Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood Stars: Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts What is the strange draw of seeing our favourite actors buy it violently time and again? In recent years we've been encouraged to watch with glee as Tom Cruise died over and over in Edge of Tomorrow. For Happy Death Day, newcomer Jessica Rothe went through … Continue reading Review: The Old Guard
Director: Peter Segal Stars: Dave Bautista, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Kristen Schaal For about five minutes last year it looked like we were going to have The Summer of Dave Bautista. Following the box office conquering Avengers: Endgame, two trailers landed for broadly appealing comedies starring everyone's favourite Guardian of the Galaxy. Stuber promised buddy action thrills, while My Spy … Continue reading Review: My Spy
Director: Craig Zobel Stars: Betty Gilpin, Ethan Suplee, Emma Roberts George Orwell's most famous works of fiction followed grim dystopian ideas through to their horrible, logical conclusions. In the process of putting these nightmares to paper, one wonders if Orwell didn't give a few people some ideas along the way. It's a notion that is … Continue reading Review: The Hunt (2020)
Director: Tom Harper Stars: Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Himesh Patel It's time to get giddy with vertigo as the moment we've all been waiting for finally arrives. That's right, BAFTA botherers Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne have been reunited for another thoroughly British dalliance. These are actors recognised for their abilities (not entirely unjustly) who … Continue reading Review: The Aeronauts
Director: Tim Miller Stars: Mackenzie Davis, Linda Hamilton, Natalia Reyes In hindsight, perhaps we ought to be thankful for just how dire Terminator Genisys turned out to be. That movie - which pissed all over a pretty well sodden franchise - ended with the threat of further sequels. Fortunately, those plans have been terminated (ha!). Dark Fate … Continue reading Review: Terminator Dark Fate
Director: Ric Roman Waugh Stars: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith Seemingly made for the six people left who still think that 24 ought to be a thing, but with half the budget of a standard episode, Angel Has Fallen is the second sequel to silly but harmless action thriller Olympus Has Fallen. Industrial … Continue reading Review: Angel Has Fallen
Director: Chad Stahleski Stars: Keanu Reeves, Asia Kate Dillon, Ian McShane Last time we saw John Wick (Keanu Reeves) things weren't looking good for the ruthlessly efficient assassin. Having broken the sacred contract of sanctuary at The Continental Hotel in New York, Wick was deemed 'excommunicado' by its manager Winston (Ian McShane) who, out of … Continue reading Review: John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum
Director: Leigh Whannell Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson Do you fondly recall the late 80's/early 90's boom in pulpy, violent sci-fi thrillers? Leigh Whannell sure does. The creator of Saw and Insidious returns here with a terrific ode to these pictures of yesteryear, employing many of their tics without resorting to cheap-shot homage or empty … Continue reading Review: Upgrade
Director: Antoine Fuqua Stars: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders Back when I was a teenager I had a VHS copy of U.S. Marshals, the also-ran sequel to The Fugitive. That film's star Harrison Ford had bolted the fledgling franchise. Instead it was Tommy Lee Jones who reprised his role, hunting down Wesley Snipes with … Continue reading Review: The Equalizer 2
Director: Christopher McQuarrie Stars: Tom Cruise, Sean Harris, Henry Cavill Tom Cruise is 56. For a long time he was the single most bankable star in Hollywood. The fantasy of millions. He's still an extraordinarily bankable star. Right up there. But what can he do to keep a hold of that glossy immortality? American cinema … Continue reading Review: Mission: Impossible: Fallout
Director: Stephen C Miller Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Xiaoming Huang, Dave Bautista This review was written while in the grip of both a fever and a migraine and, like the film, probably shouldn't have been attempted at all. Reader discretion is advised. Escape Plan was an enjoyable enough pile of crap, five years ago, which saw … Continue reading Review: Escape Plan 2: Hades
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han Around the time that Arnold Schwarzenegger hung up his spurs as the most gigantic action hero in the world in order to play governor, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was amping up his transition from the sports world to our movie theatres. It took him … Continue reading Review: Skyscraper
Director: Brad Peyton Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan Why did the gargantuan albino gorilla, the armor-plated alligator and the spiny bat-wolf cross the road? To get to the evil-frequency-emitting beacon atop the corporate assholes' skyscraper of course. Bless Dwayne Johnson. He's become Hollywood's official Most Charming Man. When he's not sticking up for … Continue reading Review: Rampage
Director: Roar Uthaug Stars: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins Films adapted from video games suck. We all know this. We've all been down this road and been burned too many times before. Even the occasional arguments to the contrary - the first Silent Hill movie, for instance - are, if we're honest, only ever kinda … Continue reading Review: Tomb Raider
Directors: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein Stars: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Jesse Plemmons As I sit writing this, the snow from this week's weather front is thawing on the roof and cascading down the side of the house. The gutters - already a problem - are overflowing from the melt; fat, heavy droplets spattering on … Continue reading Review: Game Night
