The Little Mermaid, new Transformers, One Piece, and every new movie to watch

Happy Friday, Polygon readers!

Each week, we spherical up probably the most notable releases new to streaming and VOD, highlighting the largest and finest new motion pictures for you to watch at house. This week, we have now a Jackie Chan/John Cena motion movie on Netflix, in addition to the streaming debut of Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey.

In addition, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts rolls out onto Paramount Plus after its VOD premiere final week. The satirical superhero comedy Smoking Causes Coughing comes to streaming on Hulu, whereas the biographical comedy The Beanie Bubble premieres on Apple TV Plus. There’s a number of new releases on VOD other than the aforementioned Disney musical, just like the psychological thriller Sympathy for the Devil starring Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad) and Nicolas Cage.

Here’s the lowdown on all the pieces new to watch this weekend!

New on Netflix

Hidden Strike

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: XYZ Films

Genre: Action journey
Run time: 1h 43m
Director: Scott Waugh
Cast: Jackie Chan, John Cena, Pilou Asbæk

Jackie Chan and John Cena star as two ex-special forces troopers who’re tasked with escorting civilians throughout one of the vital harmful territories in your complete world on this explosive motion journey movie. This movie has spent years in post-production, however we lastly have the possibility to see two of probably the most iconic motion stars of their respective generations do their respective issues collectively.

Happiness for Beginners

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Photo: Barbara Nitke/Netflix

Genre: Romantic comedy
Run time: 1h 43m
Director: Vicky Wight
Cast: Luke Grimes, Ellie Kemper, Ben Cook

This romantic comedy follows Helen (Ellie Kemper), a just lately divorced lady who embarks on a survival course climbing the Appalachian path alongside a gaggle of strangers. While on her journey, she rediscovers not solely her personal capability for resilience, however her want to — because the Netflix official synopsis places it — “live and love again.”

Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Netflix

Genre: Musical superhero romance
Run time: 1h 45m
Director: Jeremy Zag
Cast: Cristina Valenzuela, Bryce Papenbrook, Keith Silverstein

Based on the French animated kids’s present of the identical identify, this musical superhero movie follows two youngsters who remodel into Ladybug and Cat Noir, a vigilante duo who be a part of forces to shield town of Paris from a gaggle of supervillains led by their new nemesis, Hawk Moth.

New on Hulu

Smoking Causes Coughing

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Image: Magnet Releasing

Genre: Comedy anthology
Run time: 1h 17m
Director: Quentin Dupieux
Cast: Gilles Lellouche, Vincent Lacoste, Anaïs Demoustier

The new movie from director Quentin Dupieux (Rubber), additionally recognized by his musical alias Mr. Oizo, is an irreverent parody of Japanese sci-fi tokusatsu (“special effects”) movies and the enduring Super Sentai (aka Power Rangers) TV franchise.

After getting their asses kicked by an alien turtle monster, the 5 superheroes generally known as “the Tobacco Force” are despatched to a team-building retreat to enhance their working relationships. Things, as you’ll be able to most likely anticipate, don’t go precisely in accordance to plan.

From our evaluation:

When confronted with imminent destruction, our heroes wind up nervously chain-smoking anyway, whereas reflecting on the absurdity and missed alternatives of their lives. If there’s one takeaway from Smoking Causes Coughing, it might be that: Life is brief and illogical, and it typically seems like one large joke that’s only a beat away from a punchline.

New on Crunchyroll

One Piece Film: Red

Where to watch: Available to stream on Crunchyroll

Image: Toei/Crunchyroll

Genre: Fantasy action-adventure
Run time: 1h 55m
Director: Gorô Taniguchi
Cast: Mayumi Tanaka, Shuichi Ikeda, Kaori Nazuka

The fifteenth stand-alone movie set within the universe of Eiichiro Oda’s widespread fantasy journey collection follows Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they attend the live performance for Uta, the world’s most elusive pop star. When Uta reveals her id because the adopted daughter of “Red-Haired” Shanks, Luffy’s former mentor, it units in movement a sequence of occasions that threatens to change the steadiness of energy between the World Government and the pirates endlessly. Just in time earlier than the discharge of Netflix’s personal live-action TV adaptation starring Iñaki Godoy and Mackenyu (Rurouni Kenshin: The Final).

