Despite Five Nights at Freddy's 2 slightly bettering its predecessor in terms of scares and impressive animatronics, the sequel fails to understand that less is more. By stuffing as many storylines and characters as possible into its relatively brief runtime, the sequel feels messy and inconclusive, leaving FNaF fans shortchanged.
By swapping gaudy satire for introspection (without losing any of the franchise's trademark flamboyance), Wake Up Dead Man brings Knives Out back to its roots and makes for a sequel that's almost on a par with the original.
A darker and sadder Part 2 brings the story of Oz's witches to a moving close and cements Jon M. Chu's adaptation of Wicked as an absolute triumph. But, For Good suffers slightly from thinner source material and weak new songs.
Some fun action and Glen Powell's star power aren't enough to energize a muddled, poorly paced ride with thinly drawn characters and an inconsistent world that wastes its abundant potential.
Predator: Badlands may irk traditionalists, but it's a big swing that just about works. The odd-couple dynamic between Elle Fanning's busted synth and the more human Yautja adds laughs to the usual lacerations for a fun, propulsive, off-world action-adventure.
With a surprisingly effective romance at its centre, and a dynamic ensemble of characters, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc offers more than just visually impressive blood-and-guts spectacle, even if it isn’t able to land every beat of its self-contained story, with the next arc beckoning somewhere on the horizon.
A serviceable blockbuster falls short of being truly fun by swapping the Grid for a real-world setting. Despite a good lead performance from Greta Lee and a great score, Ares lacks the charm and silliness of its Tron predecessors after one upgrade too many.
Series veterans may rue the lack of certain supporting players (the hot-headed Inosuke is largely absent, while usual comic foil Zenitsu is all gritted teeth and gripped swords here) and the lack of levity may sting in a series renowned for its malleable tone and endless charm, but Infinity Castle achieves the impossible by roaring past Mugen Train as Demon Slayer's best adventure yet.
Not disastrous but disappointing all the same, The Conjuring: Late Rites commits the ultimate sin of not quite being bold or memorable enough for a final chapter.
