Not only is Andor back for more Star Wars goodness, but it’s another week stuffed with big movie releases as Captain America: Brave New World gets an early VOD release, while Transformers One, Furiosa, Smile 2, and more make their streaming debuts.

SERIES

Andor S2

23 April 2025 – Disney+

Yes, there’s really only one major series release this week, but it’s a good one! Before the first season of Andor dropped in 2022, many fans questioned why it was even being made. Of course, many fans (myself included) are idiots, because they had also questioned why Rogue One was being made and that turned out to be one of the best Star Wars movies ever. And subsequent spinoff Andor followed in those footsteps, giving us an incredibly rousing tale about the morally murky origins of the Rebel Alliance. And now that tale – which we already know is doomed to end in a fiery death for so many of our cast – gets concluded with the second and final season of Andor. Please note: That while the official release date is 22 April, due to time zone differences, we’re only getting it the next day in South Africa. However, to help you binge this latest offering even faster, Disney+ will be debuting the twelve episodes in batches of three every week!

MOVIES

Smile 2

18 April 2024 – Showmax

Writer/director Parker Finn’s Smile was one of the biggest horror movie surprises of 2022. Essentially the continuation of his award-winning short film of the first name, it followed a doctor who discovered that an evil spirit was jumping from person to person after making them witness gruesome deaths. Unfortunately for that doctor, despite her best efforts – and probably because of major box office success – her attempts to stop that spirit failed, and here we are with Smile 2! The sequel goes for the “more and bigger” approach that follow-ups often employ, which most critics really loved, with heaps of very valid praise going to star Naomi Scott. Her portrayal as pop star Skye Riley, whose life starts unravelling in horrific ways on the verge of a major world tour after she witnesses a violent suicide, is indeed awards-worthy. Personally, I preferred the smaller-scaled tightness of the first film, but I would still recommend Smile 2 in a heartbeat just to get people to see its utterly incredible single-take opening sequence that is right up there as one of the best in cinematic history!

Transformers One

20 April 2024 – Showmax

The fact that Transformers One was one of the biggest box office flops of last year is absolutely criminal. Next to Bumblebee, it’s the best modern Transformers movie by a mile and manages to appeal to everybody from young kids to franchise veterans as it tells the untold origin story of sworn enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron, back when they were still very young best friends Cybertron named Orion Pax and D-16. Chris Hemsworth and Bryan Tyree Henry do incredible work as the voices of the two leads (with Hemsworth being especially great as his voice changes with Orion Pax’s evolution) and are backed by a stellar supporting cast featuring the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Laurence Fishburne, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi and Jon Hamm. The movie is also directed Oscar-winning Toy Story 4 filmmaker Josh Cooley and he absolutely nails the balance. As Sam pointed out in his 8.5/10 review, the film features “great character work, stunning visuals, and a powerful story that puts the rivalry between Optimus Prime and Megatron front and centre”. And yet, somehow, most people didn’t bother going to watch it. Well, now you can fix that at home!

The Bullet Train Explosion

23 April 2025 – Netflix

Speed is one of the greatest action films in Hollywood history. It’s also not quite original. The Keanu Reeves thriller was actually heavily inspired by the 1975 Japanese film The Bullet Train, which featured a terrorist rigging a high-speed train with an explosive, set to go off if the train’s speed drops below 80mph. Sound familiar? Well, it’s about to get even more familiar as acclaimed Shin Godzilla director Shinji Higuchi has now done a direct remake of the 50-year-old film with Bullet Train Explosion. The new film keeps the basic premise of the original, but ups the speed limit to 100mps because faster is always better, right? It also includes other modern updates such a crowdfunding a ransom, which is a unique touch. Notably, the film was made with special cooperation from the East Japan Railway Company, as the production used real bullet trains and railway facilities where possible, with these practical elements with VFX.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

24 April 2025 – Showmax

And just like Transformers One, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is another amazing movie from 2024 (coincidentally also featuring Chris Hemsworth giving an incredible, almost unrecognizable performance) that somehow failed at the box office. George Miller’s long gestating prequel to his Oscar-winning action masterpiece sees Anya Taylor-Joy step into the title role originated by Charlize Theron in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road. This action spectacle tells the story of how Furiosa came to be an “Imperator” at the Citadel, from her childhood in the Green Place, from where she was snatched by the great Biker Horde led by Warlord Dementus (Hemsworth), to working her way up the ranks of Immortan Joe’s army. As Noelle notes in her 8/10 review, “caged narratively by its prequel status, Furiosa just isn’t as compelling as the adrenalin-charged masterpiece that is Mad Max: Fury Road”. However, it boasts “a contender for best action scene of the year, if not decade” and is “rock-solid blockbuster entertainment for adults.”

VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES

The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:

Captain America: Brave New World

Purchase: Apple TV – R200/ Google Play Movies – R212

Rental: Apple TV – R170/ Google Play Movies – R46

Well, this is a surprise! Following numerous delays and widely reported reshoots, Captain America: Brave New World flew into theatres just two months ago, but it’s already getting a VOD release. The biggest contributor to this early release is undoubtedly the fact that the film’s $414 million box office haul, while pretty solid, is not enough to get the suits at Disney celebrating. On top of that, Anthony Mackie’s first solo feature film outing as Cap divided critics as all those aforementioned reshoots resulted in a film that at times feels like a rehash of plotlines from earlier and superior Marvel Cinematic Universe offerings. That being said, it does boast some of the best action choreography in the whole of the MCU and gives us the best page to screen adaptation of a Hulk’s rampage ever. On top of that, Mackie and co-star Harrison Ford are great (the latter in particular). However, as Noelle noted in her 6.5/10 review, “there is no edge here”. If you’re like me, you’ll probably push up that score slightly based on the strength of the action spectacle alone.

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera

Purchase: Apple TV – R160/ Google Play Movies – R161

Rental: Apple TV – R45

Speaking of surprises… Of all the movies I saw in 2018, the one I would never ever have pegged to get a sequel would have been Den of Thieves. The Gerard Butler-led action flick is a by the numbers heist thriller with its only real drawcard being Butler’s turn as loose canon cop “Big Nick” O’Brien. The film got middling reviews and was only a mild box office success, and yet, here we are seven years later with Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. For the record, this one picks up after the events of the first film as Butler’s Big Nick travels to Europe to track down O’Shea Jackson’s Donnie Wilson, the criminal mastermind who tricked Nick into thinking he was just a lowly criminal before escaping overseas with a huge stolen score. As Donnie gets embroiled in a diamond smuggling scheme with the infamous Panther mafia though, and Nick finds himself in a desperate personal situation, it sets the scene for an unexpected partnership.

Skincare

Purchase: Apple TV – R170 / Google Play Movies – R182

Rental: Apple TV – R45 / Google Play Movies – R46

Loosely inspired by the real-world case of Dawn DaLuise, who was arrested and later acquitted for a murder-for-hire plot against a rival beauty guru, Skincare is a thriller from debut filmmaker Austin Peters. Elizabeth Banks stars Hope Goldman, a famed Los Angeles aesthetician who suspects Angel Vergara (Luis Gerardo Méndez), a rival aesthetician who opens a boutique directly across from hers, of stalking and harassing her. With the help of life coach Jordan Weaver (Lewis Pullman), the two embark on a quest to uncover the identity of the blackmailer, save her business, and clear her name. Skincare also stars Nathan Fillion, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez. and Ella Barinska.