of awful, full of naff pop culture jokes that made them feel like cheap cash-ins at the expense of any fans of the originals. Paddington quietly stepped into the middle of the mess in his shabby hat and raincoat and gave them a good hard stare until they went away to think about what they had done. Writer-director Paul King crafted a fantasy Britain made up of all our quaint eccentricities and injected just the right level of humour, warmth, silliness and marmalade to make one of the most charming films of the century so far. He then managed to top it with Paddington 2, which introduced Hugh Grant’s magnificently cartoonish villain and Brendan Gleeson’s criminal-with-a-heart prison chef. In The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal’s character Javi have a whole bonding moment over how great Paddington 2 is, with Javi saying it makes him want to be a better man. It’s testament to Paddington that the audience doesn’t question any of this.
So Paddington in Peru has some big pawprints to fill. Although a lot of the elements of the first two films are present and correct, including Ben Whishaw’s gently calming voice as Paddington, Hugh Bonneville as Henry Brown, and Julie Walters as Mrs Bird, there have also been a few changes. Paul King is only a writer and producer this time around, with Dougal Wilson (best known for directing John Lewis’s Christmas adverts) stepping in as director. Sally Hawkins is also out, being replaced as Mrs Brown by Emily Mortimer. And instead of that charming fantasy London, the action is moving to Deepest Darkest Peru. All of that would suggest that this won’t have quite the same level of loveliness that the first two came with, but it still looks very sweet from the trailer. The new additions to the cast include Olivia Coleman and Antonio Banderas, either of which alone would be a good enough reason to watch the film. And the opening scene of Paddington struggling to take a passport photo suggests that Wilson has a good handle on the gently comedic tone of King’s earlier work.
- Paddington in Peru: Lost in the Jungle on IMDB
- Paddington in Peru: Lost in the Jungle on Rotten Tomatoes
Piece by Piece
Piece by Piece is a biopic of Pharrell Williams, animated entirely in Lego.
Although it’s first and foremost a physical toy, Lego has found its way into animation through two Lego movies, the Lego Batman movie, and the multitude of videogames based around popular pop culture franchises. Everything in its blocky plastic world has a limited range of movement and a consistent set of shapes and sizes, all of which makes it very easy to animate, and its faux-stop-motion movement, bright colour palette, knowingly tongue-in-cheek humour and gonzo creativity has developed into an instantly-recognisable style.
All of that is present here, to the point where it might be more accurate to describe this as a Lego movie about Pharrell, rather than a Pharrell movie told in Lego. Daft visual gags such as Snoop Dogg turning into an actual (Lego) dog would fit just as neatly into a straight-up Lego film. Musical inspiration is pictured in a rainbow explosion of colourful bricks. Lego has always been about creativity, and it looks as though Pharrell has taken that theme and run with it, using the medium as a visual representation of his artistic development. It might feel like a gimmick but, if it’s done right, this could be a great pairing of style and content.
As to that content, I must admit I don’t know enough about Pharrell’s life to know if it will make for a compelling story. But he has been working in the industry for decades and his discography spans a range of genres and collaborators, so he’s certainly earned the right to impart some wisdom. That expansive career also means that we’ll get to see various members of the music industry recreated as minifigures – expect appearances from the aforementioned Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Gwen Stefani, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes and Daft Punk, all voicing themselves.
This looks like a lot of fun, and way more imaginative than the usual biopics.
- Piece by Piece on IMDB
- Piece by Piece on Rotten Tomatoes
Bird
Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives with her dad Bug (Barry Keoghan) in a squat in Kent. Bug doesn’t have a lot of time for her, as he’s too busy trying to sell drugs made from toad secretions, so Bailey goes looking for attention elsewhere and meets Bird (Franz Rogowski), striking up an unlikely friendship.
Coming of age stories lend themselves well to indie cinema. They provide a lot of scope for telling the filmmakers’ personal experiences and nurturing young talent. In this case, first-time actor Nykiya Adams is getting a huge amount of praise for her performance as Bailey. The film has been nominated for seven prizes at the British Independent Film Awards, including Breakthrough Performance for Adams, Supporting Performance nominations for both Keoghan and Rogowski, and Best Director for Andrea Arnold. Barry Keoghan has been particularly in-demand since his memorable turn in Saltburn, and it looks like he’s having a lot of fun here as a tattoo covered young dad just trying to get through life.
Although it apparently veers into magical territory towards the end, Bird looks like a very grounded film with difficult themes of poverty and domestic abuse. Despite that, it also promises to be uplifting and tender. Catch it if you can.
- Bird on IMDB
- Bird on Rotten Tomatoes
Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom
Based on an anime series (in turn based on a manga, based on a series of light novels), Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom follows Momonga – the avatar name of a player magically trapped in an MMORPG after its servers are closed down. In the film, he leads the undead armies of the Sorceror Kingdom to join the Sacred Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy in the fight against the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth.
I’m not familiar with the anime, which ran for four seasons between 2015 and 2022 and is available on Crunchyroll, but it looks like the sort of thing I’d enjoy. The fantasy world setting means lots of armoured knights, monsters, demons and dragons, and it has a dark tone reminiscent of Game of Thrones. As with any anime spin-off, if you’re already a fan of the show or the manga then you’ll want to see this, but if (like me) it’s never crossed your path before then it’s probably worth sampling a few episodes before committing to a two hour movie of it.
- Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom on IMDB
- Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom on Rotten Tomatoes
If you only see one film this week…
If there’s been any news this week about the worst of humanity rising to power that’s getting you down at all, Paddington in Peru promises to be the perfect antidote. Grab a marmalade sandwich, bask in its whimsical glow and forget about the state of the world for a couple of hours.
Still in cinemas and worth a watch
- Heretic
- Anora
- Smile 2 – A worthy sequel to the 2022 original, with some truly unpleasant scenes (in a good, horror sort of way) and a really strong central performance from Naomi Scott. It’s also a troubling insight into the pressures of celebrity superstardom, especially where they are layered over pre-existing mental health conditions (and especially especially where they are exacerbated by a demonic grinning entity trying to drive you to insanity). The ending suggests that, if they decide to turn it into a trilogy, Smile 3 could be considerably more insane.
Trailer of the week
A trailer has dropped this week for a new comedy called Waltzing With Brando, about Marlon Brando’s attempts to create a sustainable settlement on a remote Tahitian island. Billy Zane is giving a pitch-perfect performance as Brando, while Jon Heder plays the put-upon architect tasked with making his dreams a reality.
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