'Jurassic World Rebirth,' 'The Old Guard 2' — Movie new releases to see or skip this weekend in Canada — streaming and in theatres

Yahoo

06-07-2025

It's you're an action movie lover, there's a lot for you to see this weekend with the release of Prime Video's Heads of State with John Cena, Idris Elba and Priyanka Chopra, and the theatrical release of Jurassic World Rebirth with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and Rupert Friend. Additionally, The Old Guard 2 was released on Netflix this week, with Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman.
But while there's so much newness in the action genre, much of it didn't land as well as you may have hoped. That being said, on the other side of the genre spectrum, Eva Victor's feature debut Sorry, Baby is a clear hit of the week.Sorry, Baby is certainly my pick of the week if you're going to see a newly released movie. Eva Victor's film is an impressive debut feature that's incredibly thoughtful, endearing and funny, and Victor's voice feels unique.
While it may be tempting to call this a film about trauma, it's really about healing after violence, something that's often left out in films with similar subject matter. Victor also injects so much humour into the story in a way that only works when the filmmaker has impressive attention to detail with fully developed and nuanced characters.
This is already one of my favourite movies of the year so far.
The biggest issue with Jurassic World Rebirth is that it's exactly what you expect, but that means it lacks excitement. Ultimately, it's just boring. But much of it comes down to a continuation of a franchise that's quite tired, and needs a big swing to really reinvigorate these stories. That's not what you're getting with Jurassic World Rebirth.
It's a movie that just falls into the "meh" descriptor. If you're a particular fan of the franchise or the actors, you can have a good time with this one, but otherwise it's two hours and 13 minutes of predictability.
The cast does the best they can with the story, but you can't escape the fact that the magic of this franchise has diminished over the years.
There are two things that make Heads of State watchable. Firstly, the chemistry between John Cena and Idris Elba, who were also castmates on The Suicide Squad, and one sequence with Jack Quaid that is incredibly entertaining in its goofiness.
Other than those elements, the film is holding on by a thin string with dialogue that will make you roll your eyes, and CGI that looks odd at times. But it's your typical mainstream action-comedy, so you know what to expect.
The movie may star Elba, but don't expect this to be The Wire.
Let's get the obvious out of the way, the story in The Old Guard 2 is far less enticing than what we got in the first film. And when that's your starting point, it's a tough uphill battle to try to crawl out from a stunted script.
The story lacks the fun from the first movie, with no real stakes.
Of course, Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman in an action movie together is going to make you want to hit play, they're both absolute powerhouses in the genre. But that being said, you'll be left wishing they had more substance to work with.
Victoria Mahoney certainly tries to use the film's action sequences as effective storytelling devices in the evolution of this narrative, leaning into as much fun and poignancy as she can, but the expansion of this story just isn't on any solid ground.