M3GAN 2.0 review: Cinematic tonal whiplash may divide fans
If you like the first film, you may well enjoy this sequel. You just won't enjoy it for the same reasons.
The original M3GAN was a creepily effective horror flick about a girl-sized AI doll that turns psycho-killer. It was wickedly funny in places, sure, but at its heart, it was a well-made horror film. M3GAN 2.0 is not. The weird thing is, it doesn’t even seem to want to be one. Because, while it’s been made by pretty much the same team – both in front of and behind the camera – it feels wildly different in tone. The first film was a high-tech stalker flick, while this sequel feels more like a comedy version of Alita: Battle Angel, with incrementally more gore. And few filmgoers ever had that on their wish list. A quick refresher: M3GAN is a prototype AI doll, originally created by a roboticist, Gemma (Allison Williams), for a hi-tech toy company. In the first film, M3GAN bonded with Gemma’s orphaned niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), but took her programming – to protect the girl at all costs – to bloody extremes, and ended up being destroyed. Apparently. She wasn’t, of course. She managed to secretly download her digital soul into Gemma’s connected smart house system, and she’s been waiting for an opportunity to re-emerge. Meanwhile, the US military has been developing a new defence system based on a killer bot called Amelia (Autonomous Military Engagement Logistics and Infiltration Android). View oEmbed on the source website But when Amelia goes rogue and embarks on a mission that could destroy civilisation as we know it, M3GAN convinces Gemma that she’s the only thing that can stop her, but she’s going to need a new body to do it. Sounds ludicrous? That’s not even the half of it. This film is mad bonkers and an utterly breathless, gonzo action thriller from the opening scenes. Gone is the slow-burn, tense, unsettling build-up of horror in the original, to be replaced by ruthlessly plot-led hokum, with a surprisingly rationed amount of designer gore. The carefully developed human (or human/AI) relationships of the first film are largely absent, replaced by a few clumsy heart-to-hearts heavily signposted "LOOK! EMOTIONAL STUFF!" in big flashing neon lights. M3GAN is clearly supposed to have a character arc, but her conversion into the T2: Judgment Day’s T800 isn’t massively convincing. Having said all that, the film’s certainly not without its entertaining moments. M3GAN spends part of the movie trapped in the body of what looks like a baby Teletubby (much to her indignation) and murders a Kate Bush classic in one exquisitely cringey moment. There are some genuinely laugh-out-loud lines and Gemma’s back-up geeks from the first film – Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) and Tess (Jen Van Epps) – get in on the action in some unexpectedly loony ways. Cady is now martial arts expert, so expect from little-girl-kicking-ass daftness. Gemma’s become an AI regulation advocate with a loony-lefty activist boyfriend whom everyone else loathes, and Jemaine Clement plays Matt Berry playing the most odious Dragon’s Den investor ever. And, of course, there’s another M3GAN dance scene designed for social media meme-generating purposes, although it feels a little too calculated this time (and contains at least one head-turning move that TikTik imitators would be advised not to try at home). M3GAN 2.0 is not a disaster by any means. It’s really very funny in places, there are some great action set pieces and the cast gamely give it everything they’ve got. It’s simply a severe disappointment after the first film. It’s a cinematic tonal whiplash not seen since Vin Diesel morphed the claustrophobic horror thrills of Pitch Black into the pompous space opera of The Chronicles of Riddick. If you like the first film, you may well enjoy this sequel. You just won’t enjoy it for the same reasons. M3GAN 2.0 is in cinemas from Friday 27th June. If you're looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
How to Train Your Dragon review: This live-action remake is Lord of the Rings-level epic
In future years, opinions about which version is better will probably come down to which one you saw first.
★★★★☆ How to Train Your Dragon is in cinemas now. Add it to your watchlist Disney’s success rate with its live-action remakes of animated classics may have grown increasingly hit or miss in recent years, but that clearly hasn’t deterred DreamWorks from thinking, "We’ll have some of that!" After all, How to Train Your Dragon (2010) – an utterly charming tale of Vikings and dragons turning from bitter enemies to contented allies – was one of the most successful and adored non-Pixar animated movies of the past 20 years. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/06/2569D02100182R-b2f9498.jpg" width="8256" height="5504" alt="Mason Thames as Hiccup and Nico Parker as Astrid in How to Train Your Dragon. They are both wearing viking era clothes, are looking shocked at some offscreen and have their arms reached out, holding one another" title="Mason Thames as Hiccup and Nico Parker as Astrid in How to Train Your Dragon" /> So, having spun the franchise into two sequel movies, a number of shorts and a TV series, now it’s time for a remake with a live-action twist. The big question is: has DreamWorks produced a Beauty and the Beast or a Snow White? The resounding answer is: a Beast, in more ways than one. Because Beauty and the Beast was not just a remake, but a cover version, almost a recreation of the original beat for beat, just with practical sets and (some) flesh and blood characters. This new How to Train Your Dragon takes the same route, even taking its authenticity a little further – director Dean DeBlois also helmed all three of the animated movies, and Gerard Butler returns to play Viking chieftain Stoick the Vast. The plot is identical. The Viking island of Berk is under constant attack from dragons. Young Hiccup, son of the chief, dreams of being a dragonslayer, but he’s a bit of a gangly geek, and a disappointment to his dad. But then Hiccup forms a secret bond with one of the most feared breeds of dragon – a Night Fury, whom he christens Toothless – and their unlikely bond reveals a side to the dragons that ultimately changes life on Berk forever. It’s a witty, heartwarming story about relationships and tolerance that the new film reproduces with fervid loyalty. It’s almost a scene-for-scene recreation, using vast wodges of the same dialogue and even many of the same camera angles and editing choices. View oEmbed on the source website There are some minor differences. The relationship between Hiccup and the feisty female Viking Astrid has been beefed up, but never overwhelms the existing plot. There’s some other extra character business for the young dragon-killers-in-training whom Hiccup is forced to fight alongside. The action scenes and montages have a few different beats. Read more film reviews: Ballerina review – Ana de Armas leads a propulsively flamboyant John Wick spin-off Lilo & Stitch review: A lavish Disney remake with oodles of oddball charm The Phoenician Scheme review: Wes Anderson's latest is a quaint tale of industrial espionage Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review: A clunky but undeniably exhilarating closing chapter for Tom Cruise's action franchise But generally, this feels like watching the same movie, just with a different-looking cast and more "atmospheric" (aka murky) cinematography. The dragon designs are just as cartoony as they ever were (though more realistically rendered) but they fit perfectly into the live-action surroundings and provide the film which much of its unique character. Toothless remains one of the most adorable, and yet occasionally terrifying, CG characters ever. The cast is excellent, especially Mason Thames as Hiccup, who admirably manages the tricky job of mimicking the mannerisms of a cartoon character while making him believably human too. The dragonslayers in training – including Hunt for the Wilderpeople’s Julian Dennison – are all great fun to watch, and Hot Fuzz’s Nick Frost is reliably world-weary as their trainer. If this new version is so loyal, though, why bother? What does it add, or lose? Well, certainly, it lacks some of the charm and fully cohesive visual beauty of the original, and any gains in term of character-building are slight. But some of the flight scenes are simply breathtaking, and the big action finale is Lord of the Rings-level epic. The bottom line: it remains a great film, full of heart and joy and positive messages about embracing differences. And it’s a story well worth leaping on a bandwagon for, if that gets it seen by new eyes. In future years, opinions about which version is better will probably come down to which one you saw first.
