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Review: ‘Thunderbolts*,’ starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

April 29, 2025

by Carla Hay

Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan in “Thunderbolts*” (Photo by Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios)

Directed by Jake Schreier

Culture Representation: Taking place in the Washington, D.C., area and in New York City (and briefly in Malaysia), the sci-fi/fantasy/action film “Thunderbolts*” (based on Marvel Comics characters) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans, Asians and multiracial people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A ragtag group of superheroes battle against a corrupt CIA director and a mysterious supervillain, as some of the superheroes cope with mental health issues.

Culture Audience: “Thunderbolts*” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and superhero movies that offer a more psychological perspective of the effects of superhero activity.

Pictured in center: Geraldine Viswanathan and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in “Thunderbolts*” (Photo by Steve Swisher/Marvel Studios)

“Thunderbolts*” could be subtitled “Therapy for Superheroes” because the overarching theme is how superheroes cope with depression, guilt and anxiety. Thrilling action scenes and wisecracking jokes are mixed with trauma bonding, to mostly effective results. It works well-enough in this superhero movie because of the talented cast and because the movie’s tone and direction handle these issues with enough realistic compassion instead of wallowing in mawkishness.

Directed by Jake Schreier, “Thunderbolts*” was written by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo. The screenwriting duo of Pearson and Calo is an inspired pairing because Pearson is mostly known for writing action films (including the 2021 Marvel superhero movie “Black Widow”), while Calo is known as an Emmy-winning co-showrunner for the FX on Hulu series “The Bear,” a show that mixes comedy with drama. “The Bear” tackles a lot of issues about how people are affected by families and childhood experiences. Many of these issues are in “Thunderbolts*” without the movie losing its superhero focus.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has become a complex web of stories that usually require seeing at least one previous Marvel movie to fully understand the plot and characters’ motives. In order for “Thunderbolts*” to resonate the most with viewers, it’s helpful for viewers to have at least seen “Black Widow” and the 2021 Disney+ limited series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” The 2018 movie “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and the 2019 movie “Avengers Endgame” are also suggested viewings, but they’re not essential to understanding the “Thunderbolts*” plot.

“Thunderbolts*” (the asterisk in the title is explained in the movie) begins by showing trained mercenary Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh), a native of Russia, standing on the top of the Merdeka 118 skyscraper building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In a voiceover, she’s heard saying in a morose tone: “There’s something wrong with me—an emptiness. I thought it started when my sister died, but it’s something bigger—a void. Or maybe I’m just bored.” Yelena then jumps off of the skyscraper.

Is Yelena suicidal? Maybe. But she isn’t attempting suicide in this scene. She’s testing her aerial limits before doing what she has vowed will be her last mercenary job for the U.S. government. As already seen in the prequel movie “Black Widow,” Yelena is the younger adoptive sister of Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson), who were both underwent brutal assassin/spy training as children in Russia. They trained in a notorious facility called the Red Room. Natasha/Black Widow died at the end of “Avengers Endgame.”

Yelena is currently living in the United States (in or near Washington, D.C.) and works as a mercenary for hire dong covert missions. In the beginning of the movie, she reports to CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who made a brief appearance at the end of “Black Widow” and had a prominent role in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” Valentina is corrupt and devious but hides her true nature by pretending with perky mannerisms and by saying that her life mission is to protect the people of the United States.

After this confessional monologue where Yelena says she’s feeling depressed, Yelena is seen invading a scientific lab and getting into fights to complete a mission to defeat people (scientists and armed guards) in the lab. One of the scientists who’s captured asks her why she’s there. “I’m in the cleanup business,” Yelena says in a deadpan voice. During this battle, one of the scientists says to Yelena: “Tell Valentina she’s making a mistake.”

What is this lab? And why does Valentina want it shut down? Those questions are answered in the movie. In the meantime, Yelena eventually tells Valentina that Yelena wants to quit the mercenary work because of job burnout. Yelena says that she would rather do more positive “public-facing” work where she gets to interact with people in more heroic and feel-good situations.

Also living in or near Washington, D.C., is boisterously loud Alexei Shostakov, also known as Red Guardian (played by David Harbour), who is Yelena’s adoptive father. Yelena goes to visit Alexei to tell him that she’s quitting her line of work. She hasn’t seen Alexei in years because of the events that happened in “Black Widow.”

Alexei is also going through his own depression issues for the opposite reasons: He misses being a “superhero” who works for a government, which is the status that he had in Russia about 30 years ago. Alexei and his former partner Melina Vostokoff (played by Rachel Weisz) raised Natasha and Yelena as a dysfunctional yet loving family of spies. Melina’s fate is shown in “Black Widow.”

Yelena sees that Alexei (a bachelor who lives alone) is living in a messy house, drinking a lot of alcohol, and operating a small business called Red Guardian Limo service, where he is the only employee and he has only one ramshackle old limo. The limo has the company slogan on the side of the car: “Protecting You From Boring Evening.” This slogan becomes a little bit of a running joke in the movie.

Alexei tries to hide his depression by pretending to Yelena that he’s doing well. She doesn’t believe him because she sees how unkempt Alexei and his home are. When Yelena tells Alexei that she wants to quit her job, Alexei is alarmed and disappointed. He tells her that he “would kill” to have the type of job that Yelena is about to quit.

Valentina is going through her own career problems. She is in the midst of impeachment hearings, where she denies all the accusations of corruption against her. In one of these hearings, she makes a statement what she has fully divested herself from any ownership in O.X.E., a company involved in secretive scientific research, but she still is a consulting member of O.X.E.’s board of directors.

Valentina’s main enemy in this impeachment proceeding is Congressman Gary (played by Wendell Pierce), who is leading the interrogations during the hearings. Congressman Gary only has a few scenes in the movie, but he’s made it clear that he doesn’t trust Valentina and he thinks she should be impeached. Anyone familiar with the Valentina character will already know that she’s the chief mastermind villain in “Thunderbolts*,” although she gets help from some other people whom she manipulates.

Bucky Barnes, also known as the Winter Soldier (played by Sebastian Stan), is also in Washington, D.C.—this time as a first-term U.S. congressman. In Marvel Comics and in the MCU, Bucky is a “frenemy” of Captain America and has been a mostly a hero but sometimes a villain. In the MCU, Bucky was born in 1925, but his Winter Soldier superpowers have extended his life and allowed him to keep his physical appearance as an adult under the age of 50.

Valentina wants Bucky to be her ally, so Valentina sends her loyal assistant Mel (played by Geraldine Viswanathan) to reach out to Bucky and see if he can be helpful to Valentina. Mel is a mostly wide-eyed sidekick. The more that Mel finds out about Valentina’s real agenda, the more that Mel starts to question if she should stay loyal to Valentina.

Valentina isn’t ready to let Yelena go when Yelena tells her that Yelena no longer wants to be an undercover mercenary. Valentina orders Yelena to do one last mission: Go to a secret facility that has O.X.E.’s most secretive assets, find out who’s been stealing the assets, and kill whoever is responsible for the thefts. Yelena reluctantly does what she has told but finds out it’s a trap set by Valentina, who lured some other people in the trap.

At this facility, Yelena battles with arrogant John Walker, also known as U.S. Agent (played by Wyatt Russell); tough-minded Ava Starr, also known as Ghost (played by Hannah John-Kamen), who has the ability to make herself invisible for a few minutes at a time; and mute Antonia Dreykov, also known as Taskmaster (played by Olga Kurylenko), who have all been villains at one time or another in the MCU. Taskmaster is not in the “Thunderbolts*” as much as these other characters. She remains the most mysterious character in the group.

For reasons shown in “Thunderbolts*,” Taskmaster eventually goes away in this battle. Yelena, John and Ghost find out that they are stuck in the facility with a confused and mild-mannered man named Robert “Bob” Reynolds (played by Lewis Pullman), who suddenly appears during the ruckus. Bob is wearing the type of outfit that hospital patients wear. It’s later revealed that Bob has a troubled past as a meth addict, and he is a survivor of childhood abuse from his father.

