Toy Story 5 (2026)

 Toy Story 5 (2026)

6/10

Starring the voices of

Tom Hanks

Tim Allen

Joan Cusack

Conan O'Brien

Scarlett Spears

Directed by Andrew Stanton

The main challenge many of us have is, will Toy Story 5 be any good?

The answer is, it is still good.

Toy Story 5 is not bad. I'll recommend it, but it's not magical the way the first four were.

Disney has built an IP they can milk for as long as we keep going back to see the tale of the toys we all met with Andy back in 1995, when I was 10.

Fair warning, the first half feels like a rehash of Toy Story 1, this time it's Bonnie drifting from her toys to Lilypad, her tablet. You know how kids are these days with their phones and tablets, many don't know how to make real friends without one in between.

The whole movie is really Jessie having an existential crisis over losing Bonnie's attention to a screen. She loses herself wondering if she's a bad toy because of it, and calls Woody for reassurance. He takes the call the wrong way, thinks she needs rescuing, and that misread is what gets the whole crew back together again, though honestly, the reunion wasn't anywhere near as grand as I expected.

Running through all of it, right to the ending, Buzz is trying to propose to Jessie. That thread alone kept me more entertained than most of the main plot.

The whole focus here is on Jessie, she's the lead now, responsible for Bonnie's happiness.

Jessie ends up lost on the road after Bonnie leaves her in the car during a sleepover. An old couple finds her, and since she still has her old owner Emily's address on her heel, they bring her there, thinking she still belongs to her.

Emily's gone, but a girl named Blaze lives there now, going through the same screen and lack of real friends phase as Bonnie, and Jessie ends up dealing with Blaze's own gadgets along the way.

So the whole movie is Jessie discovering someone she believes would be the best kind of friend for Bonnie, and now she needs to find a way to get them to meet.

When it comes to the voice casting, I have to say the nostalgia of the old ones is something that warmed my heart, and the new ones were just so good that they fit in easily.

The one thing in this whole movie that really had me going what, and didn't sit well with me, is Lilypad hacking devices in Bonnie's home and sending fake text messages to manipulate and steer outcomes.

My real takeaway, this is worth it for Jessie's arc alone. The depth they gave her, her past, how she ends up teaching two kids that being different matters more than fitting in, that's this movie in a nutshell.

Still, I'd call this above average for the Toy Story standard.

Spawn (1997)

 Spawn (1997)

7/10

Starring

Michael Jai White

John Leguizamo

Martin Sheen

Theresa Randle

Directed by Mark A.Z. Dippé

I can't, I just can't. You have no idea how cool movies were in the 90s, the one-punch kills, the silly effects, those times when talking a certain way with silly one-liners was the thing.

Every time I sit to watch an old 90s movie, like I did watching Spawn, I am taken to a new world. My attention locks in, sucked into the nostalgia, when a frown and a one-liner were all you needed to tell everyone you're the cool protagonist. Spawn is just all that.

This movie got laid into for the liberty it took drifting away from the comics, but I liked it back then, and seeing it now, I still like it. The acting was cool, the characters had intent, and Michael Jai White as Spawn was given to us with so much pain, his portrayal was cool. I felt this movie should have had two more parts to complete the whole feel of the war between heaven and hell.

If you haven't seen Spawn by now, don't, unless you love 90s action films, then you'll love this.

The plot follows Al Simmons, a government assassin who was murdered and sent to hell for his sins. He's sent back as a Hell Spawn, with a handler, The Violator, played by John Leguizamo, and if you know him, you'll love him here. His acting in the fat suit was amazing. Spawn is sent back to lead Hell's warriors and bring forth Armageddon.

The thing with Spawn is, he came back with his memories and just wanted the life he had back, his life with his wife Wanda, who by the time he came back from hell had moved on, with no one other than his best friend.

So what you are watching is a man meant to be on the side of hell, fighting to be on the side of just being left alone to grieve the loss of his life.

The fighting in this movie is with guns, less with hands, and the thing that always stays with me is the cape, the cape effect in this movie is something to see. Don't judge it with the eyes of 2026 and all that Marvel polish, judge it with the eyes of a kid watching this in 1997.