How to Train Your Dragon review: Live-action remake is Lord of the Rings-level epic
Disney’s success rate with its live-action remakes of animated classics may have grown increasingly hit or miss in recent years, but that clearly hasn’t deterred DreamWorks from thinking, "We’ll have some of that!" After all, How to Train Your Dragon (2010) – an utterly charming tale of Vikings and dragons turning from bitter enemies to contented allies – was one of the most successful and adored non-Pixar animated movies of the past 20 years. So, having spun the franchise into two sequel movies, a number of shorts and a TV series, now it’s time for a remake with a live-action twist. The big question is: has DreamWorks produced a Beauty and the Beast or a Snow White? The resounding answer is: a Beast, in more ways than one. Because Beauty and the Beast was not just a remake, but a cover version, almost a recreation of the original beat for beat, just with practical sets and (some) flesh and blood characters. This new How to Train Your Dragon takes the same route, even taking its authenticity a little further – director Dean DeBlois also helmed all three of the animated movies, and Gerard Butler returns to play Viking chieftain Stoick the Vast. Sponsored by Vue Save up to 30% on the latest releases at Vue in 2025 Are you a movie lover who always wants to be up to date with the latest releases? Then you're in luck, as RadioTimes.com readers can enjoy new films at Vue Cinemas for less. Customers will receive up to 30% off films with Vue Pass, as long as they have a RadioTimes.com account. It's a great time for new releases, with films such as Wicked, Nosferatu, The Brutalist and Moana 2 taking UK cinemas by storm. Head to your nearest Vue to catch these movies and more for up to 30% less if you're signed up as a RadioTimes.com member. Save up to 30% with Vue Pass The plot is identical. The Viking island of Berk is under constant attack from dragons. Young Hiccup, son of the chief, dreams of being a dragonslayer, but he’s a bit of a gangly geek, and a disappointment to his dad. But then Hiccup forms a secret bond with one of the most feared breeds of dragon – a Night Fury, whom he christens Toothless – and their unlikely bond reveals a side to the dragons that ultimately changes life on Berk forever. It’s a witty, heartwarming story about relationships and tolerance that the new film reproduces with fervid loyalty. It’s almost a scene-for-scene recreation, using vast wodges of the same dialogue and even many of the same camera angles and editing choices. There are some minor differences. The relationship between Hiccup and the feisty female Viking Astrid has been beefed up, but never overwhelms the existing plot. There’s some other extra character business for the young dragon-killers-in-training whom Hiccup is forced to fight alongside. The action scenes and montages have a few different beats. Read more: Ballerina review – A propulsively flamboyant John Wick spin-off Karate Kid: Legends review – Reboot lacks the soul and heft of previous outings But generally, this feels like watching the same movie, just with a different-looking cast and more "atmospheric" (aka murky) cinematography. The dragon designs are just as cartoony as they ever were (though more realistically rendered) but they fit perfectly into the live-action surroundings and provide the film which much of its unique character. Toothless remains one of the most adorable, and yet occasionally terrifying, CG characters ever. The cast is excellent, especially Mason Thames as Hiccup, who admirably manages the tricky job of mimicking the mannerisms of a cartoon character while making him believably human too. The dragonslayers in training – including Hunt for the Wilderpeople’s Julian Dennison – are all great fun to watch, and Hot Fuzz’s Nick Frost is reliably world-weary as their trainer. If this new version is so loyal, though, why bother? What does it add, or lose? Well, certainly, it lacks some of the charm and fully cohesive visual beauty of the original, and any gains in term of character-building are slight. But some of the flight scenes are simply breathtaking, and the big action finale is Lord of the Rings-level epic. The bottom line: it remains a great film, full of heart and joy and positive messages about embracing differences. And it’s a story well worth leaping on a bandwagon for, if that gets it seen by new eyes. In future years, opinions about which version is better will probably come down to which one you saw first. How to Train Your Dragon is now showing in UK cinemas. If you're looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Wolf Man review: Does the job, but don't expect anything groundbreaking
The Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell has reimagined another classic Universal monster movie.
Having long ago abandoned the idea of combining its classic cinematic monsters into a goofy shared universe (following the almighty flop of 2017’s The Mummy), Universal instead found a reimagining formula that worked with 2020’s standalone critical and box office hit The Invisible Man. Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, it was a canny update that married the central conceit of invisibility to contemporary concerns about gaslighting and abusive relationships. Now Whannell’s back, trying to work that same hoodoo on another Universal monster – the Wolf Man. Once again he’s given the basic concept a major rethink, but this time around he’s not exactly dragged an idea kicking and screaming into the 2020s. A few FX aside, this feels like a time capsule from the ’80s, and not just because Julia Garner, the film’s scream queen, sports a hairdo straight off a Desperately Seeking Susan poster. Wolf Man opens with young Blake Lovell being taught how to hunt in the mountains of Oregon by his permanently angry dad. Instead they narrowly avoid being mauled by creature that Blake’s dad seems convinced is a missing hiker who, according to local rumours, contracted a virus that turned him into a Wolf Man. Thirty years later, Blake (Christopher Abbott) is a writer in the city, living with his journalist wife Charlotte (Garner) and their little girl, Ginger (Matilda Firth). Charlotte, we learn, is worried her high-power job means she’s a rubbish mother, while Blake gets to do all the parent/child bonding stuff (which is clearly supposed to be cute, but is actually a tad nauseating). Then Blake, who’s long estranged from his father, learns that dad’s been declared dead, and he’s inherited the family farm. So Blake suggests travelling out to the old farmstead for a bit of family bonding time. Bad move. Just as they’re approaching the farm, they’re attacked by a strange creature that bites Blake. Then things get really hairy… Except, oddly, they don’t in a literal sense. Because this is possibly the first werewolf film in which the wolf man actually loses their hair when they transform. And that’s far from the biggest change made to the usual werewolf shtick. Without going into detailed spoilers, Whannell has made this into a film about the transformation, in a similar way to David Cronenberg’s The Fly. This is full-on body horror, with some suitably icky moments for connoisseurs of the sub-genre. There are also plenty of effective jump scares and a couple of extraordinarily creepy moments of tension, especially one shot that pans from the human perception of a scene to the wolf man’s perception of the scene. Read more: A Complete Unknown review: One of the most convincing interpretations of a musician ever The Brutalist review: An epic in length, weight and ambition So in terms of nuts ’n’ bolts horror movie-making, Wolf Man is a decent enough effort, though the desaturated colour palette of "several shades of gloom" becomes almost a self-parody after a while. But after The Invisible Man, it’s disappointing. The efforts to link the themes of parenthood to the transformation are limp, the characters are thin and irritating, and the plot runs out of steam around halfway through, after a major "revelation" that most of the audience will have guessed anyway. There’s an attempt to make Charlotte a modern, kick-ass scream queen, but there’s little disguising she’s a tropey damsel-in-distress, not helped by the fact that Garner has one, mildly-annoyed expression for 95 per cent of the film. And after reimagining lycanthropy as a virus – suggesting some Covid analogy, perhaps – the script goes absolutely nowhere with the idea. Ultimately, it’s a cabin in the wood flick with a werewolf antagonist. On that level, it does the job. Just don’t expect anything particularly groundbreaking. Wolf Man is now showing in UK cinemas. If you're looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Paddington in Peru review: Non-stop fun with surprises aplenty
This time, it’s not the bear out of place, but the family, as Paddington travels back to his ancestral home.
