Cert – PG, Run-time – 1 hour 35 minutes, Directors – Lauren Montgomery, Steve Ahn, William Mata

A now grown up Aang (Eric Nam) reteams with old friends in order to locate a powerful magical staff that, if fallen into the wrong hands, could lead to disaster and his kind being wiped out.

One of the biggest cinematic shames of 2026 will be the fact that Paramount never fulfilled their initial intentions of giving Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender in cinemas. After the film was leaked earlier in the year the studio brought the barely-promoted streaming release forward, with Academy-qualifying run in the States. Watching it at home it’s clear that the mix of hand-drawn characters with CG effects and backgrounds was made to be seen on the big screen. There’s awe at the expansive colourful action on display from the small screen, watching in a cinema may well have, visually, run close competition for The Odyssey.

A continuation of beloved Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender – which itself has been remade in live-action films and TV series, with other animated series directly spinning off from it – Avatar Aang marks the start of a new world of Avatar productions, the debut of Avatar Studios. As a reintroduction to this world, with a now aged up Aang (Eric Nam) reuniting with old friends; and meeting new faces such as Dave Bautista’s fellow airbender Tagah -there’s a feeling of perhaps one too many characters overall – there should prove a solid continuation for fans, likely to be absorbed almost instantly to the world and its style. As an introduction, for newcomers (such as myself, completely clueless to anything in the original series and everything linked to it) there’s plenty in the visuals, however the narrative may not be packing the same punch.

As the characters travel around various locations, each one attempting to be a big sequence, trying to locate a powerful staff before a tribe that threatens to wipe out Aang and his kind can get hold of it, and possibly destroy the world, dialogue reminding us of what’s happening and catching us up on the details of the plot and characters can often feel quite on-the-nose, or simply clunky. While the animation is polished to beyond a shining glow, the screenplay feels in need of another once-over, or two. Both in regards to more conversational scenes whilst on the way to the next setting, or simply interactions in otherworldly realms. Not always helped by an individual feeling to certain sequences that feel like they could do with a stronger bridge between each one so they feel less chaptered.

The action bursts from the screen thanks to the colours and visuals, and simply in terms of style and overall execution it proves engaging in its own right, especially in the climactic stages. However, there’s a feeling that the narrative build-up to these events doesn’t match the scale and spectacle on display, which again was made to be seen in the cinema but unfortunately this will only be the case for very few people. Perhaps a better return to the world, characters and sights of Avatar than introduction, there’s an overall likable if not always emotionally engaging journey through the various details of this world, one which the film feels intent on revisiting as much as possible of.

While visually stunning there’s not a narrative to match in Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender as on-the-nose dialogue occasionally emphasises the individual nature of sightseeing sequences between striking action setpieces.

Cert – 12, Run-time – 2 hours 25 minutes, Director – Destin Daniel Cretton

Having been forgotten by the world, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) lives his days alone, wishing to reconnect with old friends, until an anonymous body-hopper and strengthening spider-sense cause chaos in New York.

Alongside great power and great responsibility, Spider-Man is often a character defined by those around him, and a sense of loss. Both have been battled in the MCU trilogy focusing on Tom Holland’s iteration of the character, particularly 2021’s No Way Home which confronted the cost of being Spider-Man from a multiversal angle.

Now, with Destin Daniel Cretton taking over the director’s chair from Jon Watts, having been forgotten by the world Peter Parker has spent four years in isolation. A montage shows us he truly is the street-level friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. After facing universe-ending threats there’s a sense of fun seeing him combat, albeit powered, villains whilst swinging through the streets of New York City and casually communicating with police captain Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas).

However, loneliness affects his spidey-senses as they intensify, leading to bursts of anger and mutations amidst taunting from a mysterious figure jumping between bodies they possess whilst threatening the city’s safety. Half character drama, half Marvel flick there’s a maturity to both aspects as an older and bruised Spider-Man, and Parker – both of whom Holland has effectively played as one for a decade now – starts to lose his place in a world that only knows the mask.

