Kambole Campbell

There’s only so much marveling at brilliant and grotesque creature designs that can be done before the story needs to get on its feet, but I Am Frankelda does eventually click into place once its world is fully established.

Beyond occasionally marvelling at the lively work of the puppeteers, there’s not a lot to hold on to in The Mandalorian & Grogu, not even the supposed father and son connection between its marquee characters.

Mamoru Hosoda’s continuing experiments with animation are passable enough. But it’s not enough to uplift this loose adaptation of a literary classic with its rather clumsy thesis on cycles of violence. 

Some will find the earnest silliness which ties a lot of Fire and Ash​’s beats together tiresome, but – along with the work of some very gifted digital artists – it’s what keeps them feeling real and not just empty capitalisation on a billion dollar box office.

To the film’s credit there’s a dedication to figuring out some impressive practical effects work in this clash of two worlds, but this is sadly undermined by the actual composition of the action sequences, which swing between feeling inert or overly busy.

The handmade qualities of this world amplify the sense of devastation. The characters, whose designs resemble Barras’s work on My Life as a Courgette, each have distinct personality in their design as well as a visible human touch on their surface which creates a level of immersion.

Though it can be predictable and a little simple, The Bad Guys 2 smooths over some of the frustrations of the first — bringing a sharper and (slightly) more mature sense of humour to its compellingly cartoonish animation.

In isolation, First Steps is a pretty good time, even if it feels as though it could push its aesthetic into more daring territory.

Despite occa­sion­al­ly indulging its worse instincts, there’s still a sur­pris­ing amount of fun to be had with M3GAN 2.0 – a big­ger and fun­nier sequel which could stand to pull back on both of those elements.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s latest film is a chilly and mystifying expression of a modern malevolence which hangs over our lives — like a cloud, if you will — worsened by constant digital connection.