Month: May 2025

Karate Kid: Legends “Review”

Release date: May 30, 2025 (USA)

Director: Jonathan Entwistle

Running time: 1h 58m

MPAA rating: PG-13

Producer: Karen Rosenfelt

Distributed by: Sony Pictures

Been awhile since visiting the Karate Kid franchise. Never saw Cobra Kai but checked out all the movies. How’s this gap in time affect my experience of Legends? Let’s discuss.

Maybe it’s the low expectations. Maybe my bias for Joshua Jackson playing Victor in this feature. (Massive fan of Dawson’s Creek & Fringe) I had a good time honestly despite the mid to low reviews.

The pacing of story telling can feel rushed. But the story being told in rather entertaining. I included the poster with the other two characters as it’s these 3 that are our main stars. Our two paths of the same tree legends are there for some montage and setup but otherwise not properly focused on.

My main critique of the movie is not being long enough. I loved the story that was told. Connecting with Li Fong (Played by Ben Wang), seeing the relationship of his older brother. His mother which was sadly supporting behind the curtains (The amazing Ming-Na Wen) Li Fong’s teacher Mr. Han (Played by Jackie Chan). Sadly this wasn’t all to flushed out for the supporting characters even though Li Fong was.

Like the mentioned bias. I loved getting to know Victor & his daughter Mia (Played by Sadie Stanley). This trio was awesome and very entertaining. Throwing in the ” Bad Guy – Connor Day ” (Played by Aramis Knight) gave me vibes of the original Karate Kid bully.

If we’re to see more from Legends then I’d love to see what future Li Fong has planned. If Mr. Han & Daniel LaRusso (Played by Ralph Macchio) teach future legends or if this is it for the franchise? I did enjoy seeing the O.G Mr. Miyagi from the first movie in the opening of legends. Maybe it’s time to revisit the series and include Cobra Kai as now I’m curious to watch it.

With all this said I did enjoy Karate Kid Legends. It’s short enough to get in and out so Popped scoring of 7/10. – Good Movie.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. What did you think of Karate Kid? Love to hear in the comments below. Don’t forget that a new horror movie dropped officially today. Bring Her Back – This topped my top 10 and I’m excited for others to discover this feature.

Switch 2 Drops Thursday the 5th – Let’s see if I can watch John Wick 1-4 before the upcoming release of Ballerina!

Until then, happy movie going 😀

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Friendship “Review”

Release date: May 2025 (USA)

Director: Andrew DeYoung

Running time: 1h 40m

MPAA rating: R

Genre: Comedy

Distributed by: A24, Paramount Pictures, Republic Pictures

Finally releasing in my neck of the woods. Friendship, it’s an interesting one but does it intrigue as much as The Surfer? Let’s discuss.

Isn’t it fascinating how a connection can be formed over a wrong address delivery. That’s how Craig Waterman (Played by Tim Robinson) & Austin Carmichael (Played by Paul Rudd) meet for the first time and end up forming a friendship.

I mentioned The Surfer above and for this I’ll attempt not to ruin, but give you the overall feeling this movie gives off without spoilers. As this friendship forms you get to learn more and more about Craig Waterman. The relationship between his wife Tami Waterman (Played by Kate Mara) & his son Steven (Played by Jack Dylan Grazer). You start to feel / see that something is off here and the intrigue kicks in.

It’s a good movie. Worth seeing for sure. But sadly for me personally, the intrigue and pay off doesn’t quite hit, like it did for my in The Surfer. This maybe a short “Review” but honestly going in deeper would take away from your viewing experience within this adventure for friendship.

Curious to know more? Maybe check out The Surfer review to see the levels of layers in that feature. It doesn’t go as deep sadly but it’s a worthy good watch. Popped scoring of 7.5/10.

Go check it out and see how deep the journey takes you one lick a pop? O.o ? Intriguing! 😛

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Going to be a busy week ahead so I’ll be locked in at work for roughly a week. See you next week? for Karate Kid all going well. If not, see you in June 😀 Switch 2 release is 2 weeks away!!

Did you check out any recent movies? Love to hear what you’re watching in the comments. What movies are you looking forward to in Summer of 2025?

See you next batch – Happy movie going! 😀

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Lilo & Stitch (2025) “Review”

Release date: May 23, 2025 (USA)

Director: Dean Fleischer Camp

Running time: 1h 48m

MPAA rating: PG

Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Adapted from: Lilo & Stitch

Okay just got out the theatre and placed the O.G in background as I write this. WoW I prefer the original more. 23 Years gap does a number on the memory. Let’s discuss shall we 😀

As far as making a live action version, it does it’s job. It’s entertaining, maybe even get into your feels. But we’re dealing with a different beast. The merge between CGI & Live Action (And Changes to source material).