It’s the character drama, especially surrounding Peter’s attempts to maybe rekindle his relationships with Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya); dialogue-based scenes involving the three can be quiet and heartful or leaning into the character drama at hand without disturbing the louder action. Of which there is plenty. Enemies come in various forms, as seen in the aforementioned catch-up montage, and each brings a new kind of battle style, well captured by Cretton who was behind 2021’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings – a highlight of Marvel’s Multiverse Saga. A layered skyscraper battle following multiple characters, giving Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner time to shine, is a particular highlight

Marvel Studios has managed to base much of their Spider-Man films around the character. Homecoming was as much a coming-of-age teen movie as it was a superhero flick; Brand New Day also doesn’t forget the humour. That’s continued as we’ve followed Peter, MJ and Ned through the following stages of life and we see the weight that separation has on Holland’s character, watching them via Instagram reels. Character and superhero narrative continue to be well paired here from start to finish, allowing for the shift into further action in the third act to avoid a dip or major change in tone with the focus still on the mentalities of not just the titular hero but those he’s trying to help, too.

Saving the day is still high on the agenda for the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. It’s an isolating responsibility to carry, but that weight is effectively lifted in Brand New Day with engaging character arcs working in-hand with the swift-moving action.

A more mature character-driven venture, not without its chuckles, for Peter Parker, Spider-Man and co. Brand New Day features plenty of slick, web-slinging action amongst the engaging character dramas.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 2 hours 53 minutes, Director – Christopher Nolan

With the Trojan War complete, Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his troops head home to Ithaca, an unexpectedly ten-year journey beset by the gods with monsters and disasters.

Borrowing from his Oppenheimer flashback-style of time meddling, Christopher Nolan follows a weary Odysseus (Matt Damon) trying to remember the events between winning the Trojan War and washing up on a beach, rescued by Calypso (Charlize Theron), years later. Yet, Oppenheimer had an aspect of heated interrogation fuelling the flashbacks, not present in the case of The Odyssey as we see Odysseus and his troops battling the forces of the gods through nature and monsters. Setting them off course and creating a ten-year journey home, where suitors are starting to demand that his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway, standing out in a large ensemble cast) move on and remarry so that someone new can finally take control.

While these figures, led by Robert Pattinson’s enjoyably disdainful Antinous, start to scheme we see Odysseus facing a succession of obstacles to flee, and occasionally attack. There’s a spectacle to them, designed for the big screen as Nolan clearly has classic epics in mind when making this, alongside feelings of beloved sword-and-sandals flicks. The tone, in this case, is intensified into a very mature and adult fantasy actioner. One that gets much impact from the sound department, capturing the chaos and yells as giants come round the corner and surround the men of Ithaca, or an army of the dead rises up. The sound erupting from the speakers with clatters and thuds creates a number of successful jumps and, at times, a darker tone for the film.

As for the sequences themselves, they do have a tendency to feel like a set of sequences in need of a tad more solid connection to feel less like stages. The Ithacan army trying to escape a towering cyclops in a cave is followed quickly by the meeting with giant soldiers, and I couldn’t help but feel a similarity in tone and style to the moments, as if a bit too similar in their basis. There’s still an impact in some of the suddenness, although not quite a punch. Much like the suspense, it’s scattered.

When the narrative is most direct, largely in the third act which while long is well tracked and has plenty to keep it moving, while the journey to it can sometimes simply feel long in the near three-hour run-time. There’s a sharp propulsion to the third act and just how Nolan escalates it. Capturing the tiredness and retained fury of Odysseus, a defiance that doesn’t quite seem to be as present or burning in the stages before. Perhaps it’s a final fight, personal and physical, stretching out, involving multiple faces we’ve seen scattered throughout the main journey – Tom Holland appears more consistently as the lead figure’s son, Telemachus, after having gone in search of his father with the film at one point feeling as if it’s forgotten him.

