Movie Review - Warfare

Director: Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza
Genre: Drama/ Action
Runtime: 95 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, Cosmo Jarvis, D’Pharaoh Woon A-Tai, Aaron Mackenzie, Alex Brockdorff, Finn Bennett, Evan Holtzman, Michael Gandolfini,, Joe Macauley, Aaron Deakins, Noah Centenio, Kit Connor, Charles Melton
 
Description: A platoon of Navy Seals embark on a dangerous mission in Ramadi, Iraq, with the chaos and brotherhood of war retold through their memories of the event.
 
Review: “Warfare” is a film so realistic that it leaves all other dramatized war films behind. And uncompromising confrontation with the harsh reality of war.
 
On November 19^th 2006, Navy Seal team Alpha One storms a building in Ramadi, a city in central Iraq. The families living there are led to a bedroom and ordered to remain silent. Meanwhile, officer Ray Mendoza maintains contact with air support, while sniper Elliot Miller keeps the house across the street in his sights. Nothing seems to happen at first, until a grenade flies in and all hell breaks loose. Al Qaeda fighters attack from all sides.
 
“Warfare” is a historically accurate reconstruction of the violent siege of the Alpha One unit during the Iraq War, based on the testimonies of Mendoza and his teammates. The events are presented in real time. Everything looks completely incredible, because the film exudes hyperrealism and consistently maintains that line. There is no room for sentimental exchange, which most war movies use a lot of to make it more dramatic. But “Warfare” doesn’t need that, it’s raw and pure. And that’s the power of this film. One of the best films of 2025.
 
Rating: 4,5/ 5

20s Movie Review - Gladiator II

Director: Ridley Scott

Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Drama

Runtime: 148 minutes

Year: 2024

Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Derek Jacobi, Matt Lucas

Description: After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who no lead Rome, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Review: Director Ridley Scott returns to one of his greatest triumphs. Along with Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, two of today’s biggest stars, Scott treats audiences to an old-fashioned spectacle from ancient times. Although “Gladiator II” functions just fine as a solid action adventure, it’s more of the same but not quite as good as its predecessor.

The film opens in Numidia, a Roman colony in North Africa. Under the leadership of General Acacius, the Roman Empire invades the last free city and captures much of the male population into slavery. So does the simple soldier Hanno, who impresses in local arenas. Impressed by his boundless hatred for the Roman Empire, slave trader Macrinus buys Hanno and promises him the head od Acacius if he fights for him in the Colosseum.

Initially, “Gladiator II” seems to take a different path than its predecessor, but once Hanno begins to make a name for himself in gladiatorial combat, it becomes increasingly clear how connected the two films are. Joaquin Phoenix’s Emperor Commodus is now split into two characters, played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Heckinger. The twin brothers Geta and Caracalla share the imperial throne together, going delightfully over the top with thei blood lust. Connie Nielsen reprises her role as Lucilla, with yet another personal connection to the star of the Colosseum.

Denzel Washington also plays a seemingly similar character that the first film had. Like Oliver Reed, he is an ex-gladiator who won his freedom and now trains gladiators. But his Macrinus has much bigger ambitions than just entertaining the Roman public, and Washington is drawing more and more attention to himself. Even though being a side character, his performance steels the show.

Paul mescal is a lot less impressive than Russel Crowe, but he is still a believable warrior. Biggest difference is that Crowe could and still can easily carry a film, Mescal as not there yet. Pedro Pascal was the main reason for my excitement for this film, but that was quite disappointing. His character doesn’t really have a lot to do and he is not in the film that much. What he does do, he does well, but his talent if very underused in the film.

As for the first film, “Gladiator II” impresses the most with its visuals and its battle scenes. The scenes in the arena are amazing. There we did see some changes, adding a water filled arena battle to it. But bigger does not always mean better.

If Maximus would ask me if I was entertained, I would definitely say yes. For an action and adventure movie it checks many boxes. But I also have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the overall execution of it all. “Gladiator” is not a favorite movie of mine, but it’s a really good film. “Gladiator II” did everything the first film did, but not as good. And that’s my overall feeling for this film.  

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Review - A Quiet Place: Day One

Director: Michael Sarnoski
Genre: Horror/ Science Fiction/ Drama
Runtime: 99 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou
 
Description: A young woman name Sam (Lupita Nyong’o) finds herself trapped in new York City during the early stages of an invasion by alien creatures with ultra-sensitive hearing.

Review: Making a prequel to a successful film like “A Quiet Place’ is probably a curse rather than a blessing. The film not being director by John Krasinski (returned as a writer though), like the other two films, is also not working in its favor. But it worked and it pays off. 

The first two films were unique. The people dealing with the invasion had already adapted to the situation. They learned how to live in a world with these creatures in it, knew what attracts them and how to survive. It had a small town, country setting. In “A Quiet Place Part Two” we got a glimpse on that first day, with the characters we then knew, in that same setting. But in “A Quiet Place: Day One” we see how it started, switching the décor for New York, a place that is loud and alive 24/ 7. An interesting take for this universe to further explore it.

