Nine years have ebbed and flown since our last visit to Riley’s mind, the setting of Pete Docter’s groundbreaking animation Inside Out. They’ve not been kind. Not universally so and certainly not for the studio that made said film. The signs of a heyday past were already well felt in the Pixar production line, even before their pandemic woes. Streaming has been but the cherry on the Disney stewed ratatouille. In short, Pixar haven’t had a hit since 2019. It’s a Dug eat Dug world out there and the stakes could hardly be higher. Thank goodness for Inside Out 2.
Released unto a post-slap world, the fourth Bad Boys carries the double jeopardy of also being Will Smith’s first shot at a box office still reeling from its darkest year. There’s a reason they’ve called this one Ride or Die. Fear not. In short, unlikely financial fallibility is about as dangerous as things get here, frenetic direction and kooky visuals only going so far to disguise the film’s safer instincts. Moreover, so assured is Smith’s gigawatt charisma – on screen at least – that it’s an effort to remember the bulb ever blinked. Almost thirty years on from its debut, the Bad Boys franchise has fuel in its turbo yet.
David Leitch packs literally every punch in his over-stuffed but hugely likeable new action comedy, The Fall Guy. Literally. Every. Punch. Notionally an adaptation of Glen A. Larson’s eponymous early eighties TV show – a fleeting hit in the States but not so much oversees – the film romps with the hook that stunt artists are both criminally overlooked and super cool. Two irrefutable truths. It benefits from the stellar unification of Ryan Gosling, now well established in his neon, no-f***s era, and Emily Blunt, together the supporting stars of last year’s two biggest blockbusters. Alongside the zeitgeisty casting, existential engagement with AI and deep-fake anxiety gifts the film pleasing contemporary pertinence, perms and gold nylon tracksuits notwithstanding.
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