 Marvel Studios/Disney, 2025. There's little question that "Thunderbolts*" is one of the better Marvel films of the past few years...but that's a very low bar to clear.
Taking a cue from the legendary film critic Roger Ebert, all movies should be judged "relative to genre," meaning we shouldn't, say, put "The Minecraft Movie" on the same grading scale as "The Godfather." With that in mind, "Thunderbolts*" may feel a bit more inspired than recent Marvel movies. But even accepting it for what it is - a teen-targeted superhero team movie - any praise quickly crumbles when you hold up against nearly any other film in the same category. I'll explain.
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 Warner Bros. Pictures, 2025. When a movie based on the popular sandbox video game "Minecraft" was announced nearly a decade ago, fans cheered. Moments later, many of them thought, "Wait...what?"
Despite it's tremendous worldwide popularity - it is in fact the #1 best-selling video game of all time, outselling even games like Super Mario Bros. and Tetris - its open-world format doesn't necessarily come with a minable (pun intended) storyline suitable for a feature film. How would a Minecraft movie even work? What would it be about? Well, now we know. And the result is that "A Minecraft Movie" isn't all bad, in that it's a complete romp that both makes fun of and honors the blocky-universe it is based on. It's silly, ridiculous and ends up being a bit better than it has any business being. Albeit, it was a very low bar...video game movies have generally been awful, and expectations were minimal. Ironically, it's the hard-core Minecraft gamer, not the casual movie-goer, that may take issue with this movie the most. In aiming it at the masses, it obviously becomes a more accessible movie, but it simultaneously risks losing the adoration of those that made it popular in the first place.  Walt Disney Pictures, 2025. The thought of the newest Disney live-action remake has me whistling with delight.
"Snow White" is the rare remake with purpose. In 1937, Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was a ground-breaking achievement, and the first full-length animated film produced in the United States. It's safe to say that much has changed in our country over the past 88 years. If ever there was a Disney classic in need of some updating, this was it. Director Marc Webb ("The Amazing Spider-Man," "500 Days of Summer") creates a modern version of the tale, swirling with that intangible Disney magic, that's both original and reverent of what's come before. The (mostly) all-new music is surprisingly good and dynamic (the powerhouse duo of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Academy Award winners who crafted songs for "La La Land," "The Greatest Showman" and "Dear Evan Hansen," were brought on to craft these new songs) and the production design, costumes and visual effects are every bit as stunning as the recent Oscar-winning film, "Wicked." Despite some casting issues and a few missteps, I didn't just like the new "Snow White" film...I loved it.  Sony Pictures Releasing, 2025. Everybody loves Pattington, the Peruvian talking bear that winds up living a proper British life in London with his adopted human family, the Browns. So much so, that he's appeared in nearly 30 books since 1958, when he first appeared in the classic novel "A Bear Called Pattington," by author Michael Bond.
This is the first Pattington film since Bond's death in 2018, and the third in the surprisingly great film series that has not only been a success at the box office, but also with critics ("Pattington 2" held the rare 100% RottenTomatoes rating with over 250 reviews, until some boob famously posted a rotten score, surely to grab personal headlines).  Disney, 2024. I have to admit: When I walked out of the theater after screening "Mufasa: The Lion King," the new prequel and sequel to the CG-realistic 2019 version of "The Lion King," I had a smile on my face. Indeed, there are some good messages and the movie got better, faster, stronger, as it went along, culminating in what felt like a satisfying conclusion.
But the more and more that I thought about what I had just seen, the more I felt...underwhelmed. The animated original, from 1994, was and is of course a modern classic. And I was one of the lonely critics that actually embraced the 2019 version (that last movie only ended up with a 51% on RottenTomatoes.com). Especially when I started comparing it to what had came before, I began to feel like the franchise deserved better. "Mufasa: The Lion King" doesn't feel like a pure cash grab in the way that, say, the straight-to-DVD "The Lion King 2" did. And yet, there is no real reason for its existence other than to ravage the dead carcass - like a hyena might - of yet another Disney classic, squeezing what little life might be left so that the masses can feed. When the tribute to James Earl Jones at the start of the film carries more weight than the film itself, there's a problem.  Buffalo 8, 2024. Fifteen years in the making, and every bit of blood, sweat and tears poured into "Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom" is apparent.
