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'Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (2025)' is very different to its predecessors, much more sombre and more contemplative. Rather than struggling with beauty standards and societal pressures, Bridget struggles with grief and coming to terms with a world which no longer has Mr. Darcy in it. Set four years after his untimely demise, the film puts enough distance between his death and its events that it isn't constantly consumed by sadness, focusing more on the reality of what happens just after the period of time usually covered by stories concerning tragedy. This allows the affair to totally avoid being dour, and it isn't even all that downbeat. It naturally fluctuates between making you laugh and making you cry, its general sadness counterbalanced by momentary happiness and the understanding that life has to go on and that there's nothing wrong with that. The central drama isn't so much 'boy' (Leo Woodall) vs 'man' (Chiwetel Ejiofor) insofar as a love triangle is concerned (the men share only a single scene), but instead one of Bridget learning to accept the absence of her husband and to live her life again. There are romantic elements of course, but this is the least 'rom-com' in the traditional sense of all the Bridget movies. It also might just be the best. Renée Zellweger is really solid as the lead character, easily slipping back into the role that arguably defines her career, and it's a treat to see characters (including Hugh Grant's Daniel Cleaver, who is pretty much unchanged by the year-long period in which he was declared dead but was actually stranded on an island somewhere, and Emma Thompson's frank-as-always Dr. Rawlings) and locations and even character setups from its predecessors. It's pretty funny and it's pretty moving. In fact, it's pretty much everything it needs to be. It does feel a little long, and certain elements in its third act feel rather rushed. Plus, Bridget doesn't have the strongest chemistry with one of the men (I won't spoil which) and some aspects of the picture feel more obligatory than natural. Still, it's a really solid sequel that examines relatable and important themes in an effective way. It totally justifies its existence.

'Dog Man (2025)' captures the frantic energy of a child playing with their toys. Moving at a mile a minute and cramming as many silly jokes into its brisk runtime as possible, the picture remains entertaining for its majority. It isn't the most engaging or affecting effort, and its humour is never anything more than amusing, but it's a perfectly decent family film with a weirdly dark central premise but the uncanny ability to breeze past it to the point it never really registers as inappropriate for the target audience. The animation is incredibly lively, building off basic but effective character designs and a colourful world filled with self-aware idiosyncrasies to craft a cohesively chaotic atmosphere almost entirely distinct from that of its peers. It's rough around the edges at times, but that just adds to its charm. It occupies that strange space between sincerity and satire where it's keenly aware that its messaging is too basic to affect anyone over the age of, let's say, eight, but it's still able to reach those mature enough to recognise that fact because it never talks down to them and feels like it's approaching things from the same angle. Ultimately, this is a childish, chaotic and quite fun animated adventure that's as wholesome as it is immature. I suppose potty humour never really goes out of style.

'The Bag Guys: Little Lies And Alibis (2025)' is a five-minute short film that plays in front of 'Dog Man (2025)'. Set in-between 'The Bad Guys (2022)' and its upcoming sequel, the piece showcases the focal group's struggles to be 'good' in microcosm by depicting their chaotic journey to their final parole hearing. Its non-chronological structure, unreliable narration and distinctly energetic aesthetic make are all really enjoyable, but it ultimately feels as though it's over almost as soon as it begins thanks to its short duration and mile-a-minute pacing. Still, it looks absolutely fantastic and perfectly condenses the controlled mayhem of the movie into a shorter format, essentially acting as an advertisement for its upcoming big brother. It's effective at building hype for the sequel, which is arguably its main purpose, and it's generally enjoyable in its own right. It's mostly inconsequential, but fairly fun.