‘Despicable Me 3’ – Film Review
Gru, the reformed super-villain at the heart of the Despicable Me series, has long been overshadowed by his own support cast. The Minions, that indistinguishable rubble of bad guys who…
Film Reviews
Okja – Film Review
Controversy has courted Bong Joon Ho’s Okja at every turn. First, it drew criticism as Netflix’s debut entry at the Cannes Film Festival, where cinephiles booed at one of the…
‘Whitney: Can I Be Me’ Film Review
When Whitney Houston was found drowned in a hotel bathtub in 2012, with a variety of drugs in her system, the primary global reaction was shock. Not just that she’d…
‘The Mummy’ – Film Review
Today’s 18-year-olds would have been newborns when Brendan Fraser first starred in The Mummy back in 1999. Set in 1926, that dated, roguish horror – itself a remake of a 1932 film…
‘Wonder Woman’ – Film Review
If the DC extended universe has so far been left lacking when compared to rival Marvel’s arsenal of Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America et al, Wonder Woman is the one…
‘War Machine’ – Film Review
By far the starriest of Netflix’s self-built movies so far – as well as megastar Brad Pitt, the cast includes Ben Kingsley, Tilda Swinton and Will Poulter – War Machine…
‘Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge’ – Film Review
The incredible success of Pirates Of The Caribbean is an endorsement of the old “Disney magic”. It’s hard to imagine anyone else turning a theme park ride into a film franchise…
‘King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword’ – Film Review
Unsurprisingly, there are many moments in Guy Ritchie’s take on Arthurian legend that aren’t classically Camelot; the use of the phrase “honeyt**s”, the appearance of David Beckham as a blokey…
‘Jawbone’ – Film Review
The title of this sinewy boxing drama refers to a passage about Samson, the super-strong biblical figure who was sworn off wine and would lose his strength if he shaved…
‘Alien: Covenant’ – Film Review
The first trailer for Alien: Covenant, the sequel to 2012’s Prometheus and second prequel to 1979’s Alien was, essentially, a two-minute bloodbath. For those disappointed by Prometheus’s focus on the origin of…
‘Mindhorn’ – Film Review
It’s very rare that a film can sustain silliness over feature length. Usually, a silly idea will run out of steam and become stupid. Stupid is rarely funny for anyone…
‘Heal The Living’ Film Review
A key sequence near the start of Katell Quillévéré’s Heal The Living involves a stretch of road becoming ocean. Seventeen-year-old Simon (Gabin Verdet) and his friends are driving home after…
‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2’ Film Review
When the first Guardians Of The Galaxy film hit cinemas three summers ago, it benefited from the element of surprise. No Marvel Studios blockbuster is ever an underdog, but few…
‘Fast and Furious 8’ – Film Review
For the second half of its existence, the Fast and Furious franchise has been hurtling, engine roaring and muscles vibrating, away from sense. It has whizzed past logic. The laws…
‘I Am Not Your Negro’ – Film Review
Raoul Peck’s Oscar-nominated documentary on race in America is as despairing as it is inspiring. Inspiring because of the change that occurred in such a short space of time in…
Raw – Film Review
The last film that made this writer want to puke was Love Actually. For very different and far better reasons, masterful French-Belgian body horror Raw activated the gag reflex at least three…
‘Free Fire’ – Film Review
Thank goodness for Ben Wheatley. The mastermind behind modern British film classics Kill List, Sightseers and A Field In England made his name via a wonderfully warped approach that recalled…
‘Life’ – Film Review
It’s surely on page one of the Space Explorer Handbook that you don’t poke aliens. It’s just a bad way to ingratiate oneself. The crew in Life pay a high…
‘The Lost City Of Z’ – Film Review
Based on the 2009 book of the same name, The Lost City Of Z features Charlie Hunnam (from Sons Of Anarchy) as real historical figure Percy Fawcett, a British soldier…
‘Get Out’ Film Review
Get Out opens with a scene we’ve seen countless times in horror films: a lone young person walks nervously through an unfamiliar neighbourhood, eyes darting around for the attack they…
‘Beauty and The Beast’ Film Review
Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty And The Beast doesn’t need to be dazzlingly original. As we’re told in the most famous song it borrows from the 1991 animated film, this…
‘Kong: Skull Island’ Film Review
Twelve years after his last film appearance, King Kong stomps back into cinemas looking bulkier than ever before. The giant ape now stands at 100ft tall, dwarfing the 25ft monster…
‘Trespass Against Us’ – Film Review
The trio of Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson and Sean Harris (the villain in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, weirdo in many other films) is so vastly talented that the prospect…
‘Don’t Take Me Home’ – Film Review
There are long-suffering sports fans… and then there are followers of the Welsh national football team. Until last summer’s Euros, it had been almost 60 years since Wales had qualified…
‘Logan’ – Film Review
It’s hard to think of a more beaten-up Marvel superhero than Logan. This third solo outing for the adamantium-clawed brawler best known as Wolverine finds him living in an authoritarian…
‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ – Film Review
If you could accept the initially flimsy premise – that Keanu Reeves’ retired hitman was compelled to load up his guns again because a mobster’s son killed his dog –…
‘Moonlight’ Film Review
Moonlight’s status as an award-season champion – it’s already taken a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture (Drama) – rising above much starrier, more expensive films, is at odds with…
‘The Founder’ – Film Review
We’ve long known the story of how McDonald’s burgers are made, thanks to documentaries like Fast Food Nation. This jaunty biopic tells how McDonald’s itself was made. As with the…
‘Fences’ – Film Review
In 2010, Denzel Washington and Viola Davis starred in a Broadway production of August Wilson’s play Fences. It was a big hit and won many awards. What you are effectively…