There’s a great many characters here, and, as has become the case for a Nolan film now, a very starry cast portraying them. Things don’t feel overly busy because of them, and no one feels like they’re fighting for space, with solid performances all round. But, you can sometimes feel divisions amongst the strands and who’s telling a flashback when it comes to the individual sequences. It’s easy to see and feel where one starts and ends without a full flow from one to the next.

Yes, there’s spectacle and likable elements in each instance. An intensity that comes through, but I couldn’t help but feel the run-time during the journey with the decision to draw a number of these sequences out to really get across the scale and struggle of the odyssey faced itself. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but with the effect that they have (I realise I’m in a minority here) I found myself not always in awe or immersed in what I was seeing – despite the detailed production and costume design.

Again, when letting ideas breathe together in the heat of direct battle, as a true sense of weariness and personal stakes is felt and Nolan looks more at Odysseus’ reflection on the past and learnings of himself, and what the gods may have thrown at him for his actions, I found a more intriguing emotional aspect for the characters, largely confined to Hathaway and brief side-characters until the burst of the extended confined battle which leads towards the film’s ending. One dealing with more than the deadly fight at hand and with an overall better flow. Perhaps a re-watch will bring more appreciation for what’s been pulled off here by Nolan, it’s certainly an ambitious film; arguably his biggest to date. But sometimes that grandness means that bigger emotional stakes and effect are left until much later.

While there’s scale and effect in the technical aspects, bringing in some stakes and suspense, much of the tension and emotional connection with The Odyssey is found in its third act, once the various sequences of the main, somewhat lengthy, journey itself is almost over.

Cert – PG, Run-time – 1 hour 55 minutes, Director – Thomas Kail

Teenage Moana (Catherine Laga’aia) ventures across the ocean to find demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to help her restore a stone heart that will bring life back to surrounding islands.

While I continue to say that Disney’s live-action remakes are becoming too similar to the original films I worry that my reviews of them are becoming even more similar. It reflects a series of films that themselves are starting to blend into each other in tone and style, caught in a growingly stale formula where they’re becoming hard to differentiate from each other, let alone their original films.

Moana, released just months away from exactly ten years of the original film – and just over a year-and-a-half from its sequel – feels so afraid to steer away from the legacy and memory that the 2016 animation has that it feels more copy and paste than ‘reimagining’ (as Disney continues to label these remakes). The songs are still great, the jokes largely still work, Dwayne Johnson and Jemaine Clement give roughly the same performances returning for their characters; and the film itself is perfectly fine. But, I couldn’t help reaching the hour mark and starting to feel bored. I’d seen this film ten years ago and it was better, and looked better, too.

While there’s enough live-action to justify this as a live-action take there’s a lot of CG scattered throughout, and a number of shots showing the characters amongst a green screen ocean feel very artificial. Yet, one of the best moments of the film is a brief flicker of joy. Just a few seconds in the middle of highlight song You’re Welcome, as demigod Maui (Johnson) starts to spin a tale of self-glorifying wonder to the titular teenage future-island-chief (Catherine Laga’aia, who gives a confident performance, striding with the songs) who’s demanding he help her restore the stone heart of an island, which could help restore life across the ocean – after her own island is impacted and crops start to suffer. A burst of colour erupts onto the screen, a break into bigger fantasy through an animation that matches the spirit of the song. Unfortunately, it’s only a few seconds before going back to the more limited sets trying to capture an in-between of the animated world of the original and live-action one of the remake without quite sitting comfortably in either.

