Review: You can laugh at Avatar: Fire and Ash all you want, I love my crazy jungle Smurfs

 

I can now see why James Cameron went with Sam Worthington to play Jake Sulley in the Avatar films- he’s never been a super electric presence and I remember many critics perceiving him as a bit flat in that first 2009 entry. But I think he strikes the right tone for who he’s supposed to be, a stern marine grunt who’s getting accustomed to life in a new world. 

Worthington is particularly good in this newest movie Fire and Ash, where he and his Na’vi family are now defending the land of Pandora from two separate threats, on top of some heavy family conflicts. This third movie is definitely one that does not give a damn how anyone new to the series feels about it, as Cameron proudly writes his characters melodramatically, seriously and emotionally, with *just* enough subtle humor to break up the tension. 

He's a bit throwback in that sense, and that gives the Avatar series a unique tone that really isn't like any other big property recently. Because of that, I see why it's picked up such a strong cult following. With me, I thought the first film was okay enough, but I found myself charmed more by The Way Of Water than I had expected.

This time, the Sulley family is still reeling from the loss of Meteyam (Jamie Flatters, who displays a lot of warmth in brief spirit-form cameos). But if you thought Cameron was going to give our blue alien friends a break, think again- now they and the Metekayinas have to contend with both the human colonizers, led by Stephen Lang’s Colonel Quaritch (still in his blue alien form), and now the fearsome warrior Varang (Oona Chaplin) and her Mangkwan tribe. 

And things don’t get any easier when the two of them spark up a sinister relationship. So of course, they decide to take over Pandora together. Even by PG-13 standards these two are an insanely freaky couple, and they had my theater going “oooooh” at points.

Making matters more complicated is Quaritch’s continued pursuit of his estranged son Spider (Jack Champion) living as a Sulley, and it’s weighing heavily on the mind of family matriarch Neytiri (Zoe Salanda), who is developing a hatred of the human “sky-people” and she starts to wonder; is Spider really worth all of this trouble?

So I do agree that Lang does steal many scenes in this film, he and Chaplin are super entertaining, but I still was mainly invested in the Sulley drama. There’s a limit to it granted, because Cameron does still understand that he wants the audience to rally behind his heroes, but they do take the Spider dilemma to very intense levels, and Worthington, Salanda and Champion are quite convincing.

Chaplin’s performance as Varang is both threatening and scary, but also genuinely funny just through how theatrical and campy her portrayal of the evil tribal leader is. Salanda gets a lot to chew on through Neytiri’s arc, and you can see why she’s become so attached to this character over time. 

Sigourney Weaver as Kiri still sounds like a very deep-voiced teenager, and I can tell she’s trying to pitch up her voice as much as she can. I do feel she nails her emotional scenes well, though. Shoutouts also go to the arc that their son Lo’ak goes on with the whales, and him still feeling guilty over the loss of Meteyam- with Britain Dalton’s performance being a notable standout.

Thinking back to how stuff like, say Captain America: Brave New World and the 2010s Star Wars films seem confused about their identity, the Avatar franchise doesn’t have that issue. Their tone is always earnest, and they don’t care if it comes off corny. James Cameron knows his audience and what they want from his characters and narratives.

It’s certainly a movie made for its audience first and foremost, as well as its creator, and specifically creator-driven visions are less common these days in the focus group era. In spite of it not being a very entry-level film (you really have to watch this series in order, as Cameron isn’t interested in holding newbie’s hands here), I’m still going to recommend Avatar: Fire and Ash just based on that I think it’s a fairly breezy three hour action film, which I didn’t expect to say. The followers of Eywa will get the most out of it, but it’s nevertheless another admirable spectacle if you just want to see something otherworldly for a bit.

Review: Benoit Blanc takes on a new case, theology and grifter culture in Wake Up Dead Man

 

Unlike a lot of James Bond actors and as much as I enjoy his work in Casino Royale (the 2006 movie, not the late 60s car wreck) and Skyfall, I see Daniel Craig both as Benoit Blanc and 007 by now. Rian Johnson’s Knives Out films have always provided a consistent balancing act of dark humor and fun potboilers that also give some weight to the victims Blanc assists. Wake Up Dead Man keeps those traditions going mostly, even while dealing with larger themes than usual. 

The Blancster is back to assist troubled priest Jud Duplenticy, aided by a great performance from Josh O’Connor, who’s suspected by the local chief (Mika Kunis) of murdering Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), his church’s domineering Monsignor who’s whipped up many of his parishioners into a lather of paranoia. 

