Sonic gives us a stellar sequel. Robert Eggers set to helm a new Labyrinth. And which movie based on a video game is getting my Retro Review treatment? Plus, a full Oscar nomination breakdown only on the Rushcutter Entertainment Report.
Hey everyone. I’m Rhiannon Elizabeth Irons and welcome to the Rushcutter Entertainment Report. We’ve got a lot to get through this week so let’s head to the movies and check out Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Paramount Pictures has struck gold by coaxing Jim Carrey out of retirement for the third instalment of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Unlike its predecessors, which often felt like a tedious blend of family-friendly antics and forced humour, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 emerges as a vibrant and entertaining adventure that successfully revitalizes the franchise.
Carrey returns as the flamboyant Dr. Robotnik, and his performance is nothing short of a tour de force. Embracing the role with a manic energy reminiscent of his earlier work, Carrey's portrayal is both hilarious and engaging. He brings a unique flair, seamlessly blending physical comedy with sharp wit. The film introduces a clever twist by allowing Carrey to play both Robotnik and his estranged relative, resulting in a delightful one-man show that elevates the film’s comedic stakes.
One of the film's most significant improvements is its reduced emphasis on human characters. The supporting roles of Tom and Maddie are minimized, allowing the narrative to centre on Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. This shift brings the colourful, digitally animated characters to the forefront, enhancing the film's appeal to its target audience.
The introduction of Shadow, voiced by Keanu Reeves, adds depth to the storyline. This brooding antihero serves as a compelling foil to Sonic, bringing a darker tone that contrasts with the lightheartedness of the franchise. Shadow's backstory is explored through engaging flashbacks, grounding the character in emotional stakes that resonate with viewers.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 boasts impressive CGI and dynamic action sequences, particularly in scenes where Sonic races through the streets of Tokyo. The animation captures the kinetic energy that defines the best Sonic games, making the film a visual treat. The plot cleverly nods to classic action films, incorporating elements reminiscent of Moonraker and Mission: Impossible, which adds a layer of sophistication to the otherwise whimsical narrative.
I give Sonic the Hedgehog 3 an 8/10. While the Sonic series has had a rocky start, this third instalment marks a significant turning point. With a focus on character-driven comedy, a streamlined plot, and the magnetic presence of Jim Carrey, the film successfully appeals to both children and adults. If the series continues on this trajectory, it may soon deliver a masterpiece akin to Toy Story 2. For now, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 stands as a testament to the franchise's potential, offering a fun-filled adventure that delights audiences of all ages.
This week marks a significant milestone for filmmaker Robert Eggers. Following the announcement of his upcoming project Werwulf, Eggers has finalized a deal with TriStar Pictures to write and direct a sequel to the beloved 1986 film Labyrinth, originally created by Jim Henson.
The news comes on the heels of the 2025 Oscar nominations, where Eggers’ latest film, Nosferatu, received four nominations in categories including Cinematography and Production Design (more on that later). Nosferatu has become Eggers’ highest-grossing film, surpassing $156 million globally since its Christmas Day release, and stands as Focus Features’ second highest-grossing title in the U.S., following Downton Abbey.
While specific plot details for the Labyrinth sequel remain confidential, it has been confirmed that the film will not be a remake but rather a continuation of the original story. Eggers is collaborating with Sjón, his co-writer on The Northman, to develop the screenplay. The project will be produced by Chris and Eleanor Columbus, along with Lisa Henson, while Brian Henson will serve as executive producer.
The original Labyrinth, featuring Jennifer Connelly and the late David Bowie, follows 16-year-old Sarah as she ventures through a fantastical maze to rescue her brother from the Goblin King. Despite underperforming at the box office upon its release, the film has since gained a cult following, celebrated for its innovative puppetry from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and inspiring various tie-in media and events.
In addition to Labyrinth, Eggers’ Werwulf is set to debut in North American theaters on Christmas Day 2026. Although plot details for Werwulf are currently undisclosed, the title suggests an intriguing premise.
