Warfare, The Amateur and Drop Are Worth Seeing While Snow White Is Even Worse Than People Say
The good news is that Warfare, Drop and The Amateur are all worthwhile movies to see and between the three, provide interesting and exciting options to a wide demographic of people. The bad news is I finally saw Snow White and it was even shittier than I could have imagined.
Here are mini-reviews of those movies and the other ones I saw last week:
Snow White Is about as soulless and artificial a movie that you'll ever see. I have to question what the point is of making a "live action" remake when the majority is just weird CGI characters/animals all taking place on dusty movie sets that seem 70 years old.
Compare the creativity in this with something like Wicked. That movie also obviously had a ton of CGI but it also felt unique with some entertaining musical numbers. The songs in this movie felt like a chore that no one wanted to do besides Rachel Zegler.
I get that Zegler is obnoxious in real life but she's not the reason this stinks. She's not giving a brilliant performance but she's fine enough. This is bad because the dwarves are glass eyed CGI monsters that the movie makes just human enough to be disturbing. It also takes all the fun out of Dopey and makes him an after-school special.
Gal Gadot doesn't have the acting chops to play a villain. You need that character to do so much heavy lifting because Snow White is going to be somewhat boring by default. Also, the Gadot musical numbers go over as well as when she sang Imagine with her celebrity friends. You just want it to end.
It sucks this movie became so politicized because I don't think people are talking about how truly bad this movie is on its own merits. That Disney turned its back on creating original art and instead made these empty photocopies will cost them an entire generation of fans. No one will want to pass this trash on to their kids.
Snow White: D
Warfare is one of the most intense and authentic military movies you'll ever see. This is a movie without a score and when you take away music to make you anticipate what will happen next. You're left with only the soundtrack of bullets in the background.
Warfare tells the true story of a group of Navy SEALS in 2006 Iraq. They wound up being stuck in a house while the enemy starts surrounding and shooting at them.
This is a very good movie but it's also a difficult watch. Co-directors Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza do a magnificent job building up the suspense in the first act. I also loved the choice of trapping the viewer in the house. Just like the soldiers, you don't know what's going on around them or what could possibly happen next. Warfare is also brilliantly cast and it's another really good performance by Will Poulter (who was also great in the very different Death Of A Unicorn). All the guys playing the SEALS feel real.
It's remarkable how calm under pressure these young guys are. It shouldn't surprise me because the SEALS are obviously incredible but it's a nice reminder. I don't know if I'll ever watch Warfare again but I am glad I saw it.
Warfare: B+
The Amateur is Death Wish meets Breaking Bad. Like the latter, this is also elevated by a great lead performance and unique science-based deaths. Don't get me wrong, the TV show far exceeds the movie that's a very high bar.
This has a pretty boilerplate script about a husband who works for the CIA and his wife gets killed. All of the CIA stuff, you've seen a million times before. It also veers into the cliche zone far too often. But every time it does, Rami Malek grounds the movie with an excellent performance.
Malek is grounded and believable even when the movie tests your limits. This is easily the best performance of 2025. It's obviously very early and by the end of the year, this wouldn't (hopefully) crack the top 10. But for an action thriller, he's as good as you'll see.
This is a competent movie that is at times very entertaining. It has good performances and is shot well. The Amateur never feels cheap. It may not be great but in what has been a weak start to the year, good stands out.
The Amateur: B
Drop is a thriller that's smarter than it should be with a very likable lead. There are a lot worse ways to spend 96 minutes.
The reasons Drop work is the brilliant pacing and Meghann Fahy as the widow on a first date getting airdrops to do terrible things. Almost the entire movie takes place in a single restaurant and yet you're never bored. The movie keeps you engaged the entire time.
Fahy was just in White Lotus but also the horrible movie from earlier this year, The Unbreakable Boy. In that movie, she played a Sad Mom who was a Mom that was mostly sad. Here, there is a lot more for to do. So much that I think she could have a really nice career.
This works as a date movie or something to see as friends. I'm recommending Drop because it's a creative spin and entertaining. More moving should aspire to just those things.
Drop: B
Hell Of A Summer is a fun yet flawed horror that left me more excited to see what co-stars/co-directors/co-writers Finn Wolfhard and Billy Byrk do next.
The first act of this is, by far, the best. The filmmakers do a nice job setting up who everyone is while also individualizing who each character is. You get a good understanding of the setting as well.
The main issue of the movie is when the sun goes down and the murders start happening, it loses something. It's not scary enough to be terrifying and not suspenseful enough to be exciting. You honestly just want to chill out with these people more than watch them scream and run around.
Because you do care about these people is why I do think Wolfhard/Byrk will make a really interesting next movie. As it is, this something I do recommend and with the short run time, it does know when to stop. This ends up being just fun enough to work.
Hell Of A Summer: B-
2025
1)Presence
2)Black Bag
3)WARFARE
4)Novocaine
5)THE AMATEUR
6)DROP
7)Death Of A Unicorn
8)The Damned
9)One Of Them Days
10)Paddington 3
11)HELL OF A SUMMER
12)Valiant One
13)Rule Breakers
14)Heart Eyes
15)Mickey 17
16)Last Breath
17)Flight Risk
18)Minecraft
19)Den Of Thieves 2
20)Dogman
21)Companion
22)A Working Man
23)The Alto Knights
24)The Penguin Lessons
25)The Chosen Part 2
26)Looney Tunes
27)Opus
28)Becoming Led Zeppelin
29)Captain America: BNW
30)The Chosen Part 1
31)Riff Raff
32)Inheritance
33)Night Of The Zoopocalypse
34)Ash
35)The Friend
36)SNOW WHITE
37)The Unbreakable Boy
38)Brave The Dark
39)Wolf Man
40)The Monkey
41)Love Hurts
42)The Last Supper
43)Woman In The Yard
44)In The Lost Lands