Review: The Heart of the Beast

There are movies about dogs, and then there are movies about military dogs. Especially in films out of the USA, a military dog (and this includes police dogs) usually means you're going to get a story that is very much about a particular view of military (and police) service. How can you have any doubts about the bravery and honour of our brave servicepeople when one of them is a very good boy?

So while there's only the occasional glimpse in flashback of an American flag in this outdoors adventure, tonally there might as well be a faded but still visible flag filling the entire sky in every scene of this salute to the brave work done by dogs in combat in an unnamed American war in the Middle East. 

All this goes pretty much without saying in most US films about returned servicepeople. Thing is, everything that happens here could happen with Pitt's character being a regular outdoorsman with a troubled past and a dog that was injured in an accident. Grafting a "thank you for your service" angle onto these events makes it clear that it's a political choice by the filmmakers (screenwriter Cameron Alexander; director David Ayers), at a time when the American military's global rep isn't as glowing as it once was.

Oh right, the actual story: Belmont (Brad Pitt) and Odin (his dog, who has titanium teeth, an artificial leg, and PTSD from his wartime service) fly out to the Alaskan wilderness for a quiet week of fishing and drinking beer, interrupted only by some grizzled old salt (JK Simmons) who shows up for a night so we can get some dialogue.

On their flight out, there's a slightly surprising misdirect - you think they're going to crash for one reason then they crash for another reason - which means they now have to walk out to the nearest road. Climbing, stumbling, multiple animal attacks, getting dunked in a river, and Belmont repeatedly sticking parts of himself in crevasses (not always intentionally) follow.

Everybody loves watching a trek through scenic countryside, but that's pretty much all this has to offer. The survival side of things mostly simmers rather than stuns, despite a couple of set-pieces that do provide some drama. It's a strength that Pitt's character is competent; when things go wrong, it's not because he made a mistake. It's just tough out there. 

Aside from knowing how to make a spear (and his military service), there's not enough to Belmont as scripted to forge any real connection with an audience; it's left up to Pitt's natural charm to do all the heavy lifting, and while he does a solid job he falters whenever he's asked to bring his emotions to the surface.

Likewise, Odin (played by four different dogs in the movie) is an asset rather than a liability, but aside from his PTSD he rarely gets the opportunity to develop any kind of character beyond being, you know, a dog. It's a film where the characters are loosely sketched in, and this needed to be a lot more dramatic and suspenseful to make that approach work.

The Heart of the Beast is a film that assumes you're already keenly interested in both dogs and wilderness. Which is a reasonable assumption, even if that means it only does the bare minimum to make either of those things interesting. Just don't ask why the US military uses dogs in a war zone.

- Anthony Morris 

Review: The Weight

At times The Weight is basically The Wages of Fear only on two legs, and that is in no way a bad thing. A classic of suspense film-making that's been remade a number of times - including the 70s classic Sorcerer and a recent French remake that was less than perfect - it's become the benchmark for a certain kind of white-knuckle tension. And while The Weight is a little smaller in scale, the tension hasn't shrunk a bit.

It's the 1930s, and single dad Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) is, like much of the United States, struggling. He's a loving father who's doing his level best, but when an attempt to find somewhere to live goes awry he's sentenced to hard labour at a camp run by the baseball-loving J.J. Clancy (Russell Crowe).

Things seem set for a run of prison brutality, but when Murphy shows his technical skills off by removing a massive boulder (thus freeing up the inmates to play ball on Sunday), Clancy gets friendly. Turns out Murphy is working to a deadline - there's only a month or so before his daughter goes into permanent care, and even with a day's hard labour taking two off his sentence he won't get out in time. Impressed by his skills, Clancy makes him an offer he can't refuse.

Together with three men he can trust (which ends up being two men and a loud mouth), Murphy's sent over to a nearby gold mine. FDR is about to nationalise the nation's gold reserves, and a bunch of mines have already been robbed to get ahead of the compulsory acquisitions. To keep this load of gold in private hands, Murphy and his crew (accompanied by two guards) are going to carry it overland on a week-long trek through a wild forest to a pick up point. 

If all the gold arrives safely, Murphy will sign their release papers. If even one bar goes missing, they get paid in lead. Which means they can't afford to lose any. Which means that when things start to get tricky - as they almost immediately do - they're stuck carrying the gold through rivers, over ravines, while fleeing from bandits, and through whatever other obstacles get thrown in their way. Not that anyone believes they'll be left to tell their story even if they do succeed.

The supporting cast are broadly sketched but that's enough to do the job. Even Crowe is only around for a handful of scenes; this is Hawke's film, and he's matured into the kind of compelling presence that can hold a scene together just by watching what everyone else is up to.

