KPop Demon Hunters review

KPOP DEMON HUNTERS: 

STEP ASIDE DEMON SLAYER, THERE’S A NEW GROUP OF BADASS DEMON HUNTERS IN TOWN…AND THEY SING TOO! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

NETFLIX AND SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

Mira, Rumi, and Zoey in KPop Demon Hunters

 

A K-Pop girl group lives a double life as demon hunters and faces off against a demonic boy band (I knew only the Devil would create something as evil as NSYNC and Backstreet Boys) in KPop Demon Hunters, the new animated feature from Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix. The film is directed by Maggie Kang in her directorial debut and Chris Appelhans (Wish Dragon) who also directed Sony Pictures Animation’s Wish Dragon for Netflix in 2021. 

After 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I’ve been very impressed by a number of Sony’s animation projects lately most notably, The Mitchells VS the Machines, Vivo, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to the point where I keep forgetting it’s the same company behind Open Season, The Smurfs movies from 2011-2017, and The Emoji Movie. Aside from the occasional Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, Sony Pictures Animation has really stepped up their game and delivered some high quality and experimental animated films in recent years with this being no exception. 

            I heard about this film’s production a lot online when it was being made and that it was constantly being praised left and right amongst critics, audiences, and people in the animation industry. So, I went to Netflix, put the movie on, and…yeah, everything that’s been said about the film is entirely true. 

KPop Demon Hunters is freaking awesome and sits among both Spider-Verse films and The Mitchells VS the Machines as one of Sony Pictures Animation’s best projects. The animation is gorgeous and stylized with an anime-inspired Spider-Verse art style that at times goes goofy and zany with character expressions, the characters are endearing, the action scenes are spectacular, and OMG the damn soundtrack! 

Between this and Hulu’s Predator: Killer of Killers, the 2 best animated movies I saw this year were released on streaming and like Killer of Killers, I REALLY wished this was in theaters. I can easily see this becoming a fan-favorite that will lead to people cosplaying as the characters and doing their own covers of the songs, I certainly hope that happens. 

The film follows K-Pop girl group, Huntr/X consisting of lead vocalist Rumi (voiced by Arden Cho-Teen Wolf, Partner Track, Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)), visual and main dancer Mira (voiced by May Hong-High Maintenance, Hacks, Tales of the City), and main rapper Zoey (voiced by Ji-young Yoo-Smoking Tigers, Freaky Tales, Until Dawn) living a double life as demon hunters who protect the world from supernatural forces. But when a rival boy band in the form of Saja Boys led by Jinu (voiced by Ahn Hyo-seop-Dr. Romantic, Lovers of the Red Sky, Business Proposal) comes into the picture whose members are secretly demons bent on destroying them and their fans, Rumi, Mira, and Zoey must face off against their new foes in an epic “Takedown”. 

The film also features the voices of Yunjin Kim (Lost, Mistresses, Dog Days) as Celine, Joel Kim Booster (Big Mouth, The Other Two, Fire Island) as Romance Saja, SungWon Cho (Borderlands 3, Belle, BlackBerry) as Abs Saja, Daniel Dae Kim (Spider-Man 2, Lost, Raya and the Last Dragon) as Healer Han, Ken Jeong (The Hangover trilogy, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Crazy Rich Asians) as Bobby, and Lee Byung-hun (G.I. Joe 1 and 2, The Magnificent Seven (2016), Squid Game) as Gwi-Ma.

Overall, KPop Demon Hunters embraces its outlandish and absurd premise and delivers a dazzling, action-packed, and character driven animated feature that completely exceeded my expectations. I was already onboard for a movie about a K-Pop group killing demons, but the film’s actually much deeper than that with characters that have a lot of depth and complicated dilemmas that go beyond the traditional good VS evil. 

For example, the protagonist and lead singer of Huntr/X, Rumi is actually a half-demon herself who tries to hide it from her band members and embarks on a personal journey to try and rid this curse and through her interactions with Saja Boys lead, Jinu learns that maybe not all demons are bad. Even Jinu who could have just been written as a one-dimensional boy band stock character is made interesting with a legitimately heartbreaking backstory and him trying to move on from his tragic past, I gave a crap for both Rumi and Jinu in this movie and wanted them to find a compromise in each of their goals. 

