Review Category: Movie

Let’s agree to one thing from the beginning: “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” is the best movie ever made.

Okay, perhaps not the best movie ever made, but it is a perfect fusion of unstoppable killer robots, groundbreaking Oscar-winning visual effects, gob-smacking action scene and Arnie at the apotheosis of Arnie-ness. It is a great movie.

Story: Two humanoid cyborgs fly back in time to fight with each other over John Connor – the head of the human revolution in a futuristic war against Artificial Intelligence.

As with Aliens, director James Cameron has again taken an excellent science fantasy movie and made a sequel that’s in some ways more powerful – growing on the original rather than merely transforming it. This time he’s achieved the trick by bringing two cyborgs back from the future into the kind of present (the math doesn’t quite work out here) to severally threat and defend the juvenile John Connor (Edward Furlong) – head of the human resistance against machines that rule the war-devastated world of 2029.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is more relaxed and convinced here than the first time around, reprising a role so flawlessly suited to the voice and physique that have established him as a larger-than-life movie persona.

While “The Terminator” was an excellent horror movie, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” is an excellent action movie. While “The Terminator” was about the horror of an unstoppable prototype of a technologically-advanced but soul-dead present, “Terminator 2” is, like so many action films before it, a paradoxically powerful screed toward violence. The film’s conservative politics are mostly dated, though several modernized extremists represent the paranoiac thoughts that compel self-styled freedom fighter Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) to fight against mental systems, the police, and common sense to stop artificially-intelligent computer system Skynet from destroying humanity in a nuclear war.

When “The Terminator” came out in 1984, everyone was excited, and the director James Cameron earned a fan base as well as the reputation, which he later supported by making a lot of great movies. There are five Terminator movies, and Microgaming took the best out of all five and developed an online slot game named Terminator 2. It is really fascinating. The symbols cover Arnold Schwarzenegger’s and Sarah Connor’s pictures, as well as some of the most remarkable views from the movies in one icon. The game features many of the same actors from the movie, and it also boasts some of its blockbuster action with exciting animations, and adrenaline-fuelled bonus rounds and free spins.

But it’s important to note that Sarah is not the actress of “Terminator 2” as she was in “The Terminator,” but rather a supporting character that assists raise both estranged son John (Edward Furlong) and cyborg bodyguard/surrogate dad T-101 (Arnold Schwarzenegger). The T-101 is the main role in “Terminator 2” since he, as he boasts, is a “learning machine,” able of progressive evolution. This was the route to war in the era of George H.W. Bush bipartisanship: using one deadly system to fight a more threatening system. Robots don’t kill people – people kill people.

Linda Hamilton’s work in this film was nomination-level. The events of Judgment Day take place a decade after the original, and by this time Sarah has become a hardcore warrior obsessed with warning the world about the madness just around the corner. Even though we know Sarah is right, we don’t blame the professionals for believing she’s crazy. She is a little bit off the rails, and even after she escapes from the institution and is on the road with her son and that blasted Terminator, it takes her a long time to allow her heart to soften. Hamilton owns every side of Sarah’s character.

The bond between Edward Furlong’s 10-year-old John Connor and the Terminator is sweet and funny and, yes, actually quite moving. (Furlong was not the best child actor in the world, but he does better in the lighter scenes with Schwarzenegger than in the moments when he’s required to show a tremendous range of emotion.)

The T-101’s burgeoning ersatz humanity makes Schwarzenegger a perfectly re-purposed tool. Director James Cameron had to convince the Austrian Oak to turn his humanoid baddie into a good guy, a jarring transition that was partly difficult for Schwarzenegger to stomach due to the previous failure of “Conan the Destroyer,” another sequel that was relatively lighter than its predecessor. But the T-101’s role change works as well as it does because viewers – both then and now—don’t necessarily expect Schwarzenegger’s deadpan killing machine to be capable of serving as anybody’s Jiminy Cricket-like moral compass. Still, that’s precisely what the T-101 does when he reunites John with Sarah and gets from both characters first-hand the importance of preserving human life.

The T-101’s change from a villain to a hero also shows the uncertain faith at the heart of “Terminator 2.” Some transmissions in the system can be retrained, but not all systems are good. The psychiatric system, designed by vainglorious Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen), is tellingly removed since it keeps single radicals like Sarah down, and assures them that they must genuinely want to re-assimilate rather than just simulate a wish to change (in “Terminator 2,”evil machines are good mimics, but good people are evil mimics). The cops, described by the confused investigators who examine Sarah about her connection to the T-101 and the gas-mask-making SWAT team that tries to stop the assassination of Skynet, are ineffective and hindered by a lack of passionate motivation.

