The Wolfman (2010)
Feb 15, 2010Werewolf Film
The 1941 Lon Chaney Jr The Wolf Man is given the remake treatment in a way that builds out on the creaky original with lavish sets and state of the art transformation effects
Universal
Repo Men (2010)
Mar 21, 2010Future Organ Repossession
SF film set in a future where agents are sent to repossess artificial organs when the owner's fall behind on payments. Sort of Sicko by way of Logan's Run but lacking the necessary sense of black humour to work
Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (2010)
Sep 16, 2010Magical Nanny
I never much cared for Nanny McPhee. This is a sequel that replicates the original in fairly much the same amount mix of plot elements, slapstick sequences and nonsensical absurdism
Charlie St. Cloud (2010)
Jul 31, 2010Teenager Can See the Dead
A banal Zac Efron starring attempt to rewrite The Sixth Sense for the mopily sensitive teenage Gothic Chick Lit audience weaned on Twilight with Efron as a cemetery groundskeeper who talks to the dead
Paul (2011)
Mar 27, 2011Science-Fiction Fans Encounter an Alien Comedy
Hilarious Simon Pegg-written homage to science-fiction fandom and alien visitor cinema. imagine Starman recast with two science-fiction fans and tv's sarcastically wisecracking ALF (voiced by Seth Rogen)
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
Jul 9, 2011Western/Alien Invasion
High-concept Jon Favreau directed film that has a winning title concept, overflows with star power and is made on a big budget. But the script feels like it had no idea what to do after setting up its title conceptual mash-up
The Change-Up (2011)
Sep 10, 2011Bodyswap Comedy
A raucous and eminently predictable variant on the bodyswap comedy that also manages to be expertly played by leads Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds and pulls off some genuine laugh-out-loud moments
Your Highness (2011)
Apr 15, 2011Epic Fantasy Comedy
The epic fantasy quest film is well due a parody, unfortunately this majorly unfunny effort written by its leading man Danny McBride only makes a beeline for the witless and vulgar
Hop (2011)
Apr 14, 2011Talking Easter Bunny
A film about the Easter Bunny that comes remarkably devoid of any significance of the meaning of Easter and only consists of the usual smartass talking animal antics
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
Feb 17, 2011Philip K. Dick Adaptation/Manipulation of Fate
A Philip K. Dick adaptation in which Matt Damon gets an accidental glimpse of the people that manipulate fate. This proves very satisfying on a conceptual and storytelling level
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
May 31, 2012Adult Fairytale Adaptation/Epic Fantasy
The second of 2012's Snow White films after Mirror Mirror, this turns the fairytale into an epic fantasy. Well produced but ultimately a film that lacks anything unique nor pushes far enough into the dark fantasy it promises to be
Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (2012)
Dec 21, 2013Space Opera/Web Series Prequel
Web-series/film prequel to the 2003-9 revival of Battlestar Galactica with a rookie Commander Adama arriving aboard the Galactica. Easily one the best of the Galactica spinoff films to date
Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
Aug 17, 2013Superhero Wannabes
A much better sequel that gives the characters a thorough workover while making clever play out of the contrasts of masked superhero and reality that ran through the first film
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
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
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
The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)
Apr 30, 2016Snow White and the Huntsman Sequel
Sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman. Despite low expectations, this emerged better than one thought it would. It has a better director and seems much more at home being an epic fantasy than the first film
The Mummy (2017)
Jul 22, 2017Revived Mummy
The reboot of the Mummy series emerges as a wannabe Michael Bay film where even star Tom Cruise plays second banana to the CGI eye candy. Equally, an attempt to jumpstart a shared universe out of Universal's Famous Monsters with the inclusion of Dr Jekyll seems awkward
Cult of Chucky (2017)
Oct 9, 2017Child's Play Sequel
The seventh of the Child's Play films with the killer doll Chucky. I never much cared for the original series but the modern films – those with Chucky's name in the title – have become a lot wittier and playful, constantly making jokes back to the rest of the series
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
Firestarter (2022)
May 20, 2022Pyrokinesis/Stephen King Adaptation
One of Stephen King’s best books is given a new film workover by Blumhouse. Keith Thomas made a standout directorial debut with The Vigil, but this is a disaster, one of the worst of all King adaptations
Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)
Jul 17, 2022Genetically-Engineered Dinosaurs Amok
This was the sixth film in the Jurassic Park/World franchise and offers very much a return to the familiar. It at least also shakes several familiar things up
Halloween Ends (2022)
Oct 22, 2022Slasher Film
David Gordon Green and Jamie Lee Curtis return to round out their highly underwhelming Halloween reboot trilogy. By now, this feels like a Halloween film in name only
Renfield (2023)
May 12, 2023Dracula’s Manservant
Twilight fairly much killed the vampire film. This is the first of two big-budget offerings of 2023 that aims to turn that around
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
May 27, 2023Animation/Videogame Adaptation
Illumination Entertainment, the company behind the Despicable Me films, make an animated film based on the popular videogame franchise. The result was the second highest grossing film of the year
Twisters (2024)
Aug 24, 2024Tornado Chasers
Sequel to Twister, the Michael Crichton written film about tornado chasers, this updates the story to the 21st Century and aims for much more in the way of mass destruction spectacle
Wicked: Part 1 (2024)
Jan 11, 2025Musical/The Wizard of Oz Prequel
The first half of a two-part adaptation of the hit Broadway musical that is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, showing The Wicked Witch’s origin story
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2025)
Jan 3, 2026Videogame Adaptation/Killer Animatronics
Five Nights at Freddy’s, adapted from the popular videogame and featuring Josh Hutcherson fighting off killer animatronics, was a runaway success for Blumhouse. This is a sequel
Wicked: For Good (2025)
Jan 10, 2026Musical/The Wizard of Oz Prequel
The second half of the film adaptation of the musical Wicked. This essentially operates as Wizard of Oz fanfiction and substantially wrenches the characters and backstories from the 1939 film out of shape to write its own story
M3gan 2.0 (2025)
Jul 25, 2025Artificially Intelligent Doll Amok
Sequel to the killer doll film M3gan that is a much better work than its predecessor. If the original was Child’s Play by way of The Terminator then this is the series’ equivalent of Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)
Aug 16, 2025Genetically Engineered Dinosaurs
The seventh of the Jurassic Park/World films, this receives a creative shot in the arm from Gareth Edwards, director of Monsters and The Creator
Disclosure Day (2026)
Aug 8, 2026Evidence of Alien Contact
Steven Spielberg makes a thoughtful return to the theme of alien contact. Rather than the rosy optimism of Close Encounters and E.T. , he seems to have embraced the dark conspiratorial view of The X Files