Divided they were completely fine. Humans were awesome, loved them. CGI was awesome, loved all there scenes within the CGI environments. Outside of Stitch & Pleakley the other characters felt cheap and out of place in the real world.

Sorry Zach Galifianakis, your voice for Jumba was to high pitch. It’s the reason I put the original one on, was to see if memory served me correctly. But he’s way deeper which kept putting me off the character. Billy Magnussen was spot on however 😀 with Pleakley.

They hit the story beats…mostly….but it’s missing something. The charm of the original maybe? The timeline or focused events? As mentioned from the top. It does it’s job of being live action. But for those wanting to share this series with their little ones should check out the original. I’ve laughed so much at these scenes already and the feels / emotion of story hits better in the storytelling with the O.G.

You know what’s also missing…. Captain Gantu. Why’d he get cut? He’s literally Stitch’s antagonist. The scripts already written from the original so why change so much. Even Jumba was changed to be the Antagonist in the live action when he doesn’t want to hurt Stitch. He’s his experiment and knows his capabilities, wanting to design him into something else.

I don’t want to get into a rant. Like I said, it’s good. Entertains enough. Just misses some vital aspects to why I enjoyed the original more. More Elvis! Gantu! Human costumes! Don’t change the characters! The more I’m seeing of the O.G they changed the sister a lot!

It’s the storyboarding and changes that will make or break your experience. Watched the original? you’ll be entertained but wanting what was. First time watching this, you’ll be entertained and should check out what was.

7.5/10, it’s entertaining, may get you in the feels, but the product was better in the original. From the sister’s dynamic together to the aliens storylines. That being said, the changes they did make work for the live action to some degree. The final act is honestly what I’d prefer to have stayed the same. But to have that, you need Captain Gantu and thus had to be changed.

Well there you have it. The first movie I was thinking would be a $1 Billion movie of 2025 is out. I’m not so confident having watched it but hey that’s just my thoughts on the 2025 Lilo & Stitch.

Happy watching everyone and let me know your thoughts in the comments :D.

Next up for this week. Friendship. Possibly coming to you tomorrow. Now back to watching the O.G Movie. P.S Nothing bonus after the credit crawl occurs. Scenes before that though were very fun.

Thanks for coming to Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Until next batch. Happy movie going.

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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning “Review”

Release date: May 23, 2025 (USA)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Running time: 2h 51m

MPAA rating: PG-13

Producers: Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, Jake Myers

Prequel: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

With this being the 8th installment of Mission Impossible I think it’s safe to say you at least enjoy these movies to arrive her at the end? Right? – Let’s Discuss.

With the above in mind. I’ll dabble within the first hour to setup Ethan Hunt’s Final Mission… or what at least appears to be his last.

The gangs back together for the…final? time. This time bow tying the past 30 years of this franchise together. Connecting all the characters, situations and missions. What’s the mission this time? To prevent Nuclear Destruction of the entire planet.

It takes about an hour to set this movie up with the various flash backs, character setups and series overview. Momentum will feel good then grind to a very long waited halt before picking back up again…..and again…..and again…. and again… It’s a good movie it just long. Extremely long. Defcon 3 onwards were where things picked up for me personally until toward the ending act just like last feature did.

Moments I felt strongly in the 8 tier but sadly with how long this title it coming just 25minutes longer than Ne Zha 2….I shouldn’t feel like I’ve watched 2 Ne Zha 2 within the first hour and again by the last 30 minutes of this title. MI8 is 2 hours 50minutes long and you feel it.

It’s a final send off though so I appreciate them taking the time to give each character their moments in the spotlight. Popped score of 7.5/10. It’s good, I may even re-watch it when I re-watch the entire series. But otherwise. Good one off viewing from me personally.

Before we get to spoiler? town.

Thank you all for coming by Popped for your Mission Impossible 8 “Review”. With this being the final title I wont ruin the surprise of how this all ends. So get your popcorn, sit back and watch this finale on the big screen.

Stay tuned for Lilo & Stitch later on today!

Potential Light Spoiler?

If they make another feature after this I’d be rather disappointed. This feels like a good stopping point. With the series recaps and tie-ins etc. this felt right to leave it here. However if they were to do one more. Make it a time skip. Ethan’s a dad now and his children are now taking over…. that or a 1 last mission from the shadows ? Maybe…

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Bring Her Back “Review”

Release date: May 30, 2025 (UK)

Starring: Sally Hawkins; Billy Barratt

Directed by: Danny Philippou; Michael Philippou

Producers: Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton

MPAA rating: R

Distributed by: Stage 6 Films

By the creators of Talk to Me, we have their next horror film. Bring her back. Although the hype for Talk to Me disappointed my expectations. This feature, in my opinion, deserves it all. Let’s discuss.