This isn't exactly an action film, though there are a number of action scenes, and even a shootout or two - think something closer to a 70s-ro-80s tough guy drama. The storytelling from director Padraic McKinley is firmly grounded in the physical, all struggling men and muddy ground, and the forest setting is both beautiful and ominous. 

They're on enemy turf the whole way, whether the threat is a rickety rope bridge that will carry a person or a sake of gold but not both, or a seemingly friendly prospector who might have a few friends hiding in the darkness.

There isn't a lot of subtext to this, but there doesn't need to be: the basic set-up is more than gripping enough to make this work. The Weight is a smart, polished, edge-of-your-seat thriller that builds the tension until you can't take your eyes off the screen; it may not be a blockbuster, but this kind of film is worth its weight in gold.

- Anthony Morris 

 

Review: Coyote vs Acme

Notorious for being one of a handful of films originally buried by Warner Brothers for tax reasons (if nobody ever saw it, they could write off all the costs), Coyote vs Acme became an internet cause despite being seen by next to no-one. Propelled by hype unrelated to comedy, it eventually made its way to cinemas, where finally audiences can judge for themselves. Is this a modern day classic, or did it deserve its original, ignoble fate?

If you're a fan of the original Looney Tunes, this is a bit of a mixed bag. The basic premise - the Coyote, having figured out that the one element that links all his failures to catch the Roadrunner is the faulty products he's been buying from Acme, decides to sue - isn't really enough to build an entire movie on, and every new element added takes us one step further away from the elegant simplicity that made the original cartoons so memorable.

But a feature-length Roadrunner movie (even one based on a New Yorker short story) was always going to have to throw a few more items into the pot, and for the most part this chooses wisely. As the Coyote's bottom-feeding lawyer (more due to being crushed by the world than by choice) Kevin Avery, Will Forte manages to make a constantly exasperated and defeated character likable, while John Cena as his courtroom rival - he's defending Acme, which is headed by a blustering big business bird in the shape of Foghorn Leghorn - does what he can with a supporting role.

The legal drama itself has some twists and turns, including one very funny reveal that goes a long way towards redeeming the whole idea of a Looney Tunes courtroom drama, while the sinister conspiracy that's gradually uncovered works mostly as an excuse to bring in a whole bunch of other Looney Tunes characters. Which again, is a good thing, and the cameos are both smart and amusing.

If this overall isn't quite as funny as the recent The Day the Earth Blew Up, that's because the live-action side of things here - while smoothly integrated with the animation - tends to impose a limit or two on the wackiness, while the doors it opens for comedy mostly lead to comparisons to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

It does also require the story to have some kind of emotional climax, which... look, it's the Roadrunner and Coyote. Do we need any kind of heartfelt connection between these two eternal foes? For this movie to work, yes we do. For the characters as we've known and loved them via the classic Chuck Jones animated shorts? Not so much.

The result is a highly entertaining and often very funny movie that will possibly leave long-time fans of the characters scratching their heads a little. You could argue that's what it should do: times have changed, and this is aimed at a new audience.  If we stop moving forward, we're likely to look down and see there's nothing beneath us but a very long drop.

- Anthony Morris 

Review: Resident Evil

There's something to be said for an action hero who finds himself in over his head. When we first meet Bryan (Austin Abrams), he's a semi-competent medical courier with a possibly pregnant girlfriend on the phone and a missing signature on a deliver form. Trying to find someone to sign it keeps him around the snowed-in hospital just long enough to be offered a job delivering a mystery package to Racoon City. Who can say no to overtime pay?

Everybody watching this knows that a trip to Racoon City is a one-way ticket to mutant zombie hell; even if you've never played the (very successful) games, you've probably seen one of the numerous (slightly less successful) films based on those games, many of which starred Milla Jovovich. The fun thing about this very fun movie is that director and co-writer Zach Cregger  (Weapons) knows what his audience is anticipating. Does he deliver? He does - just not in the way you might expect.

Slipping and sliding on the icy roads in the middle of the night, Bryan hits a woman who walks right out in front of him. We know what that means: zombie time! Bryan, on the other hand, does not know it's probably not the best idea to go after her and see if she's okay. This will not be the last bad decision he makes this night.

What follows is a slow build up to a wild ride that revels in horror cliches and video game mechanics when its not busy subverting them. Memorable images, startling moments, nail-biting sequences, and big moments that mange to be both ridiculous and terrifying; this has it all.

It doesn't forget the franchise's video game roots either. Bryan constantly levels up the weapons he has, while inventory management is also surprisingly important. That said, he's not a great shot, doesn't really know how guns work and experience doesn't help him get any better. Also, padlocks; they're all over the place.