★★★★☆ Paddington in Peru is in cinemas from Friday. Add it to your watchlist Let’s cut to the chase: Paddington in Peru isn’t quite as good as its two predecessors, but it comes pretty close. When you’re trying to match two of the most beloved and acclaimed family films of recent times, falling a little short is no cause for hard stares, because this is still a film that’s all kinds of non-stop fun. View oEmbed on the source website This time, it’s not the bear out of place, but the family, as Paddington travels back to his ancestral home of Peru. His travels are prompted by a message from the Mother superior (Olivia Colman) at the Home For Retired Bears in Peru, where Paddington’s Aunt Lucy resides. Apparently Aunt Lucy is not herself, so the Browns arrange a hasty visit en masse – Mrs Brown (now played by Emily Mortimer) decides it’s a last chance for her to bond with her children before they leave home, and Mr Brown (Hugh Bonneville) sees it as a chance to prove to his bosses that he’s a risk-taker. It’s not quite clear why Mrs Bird (Julie Walters) tags along, too, but be glad she does, as Walters gets two of the film’s biggest laughs and is hilarious in every scene she shares with Colman. When Paddington and co arrive in Peru, Aunt Lucy has gone missing. However, she’s left a clue that sends them on a perilous mission into the jungle to find her. From there it’s a pretty episodic plot, though blessed with a great twist as regards the villain of the piece — the shady, gold-seeking boat captain Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas). Moving the action to Peru was a risk for a franchise that derived a lot of its charm from the very Britishness of its background characters and setting (viewers of a certain vintage might shudder at the potential of a Holiday on the Buses scenario). However, it all turns out OK. The film certainly isn’t left wanting for Britishness – Bonneville alone makes sure of that (his "take me seriously" walk through a jungle village is embarrassingly spot on). Olivia Colman is an irrepressibly chirpy singing nun, and there are also vengeful ghosts, llama-back escapes from massive Indiana Jones-style boulders, Buster Keaton homages and purple-kneed tarantulas. And beneath all the screwball comedy, a sweet story about embracing multiculturalism and parents having to cope with their children taking flight. Incoming director Dougal Wilson (replacing Paul King) ensures that, in terms of inventive comic moments, the film rarely lets up. The Paddington-caused slapstick mayhem scenes aren’t as ambitious, extensive and memorable as in the previous films, but the musical moment is a peach, and there are great little side-splitting gems a-plenty and some hilarious cameos. Sure, the combination of charm, human story and crackerjack comedy feels a little less effortlessly organic this time and a little more calculated. But that’s only by a matter of degrees. Paddington in Peru is a feel-good movie that leaves you feeling very good indeed. And that’s even before the priceless end-credits extra scene delivers one last surprise.
Let’s cut to the chase: Paddington in Peru isn’t quite as good as its two predecessors, but it comes pretty close. When you’re trying to match two of the most beloved and acclaimed family films of recent times, falling a little short is no cause for hard stares, because this is still a film that’s all kind of non-stop fun. This time, it’s not the bear out of place, but the family, as Paddington travels back to his ancestral home of Peru. His travels are prompted by a message from the Mother superior (Olivia Colman) at the Home For Retired Bears in Peru, where Paddington’s Aunt Lucy resides. Apparently Aunt Lucy is not herself, so the Browns arrange a hasty visit en masse – Mrs Brown (now played by Emily Mortimer) decides it’s a last chance for her to bond with her children before they leave home, and Mr Brown (Hugh Bonneville) sees it as a chance to prove to his bosses that he’s a risk taker. It’s not quite clear why Mrs Bird (Julie Walters) tags along, too, but be glad she does, as she gets two of the film’s biggest laughs and is hilarious in every scene she shares with Colman. When Paddington and co arrive in Peru, Aunt Lucy has gone missing. However, she’s left a clue that sends them on a perilous mission into the jungle to find her. From there it’s a pretty episodic plot, though blessed with a great twist as regards the villain of the piece — the shady, gold-seeking boat captain Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas). Moving the action to Peru was a risk for a franchise that derived a lot of its charm from the very Britishness of its background characters and setting (viewers of a certain vintage might shudder at the potential of a Holiday on the Buses scenario). However, it all turns out okay. The film certainly isn’t left wanting for Britishness – Bonneville alone makes sure of that (his "take me seriously" walk through a jungle village is embarrassingly spot on). Olivia Colman is an irrepressibly chirpy singing nun, and there are also vengeful ghosts, llama-back escapes from massive Indiana Jones-style boulders, Buster Keaton homages and purple-kneed tarantulas. And beneath all the screwball comedy, a sweet story about embracing multiculturalism and parents having to cope with their children taking flight. Incoming director Dougal Wilson (replacing Paul King) ensures that, in terms of inventive comic moments, the film rarely lets up. The Paddington-caused slapstick mayhem scenes aren’t as ambitious, extensive and memorable as in the previous films, but the musical moment is a peach, and there are great little side-splitting gems a-plenty and some hilarious cameos. Sure, the combination of charm, human story and crackerjack comedy feels a little less effortlessly organic this time and a little more calculated. But that’s only by a matter of degrees. Paddington in Peru is a feel-good movie that leaves you feeling very good indeed. And that’s even before the priceless end-credits extra scene delivers one last surprise. Paddington in Peru will be released on Friday 8th November 2024. If you're looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Borderlands review: There's no real spark to this bland video game adaptation
Eli Roth's film is a load of old sci-fi hokum riding on a wave of irreverent, often juvenile humour.
