Superman Soars on HBO Max — Elio, Ne Zha 2, Aztec Batman and Every Movie to Stream This Weekend
Heroes, gods, and aliens land on streaming this weekend. New releases include big studio tentpoles, animated hits from overseas, and a few smaller thrillers and horror films available to rent. Below you’ll find where each movie is streaming, who’s in it, and a short synopsis to help you decide what to watch.
- James Gunn’s Superman arrives on HBO Max.
- Pixar’s Elio streams on Disney Plus.
- Ne Zha 2 and Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires hit VOD/rental services.
- Other picks include action, horror, and indie thrillers to rent or stream.
New on Netflix
Ice Road: Vengeance
Genre: Action thriller. Run time: 1h 53m. Director: Jonathan Hensleigh. Cast: Liam Neeson, Fan Bingbing, Marcus Thomas.
In this sequel to 2021’s The Ice Road, truck driver Mike McCann (Liam Neeson) becomes involved in a kidnapping on a bus bound for Mt. Everest. Along the way he faces mercenaries and corrupt cops, relying on both shooting and driving skills to protect passengers and a village.
New on Disney Plus
Elio
Genre: Sci-fi adventure. Run time: 1h 38m. Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina. Cast: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly.
A lonely, orphaned boy who dreams of alien abduction is mistaken for Earth’s leader and taken to a colorful world called the Communiverse. There, Elio must handle grief, meet strange creatures, and face the warlord Blood Emperor Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett).
From our review :
Elio himself is an enjoyable character, the kind of kid who’s meant to be both a bit aspirational for kid audiences, and simultaneously sympathetic and exasperating for adult viewers. His goofy dedication to alien abduction and his willingness to do whatever it takes to stay in the Communiverse are strong story drivers that push the narrative and character-building forward at the same time. But they aren’t always relatable. This is where the risk of weird retro sci-fi stories comes in: Enough of Elio is dedicated to exploring wild animated dreamscapes and bizarre settings and creatures that there isn’t always room to unpack the story points that most need unpacking.
New on HBO Max
Superman
Genre: Superhero. Run time: 2h 9m. Director: James Gunn. Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult.
James Gunn’s reboot of the DCU opens three years after Superman began protecting Metropolis. After losing a fight for the first time, Superman must rely on allies to stop a looming war and to unravel schemes by billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).
From our review :
Corenswet, like so many Superman performers before him, has a difficult line to walk, figuring out how to convey Clark’s essential goodness without coming across like a ramrod-straight parody of an overgrown Boy Scout. Corenswet leans into the dorkiness charmingly, while teasing out some human irritation at the pitfalls of his chosen life. (Superman knows he shouldn’t read the tweets or pay attention to the trending hashtags, and yet…) Though a little bit of Superman’s faith in humanity gets the told-not-shown treatment, with Lois describing him in terms we don’t fully see played out on screen, Corenswet squares the hero’s big (and obviously heavily CG’d) physical feats with a surprising amount of interior conflict.
New on Paramount Plus
Smurfs
Genre: Animated musical comedy. Run time: 1h 32m. Director: Chris Miller. Cast: Rihanna, James Corden, John Goodman.
The Smurfs reboot sends the blue characters through alternate dimensions with multiple animation styles, musical numbers, and a long list of celebrity cameos. It is designed primarily for family audiences and children.
From our review :
Smurfs is garbage. It’s a randomized assortment of Stuff That Happens in Kids’ Animated Movies, which scriptwriter Pam Brady (Hot Rod) and director Chris Miller (Shrek the Third, Puss in Boots) seem to have organized into a narrative by means of free-association. It’s mostly meaningless, or occasionally mildly offensive, if you stop to think about it. It’s also blandly drawn, stiffly animated, and maddeningly inconsistent in its visual design.
New on Shudder
Night of the Reaper
Genre: Horror thriller. Run time: 1h 33m. Director: Brandon Christensen. Cast: Jessica Clement, Matty Finochio, Ryan Robbins.
