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Hoppers | Average Guy Movie Review

Mabel (Piper Carda), a 19 year-old with a passion for nature, is fighting to save a glade with special meaning for her family. It's under threat from the local mayor (Jon Hamm), and his highway construction plans. This very personal mission leads Mabel to discover technology that allows her to transfer her consciousness into a robotic beaver, Avatar style, and explore the animal kingdom, unlocking unimaginable secrets. But will she be able to use it to save the glade? Pixar 's 30th feature film is yet another hilarious foray into nature, but  in much the same way scientists use camera rigs disguised as animals to observe different species in their natural habitats. Only this time, a human actually gets to explore the animal kingdom by hanging out with the animals, and Hoppers is delightfully self-aware when it comes to the similarities it shares with a certain James Cameron property. One of several amusing pop culture references throughout the film. In many ways it is an even ...
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Mercy | Average Guy Movie Review

In 2029, a Los Angeles police officer finds himself on trial for the murder of his wife. His is the 19th case to be heard in the new 'Mercy Court'. Strapped to a special chair, Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) has just 90 minutes to prove his innocence to an A.I. judge (Rebecca Ferguson), or he will be executed. Timur Bekmambetov continues to explore the 'screen life' genre with Mercy , only this time he's apparently weighing in on the Artificial Intelligence issue. Much like he did with Searching , Bekmambetov has his main character using screens to solve a crime, and in this case, prove his innocence. Pratt brings a likeability to Raven (great name!), but doesn't shy away from this troubled man's flaws. Whereas Rebecca Ferguson's portrayal of Maddox, the A.I. judge, can be a little uneven. At first she is perfectly cold and unemotional, but towards the end of the movie that begins to faulter, somewhat. Although it's definitely more the fault of ...
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Let Dan Go | Average Guy Movie Review

Several years after Dan (Daniel Griesheimer)'s tragic death in a car accident, his father Harry (Timothy J. Cox) reconnects with Dan’s wife Abby (Ashlee Lawhorn) in order to celebrate Dan’s life and reconcile their loss. Let Dan Go  opens outside a bar, where a desperate and frustrated woman pleads with her intoxicated husband to give up his car keys and come home with her. It is undoubtedly a familiar scene for far too many, and one that ends all too predictably. But despite a brutally honest approach to such a sensitive subject, director Arielle Carroll is also respectful of those that have suffered such a loss. Never going too far in her portrayal of the event that drives this short film.  After this intense and traumatic opening, we encounter Harry, sitting on a park bench, where he's soon joined by his daughter-in-law, Abby. It has been some time since that tragic night, but the pain is still fresh. On the face of it, this a catch-up. Two people who haven't seen each o...
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The Bride! | Average Guy Movie Review

After more than 100 years of existence, Frankenstein's monster (Christian Bale) is struggling with loneliness. So he heads to Chicago to see Doctor Euphronius (Annette Bening), who he asks to make him a companion. They select a murdered woman (Jessie Buckley), and after bringing her back to life, the reanimated pair go on a manic adventure together. One that sparks a police manhunt, and something of a social revolution. Maggie Gyllenhaal's bold re-imagining of The Bride of Frankenstein  is a little bit messy. A mishmash of genres and styles, in much the same way that Frankenstein's monster was once assembled. It stands to reason, however, that at least some of this messiness is intentional. And while some of it doesn't work, the parts that do are at the very least, rather good. The look of the film, for instance, is incredible. Stunning, even. It's all very 1930's, but met with some deliciously garish and gritty punk stylings. As well as a beautiful shock of ble...
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Predator: Badlands | Average Guy Movie Review

Seeking his father's respect, and a place within his clan, a young Yautja named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) heads to one of the deadliest planets in the galaxy. Where, if he survives long enough, he will hunt a creature so deadly, it makes even the most seasoned Yautjas weak at the knees. Taking the idea for the original Predator  movie and flipping it on its head, it turns out, is actually a stroke of genius. Dan Trachtenberg has now delivered three cracking instalments in the franchise, reviving it in ways that few likely thought possible. Badlands  is a bit of a back-to-basics Predator  movie, akin to the Arnie starring original. A Yautja on a hunt in a foreign land, only this time we're following the lone hunter rather than being hunted by him. And he's the one in some "badass bush". You know, the kind Billy wouldn't wish on "a broke-dick dog". That said, much like Killer of Killers , it also goes deeper into the Yautja lore - including...
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The Running Man | Average Guy Movie Review

With a sick daughter, and unable to find work, Ben Richards (Glen Powell) volunteers to be a contestant on the most dangerous show on television. If he survives for 30 days on the run, he will win $1 billion. But the network doesn’t exactly play fair. Hot on his trail are a team of hunters, and a population baying for blood. All of whom believe it’s in their best interests to hunt Richards down. If you've ever watched  Hunted , you've got a pretty good idea of what you're in for with The Running Man . Edgar Wright's striking adaptation of Stephen King's Richard Bachman novel has much the same feel as the Channel 4  show. Although the ex-cops and former soldiers who hunt down random celebrities and members of the public aren't allowed to actually kill them like the Hunters in The Running Man  - all of whom are a curious combo of military gear and gimp attire . Which certainly gives Wright and his movie an edge. As does Colman Domingo as the wonderfully flamboyant...
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Primitive War | Average Guy Movie Review

Vietnam, 1968. A recon team known as 'Vulture Squad' is sent into a remote valley in search of a missing Green Beret platoon. There they discover dinosaurs, as well as a few other things. And what begins as a rescue mission, quickly takes on a more world-ending significance. In a year when the first of a new batch of Jurassic World  movies hits cinemas, you don't expect to see it sharing the limelight with another dinosaur movie. Well I don't, anyway. But that is exactly what happened in 2025. Despite being well received, Jurassic World: Rebirth  fell victim to its own legacy, somewhat. Whereas a plucky, upstart indie movie about soldiers in Vietnam encountering dinosaurs, took the world by storm. Undoubtedly, because it did something a little bit different. Based on the book of the same name by Ethan Pettus, Primitive War  combines two genres that before now seemed pretty incompatible, and does it very well. Cue every Creedence song you can think of, as Hueys filled wi...
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