But nuclear species, like the ones that surround well-meaning specialist Miles Dyson (Joe Morton) and good-natured survivalist Enrique Salceda (Castulo Guerra), are all positive since they describe a brilliant future that must be preserved (hope must be preserved and defended instead of cultivated and maintained). So it makes sense that Sarah ends being a machine-like human, and starts acting like a human machine when she finds Miles and Enrique but is either contained, or scared during her every battle with security guards, orderlies, and cops.

These central tenets of “Terminator 2″‘s fear-mongering worldview are also present in “The Terminator,” but they are possibly more compelling in the sequel since they are a product of Cameron’s singularly fanatic creativity. I imagine he recognized as the clean-burning machine, his thought limited only by unyielding crew members, pressing budget limitations, and the small-mindedness of anyone who doesn’t agree that bigger is significantly better.

For proof, compare the way Cameron shoots violence in “The Terminator” with “Terminator 2.” There’s more gore and impact-intensive massacres in the former film while the latter is characterized by the relatively sleek killing style of the T-1000, or even the scalpel-like precision of the T-101, who self-disassembles his left fore-arm in “Terminator 2” much faster than he gouges his right forearm and his left eyeball “The Terminator.” And while there aren’t more collisions and car crashes in “Terminator 2” than there are in “The Terminator,” there are bigger explosions. “Terminator 2” oozes barely-sublimated tension that hails from Cameron’s highly personal vision, as we see during formative car chases, pyrotechnics, and body-morphing computer effects.

In fact, one primary reason to revisit the “Terminator 2” is that the post-converted 3-D makes the film’s textures that much richer, especially any surface covered in fire, sweat, or light. Special effects designer Stan Winston’s cyborg puppets and computer effects are worth the extra couple of bucks for 3-D, especially his body-deforming designs for the T-1000, like the bifurcated “Pretzel Man,” or the porous “Donut Head.”

Schwarzenegger and his most outstanding cast-mates may not need a glossy technological reboot, but it is nice to be reminded on a big screen, through engrossing close-ups, tracking shots, and complicated brightness set-ups, that Cameron knows how to use his man cogs to maximally maintain his hulking anti-authoritarian blockbuster. His maximalist way pays off big time, making “Terminator 2” that unique genre classic that is every bit as good as its name.

There’s no point going into plan details considering how strongly this movie has inserted itself into pop culture. Watching the movie now makes you think about how many other movies followed Terminator 2’s visible and fictional direction, and yet not one single other movie directed to replicate what James Cameron did here. It’s surprising that the visual effects still keep up. The fight in the shopping mall between T-800 and T-1000 tearing up walls is as genuine as it gets. T-1000’s morphing mercury body still looks like a technological masterpiece, and the view where he passes through the prison bars still provides a wide smirk on our face.

But that’s the thing about T2 – it wasn’t just about next level visual effects, it was also about using the next level technology to make extraordinary sequences. That is the basic difference between most of the current CGI-laden blockbusters and T2. If you’re to pick some of the best fighting set pieces of the last ten years, you’ll find it tough to name more than three or four, and most of them would be the ones with the limited use of CGI. The current crop of superhero movies stun you into slavery, rather than wow you. When T-800 and John Connor race through the aqua duct on the Harley Davidson with a loaded shotgun tracked by a truck, you get that for the rest of your life. When T-800 shoots a bullet into a frozen T-100 breaking him into a million pieces, you stick a banner of his tagline ‘Hasta la vista baby’ on your bedroom wall.

The film has been remastered into a fresh new 4K format which only makes it better than before. The colours of the lava burning in the backdrop of the finale now pop out, the bluish night lighting of the mid-section when the gang goes to find a scientist with a robotic arm now looks like a neo-noir. The dream that Sarah has of the apocalypse burning the city still makes your jaw drop.

As we mentioned earlier, T2 is a mixture of action and horror, and, as in most films relating to either of those styles, it has a rigid strip about which it’s fascinatingly unconcluded. Cameron’s self-conscious to know that he can’t have his “good” Terminator killing people willy-nilly, particularly as played by a man who became a superstar by modifying the hard and narcissistic image that he honed in Pumping Iron. And so John must teach the T-800 to be more sensitive, which requires shooting innocent people in the kneecaps, making them great pain and probably handicapping them but providing us with the sensory rapture that’s expected of an action movie, only without the offence that might go with laughing along with outright killing. In this sense, T2 divides audiences of engagement in a fashion that implies the pop-cultural equivalent of, well, drones. Carnage is reduced to pair ideally with our supersize Coke and popcorn.