                                         

A former boxer who’s trying to atone for causing an in-ring casualty, Jud didn’t exactly hit it off well with Wicks, and he’s the authorities’ top suspect on part of stating on record he wanted to change the way the church operated. Blanc is still willing to take on Father Jud’s dilemma, despite his dislike or organized religion and its fueling of intolerance throughout history. The two of them form sort of an odd couple as Blanc tries to make sense of what seems like an obviously closeable case, but things get more bizarre when the missing Wicks family fortune comes into play. 

Brolin in particular is a standout performance throughout the film even in flashback form, incredibly convincing as a domineering cult leader who feeds off the fear and anxiety of his members, which makes him incredibly believable. It's a remarkable accomplishment when your character's still a good antagonist in your story from beyond the grave. Glenn Close is also noteworthy as the melodramatic churchwoman who tells the tale of the missing Wicks fortune to Jud when he arrives. 

So I normally dislike the statement “all art is political” because it doesn’t account for work that’s meant to be mainly escapism (cultural influence will only take you so far in analyzing a work when someone’s making art for art’s sake). However , I’ll concede that every content creator has a worldview that subconsciously influences their work. 

All expression of art is in specific degrees though, and Rian Johnson isn’t especially shy about his worldview- particularly in how hard he makes a fool of supporting characters like Daryl McCormak’s conservative blogger and Andrew Scott as a famous writer who’s fallen into the right-wing culture war grift scene. But here’s the thing- the mystery is still so well crafted and the characters are engaging enough to where the extreme beliefs of the antagonists help the execution flow better, as opposed to feeling like Johnson is reverse-preaching to the audience.

One distinct feature about the Knives Out franchise is how Blanc mostly plays a deuteragonist role to his clients, allowing them a bulk of the character development in the story. This third film’s no different in that respect, as Jud wrestling with his guilt and also wanting to be a kind and merciful priest makes up a good portion of the film’s narrative, which makes for a more dramatic shift than usual, as I feel Glass Onion upped much of the comedy from the first entry.

For the most part, the usual Knives Out style of dark humor is still present, but this movie does take itself a bit more seriously due to the nature of Jud’s character, which I get. Blanc does get some good progression as well, I felt- while he always remains himself  (and without spoiling anything), he does engage in a bit of introspection in order to help himself reach a conclusion.

Right now I can’t say if I’d put Wake Up Dead Man ahead of the first Knives Out, as I’d say I enjoy them both equally for different reasons. But as it stands, I think Glass Onion is still my favorite of the trilogy. Nevertheless, this newest film is proof that the series hasn’t lost any sense of fun and thoughtfulness, so I’ll gladly recommend it as well as the first two movies if one hasn’t seen them by now. And without spoiling anything, I think this is the best antagonist plot crafted in these films yet.

Review: DiCaprio, Penn (mostly) elevate One Battle After Another’s wild parent war

 

Leonardo DiCaprio has always been the kind of actor where it’s easy for me to imagine his roles are all in the same canon and they’re all reincarnated characters. Like I can see his revolutionary agitator “Ghetto Pat” Calhoun in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another having weird dreams some nights about running from Billy Zane on a sinking cruise ship, or that he’s Howard Hughes filming an air movie or a con artist pulling the wool over Tom Hanks. This newest venture from writer/director Anderson is mostly a strong mix of action romp and dramatic character study, but its twist is how the main conflict quickly goes from ideological to deeply personal.

When he’s not freeing immigrants from prison and enraging his arch-nemesis Colonel Lockjaw, played manically obsessive by Sean Penn, Pat is pursuing a relationship with his girlfriend Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), who’s more interested in keeping up her anti-government ambitions than settling down to family life. After the two have a daughter together, Charlene (played by Chase Infiniti during her teenage years) and Perfidia is forced to go on the run, Pat and Charlene take the identities of “Bob” and “Willa” trying to make the most things in a refugee town.

But Lockjaw can’t let bygones be bygones, and on top of hoping to earn his way into a secret racist society (Tony Goldwyn is effectively chilling as their leader), he’s quite suspicious as to who Willa’s actual biological father is. He launches a small-scale military attack on Bob that’s more or less an excuse to kidnap the kid, sending the two freedom fighters into a cat-and-mouse game.

