JacobsonCinemas

snakes, why did it have to be snakes?

Zootopia 2 is the long-awaited sequel to the 2016 Disney film. The sequel takes place right after the first film where Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are now partners. After a botch police chase, the duo is assigned a new case involving a snake named Gary. After an incident at a gala where Gary steals an old journal detailing the creation of the weather walls and accidently paralyzing Chief Bogo, the duo is accused of helping the snake. The duo ends up on the run and now have to clear their names by finding Gary while also uncovering a huge conspiracy on who actually created Zootopia.

One of the best things about the first film is the worldbuilding. The city of Zootopia has different districts each with their own ecosystems designed to help specific animals live. What helps is the amazing animation. Each district has their own unique look and the way each of them work is shown wonderfully. Zootopia really goes feel like its own character and is one of the most complex settings in any Disney movie. Zootopia 2 builds upon that by introducing reptiles and new locations such as the Marsh Market. We see all kinds of reptiles such as snakes, lizards and turtles (yet surprisingly no alligators or crocodiles). Having the film focus on reptiles really does help make the world of Zootopia feel bigger. SPOILERS: I always felt a sequel to Zootopia should introduce the origin of the city and we actually do get more detail on that here. In this film we not only find out the origin of Zootopia but also find out that Gary’s aunt was the true founder and creator of the weather walls.

The voice acting is really good and is surprisingly one of the biggest casts of any Disney movie. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman are still great as Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. Their dynamic in this film is a lot stronger. Great newcomers include Ke Huy Quan as Gary Snake, Fortune Feimster as Niddles, and Andy Sandberg as Pawbert. There’s also a bunch of cameos from actors that have been in previous Disney films such as Patrick Warburton (from the Emperor’s New Groove) as Mayor Windancer, and even Micheal J Fox (from Atlantis) as an actual fox. Honestly this felt more like Disney Animation’s 100 anniversary celebration than Wish.

SPOILERS: One of the first film’s biggest issues was the twist villain. Bellwether was a very weak villain due to being revealed during the climax, her personality going a complete full 180, and she barely had enough screentime to be evil. Zootopia 2’s twist villain Pawbert however is a huge improvement. What works is that there’s already a set up villain being his father, Milton Lynxley. Pawbert also has a lot more time to be a villain and even then, his personality doesn’t change that much. What’s also unique is that he’s more tragic compare to other Disney villains. All he wants is to just. Probably my biggest issue with the film is technically not even in the film. The first teaser had this mysterious hooded figure that was supposedly the main villain yet it never shows up in the film at all. It felt like there was supposed to be but was changed right after the teaser released.

SPOILERS: there is a post credit scene that hints that the possible third film will introduce birds. I’m pointing this out because last year I jokingly predicted that the third film should be about birds. Zootopia 2 is the best Disney animated film since the original Zootopia and one of if not the best sequel in the canon. It has the same great characters, animation, and worldbuilding that made Zootopia so great. I’d even goes as far as say this is better than the first film.

Verdict:

+The animation

+The voice acting

+Twist villain

+Worldbuilding

-Hooded figure wasted

Score: A

I love the Knives Out films! They all have amazing directing and writing from the amazing Rian Johnson. The characters are well written especially Benoit Blanc who is not only my favorite detective in fiction, but also one of my favorite characters of all time. You better believe that when a third film was announced it immediately became my most anticipated film of 2025. Wake Up Dead Man is about Rev. Jud Duplenticy being sent to a small town called Chimney Rock where he is assigned to the church led by Monsignor Jefferson Wicks. During the Good Friday service, Wicks is mysteriously murdered in a secret room and Jud is branded as the prime suspect. So, he hires famous detective Benoit Blanc to help him clear his name and solve who really killed Wicks in what’s possibly his most difficult case yet.