Watching Terminator 2 on a big screen is real happiness. If you’re a millennial and steerage from Generation Z, it might not inspire you as much, but be rest confirmed that if you watch T2 on the big screen, you’ll watch one of the best movies of your life. But if you’re from Generation X and Y, and/or you’ve been an Arnie fan, these revisits to the most outstanding action movie ever made is an event you cannot miss.

‘T2’ truly attains the test of time with a fabulous story connected with smart and effective special effects that complement the story. After all, the menace of global nuclear annihilation is greatly relevant today, while artificial intelligence sits on the verge of independent sentience. This movie established the bar greatly high for action blockbusters and would become a game-changer in the film industry – even if the ‘Terminator’ franchise would go on to break under heavy expectations. Though you might have watched it repeatedly on cable TV, you do not want to miss the surreal and futuristic action of ‘T2’ on the big screen, remastered in 3D!

Go and watch this amazing movie at least once!

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JAMES CAMERON / SCREENPLAY: JAMES CAMERON, WILLIAM WISHER / STARRING: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, LINDA HAMILTON, EDWARD FURLONG, ROBERT PATRICK / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Advance buzz on Hereditary, the debut full-length feature from writer/director Ali Aster, promised us a new dimension in modern horror, an instant 21st century classic which would redefine the genre, make us all reconsider what we all think we know about horror filmmaking and just generally frighten the pants off its audience and give us sleepless nights and damp mattresses for months. Hmmm. A plethora of five-star reviews aside (we suspect some critics have been fed hallucinogenic drugs), Hereditary is very much a film of two halves.

The first fifty-odd minutes are a tense, taut and beautifully-realised examination of a woman torn apart by cataclysmic grief, a drama underpinned by a growing sense of dread thanks to Aster’s predatory camerawork – POV shots are frequent and uncomfortable close-ups proliferate – and Colin Stetson’s unsettling score (which includes a constant muted throbbing which might make you think that the sound is bleeding in from the neighbouring screen in your friendly neighbourhood multiplex). Yes, there’s some grisly business early on but that scene about which some nervy critics have screeched “you’ll never be able to unsee it!” really ain’t all that unless you’re a hardened myrmecophobic. Hereditary’s second hour, however, collapses into a frankly ludicrous and often quite laughable collage of horror movie clichés, the subtlety and understatement of the first hour thrown out of the window, the previously nuanced performances of the first-rate cast replaced by outrageous mugging, eye-rolling and bawling and a story which aches for the gravitas and potency of The Exorcist or The Wicker Man but instead stumbles into Carry On Screaming territory.

The real frustration that it all starts so promisingly. Toni Collette plays Annie Graham, a miniaturist artist whose work seems to reflect the truth of her own fractured life. She’s mourning her recently deceased mother, her emotions conflicted by the fact that they spent much of their lives estranged. Annie is devastated by another family tragedy – Collette gives a career-best turn in these harrowing, hopeless sequences – but a chance meeting with Joan (Ann Dowd) at a grief support group leads Annie down a dark path and, even worse, derails and devastates an otherwise quietly smouldering and disconcerting character study of a family ripped apart by tragedy and terrible unspoken secrets. Joan tells her that she’s made contact in the spirit world with her own deceased grandson and sets up a séance to enable Annie to contact someone she’s lost. But it turns out that this is a restless spirit which has become murderously violent and malevolent.

It’s here that Hereditary becomes a car crash, resorting to hoary old twaddle involving séances, glasses moving on their own (shriek!), demonic possession, dead people lurking in the shadows, horrible nightmare visions, bangs, crashes, strange lights and any number of cheap and cheesy jump scares. Hereditary speaks with the language of lowbrow horror when it’s been setting itself up as something a little classier and a lot more original. Nonsensical as much of the last act is – and it really, really is ­- it’s clear that Aster understands the mechanics of the horror movie but it’s equally clear that here he’s running before he’s learned to walk, setting out to make a game-changer out of the gate instead of earning his spurs in something a little less over-wrought and eager to please. But despite the fact that the film absolutely falls apart (Collette’s performance becomes toe-curlingly over-the-top and you’ll want to slap Alex Wolff as Annie’s son Peter who spends his time howling and dribbling like a baby) there are more than enough striking moments and images here to suggest that Aster knows his way around the genre and has a decent grasp of storytelling. It’s a shame that despite the garlands and the kudos it’s receiving elsewhere, Hereditary loses its way and its nerve so spectacularly and, in the end, is something of a bitter disappointment given the hype and the false promises.

