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Reviews
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is, like its predecessor, better than it has any right to be. The superhero boom has been good for something, it seems, as it raises these younger-targeted franchises in quality. Having said that, we reviewed the first as an enjoyable romp stealing not-a-little from Spider-Man plot-wise. This sequel is, quite simply, an enjoyable romp stealing not-a-little from The Avengers. The ending is almost carbon-copy, just with less want
Jun 7, 2016
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Alice Through The Looking Glass might just be Tim Burton's craziest film yet and that's quite a claim. Producing, not directing, this follow-on from the surprisingly massively successful, but not universally loved, first adaptation this continues Alice's adventures in Wonderland (Underland? I'm confused.) This is like a little vignette compared to the first and, actually, works very well as a completely standalone film with a succinct and wrapped-up story. Burton's trademark
Jun 2, 2016
Warcraft: The Beginning
I'm not in the best position to give a rounded judgement on Warcraft: The Beginning having no knowledge whatsoever of the games or being the biggest fan of this kind of high-fantasy. However, I can write a review from the perspective of a newcomer seeing the film based on the brilliant trailer and promise of a new franchise and this is where the vast majority of viewers will be coming from. Unfortunately, it disappoints in this regard. This doesn't come close to the likes of
Jun 1, 2016
Money Monster
It seems Hollywood is not a fan of the investment financial system this year as Money Monster follows January's particularly scathing The Big Short. Jodie Foster's thriller is of a slightly different tack to McKay's true-life drama. Money Monster focuses on Jack O'Connell's Kyle Budwell, who holds up a TV show offering financial advice because taking a tip from it lost him his life savings. This you know from the trailer and don't be alarmed as Foster gets straight to it and
May 31, 2016
X-Men: Apocalypse
Despite the relatively muted and mixed reception, I'd say X-Men: Apocalypse is very much in the 2016 superhero movie war. The final piece in the best superhero franchise since Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, Apocalypse moves events to the 80's with the, now pretty much complete, X-Men team facing off against their fiercest adversary: the original mutant. I've always leaned more towards the X-Men than the Avengers in personal preference due to the slightly more graphic-novel (rat
May 27, 2016
Everybody Wants Some!!
You cannot get more 80's than Richard Linklater's latest Everybody Wants Some!! (exclamation marks included as an homage to the titular Van Halen song.) If someone told you going in that this had come from the decade you wouldn't think twice. Very similar to the Director's earlier Dazed and Confused, this focuses on a freshman baseball player arriving at college and spending three days with his new teammates before term begins. The setup is simple but the characters are brill
May 19, 2016
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book is easily the best live-action remake by Disney following on from the relatively lacklustre (and a little dull) Cinderella. This takes everyone's favourite singalong which, let's be fair, no one thought should be touched and turns it into a visually incredible, pumping thrill-ride. I cannot give enough superlatives to the sumptuous visuals here. This is a photo-realistic world that is a joy to behold and, whisper it, may be on a par with Avatar as far as CGI w
May 18, 2016
Captain America: Civil War
And so it is Captain America: Civil War that triumphs in the Marvel vs. DC 'versus' movie battle. Not a huge surprise considering Marvel have had 12 films to set this one up but a satisfying victory for them nonetheless and one which leaves DC under a lot of pressure to supe up (pun intended) The Justice League. This is as much 'Captain America 3' as it is 'Avengers 2.5' and our focus is on Mr Rogers for the duration. This may be a 'civil war' but Marvel just veer on the side
May 5, 2016
Eye in the Sky
Eye In The Sky may be one of the most important movies (in a cultural and political sense) ever made. It's one of those films that comes along that everyone should see so they can forge their own opinion and argue and debate the whole way home from the cinema. See, Eye In The Sky focuses on drone warfare and presents a fictionalised, but thoroughly realistic, situation told in real-time. In short, as there's lots that go wrong to begin with and the tension rapidly builds, the
May 3, 2016
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
As late to the party as I am here's my two cents on DC's first entry for 2016 (or the year of the superhero as it shall now be known) Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice. This is a huge undertaking and one that feels a little hasty considering a certain Marvel 'versus' movie is only a week away. What's immediately clear after leaving the cinema is that Zack Snyder has given himself slightly too much to do here, i.e. set up the next four films in the franchise (Justice League
Apr 18, 2016
The Divergent Series: Allegiant
The Divergent series returns with the obligatory 'part one of the final book': Allegiant. Now, cannily, they failed to advertise the fact that it's a 'part one' by coming up with a different title for the final film but all the usual first-part tropes are here. That means more character development for the originals, a fair amount of flashback, the introduction of a new, shady organisation and a cliff-hanger ending. Handily, this instalment widens the palette of the series an
Apr 12, 2016
Hail Caesar!
Anything released by the Coen Brothers can be assured consideration in the end of the year polls and Hail, Caesar! is no exception. The prolific Directors are on form again in a classic comedy farce which has ties and links to their previous filmography. Recurrent Coen favourite George Clooney plays an actor kidnapped from Capitol Pictures (the same studio they created for Barton Fink) and it's up to studio 'fixer' (and, again, Coen recurrent) Josh Brolin to fix it. Full of r
Mar 10, 2016
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