As already revealed in the marketing for “Thunderbolts*,” the people in this ragtag group of superheroes and anti-heroes are Yelena, Bucky, John, Red Dragon and Ghost. Bob (who doesn’t remember certain things) has sides to himself that are eventually revealed in the movie. Valentina has plans to introduce a “supersoldier” named Sentry who will do her bidding. The movie’s visual effects are adequately convincing but not outstanding.

Another running joke in the movie is how the group got the name Thunderbolts, which is a name that most of the members do not want for the group. There’s a scene where Yelena and Alexei reminisce about something embarrassing from her childhood that she doesn’t want a lot of people to know about her: When she was a girl, Yelena was part of a junior soccer team called the Thunderbolts, which never won a game. Compared to the highly admired Avengers, the superhero/anti-hero Thunderbolts are misfit underdogs, which is why Alexei thinks that Thunderbolts is a perfect name for them.

“Thunderbolts*” doesn’t have a lot of big surprises because the movie is very transparent about Valentina being the chief mastermind villain. There’s a big reveal at the end of the movie, while an end-credits scene shows the aftermath of this reveal 14 months after the reveal happened. What might surprise viewers the most is how deep the movie goes in intended tearjerker flashback scenes that show children being murdered or abused. (The violence against children is not seen on screen but is implied.)

There’s a flashback scene with childhood Bob (played by Clayton Cooper) and his unnamed parents (played by Joshua Mikel and Molly Carden) that is harrowing to watch. Valentina has her own disturbing flashback showing how she was trained from an early age to betray those who are close to her. (Chiara Stella has the role of childhood Valentina.) And Yelena, the movie’s “trauma queen,” has her own painful childhood memory depicted in a flashback scene. (Violet McGraw reprises her “Black Widow” role as childhood Yelena.)

The MCU has shown superheroes experiencing mental health issues before, but these issues were treated in a more superficial manner and were sometimes used as comedy. This tone of putting serious health issues in a joke-filled MCU superhero movie was most evident in 2022’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which got very divisive reactions from audiences. People who dislike “Thor: Love and Thunder” (written and directed by Taika Waititi) had a lot of criticism for how the movie infused comedy in areas that some MCU fans think should’ve had a more serious tone.

For example, Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth), the Norse God of Thunder, is shown being depressed in the beginning of “Thor: Love and Thunder.” That movie starts out with Thor abusing alcohol, overeating, losing his zest for life, and gaining enough weight to have a pot belly, because he feels lost and useless after the end of the epic war depicted in “Avengers Endgame.” Thor eventually is able to shed his fat and climb out of his depression, but this recovery is treated in a flippant manner where a narrator says that Thor goes from having a “dad bod to a god bod.”

“Thunderbolts*” takes time to meaningfully explore the psychological repercussions experienced by superheroes who have shady pasts where they were villains who murdered people. Yelena is struggling with massive amounts of guilt about what she did when she was a Red Room-trained assassin for the Russian government. Unlike the transformation of Thor in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” Yelena’s mental health struggles in “Thunderbolts*” don’t go away just because she starts doing good deeds as a superhero.

Bucky is supposed to be the unofficial leader of the Thunderbolts because he’s the oldest and most experienced member of the group. However, Yelena is the heart and soul of the “Thunderbolts*” movie. In many ways, she’s the leader of the group’s collective conscience—as tattered and conflicted as that conscience can be at times.

In “Thunderbolts*,” Pugh (who continues to excel in her acting performances) brings a soulful energy to her role as Yelena, who was more of a hardened warrior in “Black Widow.” Yelena is coping with depression but she isn’t entirely depressing because she still manages to say some comedic zingers to lighten the mood. She looks out for Bob (who is often in a fragile mental state of mind) and has some very effectively emphathetic scenes with him.

The other scene stealer in “Thunderbolts*,” is Louis-Dreyfus, who doesn’t play Valentina as an over-the-top villain but as a skilled con artist who is always working an angle that will be to her advantage. Even when things start to fall apart for Valentina, she remains relatively calm and projects an upbeat image. Valentina is masterful at putting a positive spin on something negative that she caused. This characteristic is most evident in the movie’s final scene, when Valentina makes a bold move.

The other principal cast members in “Thunderbolts*” stick close to their established personalities and handle their performances accordingly. Alexei continues to be the buffoonish comic relief. Bucky is mostly stoic and sidesteps the childhood trauma trajectory of the movie by saying he didn’t have any chldhood trauma. Even less is shown or told about the personal history of Ghost in “Thunderbolts*,” which makes Ghost a very underdeveloped character.

John is grappling with insecurities and loneliness because his wife Olivia Walker (played by Gabrielle Byndloss) has left him and has taken their underage son with her. A flashback scene shows that the marital problems had a lot to do with John being too self-absorbed in a personal scandal to be an attentive parent to his son. John wants to be the “alpha male” in any group that he’s in, so this personality trait will be problematic in many situations.

Pullman’s Bob Reynolds character makes his first appearance in the MCU. He leaves a memorable impression, although it’s very easy to figure out Bob’s purpose from the moment you see him in a hospital patient outfit in a secretive O.X.E. facility. If Bob had been seen first in regular clothes, then it wouldn’t be so easy to predict what eventually happens to Bob in the movie.

“Thunderbolts*” took somewhat of a risk by putting a lot of psychotherapy elements in what some people think should be a lightweight superhero movie. Without seeing the movie, some people might assume that these superheroes have become a bunch of wimpy whiners. Far from being about self-pity, “Thunderbolts*” takes a very mature look at what recovery from mental illness can look like for people who are expected to be strong for others but aren’t necessarily getting the psychiatric help that they need for themselves.

Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios will release “Thunderbolts*” in U.S. cinemas on February 14, 2025.

Review: ‘Ash’ (2025), starring Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale and Flying Lotus

April 7, 2025

by Carla Hay

Aaron Paul and Eiza González in “Ash” (Photo courtesy of RLJE Films)

“Ash” (2025)

Directed by Flying Lotus

Culture Representation: Taking place in outer space, the sci-fi horror film “Ash” features a racially diverse group of people (white, African American, Latin and Asian) portraying astronauts.

Culture Clash: Two astronauts from the same spaceship crew try to find out what happened when one of the astronauts wakes up to find out that most of the crew members have been murdered.

Culture Audience: “Ash” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and sci-fi horror movies that take place in outer space.

Kate Elliott and Beulah Koale in “Ash” (Photo courtesy of RLJE Films)

“Ash” is obviously influenced by the “Alien” movie franchise. This sci-fi horror flick (about two astronauts trying to solve the mystery of a massacre on their spaceship) has some pacing that’s too slow, but this low-budget film is watchable overall. The acting is sufficient, and the movie makes up for its dull parts in the last third of the film, which has the most action.

Directed by Flying Lotus and written by Jonni Remmler, “Ash” has its world premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival. Flying Lotus also composed the impressive music score fo the movie. “Ash” begins by showing an astronaut named Riya (played by Eiza González) waking up on a spaceship in outer space and finding out that everyone she knew on the spaceship has been butally murdered, except for an astronaut named Catherine Clarke (played by Kate Elliott), who is missing.

Riya walks around by herself in a daze, inside and outside the ship. She is soon joined by another astronaut namd Brion Carlisle (played by Aaron Paul), who suddenly appears on the ship and tells her that he was part of the spaceship crew too. Riyah doesn’t remember Brion and wonders if he’s lying. He insists that he’s telling the truth.

Together, Riyah and Brion try to find out who or what killed these other astronauts, whose names are Adhi (played by Iko Uwais), Kevin (played by Beulah Koale) and Shawn Davis (played by Flying Lotus), who was captain of the spaceship. Several flashback scenes show what happened leading to up the murders. These astronauts, who had good camaraderie with each other, have been living on an isolated planet with many craters and where breathable air has become scarce. Brion and Riyah speculate that maybe Clarke breathed toxic air and possibly had psychotic break from reality.

The astronauts were on a mission to find a way to get more breathable air. Riyah and Brion are both very strong-willed and opinionated. It leads to inevitable conflicts when they have different ideas on how to solve immediate problems. The acting performances in “Ash” aren’t anything special, but they aren’t completely terrible either.