One of the things I love about the Knives Out films is that a majority of the characters are legit awful people, yet what keeps them from being too unlikable is that the actors give out amazing performances that make them enjoyable. One big standout was Josh O’Conner as Father Jud. He’s definitely one of the most sympathetic characters in the trilogy and very easy to root for him when he tries to fight back against Wick and his flock. Other standouts are the murder victim Jefferson Wicks played by Josh Brolin and his assistant Martha Delacroix played by Glenn Close. Wicks is such an enjoyable vile and despicable character and you really feel the corrupting influence he has put on the citizens of Chimney Rock. It’s one of the rare times where the murder victim’s death feels cathartic. His assistant Martha gets a lot of great moments especially near the end. Of course, the true MVP of the series is Danial Craig as Benoit Blanc. Danial Craig is my favorite James Bond yet Blanc is my favorite performance that he has done. His charm, and wit make him so enjoyable and every time you think he’s saying nonsense is actually deeper than you think.

Much like the other films, Wake Up Dead Man is wonderfully shot thanks to the amazing Rian Johnson. This film has such a great gothic feel to it that makes it stand out compared to the other Knives Out films. In terms of the mystery, this is possibly the most unpredictable of the trilogy. SPOILERS: If you look at the cast order from the previous films, it’s always a certain order. Danial Craig is listed first, then the culprit, then the supporting protagonist and lastly the murder victim. Yet here, Josh Brolin who’s listed fourth is the victim. It’s like Rian Johnson did this deliberately just throw us in a loop. I had no idea how the murder could’ve been done or who it could be. The film cleverly lays out clues and foreshadowing throughout the entire film and even when you think you’ve figured it out the film turns on its head. This might also be the funniest film in the trilogy. A lot of the jokes are smart and witty thanks to the amazing performances from the cast. One of my favorite gags is when Blanc plays Phantom of the Opera on the organ.

Wake Up Dead Man has everything that makes the Knives Out films so great. Great acting, directing, and writing that keeps you on your toes throughout the entire runtime. It’s not a huge mystery on why the Knives Out trilogy has become my absolute favorite film trilogy of all time (at least until Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse releases).

Verdict:

+Benoit Blanc

+The acting

+The directing

+The writing

+Unpredictable

Score: A+

20 years ago, I was watching an episode of a PBS Kids show called Zoom. One of the segments showed one of the kids in New York City going backstage in a Broadway musical called Wicked. That day, I have been changed for good. Wicked For Good starts where Act 2 begins. Elphaba has been branded the “Wicked Witch of the West” and is now wanted throughout Oz while trying to free the animals from the Wizard’s tyranny. Her friend Glinda has been promoted as a public figure to the Wizard and is also engaged with Fiyero who has also been promoted to captain the guards.

The acting is just as good as the first film with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo of course being the big standouts. Elphaba absolutely reaches her breaking point here and it is shown wonderfully through Cynthia’s performance. Ariana also is amazing and she is absolutely going to earn her Oscar win next year after being robbed by Emilia Perez (yuck). SPOILERS: One of the things that absolutely surprised me was how Boq aka the Tin Man was handled. You know how Jack Haley found playing the Tin Man very comfortable? That’s nothing compared to what happens to Boq. Unlike the original film, everything. Everything from his design and voice feels more metallic and inhuman with the addition of steam coming out of him. You can tell Boq is absolutely uncomfortable thanks to Ethan Slater’s amazing performance.

Much like the previous film all the songs were wonderfully sung, some of them even better than the stage version. The two new songs “No Place Like Home” and “Girl in the Bubble” are worthy additions and help show what both Elphaba and Glinda are going through. Everyday More Wicked added exerts of songs from the previous film as a way to recap. Wonderful adds Glinda into the song which was a brilliant way to try to get Elphaba on the Wizard’s side. The biggest standout is definitely No Good Deed. It is just as if not more epic than the Broadway version. SPOILERS: A lot of the visuals are played up more than the original showing more of what Elphaba is going through while trying to save Fiyero. During the number it cuts back and forth from Fiyero being beaten up by the guards to Elphaba casting her spell in desperation. Probably the most powerful moment and possibly the whole movie is when she see’s visions of loved ones that she’s lost and then see’s Fiyero in a cornfield “beaten to death” and shouts out to him pretty much reaching her breaking point. It’s legit a powerful and heart-breaking moment.