All that said, the story does feel rushed as there is a thin understanding between the fight of Heaven and Hell. Then when it comes to the side characters, they are thinly written, this movie feels like it needed two more parts to breath and deliver.

Now, if you have not seen the animated series that followed this movie, then please do.

It is dark, mature viewing, 18 episodes across three seasons that do better justice to the comics than the movie did. But that said, this is a classic 90s movie that gave me nostalgia overload.

And I recommend it any day for anyone who loves the 90s.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

3/10

Starring the voices of

Chris Pratt

Anya Taylor-Joy

Charlie Day

Jack Black

Keegan-Michael Key

 

Directed by: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic

 

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is soulless and boring, even though it is well animated. For a movie which already had a good layup from the massive take in of the first movie, this to me was a big letdown. This movie was done by Illumination Studios and based on all the work they have been doing, I am starting to think all these sequels are beginning to burn out their creativity, because this movie is all about nostalgic references with an all-star voice cast, which I have to say were epic.

Now remember how the first movie had the Peaches moment, where Bowser was singing that wonderful song with the beautiful Jack Black showing off his vocal range? Well, this movie does not have anything like that, there is no magic moment, no key thing that made me go, “Hey! This happened.”

All I have is a wonderful voice cast, which represented each character in a way I would think they would sound in my head, and animation filled with stuffed references like the producers had a checkmark on all the game references they needed to get done.

So, as you know, the movie is an adaptation of the Super Mario game, specifically Super Mario Galaxy, and it features two princesses, Peach and Rosalina, alongside Mario, Luigi, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser and Bowser Jr.

Here is what the movie is actually about. We get a glimpse of the past in this story of Rosalina and Peach as sisters, when Rosalina sent Peach to the Mushroom Kingdom to keep her safe.

Now the movie itself starts with Bowser Jr. kidnapping Rosalina, and one of the Lumas she cares for escapes and reaches Peach to tell her what happened. Peach leaves to rescue her sister and puts Mario and Luigi in charge of the Kingdom. Bowser Jr. then attacks the Mushroom Kingdom trying to free his father Bowser, who at this point is a miniaturised prisoner in Peach's castle and genuinely trying to reform himself.

Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Bowser end up on their own trail across space trying to find Peach. Bowser was so reformed that even when he got his size and power back, he stayed with Mario. When Bowser Jr. eventually rescues his father, he is able to pull Bowser back to the dark side by reminding him of who he is.

The story that ties them all together is thin and jumps from what is supposed to be a redemption father and son arc for Bowser, to a save the princess, save the universe arc for Peach. Then there is the connection between Princess Peach and Princess Rosalina as sisters and, let me not forget, a small taste of romance brewing between Mario and Peach.

There are too many things happening in this movie and nothing sticks, it all plays around a reference stuffed animation that, if not for the coffee, I would have dozed off.

So yes, the animation is good, colourful and memorable, the voice casting is amazing and I specifically enjoyed hearing Jack Black again, and worth noting, Brie Larson as Rosalina and Donald Glover as Yoshi were both excellent, but that is about it for this movie as it was just lacking anything that could have made it matter.

So I think you have a better chance of enjoying yourself playing the game again than going to see this movie.

 

Mortal Kombat II (2026)

 

Mortal Kombat II (2026)

 

6/10

Starring

Karl Urban

Adeline Rudolph

Jessica McNamee

Josh Lawson

Ludi Lin

 

Directed by: Simon McQuoid

 

Mortal Kombat II is actually fun to watch, but the issue I had with it, and I think many will, is that it seems the show wanted to focus on big-time actor Karl Urban, with the hope of drawing more people to come see it.

I liked the effects, and right from the start the show is packed with a lot of fights, which keeps going fight after fight, making it easy to enjoy the film because, if not for the action, the bad dialogue and cheesy lines would have made this a disaster.

Now special effects wise and acting wise, I actually was impressed by the cocky Johnny Cage, played by Karl Urban. It was not too flimsy or too serious, it was played with the right touch of both to make you like the character, even if the events around him were not pleasing.