The spaceship has a non-verbal robot with artificial intelligence called the Mobile Diagnostic Surgery (M.D.S.) Bot, which can quickly diagnosis a medical problem and do surgery if necessary. Riyah constantly uses a medical patch on her neck to treat a fever that she says she has. The M.D.S. Bot performs a diagnosis on Riyah and determines that she has swelling in the brain. Her feverish memory could be the result of this brain swelling or could be the result of something else.

Much of “Ash” consists of Riyah and Brion clashing because they have a hard time trusting each other. At times, Riyah and Brion suspect each other of being the spaceship’s mass murderer. Riyah mainly thinks Clarke is the prime suspect and believes the best plan is to try to find Clarke to get answers on why this massacre happened. Brion disagrees and says it’s better to get off the planet because they’re running out of breathable air.

Because “Ash” has a limited number of locations in the story, some viewers might grow tired of seeing the same places over and over in the movie. However, the movie’s intention is to show how the ship and this desolate planet are very confining to the inhabitants. The mystery of who caused the massacre is fairly easy to solve after a while, and the buildup requires patience. However, there are some striking visuals in “Ash,” which ends in a predictable but satisfying way.

RLJE Entertainment released “Ash” in U.S. cinemas on March 21, 2025.

Review: ‘The Actor’ (2025), starring André Holland, Gemma Chan, May Calamawy, Asim Chaudhry, Joe Cole, Fabien Frankel, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney and Tracey Ullman

March 17, 2025

by Carla Hay

André Holland in “The Actor” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

“The Actor” (2025)

Directed by Duke Johnson

Culture Representation: Taking place in the 1950s, in Ohio and in New York state, the sci-fi drama film “The Actor” (based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel “Memory”) features a predominantly white group of people (with one African American and a few Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: After being hit over the head with a chair, a New York City-based actor gets amnesia and tries to get back his memories and identity.

Culture Audience: “The Actor” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of time-bending dramas that have elements of mystery.

André Holland and Gemma Chan in “The Actor” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

The Actor is an intriguing blend of retro noir and sci-fi drama. This adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s Memory novel (about an actor who has amnesia) has a more optimistic ending than the book but still demonstrates how identity is rooted in memories. The movie has excellent cinematography that blurs the lines between cinematic reality and a life being acted out on stage.

Directed by Duke Johnson (who co-wrote “The Actor” screenplay with Stephen Cooney), “The Actor” is based on Westlake’s “Memory” novel that was written n 1963 and posthumously published in 2010. Johnson and Kaufman received an Oscar nomination (Best Animated Feature Film) for co-directing 2015’s “Anomalisa,” another movie about a middle-aged loner experiencing an existential crisis. Kaufman is an executive producer of “The Actor,” which has elements of other Kaufman films where the characters’ “reality” might not be real at all.

“The Actor” (which takes place in the 1950s) begins by showing the title character Paul Cole (played by André Holland) having a sexual tryst in a bedroom with a woman he recently met named Mrs. Wilson (played by Cassie Lauren Lewis). Her husband Mr. Wilson (played by Jonathan King) bursts into the room and hits Paul over the head with a chair. The next thing Paul knows, he’s in a hospital and can’t remember who he is and what happened.

While Paul is in the hospital, some of Paul’s memories come flooding back to him in snippets. Hospital employees tell Paul he’s in Jeffords, Ohio, and he was an actor appearing in a theater production, but the cast and crew have left town without him. Paul finds out from the ID in his wallet that he lives at 125 Grove Street in New York City.

Paul doesn’t have enough money to travel back to New York City. And so, he gets a menial job at a local tannery. While he’s in Jeffords, he goes to a movie theater playing a Casper the Friendly Ghost movie. The only other person in a theater is a woman, whom Paul sees later when he’s eating at a diner.

The woman is a costume designer named Edna (played by Gemma Chan), who is wearing a clown’s outfit in the diner. Edna and Paul begin talking and have an immediate flirtatious attraction to each other. Paul tells her that he has amnesia and wonders aloud if he’s dreaming. Edna shows him that she can do a test to see if he’s dreaming or not. She squeezes his arm hard, and he flinches because he can feel the pain.

Edna and Paul go on a few romantic dates together. On one of these dates, they go back to Edna’s place, where she shows him that she kept the program booklet for the stage play that Paul was in before the assault that led to his amnesia. The name of the play is “My Soul to Keep.” She breaks things off with Paul when he tells her he has to go back to New York City. Paul invites Edna to go to New York with him, but she rejects his offer.

The rest of “Memory” shows how Paul struggles to find out more about his identity, which becomes even more challenging for him because he now also has short-term memory loss. He finds out that before he lost his memory, he was self-centered Lothario who had a habit of having sexual flings with other men’s wives. He gets run out of town on more than one occasion when an angry husband threatens to have Paul arrested.

“The Actor” can get confusing and repetitive in the way it keeps viewers guessing if what Paul is experiencing is real, or if Paul is still alive. However, the movie has very good performances from all the principal cast members, while the production design and cinematography above-average and immersive in evoking a dream-like state of mind. Each principal cast member portrays multiple characters throughout the movie, except for Holland, who plays the constantly confused Paul.

Many of the characters who interact with Paul have significant speaking roles but do not have names in the movie. Among the various characters are Mrs. Malloy (played by Tracey Ullman), a landlady who rents a room to Paul when he’s staying in Jeffords; Nicky (played by Joe Cole), Paul’s closest friend in Paul’s artsy New York clique; Benny (played by Fabien Frankel), a man staying in Paul’s New York City apartment while Paul was away; Rita (played by May Calamawy), a girlfriend of Paul’s in New York City; an unnamed actor (played by Asim Chaudhry), who co-stars with Paul in a live TV production; Helen (also played by Ullman), Paul’s ambitious agent; an unnamed private detective (played by Toby Jones); and an unnamed doctor (played by Simon McBurney) at the hospital where Paul gets treated for the assault injuries to Paul’s head.

One of the movie’s changes from the “Memory” book is how the character of Edna is depicted. In “Memory,” Edna is described as plain-looking and insecure. The movie’s version of Edna is beautiful and confident. This alteration is one of the reasons why “The Actor” is a more glamorous and more romantic-looking version of the “Memory” book.

Paul is anxious to get back to New York City, but he has detours along the way. He has doubts about whether or not the life he had before his amnesia is a life that is worth resuming, or if she should start a new life. “The Actor” is not quite like the original “The Twilight Zone” TV series, which wraps up each episode with at least some semblance of an answer to the episode’s mystery. The movie concludes in way that answers some questions but leaves a lot up to interpretation.

Neon released “The Actor” in select U.S. cinemas on March 14, 2025.

Review: ‘Mickey 17,’ starring Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo

March 5, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Mickey 17”

Directed by Bong Joo Ho

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2054, on the fictional planet of Niflheim, the sci-fi comedy/drama film “Mickey 17” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: An “expendable” worker, who is regenerated as a clone after he dies, gets involved in an “us versus them” conflict with the oppressive elites who control Niflheim society.

Culture Audience: “Mickey 17” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Bong Joo Ho and sci-fi movies that take familiar topics and put them in a unique setting.

Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette in “Mickey 17” (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Mickey 17” gets messy when it crams and juggles varying ideas and tones. Despite these flaws, this sci-fi movie can be engaging because of the performances and the movie’s dark comedy about sociopolitical issues and technology. “Mickey 17” is both a satire and a warning of what life could be like if humans populated another planet and lived in a cult-like society.

Written and directed by Bong Joo Ho, “Mickey 17” is his highly anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Oscar-winning South Korean drama “Parasite,” the first non-English-language movie to win Best Picture. “Mickey 17” had its world premiere at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. “Mickey 17” is better than the average sci-fi movie but it’s not as Oscar-worthy as “Parasite,” simply because the screenplay for “Mickey 17” tends to wander, with important characters disappearing with no explanation for large chunks of the film.