The animation is gorgeous and goes for that Spider-Verse/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem art style with stylized designs and choppy framerates while also adding in a ton of anime-influenced visuals and sight gags particularly when characters give zany reactions to things, eyes change into hearts, facial expressions get very big, eating food really fast, etc. However, since this is an action movie, the animation shines the brightest during its action scenes with a ton of vibrant energy and flashy effects while Huntr/X slices and dices hordes of demons that often feels like a music video mixed into an action sequence and I’m sure that was completely intentional. 

The songs are also fantastic and incredibly catchy across both the K-Pop and boy band groups with Takedownand What It Sounds Like being my favorites to the point where I purchased the soundtrack on iTunes while I was still watching the movie. I was tapping my toes to many of the songs here and blown away during its visually dazzling musical numbers that again take full advantage of the film’s animation and art style. 

KPop Demon Hunters joins the club occupied by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Across the Spider-Verse, and The Mitchells VS the Machines as an animated feature that showcases Sony Pictures Animation’s true talents as an animation company with a compelling story, endearing characters, and amazing action sequences to boot. If you got Netflix then watch it immediately and hopefully it will also receive a physical and digital release for those who don’t have it so everyone can see one of the coolest animated features of the year that will leave you begging for an encore. 

M3GAN 2.0 review

M3GAN 2.0: 

UPGRADE IS MORE LIKE A CHEESY DOWNGRADE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

M3GAN is back in M3GAN 2.0

 

            Everyone’s favorite killer robot doll returns in M3GAN 2.0, the much anticipated sequel to the 2023 horror-comedy hit, M3GAN. I enjoyed the first film a lot and found it incredibly entertaining with its blend of horror, dark humor, and a thought-provoking story about what happens when AI goes too far with a ton of relevance today plus a new horror icon in the form of the titular robot. 

            It was a massive critical and commercial hit so of course, it was going to get a sequel even M3GAN herself knew that in her AMC Theatres policy trailer for this movie. That’s where M3GAN 2.0 comes in with Gerard Johnstone (The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Housebound) returning as director and Allison Williams (Get Out, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Regretting You) and Violet McGraw (Ready Player One, The Haunting of Hill House, Black Widow) reprising their roles as roboticist, Gemma and her niece, Cady. 

            I was skeptical about a sequel despite the first film ending with sequel baiting, but it started peaking my interest when the trailers came out showing M3GAN essentially going the Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Don’t Breathe 2route where the villain is now the hero. Okay, I’m grateful that it isn’t a complete retread of the first movie though the whole evil robot is now good and has to fight an even worse robot is nothing new (Terminator 2 again!) and regardless of how this one turns out, I’m certain it’ll at least be somewhat entertaining…yeah, it is.

            I feel most people’s enjoyment of this movie will come from what they thought of the trailers as this one exchanges the darkly comical tone of the first film for a more action-oriented approach and often leans too hard into current events surrounding AI. For me, this is a significant downgrade from the first, but admittedly I was still entertained by it for the most part. 

            The film is set two years after the events of M3GAN and follows Gemma (Williams) and Cady (McGraw) still living together with the latter being interested in following in Gemma’s footsteps and learning about computer science. But when a new artificial intelligence created by the government known as AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno-Pacific Rim: Uprising, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Ahsoka) goes rogue and starts causing mayhem, Gemma and Cady are forced to rebuild M3GAN (Played onscreen by Amie Donald-Sweet Tooth; with Jenna Davis providing her voice) in order to stop her while learning that everyone deserves a second chance along the way. 

            The film also stars Brian Jordan Alvarez (Will & Grace, 80 for Brady) reprising his role as Cole, Aristotle Athari (Silicon Valley, Saturday Night Live, Molli and Max in the Future) as Christian Bradley, Timm Sharp (Undeclared, Friends with Money, Together Together) as Tim Sattler, and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords, Men in Black 3, What We Do in the Shadows) as Alton Appleton. 

