DC’s latest offering is a greedy affair. Part superhero origin movie, part Clash of the Titans, part Lord of the Rings, part disaster movie with a smidgeon of rom com, Jurassic Park, Jaws and kids cartoons added in along with anything else lying around. The inevitable outcome is a mess… Continue reading
I saw this despite it’s negative reaction and 33% Rotten Tomatoes rating, and while I wouldn’t urge you to see it (go and see Mandy instead), I find the hostility to it puzzling. The story centres on investigative reporter, Eddie Brock, with Tom Hardy in likeable mode, which is a… Continue reading
After Black Panther and Infinity War, the second AntMan outing returns to more mediocre form. It has our hero coming to the end of his house arrest after the Captain America: Civil War shenanigans. Inevitably his resolution to see it out is tested when Hope Van Dyne requires him to… Continue reading
Lara Croft has always been a problematic character – a strong iconic female action hero but one that was definitely created as a teenage male fantasy. This reboot starts with Vikander looking ripped engaged in a boxing bout to indicate that this is not about eye candy for the teen… Continue reading
This film is pretty impossible to review. It was there, it passed, it was ok, we left. But here goes. First of all, it’s not _that_ terrible, indeed it is probably better than Jurassic World (okay, that’s a low bar). It’s way better than trainwrecks such as Independence Day 2,… Continue reading
With Ron Howard directing a Lawrence Kasdan script this is conventional, safe, entertaining Hollywood. It can be viewed as a fairly straightforward cowboy or heist movie, and that in essence tells us the appeal of Star Wars, and in particular the Star Wars universe to Disney. For decades the western… Continue reading
The first Deadpool marked my conversion to comic book movies. If not quite a road to Damascus moment, it was more of a motorway to Blackpool epiphany, but the meta jokes, bawdy humour and ironic winks were enough to indicate there was more to the genre than tedious CGI fights…. Continue reading
Everything about this movie is HUGE, as if Simple Minds, U2 and Springsteen had combined at the height of their bombastic pomposity for a world tour lasting 17 years. The cast, the budget, scope, special effects and ambition: huge. Of course, the inherent problem with a movie of this size… Continue reading
As with Wonder Woman, there is an unfair burden placed on Black Panther. It has to excel because it has the weight of representation on it. Justice League, Batman vs Superman, these can suck and that’s shrugged off. If either of these movies had sucked execs and white audiences would… Continue reading
The summer releases made it apparent that creating blockbusters that are not steaming piles of crap, is strangely difficult for Hollywood. And so it is with a sense of relief almost that we get Rogue One. It’s almost perfect for what it is – an action sci-fi flick with just… Continue reading