HEREDITARY / CERT:15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ALI ASTER / STARRING: TONI COLLETTE, ALEX WOLFF, MILLIE SHAPIRO, GABRIEL BYRNE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating: 9 out of 10

Prolific photo-artist was known for his ethereal, atmospheric black and white infra-red images of ruined buildings and Gothic graveyards. He drew inspiration not only from the dark visual beauty of the landscapes he photographed but also the eerie ghost stories he had read and heard as a child.

Irish director Jason Figgis (Torment, Don’t You Recognise Me?) shadowed Marsden while he was creating his book The Twilight Hour and was given unprecedented access to the artist while he was creating his work for a documentary on that subject and got to know him well. Five years after Marsden’s death in 2012, Figgis tells the story of what made his work so special and what drove the man to become such a master behind the lens and, perhaps more importantly, in the darkroom.

The stories of M. R. James and Edgar Allan Poe inform the imagination of the young Marsden and it’s their influence that’s easy to see in his work. While not portraying any particular story, the mood and ambience of the tales is prevalent.

Sir Simon’s story is told through a mix of his own words, Figgis’ narration, and talking heads. With a wonderful mix of visuals – Marsden’s images mixed with some beautifully shot footage of places evocative of the atmosphere of the surroundings in which the images were created.

Figgis’ film does justice to Marsden’s legacy and provides a valuable insight into what motivated him to dedicate so much time to photograph things that would not be a subject matter. As the son of the second Baronet of Grimsby, it was the dilapidated allegedly haunted mansions he grew up in that sparked his imagination alongside the ghost stories he had heard.

The way the artist’s story interjects with the ghostly stories and occasional apparition will make it even more interesting to those less artistically inclined. We can’t imagine anyone not having chills when they see some of those images, though.

At one point, we’re told that Sir Simon preferred – and felt safer – in the supposedly creepy surroundings of graveyards and old buildings than he did walking down Oxford Street. It’s probably a sentiment many of us could relate to.

As visually striking as Marsden’s work itself, this a documentary that not only educates on the subject but is also entertaining and fascinating.

SIMON MARSDEN – A LIFE IN PICTURES / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JASON FIGGIS / STARRING: SIMON MARSDEN, JASON FIGGIS, SIR JOHN LESLIE / RELEASE DATE: TBC

“Coming down the isle, weighing in at 500 pounds, from Grenoble in the French Alps, the Eighth Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant”.

Some people in pop culture are not just iconic, they are unforgettable and Andre the Giant (Andre Roussimoff) was one of those figures. His legend has exceeded the wrestling industry and sports entertainment and – like wrestling stars Hulk Hogan, John Cena, The Rock, Steve Austin and The Undertaker – Andre the Giant is arguably a name that is recognisable to fans of wrestling and non-fans alike. Now, this documentary released through HBO Sports has finally hit UK screens on Sky Atlantic and while an interesting watch was assured for such a larger than life personality, this film is a poignant, funny and engrossing look at the wrestling titan in and out of the squared circle.

Concise and yet generously mapped out, Jason Hehir’s film has sympathy yet is not afraid to look at the darkness surrounding Andre’s life and career. Starting at the very beginning, with the Frenchman’s less known youth, to his early days as a competitor, to his regional wrestling run, to his big success in World Wrestling Entertainment (then World Wrestling Federation), this film covers all career bases and while hardcore fans may well question some missed moments (his historically brief championship win or final match for instance), these are hardly omissions, as the film gathers all his real career achievements but more importantly his life experiences. From Andre’s flatulent sense of humour and tough lessons of respect to medical struggles and how they marred his in-ring abilities or his angst in standing out in a mocking world, this film balances comedy with pathos and has you laughing frantically one minute and shedding a tear the next. This writer unashamedly admits he was moved to tears twice in the duration of the film.