From our evaluation,

For all these nods to One Piece’s previous, One Piece Film: Red is completely accessible to newcomers. Even individuals who’ve by no means seen a single episode of the present or learn any of the manga can nonetheless observe and get pleasure from Red. Some of the small print will fly over their heads, however the full of life story and partaking songs ought to maintain them entertained. (Even if we by no means do get to hear Luffy sing.)

Longtime One Piece followers, although, are in for one thing magical. Uta probably represents an enormous shift within the steadiness of energy throughout One Piece. While the movie’s occasions haven’t been confirmed as collection canon, Uta herself seems in chapter 1055 of the manga, that means that she is a part of the principle plot. If her character and motivation are carried over to the story’s official continuum, it may imply that probably the most thrilling One Piece tales are nonetheless forward of us.

New on Paramount Plus

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus

Image: Paramount Pictures

Genre: Sci-fi motion
Run time: 2h 7m
Director: Steven Caple Jr.
Cast: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Peter Cullen

This stand-alone sequel to 2018’s Bumblebee and prequel to Michael Bay’s Transformers follows Optimus Prime and his band of Autobots as they crew up with a race of fellow Cybertronians, the Maximals, to combat in opposition to a large planet-eating abomination generally known as Unicron (assume Marvel’s Galactus, however the robotic model of that).

From our evaluation:

Alien robotic vehicles and their house battles are ideas with such primary, gee-whiz sci-fi enchantment that they’ve labored quite a few instances throughout many years of comics and cartoons. And but there’s little childlike surprise to the Transformers live-action motion pictures, which regularly stuff their frames with visually oppressive, eyesore conceptions of issues that ought to be easy and imaginative. Virtually the entire Transformers motion pictures really feel like they’re attempting to defeat their viewers, however this time, the movie wins.

New on Apple TV Plus

The Beanie Bubble

Where to watch: Available to stream on Apple TV Plus

Image: Apple TV Plus

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 50m
Directors: Kristin Gore, Damian Kulash
Cast: Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook

Before non-fungible tokens and Bitcoin, there have been Beanie Babies. This comedy stars Zach Galifianakis as Ty Warner, the billionaire toy producer accountable for the enduring stuffed toy line, chronicling his meteoric rise to wealth and energy in addition to his subsequent fall.

New to hire

The Little Mermaid

Where to watch: Available to buy for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

Genre: Fantasy musical
Run time: 2h 15m
Director: Rob Marshall
Cast: Halle Bailey, Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay

The newest live-action adaptation of an animated Disney basic places singer Halle Bailey within the position of Ariel. One of the largest box-office hits of the 12 months thus far, it’s lastly out there to watch at house.

From our evaluation:

What makes The Little Mermaid isn’t whether or not the fish look good, or what precisely fuels Triton and Ursula’s feud. It all comes again to Ariel and her journey, which is fueled by the central romance between her and Eric. Just as a result of Ariel falls in love doesn’t imply she’s not a robust and beloved protagonist, and simply because Eric is a good-looking and dashing prince doesn’t imply he lacks the substance behind that charming smile. By updating their romance, the 2023 Little Mermaid makes the love story extra satisfying — and resonant for a new era.

Joy Ride

Where to watch: Available to hire for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Araquel/Lionsgate

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 35m
Director: Adele Lim
Cast: Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu

What if somebody took the 2017 comedy Girls Trip and mixed it with the soul-searching drama of Return to Seoul? You would possibly get one thing like Joy Ride, the new comedy a few 4 Chinese American associates who bond by their shared journey to monitor down their delivery moms.

Sympathy for the Devil

Where to watch: Available to hire for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: RLJE Films

Genre: Psychological thriller
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Yuval Adler
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joel Kinnaman

Do you bear in mind the 2004 movie Collateral? You know, the one the place Jamie Foxx performs a cab driver that’s pressured to chauffeur a contract killer performed by Tom Cruise round Los Angeles as he picks off targets one after the other over the course of an evening? That movie rocks. What if I instructed you that there’s a movie that’s like that, however as a substitute it stars Joel Kinnaman being pressured to drive a psychotic gun-toting passenger performed by Nicolas Cage? Well, that’s this movie!