Bong’s movies often have themes of the divides between social classes, with lower classes rising up in some kind of rebellion against the privileged elite upper classes. In “Mickey 17,” these social-class conflicts don’t go away just because people move to a new planet that is populated by humans who previously lived on Earth. Most of the story takes place on a planet called Niflheim, where the terrain is snowy and icy all year.

“Mickey 17” takes place in the year 2054—four-and-a-half years after the humans from Earth arrived by a giant spaceship to inhabit Niflheim. The humans still live on this spaceship, presumably because it’s too cold to have regular housing. But it’s also a way for the humans to be easier controlled and surveilled by the totalitarian leaders in charge of this new society.

The beginning of “Mickey 17” shows title character Mickey Barnes (played by Robert Pattinson), the story’s narrator, is lying down on the ground and nearly covered in snow. Mickey has severely injured his leg from a fall on down an icy crevasse. Mickey can’t get up because of this injury.

A man named Timo (played by Steven Yeun), who’s armed with a gun, appears above the crevasse and asks Mickey, “You haven’t died yet? They’re going to reprint you out tomorrow anyway. What’s it like to die?” Timo doesn’t get the answer to that question because a giant creature (about 20 feet tall that looks like a combination of a walrus and a “Dune” sand worm) suddenly appears and seems to swallow Mickey.

The movie then shows that Mickey is back on the spaceship, inside of a body scan chamber. When he comes out of the chamber, he is actually a 3-D printed scan clone of himself. His previous memories are uploaded to his brain. Mickey is kind-hearted but simple-minded and socially awkward. It’s possible for something to go wrong in the cloning process, and his clone could have a different personality.

In voiceover narration, Mickey explains what’s going on here. The version of Mickey who is the narrator is version 17, also known as Mickey 17. Flashbacks show much of what happened as Mickey 17 tells the story. People who aren’t inclined to like science fiction might feel disconnected or confused by a great deal of this movie.

Mickey says that he and Timo know each other because they were friends when they lived on Earth in a U.S. city that is never named. According to Mickey (who now calls Timo a “shitty friend”), Timo convinced Mickey to invest with him to open a macaron store, which ended up being a commercial failure. Mickey and Timo had borrowed money from a loan shark named Darius Blank (played by Ian Hanmore) to open the store.

Timo and Mickey are heavily in debt to Darius, who wants immediate payment. Darius sends some thugs to kidnap and beat up Timo and Mickey, who are told that they will be murdered if they don’t pay off their debt to Darius very soon. Mickey and Timo have no doubt that this threat will be carried out, because they’ve seen the torture that Darius and his goons have inflicted on others, but Mickey and Timo still don’t have the money to pay the debt.

It’s around this time that a former U.S. congressman named Kenneth Marshall (played by Mark Ruffalo), who has a cult-like following, has made international news for launching a spaceship that will take a select number of people to Niflheim, a planet previously not inhabited by humans. An unnamed religious group is believed to be funding this in-demand migration. It’s mentioned in the movie that Kenneth lost his two most recent elections. Clearly, migrating to Niflheim is a way for Kenneth to reinvent himself as a powerful leader of this new society.

Kenneth has a Lady Macbeth-type wife named Yifa (played by Toni Collette), who is the real schemer and manipulator of this couple. Kenneth is mostly a blustering buffoon who does what Yifa advises or orders him to do, but Kenneth puts up a front that he’s the one who’s really in charge. Kenneth and Yifa are treated like famous royalty on Niflheim, where Kenneth stars on a live TV show called “Tonight With Kenneth Marshall.” Kenneth and Yifa take full advantage of this celebrity worship by abusing their power and inflicting cruel punishment on those who disobey their orders.

It doesn’t take long for Mickey and Timo to sign up to go on this migration to Niflheim, in order to escape their troubles on Earth. The movie implies that almost everyone who wants to be part of this migration signs up for similar reasons, so that they can start a new life on another planet. Mickey makes a mistake that changes the course of his existence on Niflheim.

On the application form to go to Nifleim, Mickey checks the box that lists him as an “expendable”—a low-life human who will allow the Niflheim government to do whatever it wants to his body. Even when given a chance to change his application so he won’t be classified as an expendable, Mickey declines to do so, mainly because he thinks he’ll have a better chance of his application getting approved if he’s listed as an expendable.

Mickey explains in a voiceover that after he arrived in Niflheim, he found out that expendables are exploited to do all types of dangerous explorations and scientific experiments that could kill them. However, Niflheim has a cloning machine (the body scan chamber) that can do 3-D clone printouts of people who previously died. This technology was illegal on Earth but is legal on Niflheim. Expendables such as Mickey are revived as clones after they die, with their previous memories uploaded into their brains.

On Niflheim, the expendables are treated as the lowest of the low in the social class hierarchy. Mickey is living a bleak and lonely existence where he has died and has been printed out as a clone multiple times. Sad sack Mickey thinks it’s his deserved “punishment” because he feels a lot of guilt for accidentally causes his mother’s death when he was 5 years old: While he was a front-seat passenger in the car that she was driving, he pushed a brake button in the car that caused the car to crash. (The actual crash is never shown in the movie.)

One bright spot in Mickey’s Niflheim life happens when the original Mickey Barnes meets Nasha Barridge (played by Naomi Ackie), an assertive and feisty government employee who works as a soldier, a police officer and a firefighter. Timo is also some type of government soldier and sometimes works in a group with Mickey, Nasha and two female soldiers who are best friends: Kai Katz (played by Anamaria Vartolomei) and Jennifer Chilton (payed by Ellen Robertson). Timo isn’t seen again for most of the movie until a crucial part of the story. Mickey’s and Timo’s lives before Niflheim are shown in the movie, but Nasha’s life when she was on Earth is never revealed.

One day, in the public cafeteria where the “working class” residents gather to eat, almost everyone in the cafeteria goes into a star-struck frenzy when Kenneth and Nifa make a surprise appearance. Mickey and Nasha are the only two people in the room who don’t go gaga over Kenneth and Nifa. Nasha and Mickey lock eyes across the room, as two people do in movies where you know those two people are going to hook up.

And sure enough, Nasha becomes Mickey become best friends and loved. Nasha stays loyal to Mickey, even when he has died and is cloned over and over. Nasha is also very possessive of Mickey. In another cafeteria scene, Kai somewhat flirts with Mickey while she’s seated next to him. Timo is seated on the other side of Mickey.

When Nasha sees Kai talking flirtatiously with Mickey, Nasha immediately pushes Timo aside so she can get his seat. Nasha then grabs Mickey and starts making out with him. Nasha’s unspoken message is clear to Kai: “This is my man. Stay away from him.”

Meanwhile, Kenneth has decided that the walrus-like creatures that live outside the spaceship are a threat, even though there’s no proof that these creatures kill humans. Kenneth decides that these creatures are to be called “creepers.” A storyline involving the creepers takes up the last third of the movie.

Niflheim has a law that no two clones can exist at the same time. As already revealed in the “Mickey 17” trailer, another clone of Mickey (Mickey 18) gets created when Mickey 17 is still alive, which causes havoc in Mickey 17’s world. Pattison does some of his best acting in the movie when Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 are interacting with each other. This clone drama, the creepers, the love story of Mickey and Nasha, and Niflheim’s sociopolitical and environmental issues make for an abundance of storylines in “Mickey 17.” Sometimes these storylines are woven together skillfully; other times, they become jumbled.

“Mickey 17” has plenty to showcase when it comes to the inner thoughts of Mickey and his clones who are shown in the movie. However, other characters in the movie are either caricatures (Kenneth and Nifa) or are underdeveloped (everyone else except Mickey). It’s to the credit of the talented cast members that they bring these characters to life to make viewers interested. That interest can spark viewer curiosity about these memorable characters, but many questions about these characters are never answered.

Visually, “Mickey 17” will delight sci-fi fans because the world of Niflheim looks realistic, even though Niflheim is an awful place to live under the oppressive rule of Kenneth and Nifa. Because “Mickey 17” is another Bong movie where there are conflicts between the “haves” and “have nots,” there’s an inevitable showdown that is the suspenseful highlight of the movie. Some scenes in “Mickey 17” are dark and depressing, while other scenes are absurdly comedic and heartwarming. “Mickey 17” refuses to be pigeonholed into one consistent tone, which some viewers might see as an unforgivable flaw, while other viewers might see as part of the movie’s charm.