There simply feels to be little imagination on display. Too much reliance on the original and how well people know it while having to make elements that are so well suited to an animated form fit into this new setting. The ocean being its own character, even simply waving or nodding to Moana, looks better in a completely animated world than here where it still does essentially the same thing. Aside from a couple of tweaks to the words of songs there feels almost nothing new here. If you’ve never seen 2016’s Moana then 2026’s will likely be likable viewing, if occasionally a bit clunky with visuals. For those who have seen it, however, it feels as much of a repeat as this review. Displaying an eventually tiresome lack of imagination that its ‘perfectly fine-ness’ starts to feel bland.

Because of how similar it is to the original film this Moana remake is largely fine, but despite the same great songs and a hugely likable lead there’s such little imagination on display that it all starts to feel boring, and in need of an animated spark.

Cert – 18, Run-time – 1 hour 49 minutes, Director – Sébastien Vaniček

After the funeral of her abusive husband (George Pullar) Alice (Souheila Yacoub) is invited to his family home, where Deadites in search of an ancient dagger are circling.

2023’s Evil Dead Rise may have struck the same horror-focused vein as Fede Álvarez’s 2013 drenched-in-crimson franchise reboot, but like that film it still had an entertainment factor in the literal scrapes and tears featured throughout – let’s not forget the cheese grater. Follow-up Evil Dead Burn is a far cry from the humour that grew throughout the original trilogy, it’s the kind of film that British censors believed they were watching when banning the film under the Video Nasties scare of the 80s. That’s not to say that The Evil Dead isn’t scary and doesn’t have it’s twisted and splattery moments, but there’s levity amongst them, as some would point out a tongue-in-cheek aspect to it, although largely in the sequels. Evil Dead Burn, on the other hand, is a dark, dark film.

As Deadites surround an isolated, splintering family home where the Price’s have gathered shortly after the funeral of son and brother Will (George Pullar), tensions are already rising at the presence of his wife, Alice (Souheila Yacoub), especially after she didn’t make a speech at the funeral for her abusive ex. The build-up is slow and gradual, but once the possessing beings come into play, searching for an ancient dagger they believe to be in the home, the hoped for thrills and action come into full effect.

That is until they, quite quickly, go beyond that. Co-writer (alongside Florent Bernard) and director Sébastien Vaniček seems intent on not just testing the waters but pushing the boat out as far as possible, before taking a chainsaw to it and everyone on board. While not feeling sadistic there is an uneasy nature to a good chunk of the horror on display. Focusing on the idea rather than the effect – someone’s face being pushed into another caved-in one doesn’t produce the right kind of squirm. The biggest issue is the fact that there feels little entertainment factor because of the tone and nature of what we’re seeing. Intensifying that feeling of darkness without a full impact.

The feeling of that brilliant one-shot teaser trailer with bodies, dust, destruction and chaos being thrown and flown in all directions is present on a couple of occasions. In the scene itself and another brief moment where an early deadite encounter is shown from above, the sustained shots help to bring in intensity and propulsion. It’s a shame that those aren’t quite present throughout. Certainly the third act has a better sense of flow, feeling less like unfolding ideas in a possessed house movie and having a stronger chase and fight aspect – where Yacoub clutches the throat of her final girl role and gets everything she can out of it. A jackhammer and hedge strimmer make for well-utilised weapons, and a pen brought about more than one of the biggest gasps and audible winces for quite some time from myself. It’s moments where the film is swift but allowing ideas to live on and have an effect rather than focusing on just the idea for the heavy blood and gore they emit.

Such moments help lift the film up and see it through, ending on a more positive note thanks to the successful thrills and suspense brought about in contrast to the pure darkness, and slight drudgery, of images focusing more on bloody detail over wider effect. There are entertaining details, and indeed some tongue-in-cheek chuckles and twisted scares and lingering interactions with deadites, but they take some time to come round to. As if the film needs to get through a lot before properly igniting and staying aflame.