Wicked For Good isn’t as strong as the first one which had more of the wow factor but it’s still a very satisfying and emotional conclusion to an adaption of my favorite Broadway musical. Thank you, Jon M. Chu, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and to everyone else who worked on these films for bringing the musical that has meant the most to me to life. Also, the final shot being a reference to the Broadway poster is an absolutely brilliant way to end the film.

Verdict:

+Ariana Grande

+Cynthia Erivo

+Musical numbers

+Production design

+The Tin Man

Score: A+

It’s alive, IT’s ALIVE!

The Netflix logo that was shown at the showing I was at was themed to Frankenstein with batteries and electricity, just wanted to point that out because I always love it when a studio logo is themed to the movie. If you know the original Frankenstein story by Mary Shelley than it won’t be hard to understand Guillermo del Toro’s adaption. For those who don’t know Frankenstein is about a mad scientist named Victory Frankenstein who challenges the idea of life and death by creating a creature and giving it life.  

Much like his adaption of Pinocchio, you can tell Guillermo del Toro really wanted to make his own version of the story instead of doing a shot-by-shot remake of the 1931 version. The whole film is amazing to look at thanks to Del Toro’s amazing directing. The shot where you see the monster far away in front of the sunset in the North Pole might just be one of, if not my favorite shot from any film this year. I heard someone say that the film’s themes can all be summed up in that one shot. I also like how this film is structured in chapters with each one being told by either Victor (when he’s creating the creature) or the creature (after he escaped). If I had a few problems with the film, it’s that the whole “who’s the real monster” theme is a bit forced.

Oscar Isaac is great as Victor Frankenstein. What I like about his performance is that he had some sympathetic traits but not to the point where he’s too sympathetic to forgive for the awful stuff he does. The true MVP however is Jacob Elordi as the creature. I love his unique design and how Jacob Elordi managed to balance being both intimidating and. The friendship he has with the blind old man is also very sweet. He absolutely deserves a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for this.

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is one of if not the best and most unique film adaptions of this famous story that would make Mary Shelley very proud. I’d even say it’s better than the 1931 version. With this and Monsters Unchained at Epic Universe, 2025 really has been the year of Frankenstein.

Verdict:

+Chapter structure

+ Guillermo del Toro’s directing

+Jacob Elordi as the creature

+Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein

-Forced “who’s the real monster” theme

Score: A

What time is it?

I consider myself a cinephile yet I have never seen a single Paul Thomas Anderson film until now. One Battle After Another is about former revolutionary Pat Calhoun played by Leonardo Dicapio who is forced into hiding with “his” newborn daughter after his wife sells out his group and leaves the country. Years later, the past catches up to him and his daughter Willa when a corrupt military officer named Lockjaw played by Sean Penn plans to hunt down Pat’s daughter for sinister reasons. Pat now renamed Bob must find her before Lockjaw does.

What makes Paul Thomas Anderson’s films so beloved by many is the way he directs them. One Battle After Another is wonderfully directed and has an amazing and epic scope to it. Every scene is absolutely intense and well shot. I usually have a problem with long runtimes and while One Battle After Another is also a long movie at 162 minutes, it surprisingly goes by quick thanks to the pacing that never dragged at all. I also love Jonny Greenwood’s score here and while Ludwig Göransson’s score in Sinners is still my favorite movie score of 2025, this one is probably a close second. Some of my favorite tracks are the main theme, “Ocean Waves”, and “Like Tom Fkn Cruise”. What I love about these tracks is that they use the piano to make the score feel more intense. Honestly any track that uses the piano is my favorite.

