New entry in my category “Do We Really Need This?”: World War Z 2. Deadline reported this week that Paramount has a deal for Brad Pitt to return, as well as Edward Berger to direct. This is yet another chapter in the history that is this sequel. Shortly after the 2013 adaptation of Max Brooks’ novel was released, Paramount announced a sequel. That December, J.A. Bayona was chosen to direct the sequel dated for June 9, 2017. That date didn’t even make it to 2016, as Bayona left the project. Enter David Fincher. He was confirmed in 2017 as the new director, and things were progressing pretty quickly, with several months of pre-production in 5 different countries. However, the film was cancelled in 2019, with the major reason being the Chinese government’s ban on films featuring zombies. That leads us into this week’s report. I already think this is cursed project, so I would say until filming actually begins, it’s best to accept this is Paramount wasting more time and money to something we don’t really need. On to the reviews.
Two best friends become stranded on the mystical world of Nakali, where their only escape might cost them their shared lifetime of memories.
Dreamworks is an interesting studio. It is often compared to Pixar, and while it hasn’t hit the number of highs Pixar has, they have certainly taken more big swings. That is what I would call this film. Probably the last original film that the studio has released is 2023’s Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. What this film has that Gillman didn’t is that it is inspired by Philippine mythology. Something cool about the animation style was that it was inspired by Filipino art and the 1990s. We do get aspects of anime throughout the film, and those sequences were animated by Manila-based Snipple Animation. While I thought the animation was pretty great, and the characters were interesting, I did have a couple issues. First, Dave Franco’s Raww got old in a hurry, and that character was just annoying if anything. More of an issue is the audience for this film. This isn’t really a film for little kids, and it’s not really a film for high schoolers or older. The humor in it is kind of an inappropriate humor at points for whatever audience this is going for. Maybe this will find a decent sized audience, but I don’t think this will enter the sequel machine that Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon are.
Bryan, a medical courier, is in the process of making a delivery to Raccoon City General hospital when an outbreak forces him to fight for survival.
To start, this is the best Resident Evil film. I say that with confidence due to a simple thought, and that it that the other 7 entries in this series range from interesting to abysmal. So the bar wasn’t very high. Yeah, I know. This is barely a Resident Evil film if we are going by references and characters. The feeling of the games is what works here. So, if you take a property that has promise (the games are awesome for the most part) and hand the reins to a director who is starting their career on the hottest of streaks, you might have something. To say Zach Cregger is on a hot streak is an understatement. Both Barbarian and Weapons were fantastic, and following up this two with this film is a very good progression for him. The comp I have seen a couple places was Jordan Peele. I see that as both come from sketch comedy world, and now each have three excellent films. What gives Cregger the edge for me is he has a 4th film already in production (The Flood) and we are still waiting for Peele to finish a script for his 4th film.
Back to this film though. Austin Abrams is awesome in this. His Bryan is basically the only character in this film that has more than 10 minutes. He plays that character as a person so over his head while also knowing there is a ticking clock. The script is also unforgiving for him. An RV blocking the way in a tunnel? I guess we have to go through it rather than climbing over it. The scene in the RV is great though. Same with that sequence in the Maternity Ward in the back third of the film. One thing I would say against the film is it doesn’t really have an ending. The film just stops. The credits started rolling and I looked over to someone in my row and we both just smiled. That is the feeling I had through this film. Yes there is humor in this, but all the gross stuff and horror elements make this such a fun time for the 90 minutes. To Sony, since I know you are reading this, I have one request of you: Don’t make a sequel to this without Cregger. Seeing as he has no intention of running it back, then that leaves things as: Don’t make a sequel to this.
A reckless group of twelve-year-olds sets out on a mission to spend the rest of their lives at sleep-away camp. They’ll just have to get past Bob – the camp’s deranged, relentless, 50-year-old lifer counselor.
I don’t know what I was expecting going into this one. When you have Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg as Producers, and the trailer is saying “From the guys who brought you Good Boys, Neighbors, and Blockers”, one would have expectations of something similar here. Having Johnny Knoxville as the kid’s adversary also adds to what you think this could be. The problem is this isn’t that kind of film. What this is is a group of kids thinking they could stay at camp all year to escape their lives at home, like a divorce or a boarding school. Knoxville’s Bob is a man who desperately needs this job as it is all he really has. The main kid we are following is Jacob, played by Benjamin Pajak. He is the only one of the kids that I think has been in a major film before, as Pajak was in 2024’s The Life of Chuck. What I did appreciate in this is the film is realistic in how the kid’s plans go as they try to execute it. There is just too much many useless moments that don’t add anything. Two of the five kids might as well not be there at a certain point. What I think this film was supposed to be about was maybe the kids realize their lives outside of camp are better than they think it is. If that was the purpose, I think it went as well as the kids plans at Old Camp.
Three new films go wide next week, and Forgotten Island has the highest tracking number at $20 to 30 million. That should be enough to take the win, and the question is how much will Resident Evil retain in its second weekend.
- Forgotten Island
- Heart of the Beast
- Resident Evil
- Avengers Endgame: Encore
- Primetime
Not that interested in Heart of the Beast, so I’m skipping the mystery movie this week. Still, it’s a 4 film week on the schedule. Primetime leads it off on Thursday, and it’s a triple header at least for now on Sunday. It would have been Saturday, but I’ll be at the Tigers game instead.
Mitten Film Nerd 
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