With this being an early “Review” I’m going to keep spoilers away heavily. I’ll set the story up and go into the incredibly actors and some parrels before teasing you with my overall thoughts and score.

After tragically loosing their father and being placed in care of a new foster mother. Andy (Played by Billy Barratt) & Piper (Played by Sora Wong) step brother and sister have 3 months until Andy turns 18 and able to file for guardianship of his sister. Piper is blind which creates more of a protective nature for Andy to be there for his step sister.

Their new foster mother? Laura, (Played by the incredible Sally Hawkins) the person whom I feel is most similar to that of Hugh Grant’s character in Heretic. You never know during this feature if you’re safe or not. When situations can be trusted, and who can be trusted.

Bring Her Back deserves the saying “I was on the edge of my seat”. This title honestly got to me. I was literally cheering for characters, wanting people to die and beside myself on the options characters have within their situation. The actors and all those behind the scenes did an incredible job with the tension of this movie.

I often get asked. Was it scary. Scary is hard to define. For instant. Scary being jumpy? Creeped out? Un Nerved? Short of breath? How does one define someone’s meaning of scary. What I can tell you though. It sure had my feeling a lot of these emotions of scary. I mentioned at the start the hype for Talk To Me disappointed my experience of the movie as it didn’t reach those levels. I honestly hope that Bring Her Back does for you. It’s an easy 8/10 tier and worthy of re-watching if you can stomach it. To place this in at a 9 is pretty impressive for a horror movie. Then I thought. Well, the great horror films of my youth are Blu Ray worthy so why wouldn’t or couldn’t this be…..

Thus the score was settled. Popped gives Bring Her Back a solid 9/10 placing it in my top 10 list. Loved the ending which is where the solid throughout performance and directing of this movie is above that of Heretic. Placing it up there with Black Phone for doing a great job of getting into your psyche.

Want to know more? Then check out Bring Her Back in theatres opening May 30th.

P.S I’ve watched the trailers and even that didn’t prepare me for what unfolds in this feature. Buckle up and enjoy…. If you have the stomach for it.

With that fellow movie goers. Was our Horror feature batch from A24. A solid hit that I dread going back to watch and re-live it but alas I most likely will with my wife at the end of the month.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Review” of Bring Her Back and I’ll look forward to your thoughts in a couple of weeks time. Until then, come back Thursday with our “Review’s” of Lilo & Stitch along with Mission Impossible 8.

Until next batch, happy watching 😀

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Final Destination Bloodlines “Review”

Release date: May 16, 2025 (USA)

Directors: Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein

Prequel: Final Destination 5

MPAA rating: R

Running time: 1h 49m

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

14 Years later since Final Destination 5 released, we’re back again with FD: Bloodlines Let’s dive into this gore fest masterpiece shall we :D.

I’ll discuss some story elements to a point then go into my overall thoughts. If you want to avoid anything and all things potential spoiler then read the above comment again and go enjoy this new addition of Final Destination.

Setting up the opening scene is a premonition occurring of Stephanie’s grandmother Iris. Which events occurred 50 years ago atop of the Skyview restaurant. This opening had my mouth wide open in Aww of the incredible gore fest that played out. Super clever writing and loved all the characters involved in setting that up.

Waking up from this haunting nightmare that plagues Stephanie she seeks out her family to find answers to hopefully stop them from occurring and prevent being kicked out of school for failing grades. This leads us to our main cast of characters within Stephanie’s Bloodline, including that of her grandmother Iris.

Sit back with some popcorn and get ready for some awesome gore fest deaths and fun. Final Destinations: Bloodlines doesn’t miss a beat and is being raved as the best in the series. It’s a great movie and I’d even watch the opening over and over again at how good it was. Wanting more lore? Then get your detective hats on because you’ll be diving in deep with this one. I think FD5 was so clever in connecting this series together that 6 has come along and continued that path.

Nothing to sit around for the end as there’s no post credit scene. However for fans of this series we had the crowd clapping and sending off Tony Todd with his in memory title card. May he rest in piece & thank you for the incredible hard work and awesome performances he’s put into this franchise. Something that he’s left an everlasting impression on and will never be forgotten. ❤

Well? What are you still doing here? Go get your tickets and check out Final Destination: Bloodline at your local theatre. You wanted a rating? Why didn’t you say so. I was between 2 scores with a solid 8 tier great movie I landed at a 8.5. There’s a lot of 9 in this movie and for some I can see this being a Blu-Ray purchase. Let’s hope we get another one so I can own a box set of 10 movies 😀

Thank you for coming to Popped for your movie “Review” of Final Destination: Bloodlines. I look forward to hearing/seeing 😀 your thoughts in the comments below. But until then everyone. Stay safe and be careful with your pennies. I heard those things can kill someone.