Screwball space opera game adaptation Borderlands opens with a typically corny voice-over introducing us to the key points of the backstory: long-lost all-powerful beings, abandoned hell planet, secret treasure, blah, blah, blah. Then it turns all that round and sums it up as "wacky BS!". It’s pretty much a microcosm for the next hour and a half (although arguably there’s more plot in the voice-over than the rest of the film). Because Borderlands is a load of old sci-fi hokum riding on a wave of irreverent, often juvenile humour. Directed by Eli Roth, who’s better known for cult horror faves such as Cabin Fever (2002) and Hostel (2005), Borderlands is based on a violent but darkly comic series of first-person shooter games, and while it’s taken some liberties with the characters and story elements, aesthetically and tonally it captures the anarchic action, cartoonish setting and unfeasibly large weaponry of its source material. Cate Blanchett, clearly having a ball in her first action hero role, plays Lilith, a bounty hunter hired to find Tina, the kidnapped daughter of a rich and powerful interplanetary dodgy geezer. Tina’s somewhere on the blighted planet of Pandora, a hellhole that is usually only visited by "vault hunters", seeking the location of a legendary power source. It’s also Lilith’s home planet. This is, of course, relevant. Not so much because it leads to a big revelation, but because it’s one of the few character-building elements in the film. Mostly, the characters, including the former soldiers who join Lilith’s gang, Roland (Kevin Hart) and Krieg (Florian Munteanu), are just here to shoot guns, kick things and shout a lot. There’s also a comedy robot, Claptrap, voiced by Jack Black, who is exactly what you’d expect from a comedy robot voiced by Jack Black – occasionally the best thing in the film, but often just irritating. To call it light on plot would be like calling The Artist (2011) light on dialogue. But Borderlands is certainly fast-paced and action-packed to the point of the relentless, as it lurches from one set piece to the next with barely a chance to catch breath. Read more: Deadpool & Wolverine review: Could Wade Wilson actually be Marvel's messiah? Twisters review: Serviceable summer spectacle won't blow you away And they’re perfectly fine set pieces, boasting some well-shot action with adequate FX (mostly, anyway – quality control does wobble towards the end with some very silly, cheap-looking CG at the climax, which is an odd choice of where to start scrimping on the budget). The production design is also impressive, with an attention to world-building detail that’s absent from the script. The cast does its best with the meagre material. Blanchett and the ever-dependable Jamie Lee Curtis as a twitchy scientist both act above and beyond the call of duty. But there’s simply no real spark to the film. For all its constant action and gags, there’s an oddly lifeless, over-engineered feel to the whole affair. In interviews, Roth has said he was influenced by films like Escape From New York (1981) and Barbarella (1968), but the result is more Tank Girl (1995). It feels like it’s aiming for a James Gunn vibe – Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) meets a less potty-mouthed The Suicide Squad (2021) (because, unlike the Borderlands games which have a M for mature rating, the film is a 12A) – but it simply doesn’t have the underlying heart or subversive wit of those films. Its anarchy is more contrived, its humour is less nuanced. Hell, it uses the line, "Let’s kick ass!" without a hint of irony. The end result is a blandly efficient action movie that inoffensively fills up its running time, but leaves very little impression. You could just as well watch a snow globe in a tumble drier for 90 minutes. Borderlands is now showing in UK cinemas. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes review: Decent thrills and spectacular action
The latest entry in the long-running franchise is a serviceably entertaining potboiler rather than a must-see cinematic experience.
There’s a sense of new beginnings to the fourth instalment of the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise. With a new director/writer team at the helm (The Maze Runner’s Wes Ball and Avatar: The Way of Water’s Josh Friedman), a leap forwards in time a few hundreds years from the previous film and a more family friendly fantasy adventure vibe, Kingdom is clearly the first part of a new volume rather than just the next chapter. Not that it reveals exactly what this volume might involve until very late in the running time. The first three films now form a self-contained trilogy, detailing how apes – under the leadership of a chimpanzee called Caesar – came to inherit the Earth after a human-engineered virus both increased ape intelligence and reduced human’s to a primitive, speechless state. Kingdom opens generations later, but, intriguingly, chooses not to reveal exactly what the new status quo is on the planet. Instead, we’re introduced to the new world order through the eyes of an isolated tribe of chimpanzees who specialise in eagle husbandry. They have little knowledge of the world before the apes’ ascendance and their relationship to humans, or “echoes” as they call them – their elders either don’t know or have been withholding the truth. It’s an Arcadian idyll until the tribe is discovered by a thuggish party of apes who burn the village down and enslave the villages they don’t kill. They’re from a clan ruled by the power-hungry Proximus Caesar, who has twisted the memory of Caesar into an ugly, new creed. Only Noa (Owen Teague), the son of the eagle-whispering clan’s chief, escapes capture as he’s left for dead. Waking up the day after the attack, he tracks the Proximus apes back to their kingdom, and makes some unlikely allies along the way: an orangutan called Raka (Peter Macon) who worships the “true” teachings of Caesar (which he interprets as peaceful co-existence between human and ape) and a young female echo (Freya Allan) who has secrets of her own. While providing some decent thrills, spectacular action, engaging characters and an efficient, though ploddingly linear, plot, Kingdom is serviceably entertaining potboiler rather than a must-see cinematic experience. After the bleak, hard-hitting, character drama of the previous two Matt Reeves-directed Apes films, Kingdom is a less intense offering. Gone are the war movie allusions, replaced by fantasy tropes. The eagle-chimps coming across as Hobbit avatars, while the evil apes are not-so-distant cousins of orcs. Even Noa’s quest has a definite “Fellowship of the Ring” flavour, with our wide-eyed rustic hero learning about the dark truth of the wider world. It doesn’t help that, despite advances in CG effects, the apes actually come across as more cartoony. This may have something to do with the fact they can all talk now, so that the film resembles the live action Jungle Book, with anthropomorphised animals, rather than apes that have learned to speak. Some goofy mugging from Proximus doesn’t help. Read more: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director reveals 1 shot took a whole year Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director teases more films: "We definitely have ideas" William H Macy turns up as a duplicitous human at one point, and very watchable he is too, but you can’t help thinking his character is eminently cuttable. Even Raka is ejected from the plot after his expository usefulness is done. Caesar’s legacy is also frustratingly under-explored. The clash of Raka’s and Proximus’s philosophies feels like it should be the beating heart of the movie, but instead just becomes part of the plot mechanics. Curiously, the film saves its most intriguing revelations until the very end. Some last-minute world-building sets up further sequels that at least don’t look like they’ll merely be aping The Lord of the Rings. View Green Video on the source website Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is now showing in UK cinemas. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes review – A satisfying prequel
There’s a lot that impresses about this bleak and sprawling prequel – but there are a few issues with pacing and tone.
