Those of a nervous disposition would perhaps be wise to steer well clear of Mission: Impossible - Fallout. The series has long been a playground for Tom Cruise to jump off tall things, climb even taller things, crash bikes and cars and cling to the side of planes. The constant one-upmanship of the franchise’s stunts has pushed each instalment higher and Fallout is another stunning addition to the collection. This mission that Ethan Hunt chooses to accept brings a few familiar

Check yourself into Hotel Artemis for one of the best underground movies of the year. Its dismal showing in the US hopefully won’t stop it from being a sleeper hit on these shores. Boasting an almighty cast it’s a stunningly realised directorial debut from Drew Pearce. The titular hotel is a mythic institution in LA twenty years in the future which acts as a safe haven for the state’s criminals. The city’s in the midst of a riot with protesters rebelling against the privatisa

It’s taken 14 years and an unprecedented superhero boon to bring The Incredibles out of the woodwork to join the multitude of costumed crimefighters inundating our cinema screens. Pixar are masters of the ‘appeal to the adults trying to distract their young ‘uns with a kid’s movie’ but Incredibles 2 (not entirely sure why they’ve dropped the ‘The’ from the title) feels like it’s aimed squarely at those of us who were children when the original graced our VHS machines. You cou

It’s very rare to get a good horror sequel, let alone an entire franchise, but, yet again, James DeMonaco’s Purge series comes up trumps – pun very much intended. The First Purge is the long awaited prequel to the celebrated trilogy, giving audiences a taste of what happened during the first ‘experiment’ proposed by the NFFA. The political set up is an intriguing one and the ramifications obvious and intriguing. It’s a shame that Director Gerard McMurray doesn’t dwell more on

Greenlighting a sequel without your top-billed star, celebrated cinematographer and now superstar Director seems like critical and commercial suicide but has somehow worked for the rather excellent Sicario 2: Soldado. The first film built on the small-screen’s love for cartel tales with a gritty, violent and classy thriller which firmly set Denis Villeneuve as ‘one to watch’ before Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 truly sent him overboard. This sequel, and apparent middle chapte

We enter blockbuster season again with an overriding whiff of familiarity. The big hitters this summer look to resurrect yet more existing franchises: the latest remake-of-a-remake: Ocean’s 8 is still to come as well as Pixar’s 14-years-in-the-making Incredibles 2. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom follows its 2015 predecessor, itself a carbon-copy of the original Jurassic Park. The advantage that Fallen Kingdom has is the same as The Last Jedi: now that the first new entry is o

Disney’s hot streak knows no bounds. If we take fixing Star Wars plot holes as a barometer of excellence then they’re two for two with Solo: A Star Wars Story, somehow finding a legitimate answer to the conundrum of The Kessel Run. A parsec is a unit of distance not time, yes, and this film explains how it’s done. Production issues (the much discussed creative differences that Messrs Lord and Miller had before relinquishing the reigns to 'safe hands' Ron Howard) and another p

A sequel to a cult film based on a character previously used (poorly) in another film which falls within the same franchise? Such was the success of the first Deadpool, Ryan Reynold’s almost personal vendetta against the awful treatment of the iconic character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The merc’-with-a-mouth was a refreshing blast of air, clearing away the stuffiness of the timeline hopping X-Men films and the seriousness of the DC fare. However, the fourth-wall-breaking a

Partly because you’re all going to see it anyway (definitely do if you’re somehow in two minds and please, for the love of all that is holy, stay for the post-credits stinger) and partly because I’m still beaming and reeling from the fact that it amounts to the already magnificent MCU’s greatest achievement yet and, possibly(?!), in contention for the best superhero film of them all I have decided to articulate my thoughts on Avengers: Infinity War in the form of a Haiku: Tha

In space no one can hear you scream. In the cinema, they can. In A Quiet Place you don’t want anything to hear you scream. John Krasinski’s inversion of the horror formula has received a lavishing of hype and it’s entirely justified. We’re a long way from The Office here in Krasinski’s first directorial piece and he shows patience, care and a precise way with a camera. The year is 2020 and it’s taken a mere matter of months for the world to look post-apocalyptic. The reason?

The revolution will not be televised but small steps are being made for inclusivity and progression on our screens. In the last few years projects as broad stylistically as Wonder Woman, Moonlight, Dear White People and Black Panther have smashed stereotypes whilst also breaking records. Love, Simon is a film that won’t necessarily break records, won’t necessarily be an awards favourite and isn’t about a superhero. It’s a sweet, funny, immensely likeable coming-of-age high sc

The best films have the power to take you out of the real world for a couple of hours at a time. Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One is a film about that very feeling. This rose-tinted nostalgia-fest has received a surprisingly divisive reaction but this is startling as it’s a true ‘movie fan’s movie.' Its bombardment of references, links and Easter Eggs ready to tickle every fan’s pop culture bones. Based on Ernest Cline’s YA novel Ready Player One is set in 2045, where over