A teaser trailer showcasing a spaceship crash-landing on Earth was released during the AFC Championship game, building anticipation for FX's upcoming series Alien: Earth, set to premiere this summer. New key art, titled “XenoDome,” offers a chilling glimpse of the iconic Xenomorph, highlighting its imposing features.
Created by Noah Hawley, the series takes place two years prior to the events of the 1979 film Alien. The plot centers on a young woman and a group of tactical soldiers who, after a mysterious spacecraft crashes, confront the planet's greatest threat. As they search for survivors, they encounter terrifying predatory life forms, forcing them to fight for survival and potentially altering the future of Earth.
The cast includes Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, and Timothy Olyphant. Hawley emphasized the unsettling nature of witnessing a Xenomorph on Earth, hinting at its chilling presence. He also shared his design philosophy, aiming to innovate while preserving the creature's iconic silhouette, ensuring it remains as terrifying as ever.
What do you think about the new Alien: Earth series? Be sure to let me know in the comments below.
Oh, hey there. I know, I know, it’s been a while since I’ve blessed you with a review from the vaults. Well, lucky for you, it’s time to return to Rhiannon’s Retro Reviews.
This week, I’m unleashing one of my favourite guilty pleasure movies on you all. It’s often called one of the worst movies in history, and it was critically and commercially panned. I’m talking about Street Fighter, starring Jean Claude Van Damme as Col. William F. Guile and the late, great Raul Julia as M. Bison.
But before we get into the review, how about a QUIZarenaLIVE question. How well do you know Street Fighter? Which 90’s icon was set to appear as Vega in Street Fighter (1994), but lacked the agility and flexibility of the character? Was it 1) Lorenzo Lamas, 2) Sylvester Stallone, 3) Fabio Lanzoni, or 4) Brad Pitt?
While you ponder over that, let’s head to Shadaloo where a war has broken out.
The movie begins during the middle of a civil war. On one side, we have the AN – allied nations. And on the other side, we have a tyrannical dictator in M. Bison, who has taken aid workers hostage. News reports state the capital has fallen. Chun-Li is a reporter for GNT news, which seems to be Bison’s choice news station to keep an eye on things.
Bison taunts Col. Guile, requesting that the world pays him $20 billion in 72 hours or the 63 hostages he’s holding will die.
Guile makes a fatal error, by signalling out one of his kidnapped AN soldiers, Charlie, better known as Blanka. And yes, by the end, he is the electrifying monster we all know from the video games.
From Guile and Bison, the audience is introduced to two hustlers, Ryu and Ken, who are trying to rip of Shadaloo kingpin, Victor Sagat.
Cutting back to Bison, we see he’s moved to his laboratory where Dhaisim is tasked with turning Charlie into the killer, Blanka. Using videos of war to warp Charlie’s mind, Dhaisim shows his lack of loyalty to Bison, calling the warlord psychotic to his face. Bison, doesn’t like that so much and reminds Dhaisim that he isn’t in charge and that Blanka will be the first of a line of super soldiers to fight for him.
Back in the underworld of Shadaloo, Sagat runs a lot of illegal operations, cage fighting being one of them. He pits Ryu against his undefeated champion in Vega. Just as the cage match starts, Guile crashes the party, arresting everyone in a sweep.
At the AN compound, Guile recruits Ryu and Ken to help him gain access to Bison. Sagat runs guns to Bison and his army. Ken and Ryu start a fight between themselves, swiping a set of guard keys in the process, and free both Sagat and Vega. During this jailbreak, Ken shoots Guile, seemingly fatally wounding him.
The world is in shock when Chun-Li reports on the news that Guile was killed in the line of duty. Bison is devastated as he hoped to face Guile in person on the battlefield.