The three way dynamic between Bob, Willa and Lockjaw is the core of the story and the film’s strongest element, with the bond between the two heroes being pretty convincing and Penn playing an absolute nutcase (not that he isn’t used to that). So far as hyper-obsessed would-be parents go, Lockjaw isn’t quite as over the top as Quaritch from Avatar (oh, we’ll get to him), but he gets the job done as a hateable villain. Infiniti displays some good range for an early point in her career, and Benicio Del Toro is charming as the town leader who helps Bob and Willa out.

What I’m gonna say might sound weird, but it’s not meant as a slight on the story, just an observation: there’s a hint of paranoia in it. I don’t state that to discredit the themes or the characters’ objectives, they’re rebels seeking to take the power back, an easily relatable idea as any Star Wars fan knows, and Lockjaw is cartoonishly persistent. 

I mean more so in how it’s directed and how well Anderson is in depicting their desperation. I’m kinda glad they don’t spend too much time going into long pontifications about their ideology (save for one scene where Bob dresses down a schoolteacher for celebrating slave owning historical figures), as the film is mainly a slow burn action piece. 

I guess the one sticking point for me that holds the movie back is how I’d like to have seen a bit more world-building. As it’s loosely based off of an alt-history novel, budgeting considerations notwithstanding, they could have used more propaganda on behalf on the villains, something to sell even more visually the level of police state that the French 75 are up against- think the New Founding Fathers from the Purge series. 

What’s here isn’t bad, it’s not enough to ruin the story- we do get some shots of a detention center, but it’s a bit hard to suspend our disbelief when the environments look so plain and the soldiers and cops look so ordinary. I’m not asking for Hunger Games-level stuff here, it’s just the kind of script that maybe would have benefited from a two-to three minute setup of One Battle’s world and detailing the exact scope of the Christmas gang’s influence. 

Those complaints aside, One Battle After Another still mostly works as a throwback gritty adventure film with that sort of tension you’d find in the 70s or more experimental movie eras. A bit more detail in fleshing out the world would have helped the tension level- this is more the kind of concept I feel could have worked better as maybe an HBO series.

Had this been developed for streaming and the audience had more of a chance to soak in the details of daily life in this world, I think it would have landded better for me. Like what happened in this version of history that got the French 75 started, more of Lockjaw's backstory, maybe it could ask how other citizens feel about what’s going on, maybe some of the Lockjaw soldiers are questioning themselves? I get it if Anderson was aiming to make the story feel more self contained though, and the acting quality generally keeps it above average.

Review: Saturday Night's Main Event gives John Cena his deserved flowers, but how did it reflect on Triple H?

It's no secret that WWE's creative has been fairly up and down in 2025, in spite of the record business they've been doing at the gates. Much of that is the momentum fro the exciting twists of the Bloodline story through 2022-to 2024, culminating in Cody Rhodes finishing his story at Wrestlemania 40. The farewell tour of John Cena has served as the key storyline through most of this year, and opinions of it have been all over the place. It's led to this farewell SNME show in Washington, D.C. (at least as far as Cena's in ring competiton is concerned, as he's signed a new Legends deal with the company), which understandably whipped up emotions among the wrestling fandom.

Cena's retirement run has felt somewhat bucket list-ish, which is funny given the main criticism of Triple H's booking this year year has been that he allegedly plays things too safe. It's as if they wanted to get as much done as possible- let's give those jaded fans the long-awaited heel turn (an ill-time suggesstion from the Rock), let's give them the 17th world champinship, let's pass the torch to the next generation, let's put on a few last 4 and 5-star matches, and let's also put on a Antonio Inoki-style tournament to determine his closing opponent. Part of why I feel this whole thing has left many fans feeling weird is how WWE wasn't able to stick to one consistent narrative for Cena's final dates. Thankfully, Cena's charisma and still solid in-ring timing has kept much of the questionable creative afloat. 

Even during the peak of his backlash (no pun intended), I was always generally a Cena guy. My all-time favorite men's wrestler is Macho Man Randy Savage, that never changes, but John's always been somewhere in my personal top ten (usually seated between Mitsuharu Misawa and Jushin Liger). On top of his versatility in the ring with different opponents, engaging mic skills, charity work and commitment to the industry, I've just always found his energy infectious. His acting chops aren't bad either, as his run as Peacemaker and the depth he gives James Gunn's version of the character has shown. His performance here shows how thin a line there is between film a ring acting, and he wasn't the only one displaying that tonight.