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Hurry Up Tomorrow “Review”

Release date: May 16, 2025 (USA)

Director: Trey Edward Shults

Running time: 1h 45m

MPAA rating: R

Screenplay: Trey Edward Shults

Producers: The Weeknd, Reza Fahim, Kevin Turen, Harrison Kreiss

What’s the story about? Or at least the purpose of this movie? I had no idea going in…. still no idea coming out. Let’s discuss, Hurry Up Tomorrow.

PSA – If you’re sensitive to strobe effects / flashing lights. Please be warned going into this movie. I’ve never had a movie display a warning card prior to the films beginning on this. I even had to close my eyes during some scenes in the first half.

I’ll be frank with this one. Unless the context is in the music. I have no idea the purpose of this feature. It started to get good with Ortega’s character Anima going all out. She was so good…. then the movie ended and sizzled and I even looked at my watch minutes before the title card popped up as the ending didn’t seem insight but I lost track of how long the movie had been playing for.

It’s okay at best. If I’m being fair it’s a weak 6. With a somewhat okay enough plot with curious to learn characters that you’ll keep with it. But the purpose and potential felt wasted with the ending. To be honest if it wasn’t for the weak ending it maybe a watch this weekend. With how the ending left me though I’d say its a streaming movie at best unless you want to see Jenna Ortega in a good roll unlike Death of a Unicorn.

There’s better movies to check out this weekend but if you do see Hurry Up Tomorrow. What did you think of it? Did I miss a lot from not understanding the lyrics to the songs being sung? (My wife calls my tone deaf when it comes to music) Placing this at a 3 with a combined 6 depending on who’s watching it.

It’s better than death of a unicorn so I’m knocking that down to a 2.5 so this stands above it.

To the point, pretty quick. But thanks for coming to Popped for your Hurry Up Tomorrow “Review”. Those were my thoughts and I’m hopeful for tomorrow’s feature to be at least good with Final Destination.

P.S No end scene to H.U.T so feel free to walk out after the title card.

Thank you again and see you next batch.

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Shadow Force “Review”

Release date: May 9, 2025 (USA)

Director: Joe Carnahan

Starring: Kerry Washington; Omar Sy; Mark Strong; Da’Vine Joy Randolph; Cliff “Method Man” Smith

Running time: 1h 44m

Executive producers: Christopher Woodrow, B. Quinn Curry, K. Blaine Johnston, Danielle Reardon, Jennifer Wiley-Moxley.

Distributed by: Lionsgate Films

When you’re unsure on checking a movie out. Make the call. Sometimes you may end up checking out a decently good movie :D. Let’s discuss.

First off, let’s discuss our loving family. I’m not sure why Shadow Force wasn’t pushed as the mothers day movie this weekend but Kerry Washington playing Kyrah will protect her family with no limits. Leaving her husband and son to take down the organization Shadow Force from getting to them and keep them safe. Omar Sy playing Isaac the loving husband and incredible father is put into a situation to save his son that strikes the ignition to Shadow Force finding out their location.

I absolutely loved this families dynamic. Having the mother doing all the action while Isaac and his son get to bond was very touching and created feelings/ bonds between the viewer and characters on screen. Getting attached to this family wont make or break your experience but if you get involved with them then your experience will most certainly be well enjoyed.

Next up the action! Comparing to a recent movie – Fight or Flight, this movie brought the characters, emotions, story and action! When the action gets going it’s awesome. Great sound and music while enjoying lots of cool scenes. Great cast of villains for sure lead by Jack (Played by Mark Strong). Yea the movie feels a little long by 5/10 minutes but the feeling kicks in right as the action kicks off / story begins to wrap up, so the feeling is short lived.

I’m more on the side of Fandango viewers as they gave it a 81%, but mind you the other side of this goes as low as 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. So pick your path :D.

I had a good time. Well enjoyed. Loved the son! Loved the family. Which gives Shadow Force in the eyes of Popped a solid good 7/10. Worth watching / checking out for sure. Either it be on streaming down the road or in theatres, the ultimate way to experience movies.

Appreciate you checking out Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Stick around for another tomorrow with Hurry up Tomorrow. Do I know what it’s about? Nope. Have I seen the trailer? Yup, plenty of times. Still no idea. So let’s check it out and report back :D. Thursday – Final Destination!