Evil Dead Burn often seems to be focused on pushing the gore boat out rather than entertaining. While it has its amusing and likably grisly moments, especially in the action and chases of the third act flow, there’s an adverse intensity to the slow first half’s darkness that can sometimes border on sadistic.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 40 minutes, Director – Matt Johnson

Best friends Matt (Matt Johnson) and Jay (Jay McCarrol) have been trying for almost two decades to play a gig at the Rivoli, after a failed skydiving stunt, time travel back to 2008 is the new way to go.

It takes unbelievable confidence, bravery and enjoyment of the craft to make something as bold and wild as Nirvanna: The Band – The Show – The Movie. The feature follow-on from the TV series spun-off from the web series, each following best friends Matt (director Matt Johnson) and Jay (Jay McCarrol) – both of whom co-write – as they try to secure a gig for their band Nirvanna: The Band at their local music venue, the Rivoli in Toronto.

After almost 20 years of trying, with the latest attempt involving a failed skydive attempt from the CN Tower, the next step is to turn their RV into a time machine – inspired by Back To The Future – which transports them back to 2008. Amongst worry and attempts to get back without the future having changed we still see plans being concocted as to how to make it big; largely led by the ambitiously hopeful Matt, the leader of much of the film’s chaos.

The ambitions and madcap ideas and experiences of the central pair perfectly match the overall style of the film. Shot like a mockumentary, although breaking the fourth wall in laugh-out-loud fashion to cut to clips from the original web series, a number of scenes are filmed with hidden cameras and brief interactions with the public on the streets of Toronto. The joke doesn’t seem to be the reaction of those who aren’t aware they’re being filmed but more the behaviour of Matt and Jay, the things they say and do and how their film and adventures have burst out into the real world, both past and present.

The whole thing feels like a film made by a small group of friends just having fun making something. That fun comes across on-screen and brings through the gonzo laughs throughout. In a narrative and film that feel like they go against everything that should conventionally work, do their own thing and succeed thanks to the drive that the cast and crew all have. For fans of the web and TV series (neither of which I’ve seen, or had heard of until now) this feels like something completely maintaining the spirit whilst successfully broadening to a feature film. For fellow outsiders when the laughs start coming it’s easy to embrace, and slightly marvel at, the madness and pure ambition of the film. One that knowingly takes inspiration from the likes of Back To The Future and Bill And Ted and bringing its own style to them.

One of the boldest, most ambitious films of the year comes in the form of a mad time travel comedy that keeps its spirit of friends having fun creating together at its core. Funny, mad and unashamed about letting its characters and their schemes burst into our world.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 47 minutes, Director – Olivia Wilde

Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela’s (Olivia Wilde) marriage has long been full of arguments, when their upstairs neighbours (Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton) come for a dinner party revelations and confrontations make for an awkward and heated night.

The Invite makes me believe that Olivia Wilde could make a film in an Ikea display room and still have it feel cinematic. Confined to an, admittedly quite large, apartment – having been made from two initially connected flats – and focusing on just four characters at no point does this feel as if we’re watching a filmed play. Multiple corners are shown through the open-plan spaces, corridors, doorways and other areas of the home, there feels nowhere to properly hide or gain privacy or escape from the various conversations unfolding. Even when not sharing a space it feels like the four characters are talking over each other.

The camera placement and blocking feel so specific yet natural that they carry the rising tensions and awkwardness of the not-quite-dinner-party at hand. Angela (Wilde) has spent the day preparing meats, cheeses, a soufflé and new rug for a dinner party with upstairs neighbours Hawk (Edward Norton) and Piña (Penélope Cruz) to get to know them and apologise for the recent renovation noise. Husband Joe (Seth Rogen – once again showing great dramatic chops, I continue to point to his excellent turn in 2015’s Steve Jobs) has completely forgotten and is not ready to meet the couple he’s been annoyed by so many times in the lift.