Warner Bros. Pictures will release “Mickey 17” in U.S. cinemas on March 7, 2025.

Review: ‘Captain America: Brave New World,’ starring Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson and Harrison Ford

February 12, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Captain America: Brave New World”

Directed by Julius Onah

Culture Representation: Taking place in the Washington, D.C., area (and briefly in Mexico), the sci-fi/action film “Captain America: Brave New World” (based on Marvel Comics characters) features a racially diverse cast of characters (African American, Latin, Asian and white) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Sam Wilson (also known as Captain America) and his allies get into conflicts with new opponents who are on quest for world domination, including the monster Red Hulk.

Culture Audience: “Captain America: Brave New World” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and superhero movies that are utterly formulaic.

Red Hulk (played by Harrison Ford) in “Captain America: Brave New World” (Photo by Eli Adé/Marvel Studios)

It’s almost obscene that so much money was spent on “Captain America: Brave New World” and yet this superhero sequel has so little innovation, wit or visual style. The characters are bland in this underwhelming story. “Captain America: Brave New World” (which had a reported $180 production budget) might have been impressive in 2008, when the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) launched with 2008’s “Iron Man.” However, there have been so many great advancements in the MCU since then, “Captain America: Brave New World” is most definitely a stumble backwards.

Directed by Julius Onah, “Captain America: Brave New World” has five credited screenwriters: Onah, Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson and Peter Glanz. It seems to be a case of “too many cooks in the kitchen,” based on the results in this substandard screenplay. The film editing is choppy, which means the filmmakers didn’t know how to make this meandering story any better.

The good news for people who’ve grown tired of trying to keep up with all of the MCU spinoff series on the Disney+ streaming service: You don’t really to see the Disney+ limited series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” to understand what’s going on in “Captain America: Brave New World.” As already shown in 2019’s blockbuster MCU movie “Avengers: Endgame,” Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) retired and passed on the Captain America title and shield to a reluctant Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie), also known as superhero Falcon.

In “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” Sam mentored Joaquin Torres (played by Danny Ramirez), a U.S. Air Force first lieutenant who is an eager young protégé to Sam. After Sam officially became the next Captain America, Joaquin got the title of being the new Falcon. “Captain America: Brave New World” shows Joaquin as the Falcon. “Captain America: Brave New World” co-screenwriter Spellman was the showrunner for “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”

In the beginning of “Captain America: Brave New World,” Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (played by Harrison Ford) is an elderly former U.S. Army general who has recently been elected President of the United States. In 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk” (the second MCU movie), the role of Thaddeus Ross was previously played by William Hurt, who died in 2022. Thaddeus is a widower and a warmonger who is estranged from his daughter Dr. Betty Ross (played by Liv Tyler) because Thaddeus became an enemy of Betty’s then-boyfriend Dr. Bruce Banner, also known as the Incredible Hulk, a giant green monster superhero.

Meanwhile, a very early and messy scene in “Captain America: Brave New World” takes place in Oaxaca, Mexico, where Sam and Joaquin do an exposition-dump dialogue so they catch viewers up to speed about their respective new superhero roles. Sam mentions that his new Captain America suit was a gift from Wakanda. (For people who don’t know, Wakanda is the African birthplace of superhero Black Panther.)

In a poorly constructed fight scene, Sam and Joaquin save members of a Catholic church in Oaxaca. It’s where the heroes encounter the villain Seth Voelker, also known as Sidewinder (played by Giancarlo Esposito), who leads a mercenary group called Serpent. Some fighting ensues between the heroes and villains. Sidewinder appears and re-appears in different parts of the movie, which doesn’t really know what to do with Sidewinder.

Sam and Joaquin then go to Baltimore, Maryland, where they meet up with elderly widower Isaiah Bradley (played by Carl Lumbly), who is described as “the forgotten Captain America.” Isaiah is a bitter recluse, who tells Sam and Joaquin that the U.S. government imprisoned Isaiah for years and conducted illegal experiments on him. Sam and Joaquin have been invited to a gala event at the White House and invite a reluctant Isaiah to accompany them at this event, which has officials from various countries in attendance.

Sam shares Isaiah’s skepticism about governments and the belief that superheroes should not work for any government. However, Sam and Joaquin are admittedly star-struck and flattered that they are President Ross’ invited guests at this event. President Ross uses the event to show off that the U.S. has possession of Adamantium, which is described as “the world’s most versatile element.” The Adamantium, which looks like a slab of mineral rock, is in a glass display case.

During President Ross’ speech, Isaiah suddenly takes out a gun, shoots the glass display case, steals the Adamantium and shoots at the Secret Service agents who are trying to capture him. It doesn’t take long for Isaiah to be captured, but he insists he blacked out during the shooting and has no memory of knowledge of why he committed these crimes. Sam believes Isaiah and sets out to prove his innocence.

And there’s yet another villain in the story: Samuel Sterns (played by Tim Blake Nelson, reprising his role from “The Incredible Hulk”), a disfigured scientist who holds the key to the story’s big mystery. Samuel’s role in this formulaic movie fails to be menacing enough to create an effective sense of danger. He mainly just sits around in a lab and occasionally goes on rants.

The rest of “Captain America: Brave New World” can be figured out from watching the trailer, which reveals too much. Although many viewers already know that Thaddeus is going to turn into the supervillain Red Hulk, other viewers won’t know that, but the movie’s trailer reveals it anyway. And because Tyler’s name is listed on the movie’s poster as one of the movie’s headliners, no one should be surprised to see the Betty Ross character in “Captain America: Brave New World,” even though her appearance is really just a brief cameo. There’s another character cameo appearance that should come as no surprise to anyone who knows about “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”

Mackie and Ramirez have a fairly convincing rapport as friends and work colleagues Sam and Joaquin, but the dialogue they’re given is so trite, it weakens the quality of the movie. Ford has played gruff and stern U.S. presidents in other movies, and he’s really just doing another version of those presidential characters in “Captain America: Brave New World.” The only difference is that his character turns into a CGI-created giant monster, with mediocre visual effects.

The female characters with the most screen time in the movie are secondary sidekicks. Ruth Bat-Seraph (played by Shira Haas) is an Israeli-born former Black Widow operative, who was trained in the notoriously brutal Red Room. Ruth, who is the top security advisor to President Ross, has only three facial expressions in the movie: scowling, pouting and emotionally disconnected. There are fight scenes where short and thin Ruth takes on several armed men at once who are twice her size. And even though Ruth doesn’t have superpowers, these ludicrous-looking fight scenes are all supposed to be believable.

Leila Taylor (played by Xosha Roquemore) is the leader of President Ross’ Secret Service detail. She’s given even less to do than Ruth. Leila mostly just stands around with worried expressions on her face. Her purpose in the movie is to warn President Ross not to do something that he’s going to do anyway. Leila is an example of how the movie squanders opportunities to make supporting characters more interesting.

“Captain America: Brave New World” might satisfy viewers who worship anything that Marvel puts out, but the consistent quality that Marvel movies and TV shows had in the 2010s has now become hit or miss in the 2020s. Even the “Captain America: Brave New World” end-credits scene is boring and not worth watching because it adds nothing important as a preview of what could happen in subsequent MCU stories. “Captain America: Brave New World” isn’t an actively terrible movie, but it’s a terribly disappointing film on many levels.

To put it bluntly: “Captain America: Brave New World” will be remembered for being the movie that confirms what was already widely reported: Thaddeus Ross asks Sam to assemble an Avengers team, also known as the MCU’s real cash cow. In that sense, “Captain America: Brave New World” is just a placeholder movie and not an essential or noteworthy breakthrough for the MCU.

Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios will release “Captain America: Brave New World” in U.S. cinemas on February 14, 2025.

Review: ‘Love Me’ (2025), starring Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun

February 2, 2025

by Carla Hay

Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun in “Love Me” (Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street)

“Love Me” (2025)

Directed by Andrew Zuchero and Sam Zuchero

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unspecified part of the universe, the sci-fi dramatic film “Love Me” features two inanimate characters who appear in human form as a white woman and an Asian man.