This leads to one of the best Bison monologues. And you know I have to do it: “The road not taken. But why? Why do they still call me a warlord? And mad? All I want to do is to create the perfect genetic soldier! Not for power, not for evil, but for good. Carlos Blanka will be the first of many - they shall march out of my laboratory and sweep away every adversary, every creed, every nation, until the very planet is in the loving grip of the Pax Bisonica. And then peace will reign, and the world, and all humanity, shall bow to me in humble gratitude...”
Raul Julia had some of the best lines in this film, I swear.
Back at AN headquarters, Chun-Li realises that someone else has placed a homing beacon on the truck that Ryu and Ken were on. Following the signal, she traces it to the room where Guile’s body is resting. Except that he’s not actually dead. Putting two and two together, Chun-Li realises that Ken and Ryu are working for Guile.
Breaking free of T-Hawk and Cammi, Chun-Li makes her way to the thieves market where she catches up with Honda and Balrog. Using her feminine wiles, she leads Ken and Ryu away from Sagat and Bison.
Sagat turns on Bison when he realises that the money Bison is using to purchase weapons isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.
With knowledge from Chun-Li, Ryu and Ken inform Sagat and Bison that there’s danger coming. Chun-Li plans on blowing up the warlords and succeeds in destroying a lot of their weapons, but gets herself taken hostage in the process.
Back at Bison’s headquarters, the tyrannical dictator accepts Ken and Ryu into his army. He sends Honda and Balrog to the interrogation room while he tells his men to take Chun-Li to his private quarters.
Ken and Ryu are gifted new uniforms, which is their traditional video game outfits. Putting their heads together, they start searching the compound for the hostages, and for Chun-Li.
Meanwhile, back at AN headquarters, Guile is ready to launch an assault on Bison, only to have the powers that be turn up and tell him they’re willing to pay the ransom demand.
This gifts audiences another fun monologue, this time delivered by Guile: “Troopers! I have just received new orders. Our superiors say the war is cancelled, and we can all go home. Bison is getting paid off for his crimes, and our friends will have died here... will have died for nothing. But... we can all go home. Meanwhile, ideas like peace, freedom and justice - they get packed up. But... we can all go home. Well... I'm not going home. I'm gonna get on my boat, and I'm going up-river, and I'm going to kick that son-of-a-bitch Bison's ass so HARD... that the next Bison wanna-be is gonna feel it. Now who wants to go home... and who wants to go with ME!”
Needless to say, that rallies the troops and begins the all-out assault of the third act, in which Bison finally gets his wish to go hand-to-hand with Guile.
Good triumphs over evil and some of the more well-known characters switch sides. DeeJay spends a good portion of the final act, trying to find some cash to escape with. Zangief eventually realises that Bison is a bad guy and comes through at the eleventh hour to help the hostages escape. Dhaisim perishes alongside Blanka, while Sagat finds himself latching onto DeeJay in hopes of sneaking away from the conflict and terror he’s caused.
Street Fighter is definitely problematic. It’s well known that Jean Claude had a cocaine habit that delayed filming and made him difficult to work with during production. He also turned down the role of Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat in order to play Guile. Ironically, both characters were loosely based on the actor.
But whenever we talk perfect casting choices, there’s one name that often gets overlooked, and that’s Raul Julia as Bison. A role he took because his children were fans of the video game, Julia was suffering from stomach cancer and passed away before the film was released. It’s dedicated to him.
But there’s some charm about this film that is genuinely enjoyable. The script, despite its flaws, it quite comedic, filled with memorable quotes. The locations of Thailand are stunning, and the sets are well made. Bison’s floating desk has the controls associated with the Street Fighter II: Turbo arcade game.
But there are definitely some technical faults. Dialogue is heard, yet mouths never move. Continuity regarding costumes can be frustrating. Gloves and shirts appearing and disappearing in between shots. Things like Sagat’s eye patch being on the left eye instead of on the right like it is in the video game, and some of the physical appearances of the characters between the movie and the game can be frustrating for fans of the franchise.