The Hunger Games, it turns out, weren’t always as slick, epic and audience-pleasing as the 74th Games showcased in the first film in the franchise. Though they were always as sick and brutal. Surprisingly, though, this fifth Hunger Games movie – based on the best-selling prequel by Suzanne Collins – doesn’t take us back to the origins of the Games, but is instead based around the 10th Games, a period of seismic change for the bloody gladiatorial spectacle. It’s a clever move, allowing the film to concentrate on the rise to power of the young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), the dodgy Panem President played by Donald Sutherland in the previous films. Because after 10 years – with the Games originally designed to emphasise the Capitol’s powerhold over the 12 districts that dared to rise up against them – baying audiences are beginning to tire of the bloody but samey event. So the powers that be decide that the next generation of political hopefuls need to prove their worth by mentoring the Games' contenders to make them more TV-friendly. Snow lucks out when he’s paired with District 12’s Lucy Gray Baird (West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler) who has charisma, spunk and a hell of a singing voice she uses at any given opportunity. No exaggeration. She even sings while being attacked by snakes at one point. Snow sees an opportunity to reinvigorate the Games big time and impress his superiors. But is he using Lucy for his own ends, or is he actually falling in love with her? There’s a lot that impresses about this bleak and sprawling prequel, despite some major issues of pacing and tone. In fact, its greatest strength could also be its greatest weakness: despite its heritage, it’s not actually a young adult (YA) action movie. It’s a fully committed character study with an extended action sequence in the middle. That’s right, no blockbuster finale, just an emotional one. A brave choice indeed. And sadly, while intentions are noble, that final third of the movie is also the weakest and least focused, although still with some gut-wrenching twists and a haunting final sequence of scenes. Yet having committed to this approach, director Francis Lawrence (who helmed all but the very first Hunger Games movie) has assembled a cast more than capable of elevating the material. Blyth is magnificent and fully convincing as the young Snow, while Viola Davis is suitably arch as bonkers Gamesmaker-cum-evil geneticist Dr Volumnia Gaul, and Peter Dinklage is reliably world-weary as the drunken architect of the original Games, Casca Highbottom. Zegler’s Lucy is a little cartoony and idealised (and perhaps sings a little too much), but she has bags of rustic charm. Read more: The Marvels review: Latest MCU film won’t live long in the memory Five Nights at Freddy's review: Solid shocker risks disappointing diehards Oddly, since he has the experience of three former Hunger Games movies, plus films such as I Am Legend (2007) and Constantine (2005) behind him, Lawrence also feels on surer ground with the character- and world-building than the big action set-pieces, which occasionally feel like they crept in from another movie. This may have more to do with trying to marry the almost social realist approach (or as socially realist as an authoritarian fantasy world can be) of much of the film with some really quite corny pieces of cinematic artifice that liberally punctuate the action. But then, if a film can accommodate a character as camp as Davis’s Gaul, then why worry about a few over-the-top contrivances? And while it perhaps works better as tragic love story than an examination of totalitarian government using bread and circuses to manipulate the masses, there are plenty of sly satirical digs at the current state of the media to enjoy. And a very amusing weather forecast. View Green Video on the source website The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is released on 17th November 2023. Check out more of our Film and Sci-Fi coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Foe review: Lots to admire but not much to enjoy
The sci-fi drama starring Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan is overwrought and artificial.
Despite a few shots of a space station, a high-tech food processing plant, a couple of flying cars and a self-driving vehicle, Foe is not hard science fiction. It’s very soft and squishy science fiction, more focused on feelings and relationships, with lots of melodramatic sobbing, hollow-eyed acting and overwrought incidental music. It asks big questions about the human condition, but the biggest question for the audience is more likely to be: how much longer does this go on for? Set in a near-future Earth ravaged by climate change, the film opens with a couple living on a treeless plain in the American Midwest. Junior (Paul Mescal) works in a giant chicken-processing plant and Hen (Saoirse Ronan) waits at a diner, and while their marriage is solid, there are clearly issues bubbling away under the surface. They’re visited by a mysterious government employee, Terrance (Aaron Pierre), who turns up at their 200-year-old, dilapidated farmhouse one night. Terrance informs them that Junior has been conscripted to work on a space station. But not immediately. Terrance will spend the next two years putting Junior through a series of tests to help create an android replica of him that will keep Hen company while he’s away. As time goes on, Junior becomes increasingly paranoid about leaving Hen behind in the care of his AI doppelgänger (presumably the title is a pun on “faux” but it’s never made clear). It’s a film that strains for arthouse credibility. The acting is fully committed. It uses impressionistic images, overlapping dialogue and recurrent sight and sound motifs to create a rich sensual tapestry. The cinematography and muted colour palette add to the dense, cloying atmosphere. At times, there’s a sense of visual poetry, such as a shot of blood swirling down a plughole when an android takes a shower, but at another point mud clogging the plughole when a human takes a shower. All of which are the kind of assured directorial flourishes you’d expect from Garth Davis, whose powerful cinematic debut Lion (2016) nabbed multiple Oscar and BAFTA nominations. With Foe, he’s adapting an acclaimed 2018 novel by Iain Reid, with the author himself co-writing the script. But, sadly, all of that can’t disguise the cheesy sci-fi concepts or the artificiality of the film’s attempts at emotion. The main problem is that it desperately wants to be a sci-fi version of The Sixth Sense, and a lot of Foe’s success or failure depends on a crucial twist. It’s a twist that you’ll definitely twig by the halfway mark, because it’s pretty clear this can’t just be a film about two people bickering. View oEmbed on the source website When the twist is this obvious, watching the film becomes an intellectual exercise rather than something you’re swept along by. Especially when the void is filled with melodrama dialled up to eleven, and self-conscious filmmaking flimflammery. The three central characters, too, are beholden to the plot mechanics. Their function within the plot pretty much determines how they act. As a result, it’s difficult to care about them, despite some charming moments, usually when they’re tipsy. But for too much of the running time, Hen and Junior are just irritatingly angsty, while Terrance is merely arch, even when he’s having fun. The film has little enlightening or thought-provoking to say about AI, either. As philosophical sci-fi, it feels about as cutting edge as '60s Star Trek. It’s a shame because there’s a lot to admire here, just not much to enjoy. View Green Video on the source website Foe is released in UK cinemas on Friday 20th October 2023. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Creator review: Spectacular visuals but generic storytelling
The new film from Rogue One director Gareth Edwards is sci-fi that preaches to the converted – although said converts will find much to enjoy.
Any new hardware-heavy sci-fi film from the director of everyone’s favourite Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One, has a lot to live up to. And Gareth Edwards certainly delivers when it comes to gun-toting robot hordes and massive great futuristic vehicles ripping apart the landscape with The Creator. It’s on shakier ground, though, when it comes to shaping a compelling story about war between humans and robots. In the near future, following an AI-instigated nuclear strike on Los Angeles that killed billions, Earth has split into rival power blocks; the US-led West, which has outlawed AI, and a pan-Asian superstate where humans still live in harmony with their microchipped mates. The US military has created a massive, flying anti-AI system called NOMAD to wipe all AIs from the planet, but then gains intel that 'the Creator' – an elusive Asian architect of advanced AI – has also developed a weapon that could turn the tide of the war. So they send former spy Joshua (John David Washington) back to Vietnam to locate and destroy the weapon. He, though, is more interested in locating his ex-wife, Maya (Gemma Chan), the daughter of The Creator, whom he fell in love with while undercover. He thought she’d been killed in a US raid five years previously, when she was pregnant with his child, but surveillance footage reveals she’s still alive. When Joshua locates the Creator’s new toy, though, he’s shocked to learn it’s an AI in the form of a young girl… who may be able to lead him to Maya. For that reason, he’s prepared to turn traitor. From there, the film becomes a sci-fi road movie for much of its run, part Deus Ex, part Children of Men, but considerably less subtle and thought-provoking than either. There are also elements of Blade Runner, Apocalypse Now, Akira and, yes, Star Wars in the mix (especially the comedy background robot moments), and it doesn’t so much wear these influences on its sleeve as tattoo them on its arm. Because there’s little originality here. The film has nothing new to add to the "robot revolution" genre, despite painting the AI as the sympathetic characters - which isn’t difficult when the US military characters are such cartoonishly one-dimensional bad buys. Hell, one of them threatens to shoot a puppy at one point. Read more: "Proof that movie stars never die" – In defence of the Expendables films Dumb Money true story: Writers and director on adapting GameStop saga But the film never really grapples with any philosophical questions about AI intelligence beyond the most cursory of nods ("Do robots go to heaven?" is about as profound as it gets). Even the crucial, central relationship between Joshua and the little AI girl – Alphie – feels oddly vague and under-explored, predicated mostly on the need to move the plot forward. She just kind of mystifyingly imprints on him like a duckling and things go from there. These issues, along with some glaringly obvious twists and bizarre lapses in logic (the humanoid AIs have a suspiciously accessible off-switch) have you wondering if the script itself was AI-generated. For all these problems, there are some spectacular visuals and a number of energetic, well-choreographed – occasionally even witty – action sequences when the film truly comes to life. While it’s no Dune, the production design delivers some gloriously over-the-top sci-fi hardware and backdrops for cult connoisseurs, though Edwards’s bold decision to shoot the entire film on small, lightweight Sony FX3 cameras does lead to a slightly grainy quality that may make cineastes wonder if they need to pay IMAX ticket prices to see it. He still makes the rural Vietnamese locations look majestic in the film’s ultra-widescreen ratio, though. The Creator is sci-fi that preaches to the converted. And said converts will find enough to enjoy. View oEmbed on the source website The Creator is showing in UK cinemas from Thursday 28th September 2023. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Blue Beetle review: Snappy, unapologetically silly but predictable
There's an authenticity to the portrayal of a Latino family in the new superhero flick, but many of the narrative beats will feel familiar.