Culture Clash: After an apocalypse has destroyed Earth’s entire human population, a satellite and a buoy with artificial intelligence fall in love with each other and try to live as manifested forms of two humans who previously existed.

Culture Audience: “Love Me” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and who don’t mind watching a witless sci-fi movie.

“Love Me” wastes its potential to be an interesting sci-fi romantic drama about a satellite and a buoy that fall in love with each other and appear in human form after an apocalypse has destroyed Earth. This incoherent film is dull and pointless. Although the acting is serviceable, there are too many repetitive scenes that go nowhere.

Written and directed by brothers Andrew Zuchero and Sam Zuchero, “Love Me” had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Although “Love Me” is only 91 minutes long, it feels like longer because of the film’s sluggish pace where not much of anything happens. Fans of Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun (the movie’s only two cast members) will be disappointed that these two cast members are seen on screen in their real human forms for less than half of the film.

“Love Me” takes place in an unspecified time period after the apocalypse. A buoy (voiced by Stewart), which has artificial intelligence, is stuck in an unnamed body of water when the buoy is discovered by a satellite (voiced by Yeun), which is looking for forms of life. The buoy and the satellite are attracted to each other.

The buoy looks at old YouTube videos and sees a live-in American couple named Deja (played by Stewart) and Liam (played by Yeun), who documented their lives on social media. It takes a while for the movie to get to the point in the story where the buoy and the satellite appear in human form as this couple, so that they can replicate the human experience of being in a romantic love relationship.

Before and during this transformation, “Love Me” consists of a lot of repetitive breakups and makeups between this outer-space couple. If you think it’s entertaining to watch arguments from characters that are machines and A.I.- generated imagery, then “Love Me” is the movie for you. Everyone else should steer clear of this time-wasting flop.

Bleecker Street released “Love Me” in U.S. cinemas on January 31, 2025.

Review: ‘Levels’ (2024), starring Cara Gee, Peter Mooney, Aaron Abrams and David Hewlett

January 14, 2025

by Carla Hay

Peter Mooney and Cara Gee in “Levels” (Photo courtesy of RLJE Films)

“Levels” (2024)

Directed by Adam Stern

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed North American city, the sci-fi dramatic film “Levels” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one Asian person) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A man tries to solve the mystery of why his “dead” girlfriend is contacting him from another dimension.

Culture Audience: “Levels” will appeal mainly to people who don’t mind watching low-quality sci-fi movies.

Aaron Abrams in “Levels” (Photo courtesy of RLJE Films)

Everything about the sci-fi clunker “Levels” is mishandled and poorly made. It’s a jumbled mess of bad ideas about a man, his girlfriend, multiverse dimensions, and artificial intelligence. This forgettable flop has no intelligence, artificial or otherwise.

Written and directed by Adam Stern, “Levels” is his feature-film directorial debut. Unfortunately, “Levels” is so amateurly made (despite having an ambitious concept), the movie is filled with a lot of mistakes that are often in movies from first-time feature directors. Among those mistakes is trying to cram in too many ideas in a flimsy plot. As a result, everything falls apart in the story, long before the movie is over.

In “Levels ” (which takes place in an unnamed North American city and was filmed in Canada), a man named Joe (played by Peter Mooney) witnesses his girlfriend Ash (played by Cara Gee) get gunned down right in front of him. The murderer, who runs away before being caught, is a man named Anthony Hunter (played by Aaron Abrams), whose backstory is revealed much later in the movie. At the time of the murder, Joe doesn’t know anything about this killer except what the killer looks like.

Joe falls into a deep depression and attempts suicide by shooting himself with a gun. The gun doesn’t work when it’s pointed at him, but the gun works when it’s pointed at objects. Joe discovers the reason why, later in the movie. After this suicide attempt, Joe finds a new purpose in his life when he is unexpectedly contacted by Ash on a video monitor in his home. Ash says she “died” in the world where Joe exists, but she is now living in another reality dimension.

Ash asks Joe for his help so that they could possibly reunite. She wants him to pick up a package at a local bookstore. Joe readily agrees. The rest of “Levels” is just time-wasting junk about Joe trying to reunite with Ash and trying to find her murderer. A local newsstand owner named Oliver Hunter (played by David Hewlett) plays a pivotal role in the story. “Levels” is just an onslaught of terrible acting and cringeworthy filmmaking. The only level this movie is on is “bottom of the barrel.”

RLJE Films released “Levels” in select U.S. cinemas, on digital and VOD on November 1, 2024.

Review: ‘Kraven the Hunter,’ starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott and Russell Crowe

December 11, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Kraven the Hunter”

Directed by J.C. Chandor

Culture Representation: Taking place in Europe, the United States and Africa, the superhero action film “Kraven the Hunter” (based on Marvel Comic characters) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: The estranged son of a Russian crime boss becomes a superhero with lion-like abilities, and he is called on to rescue his kidnapped younger brother.

Culture Audience: “Kraven the Hunter” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of movies based on comic books, the movie’s headliners and action movies that are empty spectacles.

Alessandro Nivola and Christopher Abbott in “Kraven the Hunter” (Photo by Jay Maidment/Columbia Pictures)

The misfire “Kraven the Hunter” has a lion-inspired superhero and wildlife protection themes, so it’s ironic that this mind-numbing film acts like a drugged lion trapped in a cage. It stumbles repeatedly and is barely coherent. “Kraven the Hunter” is yet another example of a comic book adaptation that had a big budget but a small imagination. Adding to this fiasco is the fact that the principal cast members are very talented, but even they seem bored and/or unconvincing when they utter their awful dialogue in the movie.

Directed by J.C. Chandor, “Kraven the Hunter” is based on Marvel Comics characters. Richard Wenk, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway co-wrote the dismally dull screenplay. “Kraven the Hunter” takes all the worst clichés of superhero origin movies and crams them into a soulless movie where the characters have about as much personality as cardboard cutouts. What’s even more embarrassing for “Kraven the Hunter” is the fact that two Oscar winners are among the principal cast members of this atrocious movie.

“Kraven the Hunter”—which clocks in at 127 minutes, but this monotonous movie feels longer than that—is another superhero movie where the superhero has “daddy issues,” either because his father is dead or emotionally distant. The movie takes entirely too long (more than 20 minutes) showing a repetitive childhood backstory about how Sergei Kravinoff (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who renames himself Kraven the Hunter, becomes estranged from his father Nikolai Kravinoff (played by Russell Crowe, the Oscar-winning actor of 2000’s “Gladiator”), who is a wealthy and ruthless crime lord in Russia.

Flashbacks show teenage Sergei (played by Levi Miller) was considered the “brave” son, compared to Sergei’s more sensitive younger brother Dmitri (played by Billy Barratt), who was considered the “cowardly” son by their father Nikolai. The mother of Sergei and Dmitri committed suicide when the boys were teenagers. A scene in the movie shows Nikolai abruptly taking Dmitri and Sergei to Africa for a hunting trip so he can teach them predatory skills.

During this hunting trip, a lion attacks Sergei, who freezes when he had a chance to shoot the lion. Nikolai doesn’t hesitate to shoot the lion but he’s not able to kill it right away. The lion runs away and carries a severely wounded Sergei in its mouth. A drop of the lion’s blood enters one of Sergei’s wounds. (And you know what that means in a superhero movie.)

The lion leaves Sergei to die in a grassy area. But lo and behlod, here comes a teenager named Calypso Ezili (played by Diaana Babnicova), whose tarot-reading sorceress grandmother (played by Susan Aderin) just happened to have given her a magical potion that can heal severe wounds. Calypso applies the potion to Sergei, who ends up in a hospital, where he is told he was dead for three minutes but made a miraculous recovery. Calypso left behind the tarot card for Strength, which Sergei keeps with him for years.

Teenage Sergei soon finds out that he has the same physical abilities as a lion. Expect to see multiple scenes of Sergei climbing trees like a big cat, having acute vision, and extraordinary skills at maiming. As a young adult, Sergei gets fed up with living with Nikolai, so he leaves home and says a sad goodbye to Dmitri (played by Fred Hechinger), who loves Sergei but is somewhat resentful of him because Dmitri knows that Nikolai prefers Sergei.

