JacobsonCinemas

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