John Nugent
EmpireOnline
Most Divergent Takes
- Weapons (2025)10.0 vs TRM 7.4+2.6
- undertone (2026)8.0 vs TRM 6.0+2.0
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)8.0 vs TRM 6.5+1.5
- Michael (2026)4.0 vs TRM 5.3-1.3
- GOAT (2026)4.0 vs TRM 5.2-1.2
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
2026 · EmpireOnline · Jul 2026
A more mature, emotional and distinctly ground-level Spider-Man, Brand New Day doesn't escape some of the usual MCU pitfalls but finds its heart in an earnest performance from Tom Holland.
Minions & Monsters
2026 · EmpireOnline · Jun 2026
The overall tone remains as juvenile as ever. It is goofy and giggly and resolutely wedded to stupidity. There's little attempt to add much depth to the story, in the way that Pixar might try to — it is essentially, once again, just a series of contrived opportunities for the little guys to get up to chaotic mischief.
Michael
2026 · EmpireOnline · Apr 2026
Feels very strongly like a cynical moneymaking machine. In its ploddingly boring biopic-by-numbers way, Michael's success was predestined, written in the stars, entirely inevitable. Hugely impressive musical and dance performances from the two young men playing Michael Jackson cannot shake off the uncomfortable fact that there is an entire other side to the pop star's story which is entirely conspicuous by its absence here.
undertone
2026 · EmpireOnline · Apr 2026
Undertone is a very effective kind of horror, especially in how it tells a story both about, and via, the audio form. While it may trade in somewhat unoriginal genre tropes, its form and its function feel fresh, fluent and flippin' frightening. As an allegory for Catholic guilt, it's haunting; as an auditory experience, it'll fuck you up.
GOAT
2026 · EmpireOnline · Feb 2026
So, it almost goes without saying, this film is far from the greatest of all time. But neither is it the worst. There is fun to be had for your eyes if not your ears, in how inventive and sharp and full of detail the world is. But we've come to expect more from this lot.
TRON: Ares
2025 · EmpireOnline · Oct 2025
As groundbreaking as the original was, it's a shame this latest effort pulls some of its creative punches — but it is, if nothing else, sufficiently pretty and noisy. It has about as much depth as a floppy disk, but some lovely, shiny CGI and a stunningly ear-shattering score from Nine Inch Nails makes for a fun if forgettable bit of futuristic fluff.
Weapons
2025 · EmpireOnline · Aug 2025
A hugely accomplished horror achievement, and a significant step up from Barbarian: tense, sad, hilarious, unsettling, ridiculously entertaining, and ultimately oddly uplifting.
The Beekeeper
2024 · EmpireOnline · Nov 2024
Almost entirely witless, it's as if they've decided on the title first, and then had to retrofit a cheapo action movie around the theme of bees. Just absolute bee-movie trash.