Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 49 minutes, Director – Emma Tammi

Plagued by past traumas, Mike (Josh Hutcherson) takes a night security job at a run-down family entertainment restaurant where there seems to be something sinister about the animatronics.

If there’s one thing that Five Nights At Freddy’s effectively demonstrates it’s how thin the line between horror and comedy is. Unfortunately, the sequences batting for PG-13 horror tension don’t manage to raise a laugh either. As the living animatronics walk in the background of shots, or the camera cuts just as they attack such moments feel as if they’re closer to something in a comedy than the aimed for horror stylings. In addition, the editing of these sequences also leads to minimal effect simply because the main focus is cut away from to maintain the PG-13 rating (although still obtaining a just about rightful 15 here in the UK), something which could likely be kept if the camera stayed on the main action.

That is, if the animatronics and their antics can be considered the main action. For much of the narrative we follow Mike (Josh Hutcherson) as he starts a new job as night security guard at a rundown family entertainment restaurant, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place. Alongside dealing with strange occurrences at his new workplace, during the day Mike battles his aunt (Mary Stuart Masterson) for custody of his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio) and experiences recurring flashbacks to his own childhood where he blames himself for the abduction of his younger brother.

The two subplots, later combined with a third, are generally uninteresting and add little to the already lax, yet somehow still crammed, story taking place over a lengthy 109 minutes. Instead of providing something more detailed, or even just leaning more into the possible spookiness, the various strands at play are bland due to how basic they feel. The five nights are cluttered with this meaning that sometimes Freddy and the other animatronic band members almost feel like an afterthought. It’s not until the second half that they properly start to do something beyond brief lurking or attacks.

“It’s been a weird night” Mike explains to a visiting police officer (Elizabeth Lail) after very little has happened. The events have been more in his mind than anything else. We’re still yet to be properly introduced to the murderous creatures due to how much is being built-up in the subplots. Subplots which remain consistently uninteresting no matter how many times they may crop up in-between the core events at Freddy’s. It means that much of this feature adaptation of the hit video game franchise feels too busy trying to prove itself as a narrative that it ends up cluttered and therefore not properly developed with the narrative strands that it gives itself. When you also take in the lack of scares it feels as if everything that it does to push itself as a film ends up holding it back.

With horror sequences which fail to scare due to almost misunderstanding the PG-13 angle and a clutter of uninteresting subplots Five Nights At Freddy’s never manages to properly engage due to the fact that the core events and animatronics are given little space and time.

Cert – U, Run-time – 1 hour 31 minutes, Directors – Walt Dohrn, Tim Heitz

When a member of his estranged boyband family is kidnapped Branch (Justin Timberlake) must reunite with his brothers to perform the perfect family harmony and save him.

It’s hard to be annoyed or frustrated by something that feels as if such little heart has been put into it. Your response is often equal to the amount of care which comes across, particularly in this case from the voice cast who largely sound as if they’re phoning in their performances. The Trolls films have largely been loud – in volume and colour – displays of familiar messages conveyed better in other animated films and the third entry in the franchise, Band Together, is no different.

This time a lesson in family runs through the 90-minute course of the film as Branch (Justin Timberlake) is reunited with his estranged brother John Dory (Eric André) who tells him that another member of their former boyband family has been kidnapped. Floyd (Troye Sivan) is being held in a diamond perfume bottle owned by rising stars Velvet (Amy Schumer) and Veneer (Andrew Rannells). The two villains, who look like they’re about to belt out a rendition of Witch Doctor with the rest of the Cartoons, are stealing Floyd’s talent to push their careers, and plan to kidnap the rest of BroZone before his fades entirely.

We’re reintroduced to Branch and Queen Poppy (Anna Kendrick – the most energetic thing about the film) in a musical montage as they glide through their town preparing for a wedding. The music from the off sounds like the stereotype of modern music, with lashings of autotune. The intro raises two questions: why does it look like the animated characters are gliding through their similarly animated world via green screen, and why do all of these people who we know can sing sound so autotuned? Singer Camila Cabello has a voice role and somehow this is the second film to feature her – after leading Amazon’s 2021 take on Cinderella – where she sounds the most autotuned person in the cast.

She plays Viva, one of the various faces we stumble across on the way as the central team grows, picking up more members of BroZone on the way to save Floyd. The group must put aside the differences that split them up to perform the perfect family harmony in order to break the diamond their brother is surrounded by. Their attempts in the past failed and they’ve been silent ever since – “if we can’t hit the perfect family harmony then we’re not perfect, and if we’re not perfect we’re nothing” proclaims John Dory in the opening scene of the film. And thus the film’s lacking message is set in motion.

