Alex Cann film column - Thursday 8th May 2025

The Accountant 2 is a slick, superior sequel to the 2016 Ben Affleck film, that most critics have concluded is worth your time if you're a fan of action thrillers. I'll confess a lot of the plot details haven't stayed with me a week on, but it was an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal have perfect on-screen chemistry as brothers who team up with U.S. Treasury Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) to bust a corrupt network of mysterious assassins. Competent, solid, but not that memorable.

Thunderbolts* is my film of the week, and has helped to shake off my Marvel malaise. Florence Pugh is just terrific in every scene, and reason enough to buy a ticket. It's been described as Marvel's "great reset", and whilst it's had strong word-of-mouth buzz, the relatively modest opening weekend figures were on a par with the likes of Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp rather than some of the studio's bigger hitters. Still, 76 million dollars in US box office sales isn't too shabby, and it has a very strong Rotten Tomatoes score.

Watching Thunderbolts*, you'll be left rooting for the collection of vulnerable, lone wolf operators as they fight to escape the elaborate trap they've been sent into, whilst at the same time battling with their own demons. It's a superhero film with a big heart, which has been missing from many in recent years, and the 126 minute running time whizzes by. Make sure you stay for the obligatory extra scenes during the credits, unlike most people in my screening. I liked its focus on mental health, and it represents an interesting new direction for a studio that's had a few misses in recent years.

Cleaner (Sky Cinema) felt a bit like Die Hard with a squeegee, as window cleaner Joey Locke (Daisy Ridley) is left hanging outside One Canada Square on her hydraulic platform, while an energy company's glittering gala evening is hijacked by a very angry environmental protest group. The script is far-fetched, and you'll have to suspend disbelief a little bit, but Ridley is on cracking form. Not one to watch if you don't have a head for heights. Clive Owen's appearance is all too brief.

Finally, I missed Until Dawn, but our Drive presenter Cameron Kennedy writes it's "a film that was highly anticipated by gamers, but was not a representation of the game, but slightly more of a hat tip. As a stand-alone, it was a great horror/thriller-esque piece. The tense moments and reveals of aspects of the game made it a really enjoyable watch, other than the very predictable final five minutes".

Next week, I'll have the verdict on the new Nicolas Cage film The Surfer and The Wedding Banquet, while I wait with bated breath for the eighth Mission Impossible film which comes out soon. Tom Cruise will hopefully outrun Donald Trump's proposed 100% film tariffs. He should watch Sebastian Stan in the ace Apprentice at Mar-A-Lago.