Mortal Kombat 2 follows from part 1, but the good thing is I went to watch it with someone who has not seen part 1 and knows nothing about the whole thing, yet was still able to keep up because part 2 is very good in that aspect of the writing. It fills you in on things, except the Scorpion and Sub-Zero biff, so Earthrealm’s fighters are ready to defend their realm.

This time the real Mortal Kombat is taking place, not just the path to it, which I also liked.

So Earthrealm fighters go one on one with their Outworld counterparts, and there are five fights, with the group that has more fighters standing winning.

But Earthrealm is short one fighter, so Johnny Cage, a washed-up actor, is brought into the team while Liu Kang, Sonya, Jax, and Cole train for a brutal conflict that could decide the fate of Earth.

Now the many directions this show could have taken that would have made this a masterpiece were ignored, instead the show created and forced many situations just to make Johnny Cage, Karl Urban, the star. They wanted to make him the focus, and when in the end they needed to destroy the amulet that held Raiden’s power, it had to be his shadow kick that did it, not the blast from Jade, the laser from Kano, or the fire from Scorpion.

I felt that was bad writing on display, and the way the show handled Kung Lao cutting Raiden, then trapping his powers, was just filled with holes.

How come Raiden did not heal instantly, but Shao Kahn does when he had the amulet? How come Raiden then healed instantly when he was about to be attacked by Shang Tsung?

Look, this is a fine film, which I enjoyed watching in the cinema, but I will advise you to go see this with your brain switched off, or else you are going to hate this movie and wish the writers made a better effort.

 

Incarnation (2022)

 

Incarnation (2022)

 

3/10

 

Starring

Tsai Hsuan-yen

Huang Sin-ting

Kao Ying-hsuan

Sean Lin

RQ

Directed by: Kevin Ko

 

 

The movie starts with an idea of hope, then it just ends the way I expected it to, everyone dies.
Oops, spoilers.

This movie borrows ideas from The Blair Witch Project and The Ring, but the bottom line is, I did not like it. I was asked to see it by my wonderful sister from another mother, because she wanted to hear my thoughts on her thoughts about the movie. So, looking forward to that discussion.

I expected a fun time seeing this, but what I got instead was that feeling that this movie wants to drag out fear in me rather than actually make me scared. Halfway into the movie, and I have to be honest, it felt like nothing was even happening.

Some things in this movie, makes me wonder the logic or common sense in these people’s decision.

Rohan and her two friends go to a village to investigate whether the supernatural things done there are real, and then weird things start happening. One of which is, the people who conduct the rituals locked them in a room after being asked to follow their rules and they refused. They break out, and instead of now leaving, they decide, “let us sneak around some more.”

Then they find a girl who is in critical condition, instead of leaving with her to the hospital, one of them team decides to go explore a spooky tunnel and the other follows.

I was like, call me stupid, but this does not make sense.

But this movie all together does not add up to anything remotely coherent.

In this movie, the child actors are just amazing, they carry the movie better than the adults do.

So what is this movie about? Well, as I said above, a lady named Rohan went to a village with two of her friends to cover a spiritual ritual. Rohan happens to be pregnant, and when they get there, she is asked to leave.

As you can guess, she does not, and they start sneaking around recording things they were told not to. What happens next is exactly that, the two men go to explore the tunnel and never come back, or never came back the same.

So what happens to Rohan? Well, she has her child, and she suffers a mental breakdown because of it, putting her child into foster care.

Later, she gets the child back, and then weird things start happening on day one of the child being back with her.

It is obvious the time in the village something has entered the child, and that thing wants to kill everyone and anyone who saw the footage of the tunnel.

One of the other issues I have with this movie is the time jump between now and six years ago. It just happens, and I always have to catch myself to be sure what time period I am looking at.

There are also times when the found footage does not make sense. There is a moment where she is fleeing with the man who helped care for her daughter, and she is recording. Then later, when she feeds her daughter and the spiritual horrors start to happen, she goes to the shop of the couple who helped her, pushing her child in a wheelchair while recording everything with a camera.

I am like, time and place.

In the end, was I scared? No.

I just felt like this is why I do not watch horror movies anymore, because they do not make sense, and the fear factor is not real to me anymore.

