Life for a Life: Eye for an Eye (2022) Review

Director: Yang Bingjia

Notable Cast: Xie Miao, Gao Weiman, Xiang Hao, Liu Ben, Zhang Di, Gao Yi, Zhang Haosen

 

“It’s a life for a life. You don’t need to take 10,000 lives. Don’t you understand that?”

 

In a sequence prior to the final showdown with the film’s nemesis in Eye for an Eye, our hero Cheng is informed that one of his cohorts has fallen. The manner in which Yang Bingjia shoots it is caked in deep black shadow, Cheng’s back to the woman telling the story through her tears, as he sits on his knees. The moment is intercut with the villain, Yuwen Ying, preparing his team for the eventual showdown with a ritual in falling snow as drums beat heavily and dancers in all-white costumes move swiftly around. 

 

The juxtaposition between the deep black of Cheng’s pre-war ritual and the bright whites of the Yuwen’s personal guard in the snow, partnered with the stillness of our hero and the scattered movement of the enemy, makes for a fascinating contrast of ideology, invoking a yin-yang style of interconnectedness with its color scheme, and how each character is treating how their roads will intersect. Cheng, a blind swordsman and bounty hunter, pulls his sword from his cane while still kneeling in the darkness and opens his eyes for the first time in the film; the paleness of his eyes pops like the metal of his sword in the blackness. He only closes them as he sheathes the sword once again. He might be blind, but his sword sees the truth of this moment, opening his eyes in this split second, before being closed again. The moment ends as it cuts to black, then cuts to Yuwen, his eyes closed, only to open upon Cheng's arrival at his front door. No words are exchanged, and the final bloody conflict commences. 

 

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Deadite: Evil Dead Burn (2026) Review

Director: Sébastien Vaniček

Notable Cast: Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Erroll Shand, Maude Davey, George Pullar

 

If there’s one thing that I am willing to give the most recent run of Evil Dead films, starting with the remake back in 2013, it’s that they very much feel like the directors are given a decent amount of freedom to create ‘their’ Evil Dead film. So much so that, whether the audience wants it or not, there is an underlying theme in each one. Fede Alvarez used Evil Dead (2013) to explore drug addiction, and Lee Cronin used Evil Dead Rise to delve into the complexities of motherhood. The latest, technically the sixth film in the series, continues that trend with a new director and new themes to eviscerate. 

 

For the latest, the Evil Dead curators Raimi and Tapert have handed off the franchise to up-and-coming French filmmaker Sébastien Vaniček, and he has his own take on the demonic forces of this franchise’s world that both doubles down on the visceral violence, suffocating tension, and its traumatic themes. His film, Evil Dead Burn, represents a continuation of the series with more continuity to previous entries, while managing to certainly be a film with its own identity - which has already resulted in some mixed reactions from fans. However, Vaniček ably blends the two like blood and snow to deliver a vicious film that never pulls its punches, even in its rather nihilistic themes and narrative choices. Yes, it’s absolutely what I want in an Evil Dead film.

 

While most fans are going to be coming to a new Evil Dead movie for its horror pedigree, it’s perhaps more fitting to discuss the film’s plot and narrative first. Not that the film lacks in its horrors, in fact it’s quite the opposite, but the most fascinating aspect of Evil Dead Burn is how it manages to replicate the necessary components of the franchise: isolated setting, a group of people to get Deadite’d, some lore around the evils manifested on Earth, and a wild array of creative ways to get pulverized, while still managing to push the series forward. 

 

Brawl Out Warfare: The Furious (2026) Review

Director: Kenji Tanigaki

Notable Cast: Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yang Enyou, Yayan Ruhian, Jeeja Yanin, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga

 

I love martial arts films. Down to the point that I might call it a core part of my personality. When there’s a new martial arts action film coming down the pipeline, you can guarantee that I’ll be there in my best suit, waiting in line to partake. When there’s a new one that starts to garner a lot of buzz in the film community, I almost feel surprised. It’s not often that a martial arts movie makes waves, and too often I feel like some of the best in the genre are tossed off by the greater film community as just low-brow entertainment at best. Yet, here we are in 2026, and critics and audiences seem to be, surprisingly, in love with a new martial arts film. 

 

Of course, the film I’m referring to is The Furious, the latest international martial arts stunner that has found some success theatrically even in the US. Directed by action choreographer and stuntman extraordinaire Kenji Tanigaki, The Furious blends classic Hong Kong action cinema characters and plotting with an international mix of star power and martial arts stunt powerhouses, and the results are as violent and driven as one might expect. Its success overall with audiences, particularly in the West, is because most audiences understand the language it's using - good guys beating the ever-living shit out of bad guys, and it does it with immense style and a raucous amount of diversity in its endless fights. 