Being a bit of a doofus makes Bryan both charming (kind of) and relatable, even as he goes from being freaked out by what he's facing to showing some decent puzzle-solving skills in the face of mutated hordes of ravenous killers. Especially as almost everyone else he meets - and he spends a lot of time on his own here - is even less competent. Not that being competent helps matters, as a couple of short-lived characters make very clear.

Nobody is safe from the horror that is unfolding, but at least there's a bunch of good laughs along the way. The comedy here ranges from the extremely dark to, well, there's an electric fence gag you'll see coming from a mile away. It's also got plenty of jump scares and some fairly inventive monster designs, plus a lot of gore that's more unsettling (or darkly funny) than disgusting. And Bryan's relentless drive forward means he keeps on pushing himself into and through some pretty rough situations; in a city full of cannibal zombies, choosing to drop down into the sewers requires a very specific mindset.

At a tight 90 minutes and with a plot that runs on rails - he's got to deliver a package, no more no less - this doesn't mess around. Bryan finds himself in a bad situation, and by the time he realises how bad it is, it's gotten worse; a living nightmare for some, a fun night at the movies for others.

- Anthony Morris 

Review: Practical Magic 2

Practical Magic 2 is a bit of an unusual cinema release in 2026. The 1998 original was a (somewhat) lightweight hangout movie - plus a crime drama, plus a bunch of other things. These days those films tend to exist on streaming platforms, unless there's a good reason to get fans up off the couch. Maybe fans of the original will bring their daughters along to pass on the torch of midnight dance-drinking?

At the end of the first film it was hoped that the curse hanging over the Owens family - that if any of them fell in love, the object of that love would die - had been broken. Aiden Quinn is not back for this film, so that's a nope.

Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock) remains opposed to the family's magical heritage and has managed to keep her daughters - Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams) - from the dark(ish) arts, even as their aunts Francis (Stockard Channing) and Jet (Dianne Wiest) have been using their powers to help out the local community on the small Massachusetts island where they live.

As for Sally's sister Gilly (Nicole Kidman), she's still a free spirit, out for a good time because falling in love will just plant another body in the local graveyard. Unfortunately nobody told Kylie this, and when her boyfriend Gideon (Xolo Mariduena) turns up for Jet's birthday party, bad news is not far behind. 

Thanks to a magic book and some extra family turmoil, Kylie is soon heading over to the UK to try and reverse the family curse. Sally and Gilly (and Gilly's luggage) are soon in hot pursuit (Antonia, a medical student, gets stuck watching Gideon's comatose body). But is Professor Ian Wright (Lee Pace) all he seems? Well, he is naked when they find him so he's got nothing to hide there.

It's rare to say a movie's big problem is that it has too much story, but even pushing past two hours this feels like it's skimming over things at more than one point. We should be getting to spend time with some fun characters, not checking off plot points; while Gilly does fairly well as the (mostly) comedy sidekick, Sally rarely gets time to come out of her shell, even once Professor Wright starts to warm things up. 

While the three generations of sisters all have magic powers to some extent, the power of sisterhood - you know, hanging out and laughing and dancing and so on - gets at least as much screentime as magically slamming cupboards and shooting force beams out of your hands. Which is to say, not as much as it should.

The older aunts do their best with their limited screen time (Wiest is especially strong), while it's hard not to feel a little sorry for the largely sidelined Antonia - hopefully they're planning a medical-themed magical spin off (why hasn't someone tried to make a medical drama where the doctor has magical powers? Seems like a winner). 

It's too drawn out to be a fun hang, and Kidman's bubbly performance overshadows Bullock's more angsty turn, but it doesn't disgrace the original. Which is a pretty low bar, let's be honest, and this does replicate many of the original's problems: a messy story, a haphazard approach to magic (do you need to cast spells? Not really), stop-start pacing, and a lack of awareness of the strengths of the material.

The real magic here is good vibes; no wonder the grumpy bummer bad guy, who keeps prattling on about revenge (so much so that at one stage his big victory monologue is actually faded out so the women can talk) comes off as a real loser.

- Anthony Morris 

 

Review: The Dog Stars

It's reassuring to see a movie that reminds us that, even after the apocalypse, there's always going to be poor people wanting to steal our stuff. So ingrained are these fears that in The Dog Stars they outlast America itself: society has vanished in every way, and yet crime gangs wanting something for nothing remain.