The Legend of Hei 2 (2025)

 

The Legend of Hei 2 (2025)

7/10

 Starring the voices of

 Shan Xin

Liu Mingyue

Zhu Jing

 

Directed by: MTJJ (Ping Zhang)

 

The Legend of Hei 2, to me, is just as good as the first one, and as I said in the previous review, both movies beat Ne Zha 1 and 2 when it comes to pure fun and excitement.

That said, the first half of this second part can drag a bit, and I felt the motivation behind the growing conflict between the spirits and the humans was not explained clearly enough. It takes its time setting things up, sometimes too much time, and you can feel the pacing slow down as the movie focuses on discussions instead of movement.

But once it picks up, my my, the fights and battles are memorable.

The animation artwork makes every action scene look slick and fluid, and when this movie decides to go all out, it really goes all out. The depiction of Naza, a clear parody of Ne Zha, is far far better here than the version we get in the Ne Zha movies themselves, and his fight with Wuxian was genuinely cool to watch. Also, the moment when Wuxian takes on multiple spirits to stop them from going into full war with humans is a must see.

Still, the best fight in the movie is when Hei and Luye take on the elder, and Hei removes his restrictions. That moment alone made the whole build up worth it. Class.

I watched this in the original Chinese language with subtitles, and I have to say the voice acting carries this movie emotionally and dramatically, especially during the quieter moments between fights.

Story wise, this continues directly after the first movie. Hei has been training under Wuxian when he suddenly gets summoned to the guild. It is there we learn that several spirits have been killed using a special kind of wood that carries spiritual power, and surveillance footage shows the person responsible appears to be Wuxian. Of course, we all know this is a setup, because he is clearly the good guy, so the real mystery becomes who framed him and why.

We are also introduced properly to Luye, the last disciple of Wuxian before Hei. She has a deep hatred for humans, and her distant nature clashes heavily with Hei’s more hopeful, can we all get along outlook.

By the end, I did not feel like I wasted my time at all, and honestly, I walked away feeling like this story needs a part 3.

So this is a fine animation to see.

The Legend of Hei (2019)

The Legend of Hei (2019)

7/10

Starring the voices of

 Emi Lo

Aleks Le

Howard Wang

 

Directed by: MTJJ (Ping Zhang)

One thing I can tell you is this, the first few minutes of this animation are very captivating. This Chinese animated film has a wonderful English voice cast that captures every moment, and the animation art style fits the feel of the story perfectly. It was only after seeing this movie that I realized it is actually a prequel to the Chinese animated series, The Legend of Luo Xiaohei.

The fight animation is very well crafted, and the movie keeps you at arm’s length when it comes to what is really happening, allowing curiosity to slowly get the best of you. The film does not play around when it comes to excitement from the very beginning, and because of that, there is a slight point of letdown later on.

After the introduction, we move into a chase centered around rescuing Hei, a spirit cat who is captured by Infinity, a human with spirit-like powers. During this capture, Hei begins bonding with Infinity, and we reach a point where the movie wants us to question which side is good and which side is bad. This is where the pacing starts to drop, as there is a lot of dialogue about Stormend, his goals, and the goals of the guild.

To put all this into a clearer narrative, here is the plot. Set in a modern world where humans and spirits secretly coexist, this Chinese animated fantasy follows Hei, a young cat spirit whose forest home is destroyed by human expansion, forcing him into the human world. He is lost, alone, and angry over his loss when he encounters Stormend, another spirit who takes him in and introduces him to a group of spirits living together.

Their home is later attacked by Infinity, which leads to Hei being captured and placed at the center of a much larger conflict involving territory, balance, and coexistence. Hei meets other spirits who belong to Infinity’s guild, a group that believes strict rules are necessary to maintain peace between humans and spirits. This belief clashes directly with Stormend’s views, which lean in the opposite direction.

The film blends gentle slice-of-life moments with bursts of fluid action, which works well with its soft visual style. However, during the calmer sections, the pacing can slow to a crawl before the action pulls it back up again. And then, the lack of full knowledge of everyone’s intent, even when you are more than an hour in, can be a disappointment, as the curiosity withers.

Overall, the movie explores themes of displacement, moral complexity, and finding where you belong. It is a good film and worth watching if you have not seen it already, especially with part two released in mid 2025, which makes it easy to continue the story right after.