Cody Rhodes vs. Oba Femi

We open up with a non-title exhibition match between the WWE men's champion and the current NXT men's champion. Oba is called "The Ruler" for good reason as he spends much of the match dominating Cody, who plays the underdog role well as usual (another quality he got from his dad).  For a bout that's under nine minutes it's pretty entertaining, but after Cody makes his eventual comeback into a stalemate, Drew McIntyre interferes for a disqualification finish. 

I can see where WWE didn't want either Cody or Femi to lose at this point- they're still highly protective of Rhodes as a draw, and they're also still invested in keeping up Oba's destroyer-type aura. McIntyre will no doubt spin this into a complaint over not getting a title shot, because as the apparent WWE mandate indicates, "Drew Must Suffer."

Bayley vs. Sol Ruca

Ruca reminds me in many ways of a more impactful Kelly Kelly, another women's superstar with a gymnast background, but who also worked much lighter than Sol (not that I'm condemning Kelly for that, it's just her style). There's more of a rawness and desperation to Ruca's work in comparison, and Bayley is of course athletic enough to keep up. I'm still not all that wild about the Rose Plant as a finisher- I've seen worse, it's better than the overdrive at least. (I prefer Bayley's flying elbow as a match ender, frankly I think hers is better than Okada's.) 

After a series of pinfall attempts, Ruca is able to counter Bayley for a three-count in a brisk but entertaining contest. The two are sympatico after the match, though I foresee Sol and Bayley having tensions once the former is called up to the main roster given how erratic the former world champion's been lately.

World Tag Team Championship match: AJ Styles and Dragon Lee. vs. Je'Von Evans and Leon Slater

Wrestling writers absolutely love Je'Von Evans, and for good reason, his physical ability and still blossoming charisma are damned impressive at such a young age. It's to where the Wrestling Observer more or less has a complete meltdown whenever he comes up short, and I can't help but think to myself "calm down, he is still developing and if he remains healthy then he'll be in line for a major push soon". 

He and his tag partner Slater put a lot of doubt in my mind as far as Styles and Lee retaining, because some of these near falls convinced me they were dead to rights. Alas, it's not the youngster's time quite yet as AJ is able to take advantage of an error from Dragon and pin him with a Styles Clash. For the time it was given, not a bad title defense and it has me interested in what AJ is planning for his own retirement tour in 2026 (his Clash In Paris match a couple months back against Cena was a banger also).

John Cena vs. Gunther

So as you'd expect, this was the match of the night because it was going to get the most time. Gunther spends a fair amount of time working Cena's upper half, particuarly with a series of brutal lariats. Cena has rightfully pointed out he's slowed down considerably, so he mostly sticks to his bread and butter while playing the underdog against the final boss Gunther- pretty impressive when you're as bulky as Cena, which goes to show you in spite of his hulk-up moments throughout his career, the dude has been an under-apprectated seller for a while. 

The flying leg drop, super-AA and STF aren't enough as Gunther, as promised, gets a submission win and he gleefully soaks up the boos as he heads to the back. The roster comes out to celebrate Cena with a pretty moving tribute video set to One Republic, including Cody and CM Punk symbolically sharing their belts with him, but Hunter gets absolutely lambasted when he steps out to the ring. This is "2003 Triple H Reign of Terror" levels of rage at this guy now.

The reaction to the booking to me is a reflection of how well Cena connected with audiences throughout the years. Regardless if the crowds were on his side or not, he always made them feel something. One of his defining contributions to the business was a style of performance that showed a young fan living out their fantasies and never losing that sense of excitement about it- not an easy thing to pull off in an industry this insane at times. 

It's evident in the sense of gratitude John gives off as he leaves his sneakers in the ring. With one key main eventer taking his last bows, how that affects the makeup of the men's Royal Rumble remains to be seen, but of course, none of the superstars are thinking about that currently.

There have been other superstars who were more technically sound than Cena, and he'd be the first to tell you that he's not as crisp as a Bryan Danielson or a Bret Hart. Personally, I think bell to bell he's still a bit underrated. But just as a performer who left you with fun, memorable moments and made everything feel larger than life- the fundamental goal of a professional wrestler- there were few more effective in its history. So I'd still recommend the show because booking concerns aside, I think it's a nice final showcase of the qualities that made Cena such a WWE pillar.

Review: Sean Combs: The Reckoning details the twisted rise and fall of a modern mad emperor

 

Sean Combs is right to assume he's a deeply fascinating individual, it's just not entirely for the reasons he had hoped for. Watching the new 50 Cent- produced Netflix documentary The Reckoning, detailing the various legal troubles he's encountered over the past couple of years- it focuses on a film crew following Combs around New York City as he deals with his incoming charges- I've been reflecting a bit on the concept of "separating the art from the artist". 