Bickering flows from almost the second the two are in the apartment together. Thick and fast the agitation rises and rises between them with biting remarks beyond two people who are simply tried after a long day. Building us to prepare for awkwardness and a night of rifts the laughs start early on and only grow as Hawk and Piña arrive. The couples contrast and the guise of the perfect (at least as can be) dinner party is rife with fractures from the off. Awkwardness and a desperate need to escape almost any topic of conversation are the core offerings, and both provide plenty of laughs amongst the excruciating exercise of failing politeness between the central couple as they try to engage with their guests – who have some surprising revelations of their own to throw a spanner into the works around halfway through.

It’s this spanner which somewhat changes the humour to a new kind of awkwardness – wonderfully charted by the cast, particularly Rogen and Wilde on excellent form, particularly the latter’s glaring looks and facial expressions which conjure many laughs. The conversation sits uncertainly and uneasily, with no clear route to follow as we see it play out in real time and quietly explore Joe and Angela’s relationship.

More dramatic beats emerging in the second half are also effectively handled and bring a sense of reflective poignancy, especially in the very final stages. Slotting in with relative ease amongst the frequently, unexpectedly so, funny surroundings of Rashida Jones and Will McCormack’s script. Helped by the editing which maintains the layered flow with rhythms matching the opening credits where multiple shots play out alongside each other as Joe’s bike-struggle home contrasts with Angela’s day of buying decorations and ingredients. It’s the first flavour of a 70s feel to this contemporary adult drama. A feeling further found in the general set-up, and some of the look of the feature, too. One that seems to have been specifically thought about in capturing some of the film’s style.

I’m sure that returning to this film will bring out more, new awkwardness in the overlapping lines of dialogue that I didn’t hear over others on a number of occasions – creating an intentional layer of chaos and natural uneasiness for the characters, and further humour for the audience. Keenly conjured and captured by Wilde’s direction, and the excellent performances which allow the screenplay’s fracturing dinner party to break in truly entertaining fashion.

Excruciatingly entertaining, The Invite is an adult drama with a 70s feel. Brilliantly performed and written there’s a natural awkwardness flowing throughout, bringing plenty of laughs as the sharp drama quietly grows within it.

Cert – U, Run-time – 1 hour 30 minutes, Directors – Pierre Coffin, Patrick Delage

1920s Hollywood, the Minions (Pierre Coffin) arrive and quickly become big stars, but with the arrival of sound a monster movie idea could be the thing to help them, until it breaks beyond the studio.

Illumination has been criticised almost since its debut feature, Despicable Me, 16 years ago of playing into convention. Overfamiliar animation style, safe jokes and a cycle of ideas that appeals more to the younger members of the crowd. Even for me, having fond a general liking for their films, it comes as a surprise that the third main outing for their Minion mascots, Minions And Monsters, is as cine-literate as it is. Within minutes of crashing into 1920s Hollywood, in search of a new big boss, we’ve seen a quick succession of references to Chaplin, Lloyd and Keaton.

References to early and genre cinema are scattered throughout this story which sees the Minions (voiced by creator Pierre Coffin) taking over Hollywood. But, when sound arrives and noone can understand them it’s up to leads James and Henry to use the former’s creativity and storytelling skills to make a monster movie that could save them all, if it doesn’t backfire and threaten to destroy the world.

As the story unfolds we hear voiceover from Allison Janney as a movie museum tour guide, explaining to a group of tourists who James and Henry are. It’s this strand that contrasts with the Looney Tunes-style slapstick of the central yellow characters as the tone almost seems to talk down to the younger audience members. Not quite patronising, but still in a way that feels almost uneasy for everyone else, especially in comparison to the simplicity and easy-going nature of the more upfront antics. We’re trusted to understand Minionese for stretches of time, the actions and gestures speak for themselves, what’s being said isn’t important. So, when narration is at the fore why does the film feel as if it’s talking down, or just needing to explain?

