Blockbuster Reviews

Bull Tamati

Spoilers ahead... read at your own peril.

Welcome to Blockbuster Reviews, where I give my honest take on the biggest blockbusters of 2026 and assess whether they’re worth the hype and, more importantly, the price of admission.

Project Hail Mary

From the producers of the 2023 hit Cocaine Bear comes its spiritual successor, Project Hail Mary. In theory, this movie should suffer the same fate—middling reviews and purely gag-driven enjoyment. Yet somehow, it works.

For over two hours, I was enthralled as a shredded Ryan Gosling pretends to be a wimpy scientist and attempts to save humanity alongside a pile of rocks. Is there anything this man can’t do? Gosling puts his whole Ryanussy into sharing the screen with said pile of rocks AND IT WORKS.

Andy Weir’s story, combined with the emotional core co-directors Lord and Miller bring into it, makes for an incredibly immersive theatrical experience. The puppeteering, cinematography, effects, and soundtrack all sell the absurdity of the premise while giving the film genuine emotional weight.

I’d also like to highlight Austin Haynes’ brilliant piece on the waiata Pō Atarau, featured towards the end of the film. Haynes examines the history of the waiata and its significance within the movie, beautifully concluding:

“What might Erima Maewa Kaihau have made of her famous waiata featuring in a sci-fi epic about alien contact? Given her efforts to create a musical language that speaks across worlds and languages, I imagine she would be pleased.”

Toy Story 5

Oddly good, if not a little repetitive.

It’s hard not to be charmed by—and sucked back into—the world of Toy Story. While the series probably had its perfect ending with the third movie, the plot and expanded lore here provide enough justification for a fifth instalment to exist.

The animation is stunning, Jessie’s character development is enjoyable, and the army of new Buzzes makes for some genuinely hilarious moments. It doesn’t reinvent Toy Story, but it does enough to remind you why you loved these characters in the first place.

Good movie. Wait for Disney+.

Supergirl

Let’s get this out of the way: the writers did Milly Alcock dirty.

Alcock feels as perfect for this rendition of Supergirl as RDJ was for Tony Stark during the first phase of the MCU. Unfortunately, the movie around her fails to capitalise on it.

The first poster seemed to capture the character perfectly. Superman’s hopeful “Look Up” tagline is vandalised by Supergirl, who crosses out “Up” and replaces it with “Out.”

Look Out.

It perfectly established her as the antithesis to her goody-two-shoes cousin. Where Superman inspires hope and grandeur, Supergirl promised rebellion, caution and free-spiritedness.

Unfortunately, that Supergirl barely appears in the actual movie.

Instead, we get a tired storyline about a world-hardened mentor and child, a surprisingly forgettable protagonist, and a Jason Momoa cameo that goes on for far too long and achieves remarkably little.

Disappointing and not worth the price of admission. Watch it hungover on a Sunday when it hits streaming.

The Odyssey

Haven’t I seen this before?

Man does terrible act. Man reckons with terrible act. Man realises his actions have changed both himself and the world for the worse.

Yup. Christopher Nolan just retold Oppenheimer in Greek apparel.

Did I still love every minute of it? Absolutely.

Nolan retreads many of the same thematic beats as Oppenheimer but wraps them around an adaptation of Odysseus’ journey and delivers them on an appropriately ridiculous scale.

Straight aura farming for three hours.

Worth the hype. Worth the price of admission. 8/10. Certainly an Oscar contender.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Will Spider-Man: Brand New Day win an Oscar? Absolutely not.

Should it? Let me cook.

The MCU has finally hit its stride again. Coming off Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, and now Brand-New Day, prime Marvel might just be back in time for Avengers: Doomsday.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton has turned back the clock on the MCU’s quality and produced a banger rendition of our favourite bug-themed superhero. #SorryAntMan

Cretton has overhauled MCU’s Spider-Man while retaining the best elements of his previous iterations—Garfield’s swinging, Maguire’s heart, and the PlayStation games’ action—all while creating something that feels distinctly its own.

Spider-Man has never looked, sounded, or felt this good. The camerawork alone had me asking: since when do superhero movies care this much about dynamic shots outside the action scenes?

Dare I say it: one of the best comic-book movies ever released. No multiversal shenanigans needed.

8.5/10.