Dmitri has an exceptional talent of mimicking people and things. He works as a singer/pianist at a nightclub, where the movie has a comically bizarre scene of Dmitri singing Black Sabbath’s 1972 ballad “Changes.” And if you know enough about the Kraven stories Marvel Comics, then you can easily guess why Dmitri has these uncanny mimicry skills.

Sergei, now known as Kraven, makes a home for himself in the forests of Russia. He has reunited with an adult Calypso (played by Ariana DeBose, the Oscar-winning actress of the 2021 remake of “West Side Story”), who works as an attorney and occasionally pilots a helicopter whenever Kraven needs help getting out of a bad situation. Kraven gets pulled back into his estranged family’s orbit when Dmitri is kidnapped.

The two main villains in the movie are Aleksei Sytsevich, also known as the Rhino (played by Alessandro Nivola) and a mysterious operative named the Foreigner (played by Christopher Abbott), who forms an alliance with the Rhino. Nikolai could be considered another villain. Greedy poachers are other villains in the movie. The Rhino is someone who wants revenge on Nikolai because Nikolai humiliated and rejected him to become part of Nikolai’s inner crime circle. The villains in this movie aren’t very menacing and are almost like cartoon characters.

“Kraven the Hunter” also falls short of having thrilling action scenes, which all seem utterly generic. There is much more bloody violence in “Kraven the Hunter” than in the average superhero movie, but that doesn’t give the film any interesting edginess. The acting performances in the movie are quite stiff and often awkward. And the visual effects are mediocre and often look took fake. “Kraven the Hunter” won’t be considered the worst superhero movie ever, but this disappointing dud proves that this Kraven origin story does not deserve a franchise of several movies in a series.

Columbia Pictures will release “Kraven the Hunter” in U.S. cinemas on December 13, 2024.

Review: ‘Elevation’ (2024), starring Anthony Mackie, Morena Baccarin and Maddie Hasson

November 30, 2024

by Carla Hay

Morena Baccarin, Maddie Hasson and Anthony Mackie in “Elevation” (Photo courtesy of Vertical)

“Elevation” (2024)

Directed by George Nolfi

Culture Representation: Taking place in Colorado, the sci-fi action film “Elevation” features a cast of African American and white characters, who are survivors of a creature-invasion apocalypse on Earth.

Culture Clash: A man and two women race against time to get medical supplies for the man’s 8-year-old son, while the adults battle the creatures, which cannot live above 8,000 feet.

Culture Audience: “Elevation” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of stars Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin and don’t mind watching sci-fi movies that have derivative and sloppy storytelling.

Anthony Mackie and Danny Boyd Jr. in “Elevation” (Photo courtesy of Vertical)

“Elevation” is a misleading title for a movie with below-average storytelling. This sci-fi action flick, which takes place during an Earth apocalypse caused by giant creatures, has competent acting but is substandard in everything else. “Elevation” introduces multiple concepts but leaves many different questions unanswered by the end of the film.

Directed by George Nolfi, “Elevation” was written by John Glenn, Jacob Roman and Kenny Ryan, who filled the screenplay with a lot of dimwitted scenarios, boring dialogue and exposition dumps. The movie was filmed on location in Colorado, where “Elevation” is supposed to take place somewhere in the Rocky Mountains area. The story begins three years after an apocalypse where mysterious giant creatures (which look like a combination of lizards and scorpions) rose up from the underground and killed 95% of Earth’s population in just one month. The apocalypse has left the survivors with no electricity or modern communication.

This worldwide massacre is not seen in any flashbacks. All that is seen in “Elevation” are how survivors in this part of Colorado are living and trying not to get killed by the creatures, which the survivors are calling “reapers.” The reapers have one big physical limitation: They cannot survive in any space that’s at least 8,000 feet above the ground. Anything below 8,000 feet on Earth is called “below The Line,” where the reapers live. People who venture below The Line are at great risk of being killed by a reaper or reapers.

The Lost Gulf Refuge, which has a population of 193 people, is 8,460 feet above the ground. Among the Lost Gulf Refuge residents are a brave widower named Will (played by Anthony Mackie); Will’s 8-year-old son Hunter (played by Danny Boyd Jr.); a hard-drinking and cranky physicist named Nina Richmond (played by Morena Baccarin); and Will’s good-natured close friend Katie (played by Maddie Hasson), who was the best friend of Will’s deceased wife Tara (played by Rachel Nicks). Tara is seen in some flashback scenes in the movie.

“Elevation” begins by showing that Hunter has gone 260 feet below The Line in the wooded area, even though he knows it’s strictly forbidden for him to be there. And you know what that means: Hunter gets chased by a reaper. He narrowly escapes death by throwing himself into an area on the ground that is surrounded by a circle of white rocks.

In another part of the movie, certain characters also are able to survive a chase from reapers in the woods by going to an area that is surrounded by a circle of white rocks. “Elevation” is so terribly written, the movie never explains why these areas surrounded by circles of white rocks give special protection from the reapers. And there’s no explanation for who put those rocks there and why the people being chased just happened to know that these rock circles give special protection.

When Hunter goes back home after escaping from being killed by a reaper, he gets scolded by Will for making the life-risking choice to go below The Line. “I just wanted to see other people,” Hunter explains. Katie is sympathetic to Hunter and says to Will: “We may be safe up here, but this mountaintop is like a prison to him.” Will says he knows the real reason why Hunter went back to a specific area in the woods below The Line is because it was the last place where Hunter saw his mother Tara.

Concerned father Will soon has something bigger to worry about than this act of rebellion from Hunter. Hunter uses an oxygen tank at night, and their household is almost out of filters for the tank. These filters are necessary for Hunter to survive. Will knows that he can probably find unused filters at an abandoned hospital in the city of Boulder. However, Boulder is about 2,000 feet below The Line.

It’s explained early on in the movie that Nina is the only known human who has been able to kill a reaper. She’s been obsessed with trying to find a scientific way to kill these creatures and sharing that knowledge with people so she can be credited with literally saving the world. Nina is an abrasive loner who abuses alcohol, so she hasn’t been making much progress with her research.

Still, when it comes time for Will to make his dangerous trek to Boulder, he asks Nina go with him. Will persuades her by saying, “All you can think about is killing one of these things, and you need something from down there to do it. You owe me this much, for Tara.”

Will and Nina have a tense relationship because he blames her for Tara’s death, for reasons that are explained in the movie. Maddie also dislikes rude and arrogant Nina. At one point, the two women get into a physical fight.

Nina makes an insulting remark by saying to Maddie: “You want to fuck your best friend’s husband.” Maddie responds by punching Nina. Maddie also accuses Nina of only wanting the kill the reapers so that Nina can be famous. This is the type of cattiness that looks like it belongs on a tacky reality show, not a sci-fi movie that’s supposed to be suspenseful.

Will, Nina and Maddie arm themselves with military-styled rifles that they get from a guy named Tim (played by Tyler Grey), who hands them the weapons from a back room in his store, with no questions asked and no signs of a transaction being made. It all looks so phony. Even though it’s made clear in the movie that the reapers can’t be killed (only wounded) by the ammunition in these guns, these are the best weapons available to Will, Nina and Maddie at the time.

On the way to Boulder, there is more bickering between Will, Nina and Maddie. And then, the inevitable happens: The reapers appear. There are encounters with the reapers that involve trying to escape on ski lifts, inside a mine shaft, and in a truck.

One of the biggest problems with “Elevation” is that many of the action scenes look fake—not just with the visual effects but also with how everything is staged. At the mine shaft, helmets with flashlights are conveniently there for Will, Nina and Maddie to wear. The ski lifts are conveniently not rusty.

When they go in the mine shaft, Will has a vague idea that there will be a tunnel leading to the hospital. But why would they go in a mine shaft when they know these creatures have a tendency to live and thrive underground? None of it really makes any sense because the entire movie is just a poorly conceived story that rips off some aspects of 2018’s “A Quiet Place,” another apocalypse movie with giant creatures that have a big physical liability.