Gathering a strong cast of talking heads, including Andre’s family, wrestling historians, his friends and his fellow competitors, the film gives a 3 dimensional view of the man behind the promoted 7’4’’ tall silhouette. Never shying away from his difficulties (his declining health, his estranged child, his legendary drinking ability and the reason for it) or his complex emotions or unorthodox approaches to the business and to life, the film offers a rounded look at Andre’s 46 years on the planet. As well as this it admirably captures the regret of some of the interviewees who honestly – sometimes tearfully – recall their own experiences with Andre and reflect on those memories.

Wrestling as a topic is not to all tastes but whether you are a fan or not, this film’s grasp on its subject is so compelling to witness. Hehir makes the build up to Andre’s iconic and groundbreaking clash with Hulk Hogan in the main event of Wrestlemania 3 (in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in 1987) the climax of sorts to the film and it results in a spectacle and thriller-esque coverage, mostly recalled by a clearly in the moment Hulk Hogan.

Andre impacted culture – with his appearances in fantasy classic The Princess Bride and on an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man being mentioned here – and was a pinnacle of his industry as it moved into one of its most feverously popular eras, however what this documentary establishes just as well is the impact Andre had on all those that knew him (in particular referee Tim White). Whether you are a WWE fan or not, we cannot recommend Andre the Giant enough. It is constantly moving, often fun, and at points incredibly humorous, as it tells the story of the man who was nicknamed “the eighth wonder of the world” and from this documentary, he was just that.

Andre The Giant is as powerful as its central figure.

ANDRE THE GIANT / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: JASON HEHIR / STARRING: ANDRE ROUSSIMOFF, HULK HOGAN, VINCE MCMAHON, DAVID SHOEMAKER, RIC FLAIR, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGAR, CARY ELWES, ROB REINER, BILLY CRYSTAL, ROBIN WRIGHT, PATRIC LAPRADE / RELEASE DATE: AVAILABLE NOW (SKY ATLANTIC)

Expected Rating:

8/10

After waster dog catcher Bubba loses his girlfriend Bobbie Jo to a local tough guy, he sells his soul to the devil for the strength to win her back, only for the ambiguous wish to transform him into a werewolf. When the devil decides to stick around and cause no end of mayhem for the townsfolk, Bubba must step up and become the hero he always wanted to be, provided he doesn’t get distracted while doing so.

With a title like Bubba the Redneck Werewolf, you know exactly what you’re getting in for. Its low budget is apparent from the outset, but like many such productions, it’s clear it was made with hard work and passion from all involved. Based on an underground comic of the same name, the tone, practical effects and creature star all invoke a comparison to WolfCop, but that was a mystery film with horror comedy stylings, whereas Bubba is all about mining the humour of the scenario.

The film is as straightforward and undemanding as its dim-witted protagonist, the gleeful immaturity and over the top characters giving the feeling of a live-action cartoon. Some of the jokes are a bit in-your-face (the setting is the town of Broken Taint in the heart of Cracker County, Florida), and some are a little more subtle (a dog pound named Barkham Asylum), while a little intellect is added by some wordplay humour that includes a riff on Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First” routine with a gory payoff.

Visual gags abound from background details and set dressing akin to those seen in the likes of Airplane! and Naked Gun and several running jokes keep things constant, such as a drunkard trying to tell people how he lost his testicles, or nobody actually noticing Bubba’s transformation into a huge hairy monster, writing it off as him simply having grown a beard.

While the film is an unusual horror comedy in that the former takes a backseat for much of the time, when it does come out it explodes in ludicrously violent eruptions, like a scene where Bubba rips off one thief’s arm and hits another with it so hard it decapitates him. In the portrayal of such, a mix of decent practical effects and variably convincing CGI adds to the film’s homemade flavour.

Although the story is awash with redneck caricatures, it’s done with a sense of parody rather than malice, in the same way, that Misfits played up to the stereotypes of chavs and young offenders without being judgemental or spiteful about it. There is a genuine affection on display for the assortment of morons, drunks, lowlifes and perverts that make up the town’s populace, even if their short-sighted greed left them tricked by the devil. Aside from the cigar-chomping, beer-chugging lycanthrope himself, the collection of blighted townsfolk, such as a horny butcher wanting a spare hand to fondle himself or a sexy nun being corrupted by the pleasures of the flesh, expand the setting beyond its core focus. In particular Bobbie Jo, who despite being the source of Bubba’s desire and spending the whole film in a trailer trash stripper outfit, has enough personality and agency that she remains distinctive in her own right.