The Blue Beetle’s been around in various incarnations since 1939, but he’s far from one of DC’s A-list superheroes. He barely even scrapes into the B(eetle)-list. So, in an increasingly overcrowded cinematic superhero market, he seriously needs a unique selling point to capture the audience’s imagination. DC's answer is to focus on the character's Latino connections. College graduate Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) returns home to find things have taken a bad turn for his Mexican family. His dad’s had a heart attack after having lost his business, and they’re being forced from their home. The cause of all their ills is evil mega tech corporation Kord Industries, run by the soulless Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), which has the authorities of Palmera City in its pocket. The Reyes family’s fortunes change, though, when Jaime bonds with a sentient alien scarab device that Kord is using to power a new line of cyborg super soldiers. This gives him the ability to grow an insect-like supersuit with a range of awesome superpowers. But with it comes three problems: the suit has an uncontrollable AI with a mind of its own; Kord will stop at nothing to get the scarab back; and he ruins his favourite trainers every time he transforms. So Jaime joins forces with Victoria’s rebellious niece, Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), to find a way to separate Jaime from the alien scarab. But Jenny’s dead dad – and former Kord boss – has a few skeletons in his Batcave. The result is a snappy, funny, unapologetically silly superhero romp with a lot of heart, that puts the whole Reyes family at the centre of the action. Even their Nana. In fact, especially their Nana – there are times when it looks like she’s touting for her own Supergran spin-off. It’s certainly a pleasant change not to have the young hero hiding their secret identity. Warners hired Puerto Rican director Ángel Manuel Soto and Mexican screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer to craft the film, and the authenticity they bring to the project pays dividends. The Reyeses, collectively, are by far the best thing about the film. They have all the best lines. They deliver the best surprises. You really care about them. And they give the film a spark and flavour that it’s sorely missing in most other departments. Read more: Heart of Stone review: A derivative, deadly dull espionage actioner Red, White & Royal Blue review: The sexy gay romcom we've been waiting for Because there’s very little new the film has to offer in the form of cinematic superheroics. Jaime as Blue Beetle feels like cross between Spider-Man and Venom, though the relationship between him and his AI is nowhere near as fun to watch as Tom Hardy and his alien symbiote. Sarandon’s villain is shockingly thin on characterisation. Cyborg supersoldiers feel so last century. The plot lurches from set-piece to set-piece with weary predictability. The fight scenes and effects are efficient while rarely having a wow factor. The big finale showdown, as is usual with recent superhero films, is far too long, but has a few punch-the-air delights. There are, of course, loads of DC comics Easter eggs, but also some fun cultural references too. You want to love it more, because the Reyes family are such great characters to spend time with. But even then, they start to become caricatures, all 100 per cent shining examples of a plucky family pulling together in the face of adversity. It’s not exactly nuanced. But they keep the movie entertaining and provide some effective emotional beats – even if it’s a bit jarring to see them participating in action sequences with a gung-ho attitude to human casualties. View Green Video on the source website Blue Beetle is released in cinemas on Friday 18th August 2023. Read more of our Film coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Flash review: One of the best DC movies ever made
The long-delayed film is entertainingly bonkers, with in-jokes and cameos aplenty.
“I’m the janitor of the Justice League,” grumbles DC’s fastest man alive, as he starts his first big-screen solo adventure clearing up a mess created by Batman. But that pales into insignificance with the mess he has to clear up after he travels back in time and creates an entire new reality. The result is a lightning-paced, in-joke-stuffed, cameo-packed screwball slice of superhero cinema that takes Marvel’s multiverse shtick and gives it an anarchic Bill & Ted makeover. Welcome to the metaverse of madness. This incarnation of superfast superhero The Flash, aka geeky forensic scientist Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) was first seen in the much-beleaguered Justice League. His first movie as headliner isn’t an origin story, though elements of the character’s comic origin do make it into the script. Instead the film loosely adapts one of The Flash’s most celebrated comic book storylines, Flashpoint, in which Barry travels back in time to try to prevent his mother being murdered when he was a child, a crime for which his father was wrongly convicted. But as anyone who’s seen The Butterfly Effect knows, changing even one tiny thing in the past can create ripples that turn into tsunamis. Which is exactly what happens here, when Barry, in a fit of pique, discovers that running faster than light means he can travel into the past. A remarkably unperturbed Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) suggests to Barry that using this new power might be unwise, but Barry, of course, ignores him. Next thing you know, Barry’s saved his mum, and created a new timeline where Eric Stoltz starred in Back to the Future. But on his return journey to the present, something knocks him off course, and he ends up sharing a reality with his goofy 18-year-old self, on the day of the event that gave him his powers. Worse still, General Zod (Michael Shannon) shows up to kill all of humanity, just as he did in Man of Steel, but in this timeline there’s no Superman to stop him. To use a “running” gag in the film itself, this is all nuts. But enjoyably so. The film is far from perfect, but under the assured direction of It helmer Andy Muschietti it’s an entertainingly bonkers piece of fluff with a consistent tone, memorable set pieces and inventive humour. Read more: The Flash director says Ezra Miller will return if there's a sequel The Flash director reveals major cameo weeks before release The main worry from the pre-publicity and trailers was that it seemed to be simply aping Marvel’s various multiverses of madness; the two Barrys and the franchise-hopping reappearance of Micheal Keaton’s Batman felt like a rerun of Spider-Man: No Way Home or the Spider-Verse movies. But while that issue remains, The Flash strives hard to provide a story and visuals that have something new to offer, so you don’t feel you’ve seen it all before. Largely, it succeeds. View Green Video on the source website This is finger buffet cinema, overstuffed with tempting delights, rather than a thoroughly enriching meal. It’s overlong, the script is barely more than a wire frame on which to hang ideas, and the ending collapses into a repetitive CGI slog. Many of the special effects feel oddly artificial and distancing – surreal rather than hyperreal – and not just the kaleidoscopic time travel effects. However, it benefits from an endearing dual performance from Miller at its heart; the actor has had high-profile legal troubles in recent months, but on screen Barry Allen is a delight to watch. Keaton’s return is triumphant and Sasha Calle makes a memorable, if sadly underused, Supergirl. There are lots of geek in-jokes and unexpected cameos, including one surprising actor wearing the Superman cape at one point. Despite some niggles, The Flash rates among the very best DC movies ever made. The Flash hits cinemas on 16th June. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide or visit our Movies hub for all the latest news. Take part in the Screen Test, a project from Radio Times and the Universities of Sussex and Brighton, to explore the role of television and audio in our lives. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home — subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Little Mermaid review: Halle Bailey radiates charisma in Disney remake
This is one of the more faithful live-action adaptations – and thanks to some brilliant performances, one of the more successful.