The acting in this film is absolutely phenomenal. Pat/Bob is one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best performances being both funny and tragic. When he returns to the “revolutionary world” can tell that he is very rusty from being away for years thanks to Leo’s amazing performance. I also want to praise Chase Infiniti as Willa in her amazing debut role. You really do feel for her when she finds out about her parents and her connection to Lockjaw. She honestly felt more like the main protagonist than her father. Lockjaw is also such an enjoyably despicable villain thanks to the amazing performance of Sean Penn. The other actors such as Benicio del Toro and Teyana Taylor also gave out amazing performances. I can absolutely see any of these actors win for their roles in the film at the Academy Awards next year.

One Battle After Another was the first Paul Thomas Anderson film I’ve ever seen and honestly, it was a great one to start off with. It has great acting, great music, and great directing that reminds everyone why Paul Thomas Anderson is considered one of the greatest film directors of all time. People are predicting this to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards next year and honestly, I couldn’t agree with them more.

Verdict:

+Jonny Greenwood’s score

+PTA’s directing

+The acting

+The pacing

Score: A

While I’ve never read any of Stephen King’s books, I have seen a few of his film adaptions such as the Shining, Doctor Sleep, Stand by Me, and the It duology. The Long Walk is a yearly challenge where 50 boys run across a dystopian of America at a speed of three miles per hour. If they go slower than that or stop, they are given a warning and after three warnings are shot. The walk ends when only one participant is left.

You will notice that this has a similar premise to a book series I read in high school called The Hunger Games which is about a group of kids fighting to the death until one of them is alive. The Long Walk has a similar vibe to that series mostly because the director Francis Lawrence also directed the sequels Catching Fire and the Mockingjay two-parter. His directing in those films is really great and same can be said here as there are many shots that let you sink in the atmosphere of this bleak setting. I bet Suzanne Collins took a lot of inspiration from this book when writing her series. I also really like the participants. A lot of them have their own personalities and reasons to why they want to win. The biggest standouts are definitely Cooper Hoffman as Ray (#47) and David Jonsson as Peter McVries (#23).

This film manages to balance being both intense and quiet. There are a lot of moments where the participants are just having conversations with each other. It’s very reminist of another Stephen King film Stand by Me, which also had quiet moments where the characters talk to each other while walking throughout the country. When it gets intense however, it gets very intense. A lot of the participants get very close to getting shot but when they do die it’s very gruesome and sad. One of the most gruesome scenes is when one of them gets their legs crushed by a tank. Another intense scene is when they have to walk up the hill without tiering. This film managed to make walking up a hill one of the most disturbing parts of the film.

The Long Walk brings me back to a younger age when I watched the Hunger Games series. It is up there with The Shining and Stand by Me as one of Stephen King’s best film adaptions managing to balance being quiet and intense. Absolutely worth the walk to your local movie theater.

Verdict:

+Francis Lawrence’s directing

+Intense

+Quiet

+The participants

Score: A

The Bad Guys is one of my personal favorite DreamWorks films thanks to the film’s gorgeous Spider-Verse inspired animation, the amazing voice acting, unique character designs, and fun premise. Another reason I hold the film dear to me is because it gives out a lot of Sly Cooper vibes which is one of my favorite game series. When I found out that there would be a sequel, I was really excited. The Bad Guys 2 takes place after the first film where Wolf and his gang are trying to fit into society after being released from prison. After struggling to adjust they are brought back into the crime life by a new group called the Bad Girls who were inspired by them and want to team up to pull off the ultimate heist.

Everything that was great about the first film such as the fun characters, the outstanding voice acting, Daniel Pemberton’s tremendous score, and especially the gorgeous animation is all right here. SPOILERS: my favorite visual of the film has to be near the end when Kitty uses the space magnet to pull all the world’s gold into space and you see it all floating around in gold streams. Sure, Kitty’s plan seems extremely unrealistic but man is it worth it for possibly my favorite amazing piece of animation of 2025 so far. What’s also great is that it does away with some of the first film’s problems such as the “twist villain” and the “third-half breakup” and focuses more on the heists which were some of the more fun parts of the first film.

