Guy Ritchie's 1000th movie of the last five years - Fountain of Youth - arrived on Apple TV+ this weekend . I had a chance to see it, albeit a little later than I wanted to. I've been a fan of Guy Ritchie's ever since I first blossomed as young film fan; I think he consistently makes fun movies, although they're rarely great, and we're certainly long past his era of truly awful movies at this point. That being said, one of my biggest disappointments of last year was The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which I was pumped for. Similar to that, I really dug the B National Treasure that the trailers of this particular film were selling, and I've been looking forward to seeing it since. Adventure movies are so few and far between these days. Is this a fun one? Find out in this review!

Fountain of Youth:

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Written by: James Vanderbilt

Produced by: Ivan Atkinson, Ritchie Atkinson, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Jake Myers, Paul Neinstein, Guy Ritchie, William Sherak, James Vanderbilt, Tripp Vinson

Executive Producers: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tara Farney, Tyler Gillett, Chad Villella

Music by: Christopher Benstead

Cinematography by: Ed Wild

Edited by: James Herbert

Casting by: Daniel Hubbard

Production Design by: Martyn John

Costume Design by: Loulou Bontemps

Cast: John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Eiza González, Domhnall Gleason

Synopsis: A treasure-hunting mastermind assembles a team for a life-changing adventure. But to outwit and outrun threats at every turn, he’ll need someone even smarter than he is: his estranged sister.

Just a mere two months after the "smash hit" that was Snow White, Disney is back with another live-action remake! Yay! Lily & Stitch, based on the 2002 animated classic from Dean Delois & Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon), is now out in theaters globally and is sure to break a bunch of box office records over the weekend, as this is poised to be one of the biggest films of the year, let alone the summer. Up until a month ago, I hadn't seen the original in a good decade plus. Rewatching it, I definitely found it to be pretty damn charming and surpassingly emotional, even if it's not one of my favorite Disney movies, even of that time. Does the live-action remake live up to the original? Find out in this review!

Lilo & Stitch:

Directed by: Dean Fleischer Camp

Written by: Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, Mike Van Waes

Based on the 2002 animated film written by: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders

Produced by: Jonathan Eirich, p.g.a., Dan Lin

Executive Producers: Ryan Halprin, Kurt Humphreys, Tom C. Peitzman, Louie Provost

Music by: Dan Romer

Cinematography by: Nigel Buck

Edited by: Phillip J. Bartell

Production Design by: Todd Cherniawsky

Costume Design by: Wendy Chuck

Cast: Maia Kealoha, Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Tia Carrere, Hannah Waddingham, Chris Sanders, Courtney B. Vance, Zach Galifianakis

Synopsis: The wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.

Here we are! Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt for his final(?) adventure with his IMF crew. Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise's latest team up - Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning - has now arrived in theaters, and is, of course, the second part of the Dead Reckoning saga of this franchise. As I've said before, Mission: Impossible is probably my favorite movie franchise of all-time. That answer has likely come about due to a number of my other favorite franchises diluting themselves over the last number of years, but Tom Cruise just knows how to deliver a kick-ass time at the movies. He's done so again, and again, and again, so consistently over the last decade, even outside the Mission franchise. That being said, Dead Reckoning was an interesting specimen. I loved it on first watch but that movie did not do very well at the box office, which was extra surprising considering it was riding the tremendous wave of Top Gun: Maverick's success the year prior. On successive rewatches, I myself have grown to have a number of issues with that movie but still find it to be an incredibly satisfying action movie. It's certainly still better than most other action movies you've seen in theaters since that film, largely because of Tom Cruise's endless dedication to risk his life... for our entertainment of all things. But, can Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning overcome the story shortcomings of its predecessor to close out Tom Cruise's run as Ethan Hunt with his most memorable ride yet? Find out in this SPOILER-FREE review!

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning:

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie & Erik Jendresen

Based on the television series created by: Bruce Geller

Produced by: Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie

Executive Producers: David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Chris Brock

Music by: Max Aruj, Alfie Godfrey

Cinematography by: Fraser Taggart

Edited by: Eddie Hamilton

Casting by: Mindy Marin

Production Design by: Gary Freeman

Costume Design by: Jill Taylor

Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Mariela Garriga, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell and Angela Bassett

Synopsis: Ethan Hunt and the IMF team continue their search for the terrifying AI known as the Entity — which has infiltrated intelligence networks all over the globe — with the world’s governments and a mysterious ghost from Ethan’s past on their trail. Joined by new allies and armed with the means to shut the Entity down for good, Hunt is in a race against time to prevent the world as we know it from changing forever.

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another review here on MOVIE Morning where, today, we're going to be discussing Andor season 2. I absolutely loved season 1 of Andor; I truly believe that it's the greatest season of Star Wars TV ever. At least, that's what I thought before watching season 2. Going into season 2, the early reactions hailed it as a 'masterpiece' and 'some of the greatest Star Wars ever made.' And considering how much I loved season 1, to say my expectations were high would be an understatement. That being said, the first arc actually kind of underwhelmed me. Very quickly after that though, I realized why it was being praised the way it was. This season legitimately featured the greatest Star Wars since the original trilogy... but was it able to maintain that throughout? Find out in this SPOILER-FILLED review!