It’s a familiar set of themes which show such feelings throughout the hour-and-a-half run-time. The film as a whole feels rushed and somewhat scrapped together in order to just get it out while Trolls still seems to be popular amongst young audiences. It’s not until halfway through that they seem to remember the adults who are taking such audiences and DreamWorks Animation who at the turn of the century made Shrek now crowbar in strange drug references with no effect. It’s simply another bland spot in an animated threequel which can’t even struggle due to the rushed nature with which it seems to have been churned out.

There’s little to really care about within Trolls Band Together simply because there doesn’t feel to be much heart and energy in it. The central family message is familiar and acts as most of the content aside from the loud and irksome musical renditions and crowbarred gags.

Cert – 18, Run-time – 1 hour 58 minutes, Director – Kevin Greutert

After falling victim to a scam cancer treatment a dying John Kramer (Tobin Bell) puts those behind it through a series of painful life or death ‘games’

After almost 20 years the Saw franchise will seemingly still do anything to keep John Kramer somewhere in the picture. Whether it be through flashbacks or prequels it’s rare that Tobin Bell won’t be seen somewhere. In Saw X he’s at his most present as he sits and watches, and talks to, the victims of his latest life or death ‘games’ as they hack through their body parts in a fight for survival.

Those facing the elaborate traps this time have personally wronged Kramer after convincing him they would provide radical life-saving surgery to remove his stage 4 brain tumour. However, the surgery, as we learn in the lengthy first act which finds itself relatively void of much ‘Saw action’, turns out to be a scam, leading Kramer to seek revenge, and to teach what he sees as a lesson in the value of life. The traps are what we’re used to from this franchise, and to an extent once we get to them it’s more of the same. Yet, what prevents them from having the effect that they could have is the fact that the film spends so long telling us how bad the people facing them are.

Sympathy isn’t something the film seems to seek for the victims, no matter how much they plead their innocence. The same somewhat goes for Kramer as his own views are questioned and tested – especially when it comes to one victim facing drug addiction (Renata Vaca). However, this point is restricted to just one or two lines of dialogue with little else done about it, it’s straight back to the ensuing traps for each individual which has been locked in a Mexican warehouse. There’s some amusement to be found here and there, but with the chaptered nature of the stages there’s an occasional feeling that things are being drawn-out – at just short of two hours this is the longest Saw film to date.

While not amongst the worst in the franchise (Jigsaw) Saw X is one of the weaker entries. Generally watchable but not helped by its drawn-out stages as it attempts to delve into the mind of the Jigsaw Killer before jumping back into another pouring of blood, brains and bone marrow. The third act attempts to bring in some twist and heightened stakes – which have some effect in the final stages as the Saw theme finally kicks in with good impact – and it makes for a faster paced set of events with a more frantic feel not entirely present in the scenes before, despite the return of fast, flashbulb-like editing to introduce some of the ‘games’. Saw X might have its moments, but its also a longer version of more of the same.

There are amusing moments within Saw X’s chaptered events, however not enough to make for something properly effective throughout the occasionally drawn-out sequences which never truly delve into Jigsaw as much as they might want to.

Cert – 12, Run-time – 2 hours 13 minutes, Director – Gareth Edwards

A US sergeant (John David Washington) is tasked with destroying an AI superweapon, only to find it takes the form of a child (Madeline Yuna Voyles)

For much of The Creator’s opening stages we’re told by John David Washington’s Sergeant Joshua, and the opening news reel, that no matter how life-like the enemy AI might be they have no proper emotions. They don’t die, they just get turned off (or put on standby). So why should we care about them? Even with how much we see and hear about them, the focus certainly seems to be on AI over the human characters leading the story, it’s hard in the first half of the film to form a connection with such figures.

The same goes for the humans who, aside from Washington, are often posed as the villains in the futuristic war against AI. Allison Janney leads the chase trying to track Joshua down as he attempts to find the creator of a childlike AI superweapon, eventually named Alphie (Madeline Yuna Voyles), instead of destroying it. The villains turn up frequently to scupper any chance of the pair catching even the briefest of breaks leading to a series of explosive shootouts on increasingly grand scales.

There’s no denying the effort that has gone into the visual design of the piece. The cinematography, production design and visual effects in particular create a striking world, yet this isn’t always enough to properly engage and create connection within the slowly building story. Co-writer (alongside Chris Weltz) and director Gareth Edwards fills the world and narrative with a number of good ideas, with a handful of sci-fi influences dotted throughout – Blade Runner particularly cropping up here and there as the emotions of the AI comes more into frame, especially in the second half where such points come more into frame before the big-scale finale.

While much of the film makes for something a slow-burn the final 15 minutes feels like a rushed job with events that could almost be an entire act all to themselves – especially with the way the film shifts into them. The events still work, but feel as if they could be given more time over some of the occasionally drawn-out build-up. It’s a point which runs throughout The Creator. While the action is good and there are a number of good ideas on display, they don’t always create the emotional connection you need, or want, especially during the first half of the film when everything is still coming together before the closer battles and chases begin. As a whole The Creator is a solid film, but it sometimes stumbles over its events and build-up to allow for a proper connection with the characters to be formed, despite some gradual growth over time.

