The Astronaut (2025) Review

NASA astronaut Sam Walker, returns to Earth suspecting a sinister extraterrestrial presence has followed her home.

In her feature directorial debut, Jess Varley excels in the first act, achieving more with less. After an off-screen crash, the film opens in a sleek, modern safe house that feels deliberately claustrophobic. This low-budget restraint becomes a strength, building dread through shadows, silence, and suggestion.

Kate Mara anchors the film,emotionally raw, fragile yet quietly fierce, conveying the mystery and creeping paranoia. Laurence Fishburne lends some weight as General William Harris, despite sporadic appearances. Gabriel Luna is almost unrecognisable as Mark.

Jacques Brautbar's subtle score works effectively, while cinematographer David Garbett frames the safe house in stark angular architecture-interiors inky and cold, every corridor foreboding like the woodland nearby.

Tonally, The Astronaut initially echoes The Night House (2020) and feels like a spiritual successor to underrated sci-fi thrillers such as Last Days on Mars or Life, with an intimate rather than cosmic alien threat. Yet the third act unravels into ET meets The X-Files-in a twisty, muddled finale that aims for shock and emotion but falls short. Perhaps check out Sputnik instead.

The Running Man (2025) Review

 

Ben Richards signs up for a brutal televised game show: if he can survive being hunted for 30 days, he can win life-changing money — and potentially save his sick daughter.

Edgar Wright delivers a dark action-thriller set in a dystopian near-future. Based on Stephen King’s 1982 novel, which he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Unlike the 1987 Schwarzenegger version, Wright’s adaptation is much more faithful to the book, turning the story into more of a road movie — Richards is constantly moving, hiding, and meeting different people as he tries to survive.

Cinematography from Chung-hoon Chung is notable, along with the editing by Paul Machliss and music by Steven Price.

There are echoes in the concept of other works like the French novel/film Le Prix du Danger (The Prize of Peril), which King clearly seemed to borrow from, where people are hunted for entertainment. Wright’s version stays true to King’s themes of media, desperation, and spectacle.

Glen Powell is impressive as Ben Richards: he’s tough, scared, determined — Powell brings real emotional weight to the role. The supporting cast is excellent; Josh Brolin plays the ruthless producer Dan Killian; Colman Domingo is memorable as the show host Bobby “Bobby T” Thompson; Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson, and William H. Macy all contribute strong performances. Katy M. O'Brian is particularly memorable. There’s also a nice nod to Arnold Schwarzenegger (the original’s Ben Richards).

The action and stunts are great — you really feel the danger. Wright’s direction builds a tense but stylish world, the film has real scope, and the chase sequences feel grounded and raw. Despite the violence and serious stakes, there’s also dark humour, and the satire about media and spectacle is sharp.

Fans of the novel will appreciate Wright and Michael Bacall’s tweaks for the most part.

Overall, this is a very good adaptation. It respects King’s original novel, but it’s not just a rehash of the old movie — it stands on its own. If you like dystopian thrillers, action with heart, or just want something a little different, this is well worth watching.

Highly recommended.

Frankenstein (2025) Review

 

Egotistical scientist Victor Frankenstein, whose experiment in creating new life results in dangerous consequences. 

Guillermo del Toro is one of the best contemporary directors... fantastic, in fact, but this just does not reflect it.

It lacks grit, which is surprising for a gothic horror. It's all runtime, which adds very little; the abandoned tower doesn't fit with the rest of the film. It feels cheap in places, and the CGI wolves and rats undersell it. The creature aside, many of costumes while well designed all look BBC drama off the rack new, with no wear or tear.

That said, the ship stuck in ice is a visual treat, and there's some impressive gore, and cadaver effects. Editing by Evan Schiff is first rate, Dan Laustsen's cinematography has it moments here and there, and Alexandre Desplat's score is effective enough.

It's not stylistic like Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Hammer or Universal's Frankenstein, and in contrast it's not as visceral as Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), or as grounded as Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire (1994). It simply lacks the atmosphere of those and Joe Johnston's The Wolfman (2010) managed to create which is a crying shame. It also reflects how good The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015) are.

It feels like much of Mary Shelley's source material is missing. I'd like to think it's due to Guillermo del Toro having to avoid some sort of rights issues mixed up with other on-screen incarnations.

Mia Goth is on form; Jacob Elordi makes a great creature. Christopher Waltz is notable but lacks screen time, though Oscar Isaac sadly feels off. Lars Mikkelsen as Captain Anderson is memorable; also, blink and you miss Charles Dance, who is sorely underused. Both Felix Kammerer as William Frankenstein, Victor's younger brother, and David Bradley as a Blind Man leave an impression.

Overall, I'd watch all the other aforementioned films and series' again. But this disappointingly doesn't have that pull.

Predator: Badlands (2025) Review

A young, exiled Yautja is thrust into a harsh alien world where he forges an unlikely alliance, including with a damaged synthetic.

Written by Patrick Aison from a story by Dan Trachtenberg and Aison. Sadly, it isn't the stripped-back simplicity of Predator (1987) or Prey (2022); instead, it embraces the franchise's comic-book and other mediums-big ideas, bold visuals, and kinetic action, much like Trachtenberg's Predator: Killer of Killers (2025).

The special effects are first rate, the music from Sara Schachner complement Trachtenberg's slick direction, action setups and emotional beats.

Badlands feels closer to 2004's AVP than the core series. It blends Enemy Mine-style companionship, Aeon Flux-like surreal grass, Conan the Barbarian vibes, and Weyland-Yutani nods, Alien, Aliens, and Alien: Romulus (especially in the third act), there's also wild beasts reminiscent of Predators (2010). Even some callbacks especially the ship to Predator 2 and much more. If you're hoping for a gritty return after Prey? You'll be disappointed. Badlands is mythic, heart-driven sci-fi adventure. The Predator's design and lore work well, while not the same reasoning, it still echoes 2018's genetic explanations for its human mannerisms.

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi anchors the film as Dek, giving the Predator heart and a strong arc. Elle Fanning shines in dual roles as quirky, unsettling Thia (a severed Weyland-Yutani android) and Tessa. The supporting cast, including Dek's father, brother, and clan leader, add depth.

Was it what I expected? No. Did I enjoy it? Thoroughly. Sequel? Absolutely.

Badlands isn't the primal jungle horror or urban action, I would have liked, but it's a spirited, emotionally rich expansion of the mythos, shaped by comic lore and sci-fi grandeur.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) Review

 

Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps reintroduces the iconic team as they confront a cosmic anomaly that threatens Earth’s reality itself.

Director Matt Shakman and producer Kevin Feige present a stylish reboot of the Marvel quartet, starring Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing.

Visually, the film is a treat: the retro-futuristic, 1960s-inspired setting glows and crackles with comic-book energy, and the special effects for cosmic threats and citywide set pieces genuinely impress. The cast are strong — Kirby especially stands out — though as much as I like Pascal, it’s fair to say there are other actors who might have brought a different flavour to Reed. Narrative-wise, it runs a touch overlong (as many Marvel outings do), and the city-destruction sequences, while big, feel ever so slightly tiresome. Do we really need yet another metropolitan apocalypse?

There is intrigue in the mid-credits scene, suggesting real momentum for what’s to come, and the post-credits tease is a nice touch.

Overall, this is one of the better Marvel films in recent memory, thanks to its visuals, setting, and cast chemistry — but the genre still seems stuck in city-destruction mode.