Most of my feelings towards Diddy prior to his scandals breaking out were...just kinda there. Let's face it, there are reasons why Fitty, for all his faults, keeps insisting that Combs "is not an artist", as he's more of a "does it sound sexy?" type producer and stylist. Mark Curry, one of many former Diddy acquaintances interviewed, notes how bland and flat his actual rapping skills are, and how he had to coach Combs all night until his remaking of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" into Diddy and Jimmy Page's Godzilla '98 anthem "Come With Me" sounded halfway listenable. Not too far into episode one, those wind up being the least of the sins he's committed.

The four-episode documentary briefly notes his origins as the son of a hustling but unattentive late father and an abusive mother,  his internship at Uptown Records (also later, the subsequent undercutting of his business associates to eventually found Bad Boy Records), and then the tragic crowd crush during a Diddy-sponsored party at a NYC community center, which resulted in the loss of nine lives. Holding close to his chest a constructed image of a charitable, culture-minded businessman, the infamy he gains from the publicity leads to him achieving music industry clout through his promotions of star acts like Jodeci, the Notorious B.I.G and Mary J Blige. 

This all serves as a backdrop to accusations during his rise of sexual assault, violence and intimidating business rivals, his apparent involvement in the killing of a Suge Knight partner, shamelessly fueling the East coast vs. West coast tension to a dangerous point for profit's sake, and severely attacking a producer for not shelving his "Hate Me Now" video with Nas after rethinking his crucifixion visual. And no, that's not the only time in this doc that Combs attempts to martyr himself, or comes off as a twisted spoiled brat. All the footage from his MTV show Making The Band is so facepalm worthy- so demanding that your trainees go walk for miles in the frosty New York night to buy you a specific type of cheesecake, and then mocking their contributions to the group, is "setting the value for your people"?

                                                

Mr. Jackson's eternally burning hatred for Combs is evident in how candid the footage he pulls from the vault is. It's not just limited to graphic audio and visuals of the aftermath of Biggie Smalls's assassination- in fact, Fitty throws some partial blame towards Diddy's direction by the sheer arrogance of him daring to party on enemy rap turf in a rather Tekashi-ish fashion. He's even harsher in his and other people interviewed's direct accusations of ordering Tupac Shakur's death (including getaway driver Keefe-D, currently set to go on trial as of writing). Yes, he plays the 911 call there as well, so viewers be warned about some unsettling content in this doc. I won't spoil how Puffy handles Biggie's affairs after his passing, but let's just say it's no wonder he wasn't on Voletta Wallace's good side.

Though it's thankfully nowhere as graphic as the actual transcripts, the infamous drug and sex-fueled Diddy parties are mentioned, along with unsettling allegations of not-of-age attendees. Everything related to Kid Cudi, including things both referred to by the documentary and a couple of things that weren't, is straight out of a bad mobster movie, and the nasty recollections from members of Diddy's girl groups Danity Kane and Diddy-Dirty-Money are tough to sit through. In the mould of another 2000's hip hop icon, Curtis has been clearly rubbing his hands together like Birdman to add on any additional details to any salacious Puffy tale he can find.

                                    

For me, separating art from the sins of its creator depends, so long as one isn't trying to stan for people accused of terrible things just because one enjoys their work- I can admit to thinking "Moonlight" and "Sippin Tea In Yo Hood" are modern rap classics despite XXXTentacion's abusive history. I mention this because it's an understandable human reaction to have an increased gag reflex towards the creations of someone we know has done reprehensible deeds- for example, any curiosity one might have about the work of the band Lostprophets is forever tainted by the horrifying crimes Ian Watkins committed

If one wants to still enjoy his stuff, I'm not going to stop you- but there's a song by Blood Orange that I otherwise love called "Hope", which has (an unfortunate) Diddy verse toward the breakdown where he ponders what it'll take for him to be loved "the way he wants" and pouts about not being able to handle it. To which I go back to an old saying, you have to put out love in order to receive it, pal. Not just simply changing your stage name (for the millionth time) to "Love", I mean actually treating other people with respect. 

The Reckoning, spiteful as it is on 50 Cent's part (who is no saint himself), is clear evidence that Diddy hasn't figured out this lesson yet, and is deservedly paying the price for it. Despite the grim subject matter, I can still recommend it just based on how psychologically fascinating it is, as a strong lesson on how one can lose their humanity in the pursuit of dream-chasing.