Bubba the Redneck Werewolf is a film as shamelessly trashy as the town in which it’s set and the people who populate it but is an endearing piece of low-budget filmmaking that belies its limited resources with audacity, creativity and heart.

BUBBA THE REDNECK WEREWOLF / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: BRENDAN JACKSON ROGERS / SCREENPLAY: STEPHEN BIRO / STARRING: FRED LASS, MALONE THOMAS, MITCH HYMAN, SARA HUMBERT, GARY NORRIS, CHRIS STEPHENS / RELEASE DATE: TBC

In 2015, director Colin Trevorrow achieved something that even Steven Spielberg, Joe Johnston, and John Hammond had failed to do; he opened Jurassic Park (well, Jurassic World) to the public. Now in 2018, J. A. Bayona (director of The Orphanage, The Impossible and the heartbreaking A Monster Calls) kills the park for good in the middle chapter of this new trilogy.

When Ilsa Nublar, home to Jurassic World, comes under threat from a volcanic eruption, former park operations manager Claire Dearing (Dallas Howard) is recruited by billionaire, and previously unmentioned partner to John Hammond, Benjamin Lockwood, to try and save as many of the inhabitants (attractions) as she can, before they go extinct for a second time. With the rest of the world standing idly by, she (reluctantly) recruits Velociraptor expert – and ex-boyfriend – Owen Grady (Pratt) along with IT guy Franklin (Smith) and ‘Paleo-Veterinarian’ Zia Rodriguez (Pineda) and head back to the island with a collection of hunters, hired guns, and resources provided by Lockwood’s assistant Eli Mills (Spall).

While the idea of returning to the park to try and rescue some of these terrible lizards may seem like a suicide mission, Bayona does a much better job of setting the scene for this adventure than any of the trailers for the film. Returning to the island is also only a part of a much bigger story, one that leaves the park behind, seemingly for good this time.

Without going into spoilers, once the action leaves the island, there are plenty of new opportunities for enjoyable set pieces with dinosaurs in unfamiliar surroundings, and I don’t mean using gymnastics poles to kick ‘raptors in the face. The comical exploits of a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus – the head-banging dinosaur, stick out, as does the introduction of the Indoraptor; a crossbreed of the previous film’s Indominus rex and a Velociraptor. The design of the Indoraptor, while still nowhere near as iconic as the series’ T-rex, is far more threatening than the I-rex, even if it’s not entirely scary. The audience knows the series is unlikely to allow the Indoraptor to eat Chris Pratt or Lockwood’s Granddaughter Maisie (Isabella Sermon).

Pratt remains as charming as ever; however, the film manages to build up the relationship between Owen and his trained Velociraptor Blue far better than the previous one did. Unencumbered by both impractical footwear and the indifference to dinosaurs that marred her character in the previous film, Dallas Howard is a much more likeable protagonist this time around and engages equally in the action.

Fans of Jeff Goldblum and D. B. Wong may be a little disappointed with their screen time, however. Wong provides little more than a cameo while Goldblum bookends the film (albeit very effectively).

Turning John Williams’ theme into a funereal dirge as the characters revisit the remains of the JW tourist centre (and Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville) from the previous film may be the biggest indication of the filmmakers’ intentions with the series going forward.

Fallen Kingdom doesn’t quite re–engineer the franchise, but it does move it along some interesting directions that open a new world of possibilities for Trevorrow’s planned return to the director’s chair in 2021 for Jurassic World 3.

JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: J. A. BAYONA / SCREENPLAY: COLIN TREVORROW, DEREK CONNOLLY / STARRING: BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD, CHRIS PRATT, JUSTICE SMITH, DANIELLA PINEDA, ISABELLA SERMON, RAFE SPALL, JAMES CROMWELL / RELEASE DATE: JUNE 6TH

Expected Rating:  5 out of 10

In a tale told a multitude of times before, Birth of the Dragon looks at the early days of Bruce Lee’s rise to true superstardom. With glitzy Hollywood pictures just around the corner, 1965 saw Lee on the cusp of butting artistic heads with the masterful Wong Jack Man. Here, we see yet another look at one of the most legendary confrontations in the martial arts game.

As Lee, we have Philip Ng, while Xia Yu takes on the role of Wong Jack Man. Throw in a subplot of Lee’s student Steve McKee (Billy Magnussen) chasing forbidden love, and you have an added layer that attempts to make this more than just your usual run-of-the-mill Bruce Lee biopic effort. Unfortunately, the McKee character is a bland one at best, feeling included merely to try and add something different.