            Overall, M3GAN 2.0 is a step down from its predecessor and takes an action-comedy approach rather than the horror-comedy from the first, but despite its flaws I still had a good time with this film. Objectively, this movie doesn’t work and lacks the cleverness of the first, but for summer popcorn entertainment, it succeeds just enough. 

            M3GAN was clearly meant to be a fun movie with a lot of dark and campy humor, but it also worked as a film that shows what happens when AI gets too powerful with thought-provoking ideas explored that are being discussed and argued about now. This one just goes for fun and over-the-top and really hammers in the messages about AI with the AI VS No AI protests being prominent in this film and a plot to destroy AI for good in the last act. 

            This is a sequel that goes for broke and constantly tries to top the first in the most bombastic of ways, but in doing that it loses much of the original’s spirit. It reminded me of the ninth Fast & Furious movie (The one with super magnets and space) which admittedly was amusing in its insanity but also felt so far removed from what it started off as. 

            Given the setup, M3GAN 2.0 is basically this franchise’s equivalent of a James Bond movie mixed with elements of Terminator 2 with cartoonish villains, evil lairs, and outlandishly advanced technology. Sure, M3GAN had a climax involving a motion-controlled robot, but it felt a little more grounded compared to the sheer lunacy of this. 

            As someone who enjoyed M3GAN as a horror-comedy, I felt the humor in this didn’t really land and ranged from easy jokes like the big guy having a bigger gun than everyone else gag because Borderlands did it so well to really awkward moments where actors mug or do strange things on-camera. I thought the comedy was a lot more natural in the first and often came from the actors playing things straight so when they know what they’re doing is dumb it’s just not as fun by comparison. 

            There are things I really like about this movie, one of them being Ivanna Sakhno as AMELIA who I thought was great and managed to fool me into thinking they actually used CG or other effects on her face, but she has this natural blank look that made her seem robotic and I mean that as a huge compliment. She’s a blast to watch in the film in more ways than one and seems to enjoy going crazy here. 

            The actresses playing and voicing M3GAN are still excellent and despite the character being portrayed as an antihero, she does retain some of that unsettling creepiness from the first movie that is used to humorous results. I also like how Allison Williams has more of an arc in this as throughout the film she has trust issues with M3GAN which is understandable given the events of the first film, but she does have this surprisingly touching moment with M3GAN about parenting and protecting her child which ultimately does end on a joke, but I found it effective. 

            The action scenes are fun and mostly consists of M3GAN and/or AMELIA fighting people and robots, but probably my favorite is this car chase where M3GAN uses her AI to take control of a car with Allison Williams and Brian Jordan Alvarez in the seats. Obviously, it doesn’t come close to something like the car chase from The Dark Knight or even the first Black Panther, but it’s a legitimately fun action sequence. 

            M3GAN 2.0 is a perfectly fine follow-up that could satisfy those looking for dumb summer popcorn entertainment as it certainly delivers on that. But if you’re looking for a really clever and groundbreaking movie where a once-evil robot turns good to fight an even bigger, badder bot…Terminator 2: Judgment Day, that is all! 

F1: The Movie review

F1: THE MOVIE: 

TOP GUN: MAVERICK FOR FORMULA ONE RACING! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES AND APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS

Brad Pitt in F1

 

            Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy, Only the Brave, Top Gun: Maverick) takes his Top Gun: Maverick directing from the air to the racetrack in the new sports drama film, F1. This was one of my most anticipated films of the year, I loved Top Gun: Maverick and thought Kosinski knocked it out of the park with that movie so I was eagerly awaiting his next project after the big impact his Top Gun sequel had. 

            While I can’t say F1 reaches that legendary height that Top Gun: Maverick achieved, this is still a damn good movie worth seeing not on the big screen, but IMAX and ONLY IMAX! This truly is an experience kind of movie as when you watch it in IMAX, you’re put on the racetrack seeing, hearing, and feeling every passing car, turn, and hit. 