A few years on from a flu pandemic that pretty much wiped out humanity, Hig (Jacob Elordi) has a pretty sweet deal going. Living on an airfield with his gruff hetrosexual life partner Bangley (Josh Brolin), he flies his plane into depopulated Denver to collect supplies, occasionally hangs out with a isolated religious community that take in surviving children - nothing dodgy there - and then comes home to chill out, have a beer, play cards, and occasionally shoot intruders before they have a chance to speak.

While Bangley is digging the survivalist vibes of their way of life, Hig is still depressed over the death of his wife and is hoping there's other survivors out there. The occasional radio message from Grand Junction, combined with a crime gang attack that hits a little too close to home, sends him flying off on a one-way trip to try and reconnect with someone.

One of the few strengths of this film is that it (often) sticks to an aggressively low-key approach to things. Yes, there are roving bands of kill-crazy lunatics; later on there's what is basically an Indian (as in, Cowboys & Indians) war party, and if you're wondering if any survivors have gone insane and turned into cannibals, that is also a box that is eventually ticked.

(none of which makes much sense, as we're repeatedly shown that almost everyone died pretty quickly, leaving behind everything a roving band of killers could want without having to bother with the killing part) 

But this also features a lengthy period where the main drama is "will Hig be able to pull up a bunch of tree stumps?". No spoilers, but we're so used to these stories ending in some kind of climactic battle that when this instead focuses on re-establishing a new status quo its almost unsettling in its refusal to put lives on the line.

That doesn't make it a good film though. The action scenes are competent until you notice that they're gleefully dehumanising the attackers in a way that's more than a little problematic. It's the story of a group of people who have a lot, shooting anyone who comes on their property and burning their bodies (yeah, that smoke isn't going to be a giveaway either). Early on it feels like it's going to question that dynamic, but then Hig just flies off.

The Dog Stars ends up a strange and not exactly satisfying mix of post-apocalyptic genres. For long stretches it wants to be about people trying to figure out how to keep going when everyone they loved is dead, then those same people make a bunch of other people dead because that's just what you do after the world ends.  

There's a more interesting and impactful film inside this one, buried just a little too deep for any dog to dig out.

- Anthony Morris 

 

Review: Spa Weekend

Spa Weekend is a bit of a throwback - well, every comedy that makes it to the big screen these days is a throwback, the golden age of big screen comedy now being firmly a decade or more in the rear view. But it's the kind of "we got a bunch of comedians together and let them improv scenes" comedy that once ruled the roost... and then wore out its welcome. Have lessons been learnt? 

Well, kind of. After a premise-establishing prologue in which all four main characters are set in stone as kids, we jump forward to today to see how they're coping with adulthood. Short answer: not well.

Jane (Leslie Mann) is a high powered lawyer so snowed under with work and single motherhood that when a cute lawyer hits on her she can't schedule a date for the next three months. Sophie (Anna Farris) works for a controlling boss who is basically a man-baby, Coco (Michelle Buteau) has anger issues that destroyed her relationship to her nice guy ex, and Mel (Ilsa Fisher) is... seemingly in France, which is where everyone would like her to stay because she's a maniac.

With Jane's birthday coming up, Coco and Sophie gently nudge her towards the idea of a spa weekend. Nobody really wants Mel to ruin the vibe, so she's out. The resort is luxe (it was filmed on the Gold Coast), the vibe is chill, and is the hot yoga teacher (Adam Demos) checking Jane out?

Isla Fisher is first in the credits so no surprise she turns up. Sophie felt bad for not inviting her and who thought she'd fly in from France? Now it's a real party, in that every single relaxation session they're booked in for dissolves into chaos. Not that "goat yoga" could really have gone any other way.

Written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (The Hangover), this is a wobbly mix of luxury resort porn and wacky comedy that never fully invests in either. Somewhat surprisingly, this is a good thing: the comedy remains at least slightly grounded, and the fancy settings are occasionally worth checking out when the laughs falter. Which they do on a regular basis.

The best thing here is the performances, which are likable across the board and (mostly) restrained enough to avoid being painful when the jokes fall flat. None of these characters have more than the one dimension, but there's just enough going on to make their predictable plights slightly engaging.

If that all sounds like damning with faint praise, that's because it is. This is a comedy that's as beige as the resort surroundings - presumably as the result of some heavy editing, as there's the occasional hint that originally things might have been a bit more out there (there's one reference to Mel bringing a lot of cocaine with her, but aside from a party montage it's never shown).

This is a film that knows its audience: middle aged people who in theory like to laugh but in practice just want to be distracted from the real world for 90 minutes or so. It's a low bar to clear, but it just about manages it. Hopefully every single person in this film got to take a break afterwards, because after this they all deserve a real holiday.

- Anthony Morris