Matt Busch’s "Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom" is an impressive feat of independent filmmaking that feels like cinematic comfort food—familiar, adventurous, and deeply satisfying. Known for his work as a professional illustrator on various Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Indiana Jones projects (and much, much more over his 30+ years in the industry), Busch proves he’s more than just a renowned artist; he’s a capable, bold and passionate storyteller. And what he was able to pull off from a technical standpoint - on a budget of around a paltry $200,000 - simply defies all logic or explanation. As a film critic for 15+ years, having seen thousands of films over that span, I can say with full confidence that I've never quite seen anything like this. Independent filmmaking and blockbuster popcorn movies have never been mashed together in this way, nor did I think such an amalgam was even possible. Busch has some brass balls for even attempting such a massive undertaking, and what he's been able to accomplish is nothing short of a mind-boggling achievement. And it's singular: It might take until the actual year 3477 for another creative talent such as Matt Busch to come along, because there is NOBODY else who could have even come close to making this project work in the way that he does. This self-made film, crafted by a self-made man is available for pre-order on Apple TV+ as of December 20th, 2024, and it hits various VOD platforms on January 3rd, 2025. I simply cannot recommend this film enough. Read on for my full review.  Paramount Pictures, 2024. "Gladiator II," standing on its own, is a serviceable sword-and-sandal action movie. It's when compared to its 2000 predecessor, "Gladiator" - a film that was nominated for five Oscars, winning for Best Picture and Best Actor - where it seems falls short, unable to capture the depth or gravitas that made the original a modern epic.
 Marvel Studios/Disney, 2024. Two of the most popular Marvel characters on the planet see their worlds collide, in a wild, ridiculous mash-up appropriately titled, "Deadpool & Wolverine."
 Universal Pictures, 2024. While Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are undeniable super-stars and the sort of actors you'll always find yourself rooting for, "The Fall Guy" fails at becoming the romp-action-comedy it's aiming to be.
It's not all bad and as a comedy, it contains plenty of laughs, albeit there are more misses than hits. But as an on-the-nose love-letter to the long-ignored stunt community, it is less effective despite its efforts. It gives the under-appreciated stunt men and women their due, but hold this up to other stunt-heavy films that REALLY should be applauded - think "John Wick" or the "Mission: Impossible" movies - and it's no question that "The Fall Guy" falls way short.  Columbia Pictures, 2024. It's been nearly 40 years since the original "Ghostbusters" slimed its way onto the scene, becoming one of the most popular and iconic movies of all-time. It made nearly 300 million at the box office when it was released back in 1984, or roughly 10-times its budget, and the movie spawned an entire multimedia franchise reaching across film, television, video games and pretty much every corner of American pop culture.
As difficult as it is to trap a ghost in one of those little striped boxes, Columbia Pictures has spent the past four decades chasing whatever strange lightning struck with that original film, desperately trying to bottle it. The 1989 sequel "Ghostbusters II" was not well-received, nor was the 2016 Paul Feig reboot. And while "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" was a box-office winner in 2021, many (like me...see my "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" review here) found that this thick dose of nostalgia was a bit too much. For a franchise that seems to have so much potential for originality and entertainment value, what was being streamed directly into our eyeballs felt more like a feeble attempt to cash-in on what had come before. That brings us to "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," a film that feels a bit more comfortable with itself overall, but is still too closely shackled to its past. Everyone is dressed up, and it feels like a "Ghostbusters" movie. It's just that these ghosts are quite lifeless. |
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tom santilli movie reviews
Tom Santilli is a professional film critic, TV personality, host and
the Executive Producer of Movie Show Plus.
He also is the featured film critic appearing on WXYZ Channel 7 Action News in Detroit,
and appeared weekly on FOX-2 in Detroit from 2016-2020.
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