This film is a tribute to 1980s slasher movies. A college student’s babysitting shift becomes dangerous when she finds someone else in the sheriff’s house, while the town faces a killer who films victims’ last moments. The night grows more disturbing as the mystery connects to a previous babysitting death.
New to rent
Americana
Genre: Crime thriller. Run time: 1h 47m. Director: Tony Tost. Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey.
In a small South Dakota town, a valuable Lakota artifact becomes the center of conflict. Penny Jo (Sydney Sweeney) hopes selling it will finance a move to Nashville, while others want the artifact returned to the tribe.
Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires
Genre: Superhero. Run time: 1h 29m. Director: Juan Meza-León. Cast: Horacio García Rojas, Omar Chaparro, Álvaro Morte.
This reimagining places Batman in 16th century Mesoamerica. A young Aztec noble takes on the mantle of the bat god Tzinacan after Hernan Cortes kills his father, and he rallies people to stop the conquest of Tenochtitlán.
From our review :
DC’s other time-hopping Batman films are all self-contained, but Aztec Batman focuses on laying groundwork for a sequel and never really delivers a compelling narrative of its own. None of Aztec Batman’s characters have much personality or character development. Forest Ivy (Maya Zapata) looks gorgeous in her crown of maize when an injured Yohualli encounters her in a psychedelic sequence, but she just serves as a sort of generic forest spirit guiding the hero along his destined path. The historical conquistador Pedro de Alvarado (Jose C. Illanes Puentes) doesn’t do much as Cortes’ bloodthirsty lieutenant. Stylish character design and sultry voice acting from Ruiz at least helps Jaguar Woman feel more like her DC counterpart than anyone else in the cast. Cortes’ descent into madness as he begins to view his hand as guided by fate is a clever way of fusing the historical character to Two Face, but he just becomes a caricature of greed as he seeks to plunder Tenochtitlán.
Eden
Genre: Survival thriller. Run time: 2h 9m. Director: Ron Howard. Cast: Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby.
Based on a true story, Eden follows European settlers on Floreana in the Galapagos before World War II. As personalities clash and supplies run low, the search for paradise becomes a fight for survival.
The Knife
Genre: Psychological thriller. Run time: 1h 22m. Director: Nnamdi Asomugha. Cast: Nnamdi Asomugha, Aja Naomi King, Melissa Leo.
Nnamdi Asomugha co-wrote, directed, and stars in this night-long drama where a Black family finds a white woman in their home. A detective questions everyone while the family tries to protect themselves amid assumptions about who’s at fault.
Ne Zha 2
Genre: Fantasy adventure. Run time: 2h 24m. Director: Yu Yang. Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Crystal Lee, Griffin Puatu.
Ne Zha 2 is the highest-grossing animated film in China. Its story follows a child who defies a dark destiny, mixing epic battles, gross-out humor, and emotional moments about fear and disappointment. A24 produced an English dub for U.S. release.
Relay
Genre: Thriller. Run time: 1h 52m. Director: David Mackenzie. Cast: Riz Ahmed, Lily James, Sam Worthington.
Riz Ahmed plays Ash, a fixer who uses a relay service to hide his identity while helping whistleblowers. His latest case becomes dangerous when he helps a woman threatened and surveilled by a former employer.
Trust
Genre: Thriller. Run time: 1h 30m. Director: Carlson Young. Cast: Sophie Turner, Rhys Coiro, Billy Campbell.
Sophie Turner stars as a TV star who retreats to a remote cabin after scandal. Betrayed by someone she trusted, she must fight to survive in a home-invasion scenario.
Witchboard
Genre: Supernatural horror. Run time: 1h 53m. Director: Chuck Russell. Cast: Madison Iseman, Aaron Dominguez, Melanie Jarnson.
This remake of the 1986 film follows friends who try to break a curse tied to a stolen spirit board after a series of gory deaths. Emily (Madison Iseman) must explore the board’s history to stop those who want its power.