Watched Shadow Force yet? Love to hear your thoughts below. Check out Clown in a Cornfield? Let me know 😀 – As always though, see you next batch.

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Fight or Flight “Review”

Release date: May 9, 2025 (USA)

Director: James Madigan

Executive producers: Melissa Bale, D. J. Cotrona, Alastair Burlingham, Danny Chan, George Bennett

MPAA rating: R

Producers: Tai Duncan, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Christopher Milburn

Running time: 1h 41m

Seeing on the poster, From the Producers of John Wick, I was ready to go. Coming out from Clown in a Cornfield I was ready for what I thought was going to be the better movie of the two…. let’s discuss.

Want to know a similar experience – Check out my Love Hurts “Review” – Outside of the combat and fight scenes I was bored. I felt like I missed an entire story prior to this as the feature opens in mid fight on a failing plane. Then goes back 12 hours. All the story elements are discussed rather than shown throughout the title. Famous saying “Show don’t tell” should have been discussed with the storyboard.

Our main leads are totally fine. They had fun and I loved the energy during the fighting. Josh Hartnett plays Lucas Reyes a recruited member of the FBI to track down “The Ghost” escaping on a plane to San Francisco. Thing is, when arriving in the plane he finds out the entire plane has been filled with assassins assigned to kill “The Ghost” also. Charithra Chandran plays Isha a flight attendant that gets herself mixed up in this mess when knocking on the bathroom at the wrong time.

Summed up, that’s the story. Sit back and get through all the discussion of why their after The Ghost. The relationship between Lucas and the head FBI agent assigning this task to him and have fun with all the action scenes and surprises.

More action than Love Hurts which helps in the hour and 41minute run time. Feature sets up a sequel if you’re left wanting more but no end scene on this one.

Popped score of 6/10, it’s okay. Fun action, some fun jokes but little of anything else outside of that. I probably wont be back for a sequel unless I need it for my 100 films of that release year.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews” and with this double batch I’ll catch you next week for Final Destination: Bloodlines & Hurry Up Tomorrow. That is unless I catch Rosario / Shadow Force during the week.

Planned for the remainder of May is Lilo & Stitch, Mission Impossible. Bring Her Back, Friendship? If I can find somewhere playing it & Karate Kid: Legends.

Did I miss anything I need to see prior to June? Let me know in the comments below!

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Clown in a Cornfield “Review”

Release date: May 9, 2025 (USA)

Director: Eli Craig

MPAA rating: R

Running time: 1h 36m

Distributed by: Shudder, RLJE Films

Music by: Brandon Roberts; Marcus Trumpp

Round 2 for Shudder this year in theatres. Bringing us this time Clown in a Cornfield, a horror film based upon the novel (Of which I found out there’s 3 in this series).

I thought this was going to another # toward 100. Another 2.5 tier movie which may have something going for it but fails horribly. But wait….outside of the intro which started off like any other type of slasher movie. We open up after this point with our main leads….. of which I actually liked!

So lets go from there. The cast. Everyone did a fine job. It’s a Shudder movie mind you but one worthy of the big screen. It’s no Sinners but something worth checking out for sure. Aaron Abrams plays the father Dr. Maybrook and new Doctor of this town moving in with his daughter Quinn Maybrook (Played by Katie Douglas). Total legend Will Sasso is playing Dunne, the Sherriff of Kettle Springs down.

We shortly learn the kids that will be apart of Quinn’s friend group and the tension between the adults of the town vs the youth. A local legend of the town is that of a killer clown which the group make popular viral videos on Youtube of. That story leads us to the main plot of this feature. Clown in a Cornfield. Sit back, enjoy some Popcorn and have fun with this title. It wasn’t really scary nor overly gory. BUT. It’s gory and impactful in the right moments and makes those scenes count. Not throwing them at you desensitizing the audience for what’s to come but instead create an environment that entices and intrigues the audience into what’s to come and wanting more.

It’s actually all the fun which this film has with itself and audience which doesn’t get boring when the movie feels a little long. It kept me entertained and enjoying the scenes playing out despite feeling a little long. There’s no end scene to enjoy but rest assured there are more titles in this novel series so something to look forward to down the road.

Popped Score of 7/10 strong good movie, possibly even 7.5 with a repeat viewing but solidly 7.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews” and stay tuned, today we have a double batch viewing, coming up next. Fight or Flight.

Let me know in the comments your thoughts on Clown in a Cornfield and if you have read the novel and how it compares. Should I read it? Because I’m totally in :D.

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