            The film follows Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt-Inglourious Basterds, Moneyball, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), a racer for hire and former Formula One driver who returns to the sport after a thirty year absence to save his old teammate, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem-No Country for Old Men, Skyfall, Dune 1 and 2)’s underdog APXGP F1squad from collapse. He’ll drive alongside hotshot rookie, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris-Snowfall, The Commuter, Outside the Wire) who’s intent on setting his own pace while also finding out that in Formula One, your teammate is your fiercest competition. 

            The film also stars Kerry Condon (Unleashed, Dom Hemingway, The Banshees of Inisherin) as Kate McKenna, Tobias Menzies (Casino Royale, Underworld: Blood Wars, You Hurt My Feelings) as Peter Banning, Kim Bodnia (The Bridge, Killing Eve, Young Woman and the Sea) as Kaspar Smolinski, Shea Whigham (Fast & Furious franchise, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Mission: Impossible 7 and 8) as Chip Hart, Will Merrick (Skins, About Time, Dead Pixels) as Nickleby, Joseph Balderrama (The Current War, Uncharted, The Substance) as Rico Fazio, Sarah Niles (Happy-Go-Lucky, The Toxic Avenger (2023), The Fantastic Four: First Steps) as Bernadette Pearce, Samson Kayo (Bloods, Our Flag Means Death, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish) as Cashman, Abdul Salis (Love Actually, Sahara, Flyboys) as Dodge Dowda, Callie Cooke (Britannia, Cheaters, Blithe Spirit) as Jodie, and professional racecar driver Lucano Bacheta as Luca Cortez. 

            Overall, F1 is an incredible moviegoing experience with plenty of large-scale spectacle while also just being a well-crafted film in general with emotional weight and captivating characters. The movie does draw parallels with Top Gun: Maverick as it’s essentially another older driver/pilot from yesteryear coming in to train a new rookie team of fighter pilots/racecar drivers with Sonny Hayes being this film’s equivalent to Tom Cruise’s Maverick, but it doesn’t feel like Kosinski just copied and pasted Top Gun: Maverick’s script and replaced planes with Formula One racing. 

            It’s a formula that works and there is enough in here to make it stand out when compared to the Top Gun sequel. I didn’t really notice the similarities between both movies that much as I was watching it. 

            Brad Pitt as a cocky ex-racer is perfect casting as he utilizes his “Cool Guy” persona he’s embraced since Lt. Aldo Raine in Inglourious Basterds to full effect very much like how Jeff Goldblum embraces his “Ah”s. To the point where if I see a movie where Brad Pitt doesn’t do the “Cool Guy” thing, I’ll find it jarring. 

            Damson Idris was a big standout as Joshua, the young hotshot who’s both Sonny’s teammate and rival throughout the film who’s career is in jeopardy because he’s part of a company that doesn’t win hence why Sonny is brought in. They do the whole old mentor showing the new guy the ropes thing, but Pitt and Idris’ characters don’t exactly get along which leads to some great banter as they learn the only way to win is to work together. 

            The race sequences are amazing and look and sound spectacular on the IMAX screen with Kosinski incorporating a lot of the same camera tricks he used in the planes for Top Gun: Maverick. Because of this, you don’t feel like you’re watching Formula One racing, you’re in the driver’s seat in the car on the racetrack. 

            It’s the kind of IMAX enhanced with phenomenal editing and camera work that gets your adrenaline pumping and leaves you on the edge of your seat. With the exception of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, I can’t think of any other big blockbuster this year that took my breath away and put me on the edge of my seat in terms of large-scale action so I guess leave it to Joseph Kosinski and Christopher McQuarrie to remind people why we go out to the movies in the first place because this should not be streamed on Apple TV+. 

            Admittedly, the movie does start to lose some of its energy in the second half and this is a 2 hour and 35 minute film, after a certain crash it begins to drag a little, but it regains that adrenaline-pumping energy in the third act. Maybe had it been trimmed down or the second half was more interesting, it would have been much stronger, that’s just me though. 

            F1 is a big screen movie that deserves to be seen on IMAX, the races are exhilarating, the characters are endearing, and the plot keeps you invested. It is definitely also made for F1 fans with a ton of cameos from real-life people, but it works exceptionally well for the uninitiated and might even get them interested in checking out the real sport. 

Washington State Summer Con 2025 Recap