 

I've Never Been with You: Obsession (2026) Review

Director: Curry Barker

Notable Cast: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter

 

I have to give Curry Barker some very intense respect. Not only has his latest film, Obsession, been one of the biggest horror films of all time at the box office, but he also did it with a film that asks the age-old question, ‘What if a Gen Z romantic comedy was the most terrifying thing to exist?’ The premise of so many romantic comedies, particularly those in the 90s and 00s, prior to the genre being stripped for parts and sold wholesale to streaming and television to be exploited as year-round bubblegum movies, was based on a hook and then mined for comedic value. Barker seemingly saw that and decided to take it in the other direction. The results, box office receipts aside, are rather astoundingly effective. Obsession is pitch-black perfect in its tones, a precise blend of dark humor and crippling horror, and executed to the highest degree to deliver a generationally relevant urban-legend-style morality tale.

There was intense hype for Obsession… and the hype is real. 

 

To be fair, the hook of its premise is a well-trodden trail for horror. Bear, played by Michael Johnston in a performance that one might call ‘a half step away from dying of anxiety at any given moment,’ stumbles across a cheap ‘wish fulfillment’ tchotchke called the One Wish Willow and uses it to wish that the girl he has been pining for at work will love him more than anyone. It’s a monkey’s paw scenario: once he breaks the willow piece for his wish, after absolutely whiffing his chance to confess his feelings for her when she just blatantly asks if he likes her, she becomes obsessed with him, and it gets real fuckin’ scary from there. Not in a Lifetime movie way either. As the tagline states, be careful who you wish for. 

 

The Net Is Vast and Infinite: Ghost in the Shell (1995) Review

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Notable Cast: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Iemasa Kayumi, Koichi Yamadera, Yutaka Nakano, Tamio Ohki, Tessyo Genda, Masakazu Namaki

 

There are films and stories that are meant to be franchised and serialized, and as the film industry grows and intellectual property expands, it’s always looking to mine material for the next big ‘thing.’ Perhaps one of the most fascinating franchises, though, is Ghost in the Shell. 

 

On paper, it makes sense. Cyberpunk aesthetics, a strong, layered lead character, the possibility of ensemble storytelling, and a world that demands exploration for its themes of cybercops, hackers, and political corruption. Yet, in revisiting Mamoru Oshii’s iconic 1995 anime, the film seems uninterested in using its story and characters to craft ‘episodes’ that adhere to a more mainstream narrative. Instead, he uses the manga launch point to craft a truly existential experience, philosophically analyzing the relationship between organic and inorganic, the soul and programming, and whether humanity has a future in its own destiny. 

 

Gorgeously animated, impressively written, and anxiously crafted to compel its audience to ask questions, Ghost in the Shell is the kind of film that would push its audience intellectually rather than guide them to entertainment. It’s the kind of artistic merit that makes it a science fiction icon, rising above its genre trappings and elevating it to something far more universal. It’s truly next-level filmmaking. 

 

Evil Dead Wrapped: Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026) Review

Director: Lee Cronin

Notable Cast: Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, Shylo Molina, Billie Roy, Veronica Falcon, Hayat Kamille, May Elghety

 

When it was initially announced that Lee Cronin’s follow-up to Evil Dead Rise would be a new version of The Mummy, I was kind of stoked. His first film, Hole in the Ground, was a fantastic, character-driven, atmospheric horror film about loss, so combining his talents for scares and atmosphere could prove valuable for an update of The Mummy. Of course, if he were the one to be part of Universal’s updates on the classic monster series, then the film would have to be from, you know, Universal, and Lee Cronin's The Mummy was slated by New Line Cinema. 

 

Huh. This would not be an update of that series, I guess.

 

Nonetheless, he’s a talented director; the film still managed to find backing from Jason Blum and James Wan as producers (like Universal’s other reboots of The Invisible Man and Wolf Man), and for that alone, it was worth taking a gander. I’m a sucker for seeing a new adaptation of classic stories and genres. 

 

However, Lee Cronin's The Mummy is not the film one might expect, particularly with its marketing. Instead of going for the traditional Mummy movie narrative where someone fucks with a sarcophagus or tomb and a mummy, in some form, pops up to get revenge for their arrogance - and if we’re lucky there might be a sweet love story somewhere in there inspired by Universal’s 1932 The Mummy plot, this one is definitely going for pure monster mayhem with gore, gross-out-gags, and lots of supernatural lunacy. You know, less of a Mummy movie and definitely more of an Evil Dead knock-off. 

 

A Bridge Too Far: Captain America: Brave New World (2025) Review

Director: Julius Onah

Notable Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Tim Blake Nelson, Carl Lumbly, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Xosha Roquemore, Johannes Haukur Johannesson

 

Although many fans seem to have been burned by the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) at this point, the series' transition in the wake of waning audience interest and a relatively public meltdown over its future makes the current slate perhaps more fascinating than the last half-decade. Attempting to soft reboot the MCU with a new Captain America film certainly seems like gold on paper, but the fourth film in this series within the grander franchise is far more fascinating in the larger context than “good” as a film.

