The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.

The series stars Ewan McGregor, reprising his role as the iconic Jedi Master, and also marks the return of Hayden Christensen in the role of Darth Vader. Joining the cast are Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie.

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Hilary Swank plays Amelia with a strangely varying accent; it starts defined but subsequently slips from scene to scene. Her vocal coach must have taken a lot of smoking breaks during filming. Richard Gere as her svengali George Putnam also suffers from an elusive accent. The film relies on its spectacular flying footage to provide a heart and soul and at this it is impressive.

Putnam’s actual impact on certain parts of Amelia’s life is only hinted at and this could have provided some much needed detail. He in essence created in Amelia one of the world’s first corporate shills. There are a few brief scenes to demonstrate this (and they burst out of the film like a sly wink from Busby Berkeley) but that train of thought is never fully developed and it’s to the film determent.

It is always difficult to build suspense in a film when everyone knows the actual conclusion and unfortunately Amelia suffers from this more than most. In real life there were a number of thoughts about what actually contributed to her loss at sea and these aren’t event mentioned. Did Fred Noonan’s alcoholism contribute to it, did the rumour of the Japanese shooting her down have any validity, these questions and many more like them could have given her demise an aura of mystery, instead all we got was a dark screen with words saying she disappeared and no evidence was ever found.

Rob Hudson
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The main players that lived through the first film are all back and Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie are as dysfunctional as ever. The story set twenty years later borrows heavily from the novels Trainspotting and Porno. Boyle’s technique of injecting scenes from the original work gives T2 a strong and believable link to the past. This continuity does author Irvine Welsh proud.

The story revolves around Renton (Ewan McGregor) returning to his old stomping grounds twenty years after he did his mates dirty and his return in most instances is most unwelcome. It’s amusing to find out where these iconic characters have ended up after two decades of that thing called life.

Getting the balance correct between the grey and grainy back story and the high energy onslaught of both sight and sound in the new edition highlights Boyle’s mastery of the subject matter. It’s been a long twenty years but T2 Trainspotting has been more than worth the wait.

Rob Hudson
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Never taking itself too seriously, it fires off a lot of bursts of energy and then moves on quickly regardless of their level of impact. In this way, it buries those ineffective moments before they do too much harm to the forward momentum. The wise cracking bad guy has a long and successful history in film and turning that tradition around into a wise cracking bad girl is artfully accomplished.

Robbie is her usual magnetic self and even with the bleached white makeup, her true colours shine through. She is fast becoming a Hollywood institution. There is even a scene mid-film where she gets to pay homage to tinsel town’s all time favourite blonde and it shows how comfortably she has become assimilated into that most exclusive of clubs.

Shot almost entirely on a film set, the comic book feel is never far from the mind and the conversations and monologues are easy to see contained in speech bubbles. Setting the uneven moments aside, it’s clear that these girls just want to have fun and it’s difficult to resist the infectious sense of it all.

Rob Hudson
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“Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is a twisted tale told by Harley herself, as only Harley can tell it. When Gotham’s most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis, and his zealous right-hand, Zsasz, put a target on a young girl named Cass, the city is turned upside down looking for her.

Harley, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya’s paths collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down.

BIRDS OF PREY releases in Australia in theatres on February 6, 2020.
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It pulls out all the stops in its effort to entertain and to bring the overriding story arc to a popular conclusion, this includes surprise cameos and events that have been on the cards for quite a while now. It provides almost too much information upon first view and will certainly divide the uber fan as few franchises have such vested followers.

Even with a long running time of 141 minutes, there is little down time. The action is relentless as these characters have had ample time spent on their backstory before reaching episode nine. There are however a number of big reveals that will have fans who see the film feeling more in the club than ever. One thing that still rankles though is the disregard for the laws of physics, they are laws folks, not mere suggestions

Having grown up with Star Wars but never focusing on the minute details as some super fans have, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker provided a more than satisfactory end to a series of works that started strong, had a wobbly middle and ended on a high note. It will be at the heart of many a film discussion for years to come and rightfully so.

Rob Hudson
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It picks up after the original film when we touch bases with the child Danny as he enters adulthood. His gifts have not made his life easy and he spends his days drinking, fighting and living a life of quiet despair. He relocates to an out of the way town, where the kindness of a stranger has a positive effect on his life.

Danny (Ewan McGregor) now lives a sober and quiet life until he is made aware of the evil temptress, Rose The Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) and Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran) who is also powerful with art of shining. This contact has an all encompassing effect on him and this sets up a powerful confrontation that drives the second half of the film.

Very clever in its use of story details from King’s books, it is a self-sustaining work until the final reel, where an established knowledge of the first film/book will greatly enhance the viewing experience. It even goes some way towards clarifying details from The Shining. It was a tall order to create a worthwhile follow up to a real classic, but Doctor Sleep accomplishing the task with panache and effectiveness.
Rob Hudson
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BIRDS OF PREY is directed by Cathy Yan from a script by Christina Hodson, the film is based on characters from DC.

BIRDS OF PREY releases in Australia in theatres on February 6, 2020.
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Still irrevocably scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook, Dan Torrance has fought to find some semblance of peace. But that peace is shattered when he encounters Abra, a courageous teenager with her own powerful extrasensory gift, known as the “shine.” Instinctively recognizing that Dan shares her power, Abra has sought him out, desperate for his help against the merciless Rose the Hat and her followers, The True Knot, who feed off the shine of innocents in their quest for immortality.

Forming an unlikely alliance, Dan and Abra engage in a brutal life-or-death battle with Rose. Abra’s innocence and fearless embrace of her shine compel Dan to call upon his own powers as never before—at once facing his fears and reawakening the ghosts of the past.

DOCTOR SLEEP is directed by Mike Flanagan and stars Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Carl Lumbly, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Bruce Greenwood, Jocelin Donahue, Alex Essoe and Cliff Curtis.

DOCTOR SLEEP releases in Australia in theatres on November 7, 2019.
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Still irrevocably scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook, Dan Torrance has fought to find some semblance of peace. But that peace is shattered when he encounters Abra, a courageous teenager with her own powerful extrasensory gift, known as the “shine.” Instinctively recognizing that Dan shares her power, Abra has sought him out, desperate for his help against the merciless Rose the Hat and her followers, The True Knot, who feed off the shine of innocents in their quest for immortality.

Forming an unlikely alliance, Dan and Abra engage in a brutal life-or-death battle with Rose. Abra’s innocence and fearless embrace of her shine compel Dan to call upon his own powers as never before—at once facing his fears and reawakening the ghosts of the past.

DOCTOR SLEEP stars Ewan McGregor as Dan Torrance, Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat, and Kyliegh Curran, in her major feature film debut, as Abra. The main ensemble cast also includes Carl Lumbly, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Bruce Greenwood, Jocelin Donahue, Alex Essoe and Cliff Curtis.

DOCTOR SLEEP releases in Australia in theatres on November 7, 2019.
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