The latest Disney animated classic to receive the Mouse House’s live-action makeover treatment, The Little Mermaid, is one of the more faithful adaptations – and one of the more successful, thanks mainly to some magical performances. But definitely not the new songs. This version opens with a quote from Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale (“But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.”) which may have you wondering if the script is going to plunder more of the source material. But no. This is very much a cover version in the way the live-action Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin were, rather than going more off-piste like Mulan or The Jungle Book. In fact, great swathes of the dialogue are identical – all your favourite zingers are intact! It’s a quote-along as much as a sing-along. So enjoy once again the story of the mermaid Ariel (Halle Bailey) who falls in love with a prince, Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) and makes a pact with the sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to become human so she can win his heart. It’s a pact with a mess of strings attached, though. Ariel loses her voice as well as her tail, and if she and Eric don’t lock lips in true love within three days, then Ursula will claim Ariel’s soul. It’s not, of course, a complete xerox, but the changes are mostly in minor tonal detail, for much of the film. We’re told Ariel’s mother was killed by fishermen while Eric is now the adopted son of a human queen, having been a shipwreck survivor as a child, both of which unobtrusively highlight a subtext about racial tolerance which culminates in a genuinely sweet new closing scene. There’s a new catch in Ursula’s clauses to ramp up the jeopardy. There are new songs. The big action climax is significantly rejigged to make Ariel more proactive (hurrah!). But it’s surprising how many scenes are lifted pretty much wholesale from the animated film, which does run that danger of inviting comparisons. The Under the Sea and Kiss the Girl musical sequences truly benefit from their CGI-enhanced reimaginings and the confident, ebullient direction of Chicago and Into the Woods helmer Rob Marshall. On the flipside, the classic poster visual of Ariel on a rock with the waves crashing over her from the 1989 movie is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it this time around, while the scenes of Ursula monologuing her plans have lost their unsettling, surreal edge. McCarthy gives a fine, gutsy performance but the visuals shy away from the original’s more nightmarish interpretation. The performances in general, though, are what really shine in this remake. Halle Bailey radiates screen charisma as Ariel, especially charming and playful when she’s trying to voicelessly court Prince Eric. Daveed Diggs and Awkwafina provide comedy gold as the voices of crabby crustacean Sebastian and dimwitted gannet Scuttle respectively. Jonah Hauer-King does a creditable job of making Eric not wet. Meanwhile, Art Malick plays a very different take on Eric’s butler Grimsby that proves the worth of hiring a solid, reliable character actor in a supporting role. Only Javier Bardem as Sea King seems to have missed the memo about having fun. The main letdown with this remake, though, is the new songs. Despite lyrics by the celebrated Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Encanto) they’re mostly forgettable and rather boringly staged. Only an all-too-brief rap from Scuttle and Sebastian makes any impact, but Eric’s wimpy new ballad could easily be cut without anyone particularly caring. As with all these Disney remakes, the main question is: is it as good as the original? This time, the answer is very nearly, so dive in an enjoy the swim. View Green Video on the source website The Little Mermaid will arrive in cinemas on Friday 26th May 2023. Check out the best movies on Disney Plus and best shows on Disney Plus, read more of our Film coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Renfield review: Messy Nicolas Cage comedy misses as often as it hits
For splatterfest and cult movie fans, there's much to enjoy in this new take on Dracula starring Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult.
Gore and gags splatter the screen with grisly abandon in hyperactive horror comedy Renfield. Nicholas Hoult stars as Dracula’s hapless, bug-eating servant, who’s been sourcing blood donors for his voracious boss (Nicolas Cage) for well over a century, and now he wants a way out of this toxic relationship. With the Count a little worse for wear after an unfortunate encounter with some daylight leaves him barbecued to a crisp, Renfield takes him to recuperate in New Orleans. There Renfield joins a self-help group for people with abusive partners. Not, at first, because he believes he needs help, but because he’s becoming ever more uncomfortable plying his boss with his favourite snacks – nuns, tourists and cheerleaders. Renfield reasons that the group members’ lowlife other halves are “monsters” who deserve to become vampire take-out. Drac, however, is not impressed with the narcotics-laced blood Renfield is bringing him. Then Renfield witnesses plucky young cop Qunicy (Awkwafina) standing up to a local crime boss and his goons, and is inspired to step in and help her out. Because, obviously, in the current cinematic climate, Renfield isn’t just the creepy, insect-munching lawyer of Bram Stoker’s novel, but a bug-powered superhero, with some serious fighting moves. Together they mutilate most of the gang (for a cop who constantly calls out the standards of her colleagues, Quincy is remarkably unfazed by Renfield slicing bad guys to pieces) and Renfield has an epiphany: he likes being a good(ish) guy, and he’s going to take back his life. Like Drac’s going to let that happen. Hoult and Cage are huge fun in this messy black comedy, which misses as often as it hits. It’s directed by Chris McKay, who did such an excellent job with The Lego Batman Movie – a sharp, incisively funny and inventive film that also cleverly explored the Bat-mythology. Renfield has moments of similar wit and opens very promisingly with a montage of Hoult’s and Cage’s faces cheekily CGI-ed onto into clips from classic Universal horror movies, including the Count’s first meeting with Renfield in Todd Browning’s 1932 Dracula. You can almost hear cineastes squirming in disgust. Hoult is wonderful in the central role – a kind of dishevelled, amoral take on Hugh Grant’s diffident Brit out of water – and delivers a constantly amusing, deadpan narration. Cage is equally watchable as a deliciously over-the-top Dracula who gets all the best lines (“I am the victim here!”) and strikes some gloriously arch poses (though British viewers familiar with The Fast Show may not be able to get Paul Whitehouse’s Nosferatu out of their heads). Sadly, the film doesn’t play to its strengths. It could have been a character-based comedy in the vein of What We Do in the Shadows, but instead opts for a Matthew (Kick-Ass) Vaughn-style designer violence approach, with cascades of blood and guts spilling all over the place, violent bowel ejections and slow-motion fight scenes underscored by classical music (Habanera from Carmen in this case). The in-your-face gore and action elements in the film work well enough, and there are a few memorable “what the hell am I looking at?” gross-out images to savour. However, they often swamp the film’s more interesting, and funnier aspects. The high-octane, over-amped plotting leaves little room for quieter character moments, which is a shame as those are often the highlights. Indeed, one of the best gags involves nothing more than a door mat. But the film seems desperate to get back to the shouty gangsters and dismemberment as quickly and as often as possible. For splatterfest and cult movie fans, there’s much to enjoy in Renfield. You just can’t help thinking there’s a much better film buried in a coffin somewhere inside it. View Green Video on the source website Renfield is set to land in cinemas on 14th April 2023. Wondering what to watch on TV? Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods review: DC sequel hits goofy sweet spot
It's not perfect, but the new Shazam! film's combination of silliness and optimism works its magic.