The Bad Girls work as a great foil to the Bad Guys. Each member has terrific voice acting, their own unique design, and roles to play in the group. Kitty in particular is the big standout. My one major problem with the film is technically not in the film but actually cut out. A deleted scene reveals that Diane and Kitty were actually close friends when Diane was the Crimson Paw but after Diane turned a new leaf and abandoned Kitty she becomes resentful and vengeful. I feel like this backstory made Kitty more complex and tragic instead of just having your basic “outcast that decided to be a bad guy” backstory. It would’ve also explained why she wanted to expose her as the Crimson Paw more. Perhaps if we get another sequel maybe they’ll actually reveal this.

SPOILERS: Kitty ends up uploading evidence that Diane is the Crimson Paw which costs her governor job and ends up having to fake her own death along with the Bad Guys and become secret agents. I love that the status quo changes a lot here and you don’t usually see that in a lot of animated sequels other than the Toy Story films. It would’ve been cheap if Diane got her job back but she doesn’t which is refreshing. The Bad Guys 2 is just as great as the first film with everything that made the first film great. It has amazing animation, fun voice acting, and a fun premise that brings me back to when I watched my brother play the Sly Cooper games.

Verdict:

+Change to the status quo

+The Bad Girls

+The animation

+The voice acting

-Changing Kitty’s backstory

Score: A

IT’S CLOBBERING TIME!

Doesn’t it seem very coincidental that we get a new Fantastic Four reboot every 10 years? I have never been a fan of the Fantastic Four, mostly thanks to how the previous films were either too corny or too bleak. Now that Disney has bought 20^th Century Fox that gave the MCU the opportunity to make their own interpretation of the team. The Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in an alternate 60s retro futuristic inspired universe separate from the Sacred one. Unlike the previous Fantastic Four films which begin with their origin story, this film takes place four (get it?) years after they received their powers and are now the sole protectors of Earth-828 (brilliant and touching eater egg). When Sue confirms to be pregnant, the Silver Surfer arrives to tell them that Galactus is coming to eat their planet unless the Fantastic Four give up their newborn child to take Galactus’s place.

One of the things to get right in a Fantastic Four film is casting the right actors for these heroes, something the previous films failed to do (though Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis were pretty decent). This film finally did the whole team justice. Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby are both great as Reed Richards and Sue Storm and you do feel for them when trying to think of a way to not just save Earth but also their new child. Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrachwere also great as Johnny Storm and the Thing and the banter they have together is a lot of fun. H.E.R.B.I.E was a nice new addition to the group that also tied with the retro future aesthetic. Galactus was an actual great villain here and a huge (pun intended) improvement over that stupid cloud version from Rise of the Silver Surfer. Ralph Ineson gives a chilling and epic performance. The effects on him look great and you really do feel the size and scope of him whenever he’s onscreen. What’s also great is that the film makes him a villain with an understandable motive instead of just a generic doomsday villain like in the 2007 film.

One of the biggest highlights for me is this film’s production design. I have always been a huge fan of 60s retro future aesthetic. This film’s version of New York is a joy to look at. Having Matt Shakman direct was the right choice since he already had experience directing WandaVision which had a 60s inspired episode. The customized opening logo pretty much establishes the new setting perfectly. Michael Giacchino’s amazing score also helps give the setting a fun retro feel to it that reminds me a lot of another superhero family film the Incredibles which he also composed. One of the biggest problems with the previous Fantastic Four film was that it was way too bleak and edgy. This film however managed to be the exact opposite. Everything about this film from the tone, the costumes, and the writing feels much more lighthearted and fun without it being too corny like the 2005 film. I’m really glad movies like this and Superman can show that comic book films can still be faithful, lighthearted and fun.

I know it is a bit cliche to say this but the Fantastic Four: First Steps is absolutely “fantastic”. I always hoped this would be not just the best Fantastic Four film of all time but also the best Marvel film of 2025, and I was right. Matt Shakeman managed to accomplished making the Fantastic Four feel right at home in the MCU and I look forward to see what they have in store for them.

Verdict:

+Galactus

+Lighthearted tone

+The Fantastic Four

+The production design

Score: A