Film critic Brian Viner awarded Super Troopers 3 a one-star rating as four new feature films arrived in cinemas this week. The comedy sequel, rated 15 with a running time of 104 minutes, was given the verdict of not super at all. Viner noted that a drought affecting the multiplexes made this film the only major release for grown-ups this week.
The original movie came out in 2001 and the second in 2018, leading Viner to question why another entry arrived in 2026. He also questioned why Brian Cox agreed to reprise his role as a now-retired police captain. Reflecting on Hollywood, Viner recalled screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz cabling Ben Hecht 100 years ago in 1926 to state, "Millions are to be grabbed out here and your only competition is idiots." Viner remarked that a century later, the idiots seem to have prevailed, noting that the Keystone Kops were done by 1926 because the joke of incompetent police could not sustain a full movie.
Written by the Broken Lizard comedy team, the 2026 release follows Senior Trooper Ramathorn, played and directed by Jay Chandrasekhar. Ramathorn attempts to stop his sister marrying his dense colleague Rodney Farva, played by Kevin Heffernan, while the troopers attempt to catch whoever is attacking maple-syrup trucks. Viner criticized the broad humor targeting race, sex, drugs, and Canada, stating that only about five per cent of the jokes warrant a smile.
The Summer Book Review
In contrast to the frenetic comedy, Viner gave three out of five stars to The Summer Book, calling it a Close-run thing. Rated PG with a 90-minute running time, the film is adapted from a 1972 novel by Tove Jansson, author of the Moomin children's books. Viner described director Charlie McDowell's movie as an unhurried story for patient grown-ups where almost defiantly nothing much happens.
Glenn Close delivers a charming performance as a formidable Finnish grandmother spending the summer on an island in the Gulf of Finland. She stays with her son, played by Anders Danielsen Lie, and her nine-year-old granddaughter Sophia, played by newcomer Emily Matthews. The family deals with the raw anguish of Sophia's deceased mother. When the unnamed father suggests "the stink of grief" repels island visitors, the grandmother asserts, "Or self-pity."
Viner praised Close's portrayal of the unnamed grandmother, whose white hair is styled in a bun or long plaits. He remarked that anyone looking more like a Finnish grandmother on the streets of Helsinki would require photograph proof. Although noting a narrative flat-line rather than a traditional narrative arc, Viner called the film a touching study of family dynamics affected by death.
Love Me Tender Review
Viner also awarded three out of five stars to Love Me Tender, describing it as a sensitive French drama. Rated 15 with a 134-minute running time, the French-language film features Vicky Krieps as Clemence, a separated mother sharing custody of her eight-year-old son with her former partner Laurent, played by Antoine Reinartz.
Their relationship begins amicably when Laurent tells Clemence, "I just want you to be happy," after she reveals she is dating women. However, Laurent later changes his tune, poisoning their child against her and triggering a complicated legal battle. Viner reported that institutionalised homophobia contributes to Clemence being kept from her son for 18 months, which she measures as two Christmases, one birthday, and one Mother's Day.
Writer-director Anna Cazenave Cambet adapted the true story from an autobiographical novel by Constance Debre. Viner highlighted the irony that Debre's grandfather, former French prime minister Michel Debre, was considered the father of the modern French constitution that served her so poorly. Viner confirmed that all films reviewed are currently showing in cinemas.
Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie Review
Reviewer Peter Hoskin assessed Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie, giving the third TV series spin-off three out of five stars with the verdict of more pawesome than pawful. Rated U with an 88-minute running time, Hoskin noted that while summer children's movies can feel like a chore for parents, he enjoyed this release almost as much as his five-year-old son.
The film opens with the search and rescue dogs saving a family from a burning boat. Snoop Dogg voices the father, Paris Hilton voices the mother, and their soggy, grumpy cat provides early comedy. A storm forces the USS Paw Patrol onto an uncharted island populated by prehistoric dinosaurs that have existed for millions of years, leading the team to invite scientists to conduct research.
Trouble arises when less respectable figures arrive seeking diamonds. Hoskin noted that the villain, Mayor Humdinger, voiced by Ron Pardo, resembles KFC's Colonel Sanders too much to be truly scary. The story builds to a volcanic climax where firedog Marshall attempts to extinguish the blaze, leaving parents to wonder if the rescue pup can cool off overheated summer audiences.
