Hoppers

As I said in my review of Elio, Pixar’s track record has proven rather hit and miss in the 2020s, complete with Elio itself finishing its theatrical run as a box office bomb that maybe made its $150 million budget back. This made me less enthusiastic about their follow-up film, Hoppers, at least at first. The more I saw the trailers, however, the more my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up watching it on opening weekend. Although I didn’t have high expectations going in, I had a genuinely good time and walked away with a willingness to actually rewatch a recent Pixar film later, which rekindled some hope for the studio’s future.

Mission: Impossible III

Note: This review contains spoilers for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Despite the mixed reception to Mission Impossible 2 (M:i-2), its success would lead to a sequel, Mission: Impossible III (M:i:III). Production got off to a rocky start with the search for a director, that is until Tom Cruise suggested J. J. Abrams after binge-watching two seasons of Alias. After some initial production delays, the final release in May 2006 garnered greater critical reception and became the eighth-highest grossing film of 2006. Unfortunately, it still proved a financial failure against its budget of ~$150 million and has the (dis)honor of its place as the lowest-grossing film in the entire franchise and hurting Tom Cruise’s career until Ghost Protocol revived it. Looking at the film now, it’s a shame that it didn’t do well, as it is an improvement on its predecessors, but I wouldn’t consider it my favorite either.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

While Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) debuted in 1984 with a sleeper hit independent comic book series by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, it didn’t truly become a global phenomenon until it was adapted into an animated series in 1987. With Turtle Mania going strong, the next logical step would be to adapt it into a live-action film (as was the style at the time), also named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT I), in 1990. As a kid, I was vaguely aware of this film growing up, but I never watched it until the Turtle bug bit me much later. Although my first viewing was around the release of the 2014 film, I felt like giving it another shot after attending a pre-release for the Magic: The Gathering | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles expansion. Even without having any personal nostalgia for it, and it isn’t perfect, it’s easy to see why this film is so beloved and is easily the best of the original film trilogy.

Star Fox

After playing through Star Fox Adventures, I became interested in seeing what other Star Fox games were like, which quickly turned into a deep-dive that involved going back to the franchise’s 1993 roots with the original Star Fox (aka Starwing in Europe) on the SNES to see how it all began. Although I own a SNES and the game itself isn’t too difficult to find, I would end up playing the game through the SNES Classic, as it happened to be one of the included games and has a save state function that would make an otherwise difficult game easier for me to get through and play in chunks. While the game does still impress with the hardware limitations at the time, there are still areas where it didn’t age quite so well due to later entries improving upon what it set out to be.

Mission: Impossible 2

It’s not uncommon for a film sequel, created off the back of the original’s success, to try a more action-oriented different direction compared to the original. Such was the case with Mission: Impossible 2 (M:I-2), which even placed John Woo, best known by some for the movie Face/Off, in the director’s chair, which automatically made it a bit different from Brian De Palma’s suspense-driven Mission: Impossible (M:I). Although M:I-2 debuted to mixed reception, it’s hard to argue with the results, as it grossed $546.4 million against a ~$120 million budget, which notably made it the year 2000’s highest-grossing film. While M:I-2 certainly has its fans even now, and it’s honestly hard not to see why, the end result almost comes at the expense of what makes a good Mission: Impossible movie.

Stubs - Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible (1996) starring Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Henry Czerny, Emmanuelle Béart, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vanessa Redgrave Directed by Brian DePalma. Screenplay by David Koepp, Robert Towne. Based on Mission: Impossible by Bruce Geller. Produced by Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner. Run time: 110 minutes. Color. USA Action, Espionage

If you were a fan of the original TV series, Mission: Impossible (1966-1973), you were definitely interested when Paramount announced it was bringing the story to the big screen. You might have been drawn in for its star Tom Cruise, or the script by Robert Towne, or the direction by Briana DePalma, but this was a film designed to put people in seats. But if you were a fan of the original series, you might have qualms with the adaptation.

Stubs - Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (2025) English voices: Lily Gilliam, Lucille Ainsworth, Francesca Calo, Page Leong, Jayne Taini. Directed by Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han Screenplay by Liane-Cho Han, Aude Py, Maïlys Vallade, Eddine Noël. Based on the novel The Character of Rain (Métaphysique des tubes) by Amélie Nothomb. Produced by Claire La Combe, Edwina Liard, Henri Magalon, Nidia Santiago. Run time: 78 minutes. Color. France, Belgium Animated. Drama.

Sometimes, it takes awards season to make you aware of the films that were released, which is what brought Little Amélie or the Character of Rain to my attention. This year, it was one of five films nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. That awareness took the film from unknown to one of my favorite animated films of the year and my personal front runner to win that award.