In terms of the Bruce Lee that we see here, it’s a cocksure, almost arrogant version of the icon. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, for Ng manages to capture the bold and headstrong Lee that had Hollywood bigwigs knocking down his door as he looked to implement his own style of kung fu – Wing Chun – to the world. On the flipside, Wong Jack Man is a traditionalist who is unsure on Lee’s approach and whose difference of philosophy eventually leads to a behind-closed-doors fight between the two that has ties to the gangland scene of the day and the women who were sold as objects around that time.

Performance-wise, Ng and Yu are actually pretty darn good as Lee and Man, respectively. Unfortunately, they’re let down by a film that is nothing if not vanilla as it staggers through familiar tropes and adds absolutely nothing to a story that has already been heard by the masses at several points over the decades. Sadly for Billy Magnussen, his McKee character is often one of the big issues dragging down the pace of the action, feeling like an unneeded and unwanted addition to the story of Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man. As for the action itself, Ng and Yu clearly know how to handle themselves and are more than adequate at dealing with the task at hand, but the set pieces and fight scenes dotted throughout the film often veer towards laughable.

The fact that Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon was quick to distance herself from the movie due to how it seems to completely fumble the beliefs and ideology of her iconic father should likely speak volumes to longtime fans of Lee. In fact, not only does Birth of the Dragon struggle to correctly handle its main character, Lee is also often positioned as a mere supporting character in an overplayed, overdone romance between McKee and Jingjing Qu’s Xiulan, a restaurant worker forbidden from interacting with ‘outsiders’. Added to this, elements of the ‘based on true events’ tale are completely fabricated in what seems like a desperate attempt to pad out Birth of the Dragon’s runtime. And sadly, this is a film that feels like an overstretched chore despite clocking in at the relatively short runtime of just under 90 minutes.

BIRTH OF THE DRAGON / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: GEORGE NOLFI / SCREENPLAY: STEPHEN J. RIVELE, CHRISTOPHER WILKINSON / STARRING: PHILIP NG, XIA YU, JIN XING, BILLY MAGNUSSEN, JINGJING QU / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating: 6 out of 10

Whatever certain audiences think of animation, there’s no denying that there are some that speak universal truths and can tug on our heartstrings, and both The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea are perfect examples of that. They both told beautiful stories and had gorgeous animation, all of which were accomplished thanks to Irish animation company Cartoon Saloon, and now they’re third time lucky thanks to the breathtaking film that is The Breadwinner.

Based on the novel by Deborah Ellis (who also co-wrote this adaptation with Anita Doron), this film follows a young girl named Parvana who lives with her family in the rough, Taliban-controlled areas of Kabul, Afghanistan just before the start of the war. An unfortunate squabble at a market sees the Taliban arresting Parvana’s father, which causes Parvana to dress up like a boy and do her best to provide for her family and save her father.

Throughout the film, the main narrative is intercut with this fantastical fable told by Parvana that parallels her own struggles in the hostile world and landscape she finds herself and her family in. This is a story of finding and regaining hope and innocence in a dark world, and at the beginning of the film, Parvana doesn’t see much of a future at all, but it’s when her father is arrested that she learns to step up and regain her courage and find hope again. That theme is what this movie so endearing, and throughout, we do care and sympathise with the situation Parvana is in, and we do want her to succeed and find her father in order to bring the whole family together again.

This movie also speaks to Afghan culture in a way that’s not sugar-coated or sentimental, showing that there can be darkness in the current state it is in now, but also saying that there is still a lightness there against the darkness, so it shows a lot of broad strokes in how this movie shows that culture and the people within it and that is another aspect this movie excels at. This film is beautifully hand-drawn, while also having a different style of animation when it comes to the fairy tale sequences which is very reminiscent of paper puppets and those sequences are breathtaking with their rich attention-to-detail. This whole film captures the long rich history and culture of Afghanistan, and hats off to the animation studios involved in bringing that world and culture to life. The voice cast all give credible vocal performances, especially by Shaara Chaudry as Parvana who gives both a maturity and an innocence to her performance, plus the chemistry she has with Soma Bhatia as Shauzia feels genuine and real.

The Breadwinner is a film about perseverance, bravery, courage, finding and reclaiming hope in a hostile landscape, and how spreading kindness is more powerful than spreading hatred and tyranny. It’s not preachy, nor does it talk down to its audience; it’s a mature story with believable characters and powerful themes that are concurrent in this day of age. Cartoon Saloon is a studio that has earned their place alongside the likes of Studio Ghibli, Laika and Pixar as one of the best animation companies out there, and this movie alongside both the equally outstanding Song of the Sea and The Secret of Kells are evidence of that alone.

