Allegiant Competition
The action-packed third instalment of the blockbuster Divergent Series, Allegiant takes Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) into a new world, far more dangerous than ever before.
After the earth-shattering revelations of Insurgent, Tris must escape with Four and go beyond the wall enclosing Chicago. For the first time, they will leave the only city and family they have ever known. Once outside, old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless with the revelation of shocking new ...
Risen Movie Review
Naturally, given the story, the torture porn of The Passion is mostly absent here and in its place is a fictionalised account of a Roman Tribune, Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), and his efforts to locate Jesus' (Cliff Curtis - makes sense) resurrected personage before he once again inspires Judaeans to reject the good, wholesome Roman way of life endorsed by Prefect Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth).
On the strength of the trailer, Risen looked to be an interesting study on the juxtaposition of ...
Deadpool Movie Review
Ryan Reynolds is the perfect man for the job and his ability to act the class clown and emote even with his face covered in a silly red and black mask is outstanding. He has finally found a role that utilizes all of his talents. Animator Tim Miller makes his directing debut with Deadpool and his sense of pace is spot on. He throws so many jokes and unique ideas your way that the fun doesn’t stop from the hilarious opening credits to the very end crazy credit (don’t miss it).
By now ...
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Movie Review
The franchise is almost universally regarded as having lost it's way with Lucas' prequels (um, Episodes I, II and III) but the truth is the series began running off the rails from the moment Lucas re-branded the first instalment of Star Wars Episode IV. This set in motion two decades of Lucas dicking with his baby, subjecting his movies to so much plastic surgery as to transform them into some kind of CGI-laden Frankenstein's monster. From simple beginnings Lucas had begun complicating Star ...
In the Heart of the Sea Movie Review
Based on the novel of the same name (author Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2000 non-fiction book), this template in a lesser director’s hands could have lead to a very processional outing. Howard’s film suffers from none of that limitation. The movie is a rousing edge of your seat ride that has a look and feel that takes you right into the heart of the tale of that great white monster, Moby Dick.
Chris Hemsworth leaves the fantasy world behind this time and delivers a very powerful perfor...
Spectre Movie Review
The feeling lingers that they started with an overall direction for the Craig films but ended up taking too many diversions along the way. Some of the reveals are far from the surprise the filmmakers intended. Also extending the realism and casting Bond as more human and less the gadget guy has worked with only half of the four films. This sombre realism worked well with Casino Royale and Skyfall, less so with Quantum of Solace and Spectre.
Even though Craig is contracted for one more ...
The Last Witch Hunter Movie Review
If you can get past Diesel's quietly hilarious Norse beard, The Last Witch Hunter is a reasonably fun fantasy action thriller. It’s Middle Ages sections hark to the sword 'n' sorcery cheapies of the early eighties (The Sword and the Sorcerer, Beastmaster, Krull et al) while it's present day sections are solid Ghostbusters/Men In Black type fare with a dash of Underworld thrown in for good measure.
It's all harmless fun, though the final showdown between the good guy and the bad girl is ...
The Western at GoMA
'The Western' celebrates one of the most popular and enduring genres of cinema. Known for its images of lone cowboys, Native Americans, barren landscapes and elemental hardships, the genre has influenced the way filmmakers depict confrontations between man and nature, civilisation and freedom since its inception in silent cinema.
Inspired by the Wild West, the Western draws on a time of territorial expansion, bustling modernity and a burgeoning national identity. The genre reflects a ...
Pixels Movie Review
Pixels follows on from the likes of Wreck It Ralph and TRON, mashing up the real world with that of the video game. This time around it turns out that a videotape of classic arcade games was sent into space in the early eighties and discovered by aliens who used its contents to model weapons with which to attack us. It all makes perfect sense really. Naturally the best hope for Earth's defence are former classic gamer champions who suitably proceed to kick all kinds of pixelated ass. Yes, ...
Hitman: Agent 47 Movie Review
The film starts with a very European feel and then transcends into a fairly typical format of chase scene, hand to hand combat (with only one winner) and bad guys who never hit their target while the good bad guy never misses. The pace is frantic with only the cityscape and country change to provide a temporary respite of the onslaught.
Friend is effective as the experiment in killing machines with the trace of a conscious but it’s hard not to miss Olyphant and his Manson lamps. The ...