So why do I love this stupid movie so much? Well, I am JCVD fan and have been for a long time. Same goes for Raul Julia. I have also worked with Miguel A Nunez Jr who portrayed DeeJay, back in 2002 on Scooby-Doo. Growing up, Street Fighter II was my game. No one could beat me when I was on a roll. Chun-Li was my girl and my cousin and I spent far too many hours on the Super Nintendo trying to get perfect rounds against every opposition.
Street Fighter is a comfort movie for me. It brings back fond memories of a simpler, happier time. We all have those kinds of movies that we simply enjoy for no reason other than it makes us happy. That’s what Street Fighter is for me. It’s my happy place. Even now, I still laugh at the same spots. Vega getting his face burned by Ryu in the third act is forever imprinted on my brain. In fact, this was the movie that got me into martial arts. And it is also the movie that was responsible for that one ill-fated electricity experiment to see if I could levitate my cousin, Bison style. But that wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. At least his eyebrows grew back okay.
Is Street Fighter perfect? God no. Critics and fans alike condemned it upon its release. The only ones who seemed to happy with it were CapCom, the company behind the franchise. It’s silly, but fun. And that’s why I give Street Fighter a 5/10. It’s so bad it’s good. And now, it holds cult classic status. If you’re looking for a movie that you can simply take your brain out of your head and enjoy, this is it. It’s not as bad as everyone says, but it certainly isn’t an Oscar contender. If you’re a fan of JCVD, or you want to see Raul Julia in more flawless casting after his portrayal of Gomez Addams in The Addams Family movies, this is the film for you.
Now, how did you go with my QUIZarenaLIVE question? The question was, which 90’s icon was set to appear as Vega in Street Fighter (1994), but lacked the agility and flexibility of the character? Was it 1) Lorenzo Lamas, 2) Sylvester Stallone, 3) Fabio Lanzoni, or 4) Brad Pitt? If you said 3) Fabio Lanzoni, then you got it. I have to admit, I can’t see anyone outside of Jay Tavare playing Vega. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get my game on and see if I can break my last Street Fighter record.
And finally, as the Academy Awards approach, Netflix finds itself at a pivotal moment, still seeking its first Best Picture win despite a rich history of nominations for acclaimed films like “Mank,” “The Irishman,” and “Roma.” This year, however, “Emilia Pérez” stands out as a formidable contender, making history with an impressive 13 nominations, the most for a non-English language film.
Joining this competitive field are notable works such as “Wicked” and “The Brutalist,” both securing 10 nominations each. The Best Picture nominees include a diverse array of films: “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez,” “I’m Still Here,” “Nickel Boys,” “The Substance,” and “Wicked.” Among these, surprises like the Brazilian film “I’m Still Here” and the poignant “Nickel Boys” have garnered significant attention, reflecting the Academy's embrace of varied narratives.
Set against the backdrop of devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, the Oscars this year carry an added weight. The Academy is determined to proceed with the ceremony, emphasizing resilience and creativity within the film community. Unlike last year’s clear frontrunner, this year's race appears wide open, with several films, including “Emilia Pérez,” “The Brutalist,” and “Wicked,” emerging as strong candidates for the coveted Best Picture award. As the industry rallies together amidst challenges, the Oscars promise to celebrate not only cinematic excellence but also the spirit of unity in the face of adversity.
And as a fan of horror, I’m equally delighted to see that The Substance and Nosferatu are both representing the often overlooked genre.
Who do you think is going to walk away with the big awards? Be sure to let me know in the comments below.
And that’s it for this week. Thanks so much for tuning in. Remember you can find me on Instagram and TikTok with @rhiannonelizabethirons for more entertainment news as well as cool behind the scenes snippets from the Rushcutter Entertainment. And while you’re at it, be sure to give Richard a follow on Instagram and TikTok too with @richardlovegrove.
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