Marching Powder is a contender for the worst film of 2025 so far for me. Danny Dyer plays Jack Jones, an ageing, down-on-his-luck football hooligan whose marriage is on the rocks as his life spirals out of control. The biggest wonder is that Dani (Stephanie Leonidas) sticks around past the opening scenes. In my book, this is certainly not a film to rush to see on the big screen.
It could have easily been made 20 or 30 years ago, and the script feels tonally all over the place. There are a few one-liners that raised a mild titter, but there's too much reliance on swearing in place of a decent punchline, characters you don't give a hoot about, and an ending that made you wonder why you'd bothered watching it in the first place. A cultural cul-de-sac.
Mickey 17 is a clever sci-fi romp set in the year 2054, when technology allows printing out new versions of disposable humans ('expendables'), and in the name of research, Mickey (Robert Pattinson) signs up to a programme where he repeatedly dies, without really reading the small print. The only problem is, the seventeenth incarnation of Mickey survives, thanks to the intervention of a giant woodlouse type creature (a Creeper), which looks scary to the human eye but is actually pretty friendly. When one of the baby Creepers is taken hostage, it looks like they are gathering forces to launch an attack on the humans, but is all what it seems?
It's pretty surreal stuff, as the reprinted Mickey (number 18) is initially determined to bump off his predecessor, before circumstances force them to team up. Mark Ruffalo is excellent as a megalomaniac failed politician (a certain orange manbaby springs to mind) and Toni Collette is reliably decent as his power hungry wife. There's enough going on to justify the 135 minute running time, and it's worth catching in IMAX if you can, as some of the shots look stunning. Originally scheduled for release in March 2024, this was worth the wait, and a lot of fun.
Saving the best for last, Restless comes out in early April, and is a brilliantly tense tale about awful neighbours. Lynsey Marshall is superb as a carer whose peaceful life of baking, jigsaws and classical music in her precious little free time iis turned on its head by the arrival of noisy neighbours who move into the house next door. Music that shakes her glass of water by the bed, and distresses her cat, is only just the start of it. Look out for a brilliantly satisfying twist at the end, which wraps up the story in a really neat way. Well acted and really nicely done. I'll definitely be giving this a second watch. A movie with a relatively small budget, but more power than films I've seen with ten times the amount spent on them.
Next week, my take on Twiggy, Opus, Black Bag, Sister Midnight and Last Breath. Happy film watching!
Alex Cann's weekly film blog - 9th January