 

Captain America: Brave New World is heavily focused on bridging the past and the future. Even the title, although perhaps hard to swallow when compared to the iconic book that shares it, seems to indicate a strange relationship between what has happened before and where it wants to be.  That’s not to say that every MCU film hasn’t been aggressively obsessed with callbacks and flashforwards, but the relationship here in Brave New World is one of the most unusual.

 

In the wake of Avengers: Endgame, the world changed. That applies to both the film itself and the fictionalized reality its characters inhabit. There was no more Captain America. Or Chris Evans. No more Iron Man. Or Robert Downey Jr. (…at the time of its release). Disney was struggling to find their voice and plot with new heroes, despite some genuine successes in films like Shang-Chi or misfires like The Eternals. The meteoric descent of Jonathon Majors left the new era without its Kang the Conqueror and a gap for a new major villain. And while the series was retooled, pulling away from a variety of increasingly ignored Disney+ shows, they needed a breather.

 

That’s where Captain America: Brave New World falls into place.

 

The Liminal Space of Sound: undertone (2026) Review

Director: Ian Tuason

Notable Cast: Nina Kiri, Adam DiMarco, Keana Bastidas, Jeff Yung, Michele Duquet

 

As the genre of ‘liminal space horror’ starts to take the world by storm, not just as an independent horror movement artistically, but also powered most recently by the box office juggernaut of Backrooms, it's necessary to remember that the concept is not new to the horror genre overall. Empty spaces, lost items, and the hanging existential dread of the terrors to come are all tactics horror has used since the beginning. It’s just that so many modern filmmakers and storytellers are using it in a modern lens that is both fascinating and certainly relevant to the time, and they’re doing it with conviction. Example films like Skinamarink or the earlier films of Osgood Perkins (check out I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House) laid a lot of the groundwork for where we are in 2026, so it's not like this movement is even all that new, comparatively speaking. 

 

It’s this conviction and modern lens that make a film like Undertone so diabolically effective. Director Ian Tuason is playing in the same space as many other liminal horror films, but his intention is not only the physical space in the film, but also the auditory space that often creates a sense of dread and impending doom. As the saying goes, it's the things that are unspoken or unheard that are often the most powerful. Undertone intends to weaponize those and does an impeccable job at it while crafting a film that makes sound the most important aspect, in all its choices. 

 

All About Perspective: Mortal Kombat II (2026) Review

Director: Simon McQuoid

Notable Cast: Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Ludi Lin, Jessica McNamee, Lewis Tan, Josh Lawson, Martyn Ford, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Max Huang, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Hiroyuki Sanada, Joe Taslim, CJ Bloomfield, Ana Thu Nguyen 

 

I think it's fair, for a film that essentially starts immediately where the last one left off, that I, also, start my review of Mortal Kombat II by quoting the last line of my review for Mortal Kombat (2021).

“With its open ending and intention for more films in its writing and development, let’s hope that the next installment doesn’t hesitate to just lean into the absurdity. I’d give my heart (and spine) to that.”

 

So, in the spirit of good sportsmanship, here is what (rips out heart) I owe (rips out spine) to you, Simon McQuoid, and his team of truly insane filmmakers that crafted this sequel. You absolutely knew what your homework was, did the due diligence, and made the best Mortal Kombat film yet. Mortal Kombat II manages to be more of EVERYTHING than its predecessor. More plot, more characters, more fights, more catchphrases, more - more - more, and most importantly - it's more FUN. It’s a film that leans further into the absurdity - and lore - of the decades-spanning video game franchise, and it’s all the better for it. For some, maybe it’s too much. For me, it’s the kind of insane blockbuster entertainment that I wanted - and then some. 

 

Everything Seems to Work Out: Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Director: Taika Waititi

Notable Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, Karl Urban, Anthony Hopkins, Benedict Cumberbatch

 

Even within the now-rather-infamous Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the Thor series represents a fascinating part of it. While Iron Man set the tone for the series, the initial run of films was meant to represent various genres within the franchise. Sure, there was a common thread of spectacle, humor, and just enough heart; the Thor series felt so much more serious than the rest. For Thor’s first two films, the Shakespearean tones that blended with the fantasy elements of gods and monsters were initially met with mixed results from audiences and critics. While Thor represented a key cornerstone of the MCU, the character’s adventures were the weakest part of the initial ‘Avengers Initiative.’ 

 

However, during the ‘second phase,’ the MCU found a way to get the more cosmic aspects of the Marvel world to resonate with audiences: by making them funnier, brighter, and more entertaining. It worked for James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, so it could work for Thor, right?