We follow Sam, a young woman dealing with a terminal illness. All she has is her cat Frodo. When she is visiting New York City, all hell breaks loose and creatures start attacking people. Quickly finding out that they can’t see and rely on super sensitive hearing, she tries to make her way through the city.

Lupita Nyong’o plays Sam and really carries this film. She is a cynical character, but manages to put down a remarkable engaging main character, for whom she is especially allowed to pull out all the stops non-verbally. She gets great counterplay from Joseph Quinn, who plays the anxious Eric.

“A Quiet Place: Day One” could easily be viewed without having seen the other two movies, but I would recommend to watch the others first. I highly enjoyed it, was spooked, on the edge of my seat. And loved Lupita Nyong’o, who proves again what a great actress she is. And can we also praise cat Schnitzel, who played Frodo. Constantly panicking where he was, when he wasn’t in frame. “A Quiet Place: Day One” is best views in theaters, just like its predecessors.

Rating: 4/ 5

TV Show Review - Stranger Things (Season 4)

Season: 4

Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Fantasy/ Horror

Number of episodes: 8

Year: 2019

Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink, Dacre Montgomery, Priah Ferguson, Joseph Quinn, Eduardo Franco

Description: It’s eight months after the events in the Starcourt Mall. Max is having a tough time dealing, distancing herself from Lucas who has found a place in the basketball team. Dustin befriended Eddie, the leader of the Hellfire Club: a D&D group. Mike visits Eleven, Will and Jonathan and Joyce still believes Hopper is alive. When people start dying in Hawkins and Eddie is the main suspect, the young gang decides to help him and find who is behind these deaths, while Eleven goes back to doctor Brenner to regain her powers and Joycesets to find Hopper.

Review: After nearly three years, “Stranger Things” fans (ME!) can finally see how things continue for their heroes from Hawkins, Indiana. Will that long wait be rewarded?

WARNING! THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Netflix decided not to drop the entire season at once. The first seven episode dropped and later the final two we available as well. And the season had a very long runtime, especially the last two episodes. And I didn’t mind that at all.

The previous season came to a climax battle, where Eleven and her friends defeated the monster from the Upside Down at the Starcourt mall, while Joyce and Hopper went deep underground to thwart the Russians’ plan. The victory came at a high price: Billy was killed, El lost her powers and Hopper disappeared. The rushing army quickly laid the entire Starcour to ashes, and in cover-up, all traces of Russians, monsters, and gateways to other dimensions were carefully hidden away. Joyce moved to California with her sons Will and Jonathan and their friend El.

The big question at the beginning of season 4 is whether the whole gang will ever get back together. El writes letters to Mike from California in which she pretends that she is doing very well, but in reality she is deeply unhappy without her friends and she is being bullied. Home in Hawkins is no paradise either. Since the horrific death of her brother Billy, Max has been seeing the school psychologist regularly, but other students are also suffering from trauma. In the Upside Down, a new monstrous creature sees in this a way to manifest itself again in Hawkins.

Of course, with each new season of “Stranger Things”, fans are especially looking forward to seeing their familiar heroes again, but the creators are always introducing new characters as well. This season is no different. A big addition is Eddie Munson, a high school student with a love for heavy metal, drugs and Dungeons & Dragons. And Eddie wins all of our hearts from the first scene we meet him. Which makes the final episode extra difficult to watch.

Season 3 had a small bonus scene, where there was a hint Hopper had survived the explosion. And of course it turns out that he has. Joyce’s attempt to reunite with Hopper take up a good portion of the episodes, and with that the new season deviates considerably from all the previous ones. For the story no longer plays out only in Hawkins, but also in California, Alaska and Siberia.

The tone of the series is also markedly different this season. Previously, “Stranger Things” breathed the atmosphere of the Spielberg films and Stephen King movies of the 1980s, but now the emphasis is firmly on horror. Characters are killed off in some pretty shocking ways, which may make this season’s 16-and-over predicate justifiable. Again many references to popculture, like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” ( with a cameo from Robert Englund), “Halloween” and “Carrie”.

Max has a bigger role in this season, which I really loved, since she is one of my favorites. And she is, together with newbie Eddie, one of the highlights of season 4. Can they please give Sadie Sink an award for her performance, because it was incredible. And with that the characters of Max and Eddie both had an epic scene, which eventually became the most memorable moments of season 4 (Max escaping Vecna for the first time and Eddie’s guitar solo in the Upside Down).

All the familiar and new characters, references to previous season and well-known genre films, music from the eighties and he now familiar formula of the Duffer Brothers ensure that you step into a warm bath with season 4. Is more always better? In the case of “Stranger Things”: absolutely! Now we wait for season 5, which will be the final season. Time to rewatch season 1 to 4 now.