The same feeling doesn’t come with other English-speaking characters such as Jesse Eisenberg’s Dort – claiming to be an alien robot seeking a team to help him destroy Earth. A group of Minions follow him as their new evil leader and while amusing there’s a slightly sketch-like feel to some of the sequences as they never have the same push as the direct monster movie ventures of James, Henry and Ed, a Minion who communicates with sign-language. It’s with them that the film has the most joy, and chaos. There’s slapstick elsewhere, and a good number of chuckles throughout the quick 90-minute run-time, but particularly in scenes that lean most into the main titular action.

Set-pieces and action sequences allow for both the biggest scales and most laughs. An out-of-control train chase is packed with gags and silliness, while the climactic battle, and its Star Wars references, provide plenty of giggles with just how much happens. Whilst Minions explosively attack one dressed as a clown charges forward in true golden age cartoon style firing plastic guns displaying tiny banners that read ‘Pew!’ from the barrels.

From the opening montage putting the world-famous characters into some of the earliest pieces of cinematic footage it’s clear that something different is happening here compared to their previous two outings. And once things get going and the cineliteracy takes the stage, alongside the true slapstick silliness that can come with the characters, the more direct moments that embrace the humour and allow things to pan out rather than be unnecessarily explained create plenty of chuckles and may even bring some people round on the Minions, even if just this once.

While side-plots might feel slightly sketch-like there’s plenty of amusement in the slapstick and cine-literacy of Minions And Monsters monster movie core that keeps the laughs coming, and brings something different to this franchise.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 56 minutes, Director – Anders Thomas Jensen

After being released from prison Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) goes to his brother, Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen), to find the money he stole. However, Manfred has DID, believing he’s John Lennon, and can’t remember where it’s hidden.

As director, Anders Thomas Jensen has found a home blending genres with deadpan Danish expressions and dark comedy. Often placing them into ever so slightly off-kilter situations, or pulling occasional comedic beats from the seriousness of the narrative – such as in his previous feature, 2020’s Riders Of Justice. While not a complete stumble, the writer-director’s latest feature, The Last Viking, suggests that there’s only so much that can be brought together under one style before feeling too busy.

Busyness may not quite be the right term for The Last Viking, but it certainly falters under the various tones that are at play amongst the dead-pan style. Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) has just been released from prison having committed a bank robbery. One of his first actions is to visit his brother, Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen) to find out where the money has been buried. However, past trauma, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and the belief that he’s John Lennon – cue a selection of ill-performed Beatles tracks – mean that Manfred has forgotten where he hid the money years before.

As a history of trauma for the brothers is looked at alongside a potential therapy with other DID patients who believe they’re the other members of The Beatles – although one amusingly only performs ABBA songs – things start to feel slightly rough around the edges as they play out around Anker’s search for the loot from his bank job years prior. Each strand has a slightly different tone, mixing the comedic and dramatic styles that are at play, but not quite enough for them to fully gel together. Yes, there are effective ideas at play in the final stages; even if still featuring in tonally shifting flashbacks which could land more of an effect in a slightly more consistent film, but as a whole the near two-hour run-time largely feels like its feeling changes every couple of scenes.

Mikkelsen and Kaas, both of whom have worked previously with Jensen, put in good performances, helping to lift a somewhat scattered script. The supporting cast, too, put in good turns, especially during bigger, more heated interactions. There are ideas about what people have done with and made of their lives, what they’ve wanted for them and have done/ are doing instead. As the film reaches its conclusion these link rather well with the pasts of the central siblings, although I do wish that they had been given a bit more space and time to breathe.

For the most part The Last Viking is an interesting film that has its moments, especially those focusing on the connections formed between the characters. Whether the history of the central pair, or a simple jam session where nobody is playing the same song. Unfortunately, the tonal shifts start to create a slightly bumpy journey where, much like the money being searched for, the core ideas can start to feel a bit buried amongst the changes between the strands at hand.

A likable slice of Danish deadpan that occasionally loses its bigger ideas in its tonal shifts. While there’s some amusement, and emotional connection on and off screen in the third act, it can sometimes be a bumpy journey to get there.