It certainly seems to the year of retro games and cinema connecting. Perhaps studios see more lucrative potential in an older, engaged and nostalgic audience base as Mortal Kombat II follows on from the Super Mario sequel and releases in advance of Masters of the Universe, Street Fighter and another Resident Evil reboot. All good things on the surface but, in reality, MKII doesn’t quite do enough to justify its existence unfortunately. The first Mortal Kombat from a few years

Amidst the swathe of legacy sequels that we’ll continue to see released as studios assume it’s the only way to generate box office revenue, it’s always the comedies or comedy-adjacent that leave the most to feel worried about initially. Simply put, times change and it’s very difficult to modernise a film’s humour whilst keeping it in harmony with its predecessor. The Devil Wears Prada 2 actually does a pretty good job against all the odds. No doubt helped by being able to boa

It’s been discussed plenty of times before the two distinct types of music biopic. What everyone really wants to see is the ‘warts n’ all’ portrayal of every facet to an artist’s personality. In most cases, it’s what makes the story interesting and worthy of the form. Then, of course, we have the ‘play to the nosebleeds’ family friendly, very often hugely influenced by the artist themselves (or their estate) types. The flashy, jukebox musical, money makers. Cue Michael, the b

California Schemin’ is one of those stories that you wouldn’t believe in if it wasn’t true. An interesting choice of directorial debut for James McAvoy, this is a musical biopic featuring arguably the least well know musicians to ever be given the feature length treatment. The surprisingly little known story of Scottish rap duo Silibil’ N’ Brains is certainly worth telling though. After receiving rejections due to their accents (it’s crazy to think how far regional hip hop an

The Drama is definitely a talking point film and easily a case of ‘the less you know, the better’. It’s pretty impressive it’s stayed relatively spoiler-free for now but that can’t be the case for long so see it when you can and get ready to debate. Something a bit different, something original and something provocative, this brilliantly tows the line between light and shade. This sort of dark, cringe comedy is seldom seen at this scale and that is hugely admirable. Undoubted

And, sadly, some sort of unfortunate normal service is restored as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie may have sounded the death knell for the ‘videogame/retro movie’ resurgence before it’s even really begun. Well, probably not, considering it’ll still make mega bucks and TV is helpfully carrying the load with The Last of Us, Fallout et al (maybe let’s not mention the upcoming He-Man movie at this point.) It was inevitable though that the first ‘cash grab’ would land sooner rather

What you want from a film at any given time can vary massively. A flowing and moving story filled with awards-worthy performances of course is great but sometimes you might just want to laugh, to wince, to switch your brain off or to be frozen with fear. They Will Kill You can offer a little of all of that. An absolutely gonzo blast of mayhem with only a mind to distract and to entertain. As Zazie Beetz’ Asia Reaves walks into the Virgil, a mysterious John Wick-esque quasi-ho

After being the 'film genre du jour' a few years back, it’s been a while since we’ve had a ‘lost in space’ movie. Project Hail Mary, therefore, feels surprisingly fresh. A resolutely standalone, somewhat old-fashioned family Blockbuster in a year set to be dominated by some massive tentpole releases. Based on Andy Weir’s book (who also wrote The Martian, arguably the best of that previous glut of space films) this bears some obvious similarities to that movie. It’s another co

After Serbia’s delightful Flow stole hearts and minds last year in the animation world, this year it is the turn of France with the absolutely gorgeous Arco. This could easily be the best animated movie of the year and even one of the best films full stop. A Ghibli-esque science fiction allegory about two different apocalyptic futures, and two youngsters who fatefully meet when one travels back in time. The imagery is incredibly imaginative, instantly iconic and altogether be

It’s always incredible just how different Pixar can make each film they release. Despite them suffering a little in recent times from ‘too-many-sequels-syndrome’ they can always be relied upon when they come up with an original concept. It’s also quite strange to think how little of their films are ‘animal’ based considering how prevalent it is with other animated movies. Hoppers might, bizarrely, be the most ‘Dreamworks-like’ Pixar film and is largely animal led and action b

The Secret Agent is a little bit of a misnomer and rather than any Bond-style espionage you are thrust into the sights and sounds of Brazil under authoritarian rule in the 1970’s. A place where anyone could be seen to be an enemy of the government, many in positions of power are corrupt and everyone is constantly watching their back. Much like last year’s true story I’m Still Here, The Secret Agent is a deeply immersive tale of a dark time in history but this film tells a fic

The Bride! might well remind you most of Joker: Folie à Deux, for good and for ill. Here comes an immensely well-advertised, big budget, interestingly wacky auteur-driven quasi-franchise IP that sits apart from other Blockbusters. However, it is also going to be hugely divisive, equally liked and reviled and is altogether head-scratching in every possible way. It’s punk rock but perhaps not quite as deliberately provocative as that Joker sequel but it’s hard to articulate tho