The world of The Creator is well-formed with its own ideas and sci-fi influences, however sometimes the focus feels to be on this over forming a connection with the characters, which sometimes trips the narrative.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 44 minutes, Director – Scott Waugh

The Expendables find themselves in a race against time to stop a nuclear bomb from being detonated and starting World War 3

While the returns may not have always been great The Expendables franchise up until now has relished in its aging action stars grinning from ear to ear whilst quoting their most iconic lines back to each other. Part of the appeal has been the likes of Stallone and Schwarzenegger, not to mention Norris, Willis, Lundgren, Van Damme and a plethora of other stars recognisable by their last names (alongside Jason Statham and Terry Crews), simply having a good time creating action havoc. There’s been a slightly jokey nature about the ridiculous nature of the missions, even if the joke isn’t always as aware of itself as it should be.

With this fourth entry – only seeing the returning faces of Stallone, Statham, Lundgren and Randy Couture – there’s an implication that the baton is being passed to a younger generation, a new team of Expendables. Such an idea could make for a self-aware piece in line with modern actioners, and potentially legacy sequels (which this certainly is not). However, the likes of Megan Fox, 50 Cent, Jacob Scipio and Levy Tran fall flat and simply brought together for the sake of needing a team. There’s no knowingness to any of the exaggerated performances at hand making for a humourless set of one-dimensional figures. Even the returning faces suffer from blandness.

As artificial as the titular team might be they’re no match for the green screen backgrounds and visual effects throughout. A number of shots, whether explosions or close-ups which make the characters stick out even more from the background, feel particularly like test animations. Just another push for the idea that the film feels rushed.

We follow the team racing against time to track down nuclear detonators which if used could trigger World War 3. Much of the action is restricted to a couple of locations, which while not necessarily a bad thing makes for a number of drawn-out sequences in this film where there feels like little order to the events. Again, as if rushed or made up on the spot – assisted by noticeable, and equally disengaging editing. Everything simply falters into a messy pile of blandness. Like with the central cast, there’s little connection between the audience and the film as it crawls through its uninspired events.

Expend4bles is a tired mess of blandness lacking the starry smiles, and any awareness, of those before in exchange for a group with little chemistry, charisma or humour.

Release Date – 22nd September 2023, Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 44 minutes, Director – Craig Gillespie

A YouTube streamer (Paul Dano) leads a fight against Wall Street hedge fund owners by causing a wave of investments in GameStop

Reddit taking on Wall Street could make for a very unserious film. The stereotype might be a series of internet-related jokes with quickly dated meme references. While certainly a couple of such references crop up in quickly flashing by montages of comments, GIFs and slang it’s simply to show how quickly the success of the platform investing in GameStop stocks takes off, and how far it maintains. As Paul Dano states when addressing congress late into the film, as Keith Gill rather than his YouTube stream persona Roaring Kitty, it seems there’s no hope for the little guy anymore when it comes to the stock market with it having being taken over and controlled by millionaires and billionaires.

Gill leads the charge against such figures, the hedge fund owners betting against GameStop being played by Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman and Vincent D’Onofrio. Alongside them we see the perspectives of everyday people who’s fortunes rise after following the rising YouTubers analysis. America Ferrera plays hospital worker Jenny, Anthony Ramos is GameStop employee Marcus, Talia Ryder and Myha’la Herrold are college students Riri and Harmony. There’s a number of people to cut back and forth from during the not-quite-montage nature of a number of sequences. It means that a number of characters feel present more for perspective and to show more impact rather than to properly be characters – yet even then some do more than Keith’s wife, Caroline (Shailene Woodley), who is barely present throughout the film.

Dumb Money is an undeniably busy piece of work covering a lot of perspectives in rather bizarre set of, very recent, circumstances. Keith is undeniably the most interesting figure here and Dano provides a reliable performance with plenty to like. He’s the reason we connect with the story and follow most of the other perspectives in the first place, he’s certainly the one everyone else seems to be following.

While a serious film there is still room for comedy. The first half may miss much of it, yet as we enter the second half and the battle with Wall Street properly takes off, and their responses come in, the humour becomes more present. Not every attempt lands, but there are still a handful of chuckles here and there to help things pass along, particularly as the film still covers multiple characters without always getting across the effect that it might want. There’s still an interesting film at hand, particularly when it verbalises its themes and ideas in the second half, from both Gill and the smugly confident hedge funders working against him and the everyday people investing in stocks. When doing this Dumb Money speaks with confidence, and a hint of passion, it just doesn’t always carry through into the other perspectives we see throughout.

While interesting and effectively serious, with an occasional hint of playfulness, Dumb Money feels slightly over-busy with the characters it cuts back and forth between, Paul Dano makes for a reliable core, but not everything around him is as emotionally effective.