THE BREADWINNER / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: NORA TWOMEY / SCREENPLAY: ANITA DORON / STARRING: SAARA CHAUDRY, SOMA CHHAYA, NOORIN GULAMGAUS, LAARA SADIQ / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

After The Last Jedi things have gotten hotter than a Mustafar summer in the Star Wars saga. The fanbase has seemingly fractured, as people continue to not so much debate the film’s quality, as scream (or at least aggressively tweet) their opinion as loudly (or in as many caps) as possible on social media and call it fact. The real fact, however, is that the divisive ripple of the last Star Wars film’s reception is still being felt and as Solo: A Star Wars Story lands in cinemas, optimism could not be any lower. People never really asked for a film covering the youthful origins of Harrison Ford’s beloved rogue smuggler Han Solo and as the 37% “people want to see this” poll on Rotten Tomatoes denotes, people are still clearly upset. Add to this a reportedly problematic production, involving original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller dropping out, performance issues and reshoots taking place, and the odds were not good for this one. Still, what was that Han once said about odds?

Solo: A Star Wars Story picks up on a crime-filled Empire occupied Corellia, as a young Han (Alden Ehrenreich) looks to leave with his friend Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) and pursue other aspirations. When all does not go to plan, and the two are separated, Han does what he can to survive, as he is pulled deeper and deeper into a world of treachery, risk and scoundrels (some of which are scruffy lookin’). Like Rogue One, this spin-off film settles in the period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, as the Kasdan’s story covers some ground we expect (one of Han’s much-proclaimed achievements, the formation of his bond with Chewbacca) but with surprises dotted along the way.

After some fears of a coherent final product, we were unsure what to expect, but Solo has really got it where it counts. Reminding of an episode of Star Wars The Clone Wars or Rebels (especially with one later revelation), this feels like an EU novel come to life. To say that the film had a bumpy production, the final product bares few scars of these behind the scenes troubles and Ron Howard’s (and Miller/Lord’s) film is an engaging and charismatic summer blockbuster, which exceeds expectations. Old fashioned in its adventurous spirit, not to mention its moments of war movie influences, this is a heist caper come Wookiee meets smuggler bromance that is quick on its feet, charming and – despite how the fans are treating it – it feels genuinely constructed for them.

Unnecessary? Cash in? Fan service? Perhaps the film is one of these things but Solo is spectacular fun all the same and it presents to us another strand of Star Wars brimming with imagination and life in every frame. The odd line of dialogue may be a little on the nose (as may some references) but it’s a big fun wallop of space spectacle. A traditional entry in the franchise and yet, perhaps destined to be its most unusual, fans are rebelling against it but really have no need to. This is unmistakably Star Wars: the set pieces are exciting, the scoring by John Powell is imbued with the classic Williams motifs yet operatically distinctive at points (and John Williams himself provides his own Han Solo theme too to the soundtrack) and the characters are interesting company for the entire duration.

Alden Ehrenreich really had the most unenviable task in the galaxy following up Harrison but he does a very good job, with an enigmatic turn that eases you into the film and keeps you hooked. Within minutes this writer had wholly accepted that he was watching a young Han at work. Meanwhile, Joonas Suotamo brings us the powerhouse action-ready Chewbacca that many of us have always wanted to see, and really Han and Chewbacca are the emotional core to the film and the formation of their iconic attachment is splendidly realised. Donald Glover also has a real standout presence as Lando Calrissian and spot on captures the smuggling smoothie made famous by Billy Dee Williams. These three are aces in the deck but there are also some very strong turns by Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and a very creepy Paul Bettany.

This is a lively affair with treats for fans and a barrage of entertainment for all. In many ways, this is the Adventures of Tintin of the Star Wars saga and we mean that as a compliment. The pleasantly surprising Solo: A Star Wars Story is an absolute blast. We’d call it luck… but in our experience there’s no such thing as luck!

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: RON HOWARD / SCREENPLAY: JONATHAN KASDAN, LAWRENCE KASDAN / STARRING: ALDEN EHRENREICH, WOODY HARRELSON, EMILIA CLARKE, DONALD GLOVER, JOONAS SUOTAMO / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected Rating:

6/10