The production design for “Elevation” is off-kilter. Most of the buildings looks desolate and shabby, as they should during a massive disaster such as an apocalypse that started three years ago. But during the trek to Boulder, there are scenes where the travelers stay overnight in a lodge that looks pristine and picture-perfect, with a cozy library full of books in the lounge area and beautifully lit candles everywhere. (There are no lodge employees in sight.) You’d never know there’s an apocalypse going on, with shortages of food and other resources, just by looking at how clean and well-stocked this lodge is.

In reality, this lodge would have been looted or destroyed a long time ago, based on how an earlier scene makes a big deal out of showing that something as simple as a box of macaroni (which Will gets from a store to make mac and cheese for Hunter’s birthday) is scarce in this post-apocalyptic world. And speaking of food, during this trip to Boulder, which takes place over at least two days, the travelers are never seen worried about how they’re going to get their next meal in this world that has food shortages. It’s as if the “Elevation” filmmakers wanted to erase any need for the characters to have these basic life necessities because the movie becomes so focused on the not-very-convincing action scenes.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the plot in “Elevation” is a surprise reveal that comes toward the end of the movie. It’s supposed to be shocking information, but the information is dropped like a bomb and never addressed again. And the movie has a laughably bad way of presenting a certain solution to the reaper problem. “Elevation” has a talented cast that deserves much better than this low-quality dreck that most viewers will forget quicker than it takes for a reaper to kill someone in the movie.

Vertical released “Elevation” in U.S. cinemas on November 8, 2024. The movie was released on digital and VOD on November 26, 2024.

Review: ‘Things Will Be Different’ (2024), starring Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy

November 18, 2024

by Carla Hay

Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy in “Things Will Be Different” (Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing)

“Things Will Be Different” (2024)

Directed by Michael Felker

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed area of the United States, the sci-fi drama film “Things Will Be Different” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A brother and a sister are stuck at a farmhouse where they can time travel and are under attack by mysterious forces.

Culture Audience: “Things Will Be Different” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of time-traveling movies and sci-fi movies films about convoluted puzzle solving.

“Things Will Be Different” has an ambitious time-traveling concept revolving around a brother and a sister. Unfortunately, this botched sci-fi drama gets caught up in being too mysterious for viewers to care what happens to these underdeveloped characters. This is the type of movie where viewers will start to lose interest about 30 minutes into the film because the basic plot of the movie still hasn’t been coherently explained by then.

Written and directed by Michael Felker, “Things Will Be Different” is his feature-film directorial debut. The movie had its world premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival. It’s a low-budget film with a very small number of people in the cast and very few locations but the movie has a lot of problems with its narrative structure. The majority of the film’s scenes take place at a farmhouse in an unnamed area of the United States. (“Things Will Be Different” was actually filmed in Fremont, Indiana.)

“Things Will Be Different” begins by showing a phone call between the protagonist siblings (who are in their 30s), as they talk about meeting up the next day. The brother says to his sister, “We can catch up on some brother/sister rekindling time. See you in the morning.”

The brother is Joseph, also known as Joe (played by Adam David Thompson), who is a former bar owner. Joseph’s sister is Sidney (played by Riley Dandy), who owns a pawn shop. Joseph is a bachelor with no children. Sidney is a single mother to a 6-year-old daughter, who is not seen in the movie. Sidney’s daughter has given a handmade bracelet to Sidney, who wears it as a good luck charm. The parents of Joseph and Sidney are deceased.

Joseph and Sidney meet up at a diner and have the type of pleasant but strained conversation that people have when they haven’t seen a relative for quite a while and have had a period of tense estrangement. Most of the movie’s dialogue is very forgettable and bland. Sidney and Joseph quickly leave the diner when they hear a police siren.

It’s explained later in the movie why the sound of a police siren is cause for the siblings to be alarmed: Sidney and Joseph have committed a robbery. And they are going to a hideout that was arranged for them in advance. This isn’t spoiler information because it’s part of the official plot description for the movie.

Later in “Things Will Be Different,” it’s mentioned that Sidney got arrested (the movie doesn’t say why she was arrested) when she was 24 years old and going through a rebellious phase in her life, but she has (until ths robbery, at least) supposedly turned her life around and become a responsible adult. Joseph distanced himself from her during this low period in Sidney’s life, and she has lingering resentment toward Joseph over what she thinks is his emotional abandonment. That’s about all viewers will learn about the personal lives of these two siblings in this very muddled movie.

Sidney and Joseph make their way to a farmhouse in a wooded area with a nearby corn field. There are three men parked in the house’s driveway as unwelcome trespassers. Sidney takes out a rifle, shoots the gun near the three strangers and yells, “You have five seconds to get off of my land!” Joseph has a shotgun and shoots too. The three men quickly drive away,

The house is abandoned and looks like it hasn’t been lived in for quite some time, because in the front hallway, there’s a dead cat with flies buzzing around it. Inside the house, Joseph and Sidney spin the hands on two separate clocks to try and open a locked closet door. The clocks seem to work as combination lock keys to open the closet. Sidney uses a rotary phone to call someone and says something in an unknown language.

It turns out that this how Joseph and Sidney have turned back time by about two weeks. Sidney later tells Joseph that it’s kind of weird how the owner of this house let them borrow the house but didn’t tell them how the house works. And who is or was the owner of this house? Don’t expect to get the answer to that question until much later in the movie, which becomes even more convoluted as it stumbles along.

The rest of “Things Will Be Different” is a repetitive slog of Joseph and Sidney finding mysterious written messages in the house and communicating by audiocassette recorder with an unknown man, who seems to be watching the siblings’ every move. What’s strange about this communication is that every time the play button on the recorder is pushed, it works like two-way walkie talkie instead of a recorder. Don’t expect an explanation for that either.

Here’s an example of what could have been an intriguing sequence but just falls flat with tedium: Sidney and Joseph see a wooden sign on the closet door that says, “Go to the mill,” with no explanation for how that sign got on the door when it wasn’t there before. When the siblings find the miil, there’s a human body inside that’s completely burned. Sidney and Joseph unrealistically barely react to this gruesome discovery.

The siblings then see this puzzling message scratched on a wooden table: “You are in the group on the rise. I’m on the left side. Another is the right. Give in or join them. Carve here to comply.”

The unknown person who’s been communicating with them tells Joseph and Sidney that the siblings are in the middle of the right and left. The mystery man adds, “Someone is coming: an unknown visitor. All we know is that they are using the door and leaving destruction in their wake.”

If all of this is too obscure for you to know what this movie is about, you should know that “Things Will Be Different” is a tedious loop of this vagueness for the majority of the movie’s 102-minute run time, with filler scenes of Joseph and Sidney doing a lot of bickering about what they should do next. The movie’s performances are adequate, but the screenplay is like a tangled knot of yarn with many loose ends that go nowhere. It’s one of those irritating movies that is poorly written but tries to make viewers feel not very smart if viewers don’t know what’s going on in the movie.

Viewers who are patient enough to watch all of “Things Will Be Different” might be very let down by the plot twist/reveal at the end because the plot twist/reveal is so derivative. How derivative is it? It’s almost exactly the same plot twist/reveal as a better-known low-budget sci-fi thriller about people stuck in a house in a remote wooded area. (Hint: The other movie was Drew Goddard’s feature-film directorial debut and had Chris Hemsworth in the cast.)

In the production notes for “Things Will Be Different,” Felker describes “Things Will Be Different” this way: “It’s a heady movie where you won’t pick up everything it’s putting down the first time around, but you’ll have a blast watching it, and hopefully that’ll compel you to watch it again and pick up more stuff to piece together on the eighth, maybe ninth time.”

Watching a movie eight or nine times assumes that viewers will love it enough to invest that much time for those repeat viewings. It’s hard to imagine a lot of people wanting to see “Things Will Be Different” eight or nine times when the movie does a substandard job of telling the story the first time that people see this disappointing film.

Magnet Releasing released “Things Will Be Different” in select U.S. cinemas, on digital and VOD on October 4, 2024.