The Companion (1994)
Dec 6, 2002Love Android Amok
Rather amusing variant on the killer android theme where Kathryn Harrold buys a love robot as companion and causes it to become unstable when she overrides its safety protocols
Bryan Cranston
Contagion (2011)
Sep 9, 2011Plague Outbreak
Steven Soderbergh turns to making a plague outbreak film that uncannily predicted a great deal of what happened when Covid-19 struck. A reasonable star cast line-up suborn themselves to a cool sober script
Batman: Year One (2011)
Jan 20, 2012Comic-Book Superhero/Animation
Animated adaptation of the classic Frank Miller graphic novel, this is dark, psychologically brooding, far more adult than the children's niche it is sold to, and with producer Bruce Timm and his team at the top of their game
John Carter (2012)
Mar 9, 2012Planetary Adventure/Edgar Rice Burroughs Adaptation
While the film bombed at the box-office, it emerges as a fairly good and faithful adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ swashbuckling planetary adventure that is lavishly produced and written on an epic canvas
Total Recall (2012)
Aug 2, 2012Virtual Memories/Reality Bender/Action
I was never a particular fan of the Schwarzenegger original and this improves on it somewhat. This is far better conceived as an action film with some amazing Cyberpunk designs. On the other hand, the two decades interim has made the story's Philip K. Dick-ian reality bendings seem commonplace
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)
Jun 6, 2012Animation/Talking Animals
It is hard to find enthusiasm going into this – the Madagascar series was a cute idea first time around but has been stretched more than its worth by the sequels. Nevertheless, the film works at you with a colourful light-heartedness and energy that is hard to resist
Godzilla (2014)
May 17, 2014Giant Monster Bash
A slightly different beast to its Japanese counterparts and an impressive revival of the series. Gareth Edwards, who made the excellent Monsters, delivers mass destruction on a mind-bogglingly vast scale in ways that approach painterly beauty
Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
May 30, 2016Animation/Talking Animal Martial Arts
The Kung Fu Panda series feels like films for couch potatos – a handful of martial arts films cliches and a hero who proclaims the virtues of laziness, overeating and combats everything with his own self-inflated sense of awesomeness. What baffles about such low-engagement films is the quality of artistry lavished on them
Power Rangers (2017)
Jun 24, 2017Teen Power-Suit Superheroes
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers with its ridiculous rubber monsters and dementedly over-the-top acting as one of the key pop culture phenomena of the 1990s. The question is what audience do producers possibly think that there might be for a dark and gritty cinematic reboot?
Isle of Dogs (2018)
Nov 17, 2018Stop-Motion Animation/Talking Dogs
Wes Anderson is a critical darling with his unique brand of banal whimsy. He is at his best when he does stop-motion animation as in Fantastic Mr. Fox and here. Essentially a Disney talking animals animated film where the animals talk like real people, this comes with charms that make it out of the standouts of the year
Asteroid City (2023)
Jul 21, 2023Retro 1950s Comedy/Alien Visitor
Wes Anderson’s quirky individualistic films can be an acquired taste. This is set in a stunningly designed retro 1950s town as various oddball characters intersect in between the appearance of an alien visitor
Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)
Mar 21, 2025Animation/Talking Animal Martial Arts
The fourth entry in DreamWorks popular animated series