There’s a lot of exciting new releases hitting theaters within the next month. Aside from Sinners, the new horror thriller from Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan, we’ve got The Legend of Ochi, David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds, Thunderbolts*, and more. But if you’re looking for some great sci-fi to watch from the comfort of your home right now, we’ve got a solid selection of this month’s best.
We’ve got the Oscar-nominated sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, one of the most impressive mecha anime films of the past five years, and an Oscar-winning kaiju thriller with a follow-up on the way.
Let’s take a look at what this month has to offer!
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Image: Sony Pictures
Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jason Schwartzman
Look, it’s probably good that the final entry in the Spider-Verse trilogy is getting as much time as it needs to be great. On the other hand, it’s a little hard not to be disappointed that we’ll have to wait until 2027 to see the conclusion of Across the Spider-Verse’s massive cliffhanger ending. The good news is, rewatching Across the Spider-Verse is a perfect way to fill in the two more years we’ll be waiting for the next movie.
Across the Spider-Verse doesn’t quite match the emotional highs of its predecessor, but the trade-off is one of the most visually ambitious and gorgeous-looking computer animated movies of all time. Every single frame, whether it’s action or dialogue, is packed to the bursting point with details, references, and color all without totally overwhelming the flow of the film itself. In fact, maybe it’s good that we’ve got two more years to watch this movie; that should give all of us enough time to catch most of the references. —Austen Goslin
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway
Image: Sunrise/Netflix
Director: Shūkō Murase
Cast: Kensho Ono, Reina Ueda, Junichi Suwabe
Earlier this month, Bandai Namco Entertainment released Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, the latest entry in the long-running mecha franchise, this time directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki (FLCL, Rebuild of Evangelion). If you’re looking for more exemplary mecha action, you should check out Shūkō Murase’s 2021 film Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway.
Set 12 years after Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack, the film centers on Hathaway Noa, the son of a prominent Earth Federation military officer and secretly the leader of an insurgency with the aim of forcing humanity to abandon Earth for the sake of the environment and the future of the species. After helping halt an attempted hostage situation, Hathaway is thrown into the crosshairs of Kenneth Sleg, an ambitious military officer who is single-minded in quelling the insurgency and bringing its leader down. Things are even further complicated by Gigi Andalucia, a mysterious woman who vies for Hathaway’s attention, all the while suspecting that he is in fact the insurgency leader.
With gorgeously animated battle sequences, beautiful environments, and a pulse-pounding tightrope plot, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway is a terrific sci-fi thriller even if you’re not up to speed with all the background regarding the film’s extended universe. The highly anticipated sequel, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: Son of Bright, is suspected to come out sometime within the next year, so now is a perfect time to watch the first movie if you haven’t already. —Toussaint Egan
Image: Toho
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Cast: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada
Every new Godzilla movie is a special event in its own right, but it’s hard to remember the last time one had as much cultural impact as director Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One. It was a smash hit at the global box office, was critically and culturally adored by everyone who saw it, won the franchise its first Academy Award, and on top of all that was an absolutely fantastic example of how to take a beloved character back to his roots. With all that in mind, it’s really no surprise that Toho has announced that the next Godzilla movie will be a direct sequel to Minus One, once again written, directed, and VFX supervised by Yamazaki.
But since we don’t know exactly when this sequel will arrive, it’s a great time to go back and revisit Godzilla Minus One on Netflix, and refresh yourself on what made this movie so amazing. In particular, a second watch of the movie is a great time to notice all the incredible details that Yamazaki and his team of visual effects artists managed to pack into the film, particularly on Godzilla himself. Few recent movies have had effects that look anywhere near as good as Godzilla does in this film, which really adds to the old-school horror vibe that Yamazaki absolutely nails. —AG
