Tag: action figures

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Animation Features Movies

Toy Story 5

Directors – Kenna Harris, Andrew Stanton – 2026 – US – Cert. PG – 102m

***1/2

The toys become sidelined when their child is given a screen-based tech device and she abandons them to spend all her time interacting with it – out in UK cinemas on Friday, June 19th

After a damaged package of High-Tech edition Buzz Lightyear action figures causes a veritable battalion of them to fall from the sky, regular group of toys belonging to young girl Bonnie (voice: Scarlett Spears from Wicked for Good, John M.Chu, 2025) are the subject of her make believe games, switching satisfyingly from romantic wedding to murder mystery.

Leading toy character Cowgirl Jessie (voice: Joan Cusack from Toy Story 2–4; High Fidelity, Stephen Frears, 2000; Grosse Pointe Blank, George Armitage, 1997) takes it upon herself to turn up, ring pull voice self-activated, outside Bonnie’s garden fence, in an attempt to get Bonnie to make friends with the kids next door. Something Bonnie has been avoiding for months. 

Jessie has, however, reckoned without tech. Bonnie is the exceptional child who still plays with toys; most of the kids are glued to electronic devices, and have no need for traditional, physical toys or the type of play they inspire.… Read the rest

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Features Live Action Movies Music

Masters
of the Universe
(2026)

Director – Travis Knight – 2026 – UK – Cert. 12a – 132m

***1/2

Prince Adam must recapture Castle Grayskull and the throne of Eternia after his parents, the king and queen, have been deposed by the evil Skeletor – out in UK cinemas on Wednesday, June 3rd

As his father King Radnor (James Purefoy from High-Rise, Ben Wheatley, 2015; Ironclad, Jonathan English, 2011; Solomon Kane, M.J. Bassett, 2009) of Eternia and his trainer Duncan the Man-at-Arms (Idris Elba from A House of Dynamite, Kathryn Bigelow, 2025; Pacific Rim, Guillermo Del Toro, 12013; The Wire, TV series, 2002-4) know only too well, young Prince Adam (Artie Wilkinson-Hunt from Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, Gore Verbinski, 2025; Strike, TV series, 2017) is a bit of a wimp and generally fares badly at Duncan’s open air group combat training classes in the grounds of ancestral home Castle Grayskull. Adam’s best friend and Duncan’s daughter Teela (Eire Farrell from The Wasp, Guillem Morales, 2024; Barbie, Greta Gerwig, 2023) is much better at learning this stuff than he is.

Nothing has prepared either of the pair for real combat, such as when, out of nowhere, Castle Grayskull is attacked by the villainous Skeletor (Jared Leto from Tron: Ares, Joachim Rønning, 2025; House of Gucci, Ridley Scott, 2021; Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve, 2017; Dallas Buyers Club, Jean-Marc Vallée, 2013) and his forces who defeat the King and his Queen Marlena (Charlotte Riley from London Has Fallen, Babak Najifi, 2016; Edge of Tomorrow, Doug Limon, 2014; Easy Virtue, Stephan Elliot, 2008) and take over the castle even as Duncan, armed with various inventive items of weaponry, helps the two children to escape.… Read the rest