Inferno Movie Review
The latest edition skips the third Brown book, The Lost Symbol and drops Harvard University professor Robert Langdon (Hanks) into the usual world of intrigue. Conspiracies play a more reduced role this time and the film plays out with more action and less intrigue. The action is largely set in Venice, which is an excellent choice as it’s one of the world’s most unique looking cities.
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The casting is not the film’s strongest suit as Hanks and lead actress Felicity Jones as his ...
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Movie Review
Unafraid to unsettle his young target audience (if only just a bit), Burton keeps the creepiness quotient on a low boil while interspersing the proceedings with enough lightness to keep things on the sweet dreams side of nightmares. My 9 year-old was fine with it and, indeed, loved it. Think Coraline-level macabre but perhaps a touch more grisly.
It pays to keep your wits about you in order to follow the film's mild time-bending eccentricities but, if you keep up, it's not hard to ...
The Magnificent Seven Movie Review
After working together on Training Day and The Equalizer, director Antoine Fuqua continues his work with Denzel Washington and as usual doesn’t really push the actor to step much outside his established on-screen persona. It’s the strong, sullen and silent type once again from his lead actor.
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The film’s redeeming trait however is the strength of its ensemble cast and their diverse on-screen personalities. A number of the A-list actors do follow a somewhat well trod path, Chris ...
The Secret Life of Pets Movie Review
Lovable lost and found hound, Max (Louis C.K.), gets his nose out of joint when his owner brings home another stray dog, Duke (Eric Stonestreet). In a fit of jealousy over the loss of his singular place in his owner's heart, Max does a series of not very nice things to Duke in order to foster disfavour between the newcomer and their owner. Duke responds by doing some not very nice things in return, the result of which is the pair getting some not very nice things done to them by a gang of ...
Kubo an the Two Strings Movie Review
The film uses stop motion animation (with one of the techniques cleverly shown in the end credits), CGI and what one might possibly imagine is hand drawn imagery and looks fantastic. Voiced by an A-list of vocal talent that includes Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes and Matthew (put down those bongos) McConaughey, they are given rich text to work with.
The story is an out right fantasy voyage and while this is a genre whose charms often elude, this is so inventively accomplished, it draws ...
Sausage Party Movie Review
It is so surprisingly crude, crass, creative, outrageous and funny, it is literally like nothing you have ever experienced before. It will also provide a great test to see how easily you are offended. It pushes things so far, it becomes a new paradigm. Its R rated status is complete vindicated and I would have loved to have ease dropped on the conversation of explanation between the father and his very young son that I saw attending the preview screening.
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The story is set in a ...
Star Trek Beyond Movie Review
The film starts with a very mellon collie scene when Capt. Kirk (Chris Pine) laments his life out in the cosmos as lacking the adrenaline rush on earlier times. His complaints are soon answered as the film ramps up the deeds of daring. The main protagonist this time out is Krall played by a heavily made up Idris Elba. His baddie role is a menacing one but lacks explanation.
It’s interesting that the film really suffers from the in-cinema 3D effect as the heavily CGI crated scenes are ...
The BFG Movie Review
My only experience of a ‘BFG’ was the BFG9000, a weapon found in the Doom and Quake video games using an acronym that implied words that ought not be uttered by a child. Given Roald Dahl's twisted mind, I would be unsurprised to learn that he was well aware of this possible interpretation when he released his book about a ‘Big Friendly Giant’ in 1982.
An animated TV version of The BFG was released in the late 80's but this time around Steven Spielberg has turned his acumen to a ...
Finding Dory Movie Review
Finding Nemo is such a timeless institution in our movie culture - whether you be a child or adult - that a sequel which in large parts rehashes its predecessor is simply a moot exercise.
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Finding Dory follows almost identical beats and set ups - a fish searching the open ocean for lost loved ones; encountering frightening denizens of the sea; aided by new found friends; becomes ‘imprisoned’ in an aquarium from which they must escape etc. In fact, every element of Nemo has its ...
Warcraft Movie Review
With the late attachment of Duncan Jones as director, things looked good. Jones’ previous film, Moon, showed a sure hand at the helm and spoke well of the potential for a story with depth. The open book nature of the fantasy genre also informed a world of vast possibilities. In final results, this did not quite pan out.
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Self admitting to absolutely no knowledge of the video game, the movie’s lack of ability to establish a believably mythology was a real stumbling block for me. ...
