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John Archer  |  Jun 20, 2017  |  0 comments

While Hollywood doesn’t have a great record of making films based on videogames, we approached Assassin’s Creed with optimism, as the games have a clever core concept, evocative storylines and consistently cinematic graphics. Sadly, though, the script here hurtles along too fast and too blandly to develop characters, story, concept or frankly anything to any meaningful degree. Style is mistaken for substance, and there’s none of the balance between mystery, exploration, combat and tension that makes the games work. Nice production design, though.

John Archer  |  Jun 18, 2017  |  0 comments

Just when you thought the world's natural wonders had already been thoroughly plundered by heaps of previous nature documentaries, Planet Earth II comes along with a new box of technological tricks to make your jaw hang open all over again.

Steve May  |  Jun 16, 2017  |  0 comments

This sixth and final instalment to a surprisingly resilient fantasy franchise picks up sometime after Resident Evil: Retribution, and seems determined to end the show with as much chaotic splatter as possible. The plot sees zombie butt-kicker Alice (Milla Jovovich), series returnee Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and assorted cohorts (but not Jill Valentine) square off for a climactic confrontation with the Umbrella Corporation, in an effort to release an airborne antivirus that could stop the T-Virus dead in its tracks (sic), before the last enclaves of humanity fall to the undead hordes.

Mark Craven  |  Jun 15, 2017  |  0 comments

Director David Yates earned praise for his handling of the final four films in the Harry Potter franchise, so was surely a shoo-in to helm this spin-off flick, adapted for the screen by original author J.K. Rowling.

John Archer  |  Jun 05, 2017  |  0 comments

With the likes of Sense and Sensibility, Brokeback Mountain and Life Of Pi on his CV, director Ang Lee must have looked like the safest pair of hands for this adaptation of Ben Fountain's acclaimed novel about an Iraq war hero struggling to adjust to life in the US media spotlight. Somehow, though, things have gone horribly wrong. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk isn't just a bad Ang Lee film; it's a bad film full stop. And some of the blame has to be laid at the door of Lee's insistence on filming it in a high frame rate.

John Archer  |  Apr 12, 2017  |  0 comments

With its imaginative story, genuinely creepy bad guys, dark humour and fun turns by a watchable cast, it's a shame this Tim Burton fantasy flick went mostly under the radar. Okay, so it feels a touch languid in its first half and too rushed in its second, and there's an over-reliance on CGI during the finale, but it's hard to imagine anyone coming away from Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children feeling in any way short-changed. If you've ignored Burton since the dismal Dark Shadows (and we certainly wouldn't blame you), maybe it's time to re-embrace him.

Mark Craven  |  Mar 20, 2017  |  0 comments

Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard jump aboard the history-mystery train yet again for this third adaptation of a Dan Brown page-turner, although it's probably only recommended for franchise addicts.

Mark Craven  |  Mar 12, 2017  |  0 comments

When the residents of mining town Rose Creek are faced with either selling their land to – or dying at the hands of – murderous landowner Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), widower Emma (Haley Bennett) heads out to approach warrant officer Sam Chisholm (Denzel Washington) for help. Swayed by her plight and a big bag of money, Chisholm rounds up six further courageous gunslingers and sets about righting some wrongs, Wild West-style.

Mark Craven  |  Feb 20, 2017  |  0 comments

This quartet of movies (based upon Suzanne Collins' trilogy of books) steamrollered through multiplexes between 2012 and 2015, earned studio Lionsgate a fortune and turned lead actress Jennifer Lawrence into a megastar.

Mark Craven  |  Feb 17, 2017  |  0 comments

Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas is one of the director's premium creations – a frenetic, slickly-edited immersion into the life of small-time mobster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), spanning his childhood in the 1950s up to his disappearance into the FBI's Witness Protection Programme in the 1980s. Along the way, he teams up with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci's gangsters, marries Karen (Lorraine Bracco) and learns how to smuggle pastrami into prison.

John Archer & Anton van Beek  |  Dec 23, 2016  |  0 comments

After marrying up the two divergent film franchise timelines with 2014's superb X-Men: Days of Future Past, returning director Bryan Singer and writer Simon Kinberg set about continuing the adventures of the younger Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and his fellow super-powered mutants.

John Archer & Anton van Beek  |  Dec 14, 2016  |  0 comments

Labyrinth feels at times rather awkward, laboured and, yes, ‘of its time’. With the combined creative forces of Jim Henson, David Bowie, Terry Jones and George Lucas infused into almost every frame, though, it’s blissfully impossible to separate Labyrinth from the nostalgia associated with a pre-CGI era willing to back real imagination over endless formulaic sequels. As such it’s a title every serious film fan should own.

John Archer  |  Dec 06, 2016  |  0 comments

There’s always a touch of madness about the films of Luc Besson. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. With Lucy, it mostly works. The story – about a woman who gains the ability to use the entire capacity of her brain – starts off daft and gets crazier, but Besson's flare for action, some breathless pacing and a committed performance from Scarlett Johansson keep you locked in for the ride.

Steve May  |  Sep 06, 2016  |  0 comments

Critics may baulk at the prospect of even more BvS, but there's no doubt that pouring 30 minutes of extra footage back into the mix for this 'Ultimate Edition' helps flesh out the narrative of Zack Snyder's Justice League prequel. Clark Kent is the biggest beneficiary, as we see him flex his investigative reporting skills, and uncover the twisted depth of Lex Luthor's machinations.

John Archer  |  Jul 19, 2016  |  0 comments

With every new superhero TV show and movie striving to outdo the last for action spectacle, character overload, moodiness and/or plot complexity, Deadpool perhaps comes as a much-needed breath of fresh air.

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