Forget The Fantastic Four, meet The Philly Fiascos. As superhero teams go, they're more of a bumbling Power Rangers than The Avengers. There’s a good reason for that: they're actually just a bunch of kids, with a lot to learn. The first Shazam! (2019) was a surprise screwball entry in the DC movie universe – an unassuming, unpretentious superhero caper that cheerily poked fun at its silly central concept and turned old-fashioned cheesy sentimentality into retro-kitsch. It saw a wizard gift tearaway teen orphan Billy Batson (Asher Angel) the power to turn into a superhero (Zachary Levi) whenever he says the word Shazam! By the end of the film, Billy’s passed on his powers to the other kids in his foster home to help defeat the bad guys – in the process accepting that he’s found his new family among these loveable misfits. But as Shazam! Fury of the Gods opens, that family is threatening to fall apart. The kids have been doing their superhero schtick with more enthusiasm than skill, and Philadelphia’s real estate and infrastructure is paying the price, while the media is not being kind to them. And not all of the kids seem totally committed to the lifestyle; each has other issues distracting them, and Billy fears he’s in danger of losing his newfound stability. To make matters worse, a pair of Greek goddesses, the daughters of Atlas (Dame Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu), have escaped millennia of captivity, and have revenge against humanity on their minds. All they need in order to accomplish this is something that resides in Team Shazam!’s mystical lair. Once again directed by David F Sandberg, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a fun follow-up that delivers exactly what you’d expect. Tonally, it’s the same mix of silliness, schmaltz and over-the-top action, with more than a few laugh-out loud moments. If you like your superhero flicks with a little more edge, you’re better off rewatching The Dark Knight. Aside from a couple of surprising and conceptually grim death scenes, this is unapologetically family-friendly fare, and there’s much to enjoy. View Green Video on the source website The child actors – and their older versions – all give spirited performances, while Levi is the biggest kid of all, a loveable goofball of a costumed hero. The film also looks magnificent – some stylish cinematography, well-choreographed action and stylish production design give Shazam! Fury of the Gods some stand-out moments, including some beautiful flying sequences. For comic-book and movie geeks, there are copious in-jokes and references to savour – one monster appears to be an homage to Ray Harryhausen’s Cyclops from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and there are a couple of gags at Marvel’s expense, while the film also connects to the wider DC movie universe in some unexpected ways. There’s also an increased fantasy element which at times gives the film a Harry Potter or Percy Jackson vibe – a magical pen called Steve almost steals the film. It’s far from perfect. Various plot elements feel like they’ve been stripped back ruthlessly in a rush to get to the action. A couple of the kids are reduced to one-gag characters, and a relationship between übergeek Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Anthea (Rachel Zegler) is sweet, but painfully contrived. Meanwhile, the sketchily written villains waste Mirren and Liu’s talents, and there’s some wince-inducing product placement for Skittles. But you’d have to be a vengeful supervillain on a particularly bad day not to give in to the film’s exuberant, optimistic energy. If cynicism has an arch-enemy, its name is Shazam! Shazam! Fury of the Gods is released in cinemas on Friday 17th March 2023. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
M3GAN review: A slick, smart and tautly directed slice of camp horror
This new film about an artificially intelligent doll gone rogue will leave you wanting more.
Say hello to M3GAN, a child-sized, self-learning robot doll with a glitchy operating system that gives a terrifying new meaning to FATAL ERROR. If that sounds like some Bride of Chucky rip-off with an AI makeover then you’re in for a pleasant surprise. And a fair few insanely unpleasant ones too. Gemma (Allison Williams) creates hi-tech toys for a living, and her latest project is M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android), a fully interactive, life-like doll that looks like a manga school girl who’s crawled out of the uncanny valley. M3GAN is designed to bond with a child, and to protect them and guide them, like a robot nanny in the guise of a playmate. Or a surrogate parent. So when workaholic Gemma becomes the reluctant guardian to her niece, Cady, after the child’s parents die in a road accident, she offloads parenting duties onto M3GAN. Besides, Cady and M3GAN’s growing relationship will serve as a test case that’ll look great at the swanky, prestige product’s press launch. Problems arise, though, when Cady’s reliance on her new plastic pal proves increasingly unhealthy and M3GAN starts to interpret her programming – especially that bit about “protection” – in increasingly extreme ways. At heart, there’s little new about M3GAN. Based on a story co-concocted by the Saw series' main orchestrator James Wan (the film comes from his Atomic Monster production company), the basic plot is as old as Frankenstein: hubristic scientist oversteps moral boundaries and creates a monster. The film also shamelessly embraces a plethora of genre clichés with a cheery we-know-you-know abandon. The very last shot, for example, is an utterly predictable old chestnut of a final twist, but it’s more likely to make you grin than groan. View oEmbed on the source website But it’s also a slick, smart and tautly directed slice of campy horror, opening with a RoboCop-style faux commercial for farting, popping “perpetual pets” that nails the film’s tonal colours to the mast. Settle in for some outrageous gore, icky deaths, bizarre song and dance routines and fun with chainsaws. And while M3GAN hardly gets to grips with AI existentialism in the way Ex Machina did, the film does have some real emotional depth – more than you’d expect for a gonzo horror, anyway – when it comes to parenting and death. Part of the film’s success comes from how straight both the actors and director Gerard Johnstone handle the material. Certainly, there’s a lot of bizarro stuff going on in the script, but the M3GAN cast never camp things up and Johnstone never spotlights the silliness. M3GAN herself is often both utterly terrifying and immensely silly at the same time; you end up laughing to stop yourself wincing. It is also notable that everyone M3GAN kills is utterly odious and vile, making her less of a Damien figure and almost sympathetic at times; you practically cheer the fate she deals one bully. View Green Video on the source website While admirably lean in its storytelling, the film does rush to deliver the Grand Guignol horror moments that its lurid premise promises its target audience. As a result, M3GAN escalates from slightly creepy Barbie to psycho robot slasher in a surprisingly rapid series of steps, which is a shame as the film is at its most effectively chilling in its middle section. The full-on, adrenalised, Terminator ending lacks the finesse of the rest of the film. It all seems a bit obvious and on-the-nose, when you’d been led to expect something a little cleverer. Perhaps something to do with a dangling industrial espionage subplot that ultimately doesn’t seem to go anywhere? Unless that’s being saved for a sequel, of course. Because you’ll definitely be left wanting more. M3GAN is showing in UK cinemas from Friday 13th January 2023. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast.