The Ant Bully (2006)
Nov 10, 2006Animation/Boy Reduced to Ant Size
An animated film about a child who is cruel to ants only to be magically reduced down to their size and then have to become their saviour against an exterminator
Legendary Pictures
Superman Returns (2006)
Jun 21, 2006Comic-Book Superhero
This has a bad reputation but Bryan Singer does a wonderful job in bringing Superman back to the screen in a version surprisingly reliant on the Christopher Reeve films. The superheroics soar and Kevin Spacey makes for the best screen Lex Luthor ever
Lady in the Water (2006)
Nov 10, 2006Water Nymph, Predestination and Myth
For all its descent into loopy ideas at times, this is a decidedly interesting M. Night Shyamalan film about myth featuring Bryce Dallas Howard as a water nymph who appears out of an apartment pool
300 (2007)
Apr 19, 2007Fantasticised Historical Battle/Graphic Novel Adaptation
Zack Snyder's adaptation of the classic Frank Miller graphic novel about the Greek battle of Thermopylae. In replicating the look of the original's panels, Snyder pushes what would otherwise be a standard historical film into something extraordinarily stylised and fantastic
Trick ‘R Treat (2008)
May 20, 2010Halloween Horror Anthology
Disappointing Bryan Singer produced horror anthology set around Halloween where its potential is frequently dragged down by over-emphatic direction
The Dark Knight (2008)
Jul 18, 2008Comic-Book Superhero
Christopher Nolan brought the cinematic Batman franchise back to life with Batman Begins and here expands it into something amazing. The show is capped off by Heath Leder's towering Academy Award winning performance as The Joker
10,000 BC (2008)
Mar 8, 2008Prehistoric Drama
Roland Emmerich leaves epic mass destruction behind to make a prehistoric film, but this is one that soon collapses into a remarkable anthropological silliness
Ninja Assassin (2009)
Oct 20, 2009Martial Arts
Produced by The Wachowskis who take the opportunity to reinvent the ninja film with the same flamboyant visuals they employed on The Matrix with exhilarating results
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Nov 2, 2009Boy Frolics With Friendly Monsters
Spike Jonze conducts his own unique and individualistic adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book about a young boy who sails away to an island of friendly monsters
Watchmen (2009)
Mar 8, 2009Comic-Book Superheroes
Zack Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's groundbreaking graphic novel is exceedingly faithful to the original. Often called unfilmable, Snyder articulates the material in ways that quite surprise
Inception (2010)
Sep 23, 2010Dream Espionage
Christopher Nolan's The Matrix. Concerning an action theme that invade people's dreams, this is a bold, brilliantly original SF film driven by ideas - a film that succeeds beautifully on all levels
Jonah Hex (2010)
Jun 19, 2010Western Comic-Book Adaptation/Supernatural Bounty Hunter
This is an adaptation of the DC comic-book character of a supernatural avenging Western gunslinger that fails to burn with the grim mood it should have
Sucker Punch (2011)
Mar 27, 2011Fantasy Action in Dreamed Alternate Realities
Bizarrely uncategorisable film from Zack Snyder that seems a mix of Girl, Interrupted and Inception
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Jul 19, 2012Comic-Book Superhero
The Dark Knight is a hard act to follow and Christopher Nolan almost does but not quite. The story keeps Batman off-screen for half the film. Tom Hardy's Bane dominates the show, while Catwoman is surprisingly subdued
Pacific Rim (2013)
Jul 12, 2013Giant Mecha Robots vs Giant Monsters
Giant mecha robots beating the crap out of giant monsters – what's not to like? In comparison to the Transformers films, Guillermo Del Toro looks to find the soul of the robot jock – in essence, Transformers for grown-ups
Seventh Son (2014)
Feb 8, 2015Epic Fantasy/Monster Hunter's Apprentice
An object lessons in how not to adapt a Young Adult series – take a book series about an apprentice witch hunter set in an alternate England and turn it a generic Lord of the Rings copy
Interstellar (2014)
Nov 8, 2014Space Expedition
This could be Christopher Nolan's 2001: A Space Odyssey. But where Kubrick was cold and oblique, this is a 2001 with a heart. A pleasure to see a film rooted in credible science and dealing with high concept SF
As Above So Below (2014)
Aug 30, 2014Found Footage/Gateway to Hell
The Brothers Dowdle made the standout The Poughkeepsie Tapes but this is a sub-Da Vinci Code archaeological mystery that is little more than a Halloween haunted house attraction in the Paris catacombs
Godzilla (2014)
May 17, 2014Giant Monster Bash
A slightly different beast to its Japanese counterparts and an impressive revival of the series. Gareth Edwards, who made the excellent Monsters, delivers mass destruction on a mind-bogglingly vast scale in ways that approach painterly beauty
Dracula Untold (2014)
Oct 25, 2014Dracula Origin Story
Dracula gets an origin story for Universal's Famous Monsters shared universe. Vlad the Impaler, one of the great tyrants of history, gets rewritten as an honourable warrior and decent family man
Krampus (2015)
Dec 12, 2015Christmas Horror Film
Drawing on the Teutonic traditions of the anti-Santa, this gleefully wades into anti-Christmas spirit. Although never as much as it promises to be, it does astonish at a major studio releasing such a dark film right on Christmas season
Jurassic World (2015)
Jun 13, 2015Genetically-Engineered Dinosaurs Amok
After two ho-hum sequels, this finally delivers a solid follow-up to Jurassic Park. Rather than more scenes with dinosaurs chasing people, this comes with some fascinating ideas about seeing the park in operation
Crimson Peak (2015)
Oct 31, 2015Ghost Story
Guillermo Del Toro takes on the Victorian ghost story. What we get is the most gorgeously designed and costumed haunted house film ever but where the excess scenography actually distracts from producing any boo moment
Spectral (2016)
Jul 29, 2017Soldiers vs Spirit Beings
Highly original piece that works as a supernatural version of Black Hawk Down with a unit of soldiers cut off in rebel territory and surrounded by spirit beings. Grippingly effective both in terms of the tension and a script that treats the phenomenon with scrupulous rationalism
Warcraft (2016)
Jun 18, 2016Computer Game Adaptation/Epic Fantasy
Adapted from the videogame, this is a third hand rehash of the basics of Tolkien. Secondly, it looks like a giant CGI cartoon where almost anything interesting about the world has been sidelined in favour of fantasy action
The Great Wall (2016)
Mar 26, 2017Historical Fantasy Epic
Matt Damon helps defend the Great Wall of China against invading monsters. Directed by Zhang Yimou, this should be seen for its breathtaking visuals – vast battle scenes, lavish costumes – but you wish there had been more than that
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Apr 15, 2017Giant Ape
A reboot where King Kong is now part of a shared universe. This is less a tragic love story about Kong falling for a girl and being brought down by civilisation than Kong as a heroic defender fighting off other monsters
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Dec 1, 2018Genetically-Engineered Dinosaurs Amok
Fifth of the Jurassic Park films. Industrial Light and Magic do their usual excellent job but this time the film is just recycling the same thing as before with minimal change
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
May 5, 2018Giant Mecha Robots
Pacific Rim wasn't Guillermo Del Toro's best film but it was a fun attempt to imagine giant Japanese mecha robots battling giant monsters. This is a sequel but without Del Toro it is reduced to no more than one of Michael Bay's Transformers films
Pokemon Detective Pikachu (2019)
Jun 16, 2019Cute Creatures/Videogame Adaptation
Live-action film version of the popular videogame phenomenon, this is capably made but almost entirely content free for anyone with an age in the double digits
Godzilla, King of the Monsters (2019)
Aug 24, 2019Giant Monster Bash
Follow-up to the 2014 US-made Godzilla. This introduces other monsters from the Japanese series and tries to create a shared universe. But when the film is all massively-scaled mass destruction, it seems hard to root for the monsters
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
Apr 10, 2021Giant Monster Bash
One of fantastic cinema’s great titles bouts is a spectacular effects show. At the same time, it also has one of the single most ridiculous script I have ever come across in the entire time I have been running this site
Dune Part One (2021)
Oct 30, 2021Desert World/Intergalactic Politics/Precognitive Messiah
Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic SF novel comes with a determination to give the story and its richly detailed world faithful life on screen. Villeneuve adapts freely in many areas but gets the complexity of the saga
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Feb 26, 2022Backwoods Brutality
The ninth Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, this offers the intriguing idea of Leatherface vs millennials
The Toxic Avenger (2023)
Oct 11, 2025Mutant Superhero/Troma Remake
A remake of the work that launched Troma films. The original The Toxic Avenger was a gungily nasty film that readily trod way over all lines of good taste. In being cast with name stars, this has been cleaned up considerably
Dune Part Two (2024)
Apr 20, 2024Desert World/Intergalactic Politics/Precognitive Messiah
The second part of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic SF novel Dune, this delves more deeply into the world of the Fremen, although starts to diverge more from the book
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Jun 1, 2024Giant Monster Bash
A follow-up to Godzilla vs Kong, this tries to offer more of the same but suffers another ridiculous script. This ended up being overshadowed by the acclaim that the Japanese-made Godzilla: Minus One received
A Minecraft Movie (2025)
May 31, 2025Videogame Adaptation
A live-action film based on the popular videogame with Jack Black and Jason Momoa venturing into a brick-based otherworld. This was a reasonable hit.