The official trailer for James Gunn’s Superman is finally here! It’s been almost five months since the teaser trailer and I think I speak for all DC fans when I say that this day has been a long time coming for so many of us. It feels kind of surreal that this movie is less than two months away, especially as someone who’s been tracking this film’s production ever since James Gunn announced he was writing a Superman movie over two and a half years ago now. As you all probably know, this is my most anticipated movie of the year because I love Superman and, of course, I love, LOVE James Gunn’s films. He tells stories that really resonate with me and I want nothing more than Gunn to work his magic on this character, who’s so undervalued in today’s pop culture environment, but that I still love so dearly. So, how was the full trailer? And what were some hidden details, maybe hints towards the larger plot that you may have missed? Find out in this initial reaction to the trailer!

The second MCU film of the year - Thunderbolts* - has now arrived theaters globally. To be perfectly frank, I was never super excited about this movie prior to the marketing. I was excited by the initial announcement of a Thunderbolts film and Jake Schreier's involvement as director but was quite thrown off by the initial cast announcement. While the Thunderbolts were never really Marvel Comics team that I gravitated towards, I did like a lot of the usual characters included... and seemingly almost none of them were going to be a part of the movie squad. This choice continued a very awkward trend of the MCU trying to distance itself from the very media that allowed it to exist in the first place. I have to say though, props to the marketing team. By the time I was stepping into the theater, I was PUMPED to finally be seeing Thunderbolts*. The trailers have been fantastic, with a few awesome parodies, and even the product tie-ins have been creative (not that tie-ins are exactly a good indication of quality). Did the movie live up to the marketing, or was it as bland as I initially feared?

Thunderbolts*

Directed by: Jake Schreier

Story by: Eric Pearson

Screenplay by: Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo

Produced by: Kevin Feige

Executive Producers: Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek, Jason Tamez

Music by: Son Lux

Director of Photography: Andrew Droz Palermo

Edited by: Angela M. Catanzaro, Harry Yoon

Casting by: Sarah Finn

Production Design by: Grace Sun

Costume Design by: Sanja Milkovic Hays

Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Synopsis: After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, seven disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.

Gareth Evans -director of the two Raid films - is finally back to kick some life back into the action genre... but this time on Netflix. Havoc hit Netflix just a few days ago and today, I'll be giving you my thoughts on the film. If you enjoy this review and want to see more, as always, make sure to follow my podcast on whatever platform you prefer to listen on.

Havoc:

Written and Directed by: Gareth Evans

Produced by: Gareth Evans, Tom Hardy, Gufran Khan, Ed Talfan, Aram Tertzakian

Executive Producers: Nate Bolotin, Diane Briere De L'isle, Andrew Eaton, Henry Engelhardt, Nick Spicer

Music by: Aria Prayogi

Director of Photography: Matt Flannery

Edited by: : Sara Jones, Matt Platts-Mills

Casting by: Kelly Valentine Hendry

Production Design by: Tom Pearce

Costume Design by: Sian Jenkins

Cast:  Tom Hardy, Jessie Mei Li, Timothy Olyphant, Forest Whitaker

Synopsis: When a drug heist swerves lethally out of control, a jaded cop fights his way through a corrupt city’s criminal underworld to save a politician’s son.

The Accoutant is back! Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal finally reunite for a sequel to The Accountant, a film that absolutely no one when to go see when it came out almost ten years back but has garnered great shelf life. I, myself, saw the first film a good few years ago and also happened to quite enjoy it. It's not the best of its genre and nowhere near some of director Gavin O'Connor's finest work, but it's a solid action thriller but done with a great twist. At last, Amazon MGM Studios and Ben Affleck's Artists Equity have teamed up to give us the sequel, with most of the creative team returning. Does The Accountant 2 top the first film? Find out in this review!

The Accountant 2:

Directed by: Gavin O'Connor

Written by: Bill Dubuque

Characters created by: Bill Dubuque

Produced by: Ben Affleck, Lynette Howell-Taylor, Mark Williams

Executive Producers: Dani Bernfeld, Matt Damon, Kevin Halloran, Michael Joe, Scott LaStati, Gavin O'Connor, Jamie Patricof, Alison Winter

Music by: Bryce Dessner

Director of Photography: Seamus McGarvey

Edited by: Richard Pearson

Production Design by: Jade Healy

Costume Design by: Isis Mussenden

Cast: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, J.K. Simmons, Daniella Pineda

Synopsis: When an old acquaintance is murdered, Wolff is compelled to solve the case. Realizing more extreme measures are necessary, Wolff recruits his estranged and highly lethal brother, Brax, to help. In partnership with Marybeth Medina, they uncover a deadly conspiracy, becoming targets of a ruthless network of killers who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.

The summer movie season - one of my favorite times of the year - has finally arrived... or, it will be arriving very soon. It's basically kicking off with Thunderbotls*, the MCU's next film and their final outing of Phase Five. And from then on until the final big release of August, blockbuster season is officially a go. But, as always, there are TONS of movies I'm looking forward to, and in this episode, I'll be sharing what my top ten most anticipated movies of the summer are, and hopefully help you discover a movie you should be excited about. So, sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy, and don't forget to tell me what your most anticipated film of the summer is in the comments on Spotify!

The summer movie season officially kicks off in just under two weeks, with the release of Marvel Studios’ next film: Thunderbolts*. This is looking to be one competitive, stacked summer at the global box office, but also one with a high chance of disappointment. Today, I go through and give you my predictions for what could be the ten highest grossing Hollywood movies worldwide over the next few months. As always, this list is just my opinion, being based off research, my hunches and the general trend of the worldwide box office so far this year. Enjoy and let me know what your prediction for the top highest grossing films of the summer will be in the Spotify comments! Also, vote on what the #1 grossing movie of the summer will be on the poll!