Movie Review 886 results

Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion Movie Review

The wonderful French comic books featuring Astérix and his friends have fuelled many a youngster’s imagination and sense of fun both here and abroad. This animated feature, Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion continues with those traditions. It is whimsical, irreverent and at times, completely bonkers.   //   The village elder Panoramix (Bernard Alane) falls from a tree while helping a young bird return to its nest and sustains a broken foot. This decline in ...

Rocketman Movie Review

Growing up the only child, Reginald Kenneth Dwight was a shy and awkward young child. With a free spirit mother and physically absent father, only his Grandmother was supportive. He took refuge in music and became very accomplished at a young age.   //   His early musical endeavours followed a familiar arc, learning the music business from the ground up via a succession of bands and backing gigs. When he started a writing partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin, his ...

Brightburn Movie Review

Brandon Breyer (Jackson A. Dunn) is a somewhat typical eleven year-old, hyper intelligent but just that little bit different and kind of an outcast. His parents, Tori Breyer (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman) have raised him on the farm as their own and have provided him with a loving and normal home. When Brandon celebrates his twelfth birthday, things start to change.   //   The film sets an ominous feel from the opening credits with some very creepy ...

2040 Movie Review

In stark contest to works like An Inconvenient Truth, which really only highlighted the dangers of Global Warming, Gameau offers solutions to the problems. In a wide spectrum of topics, he provides ideas that range from grass roots actions to the implantation of emerging technologies to help turn things around.   //   As a filmmaker he also uses some clever choices to give brevity to what are some very serious subject matters. His use of comments by young children ...

Aladdin Movie Review

The film plays more like a version of the Broadway musical than the animated endeavour and includes a lot more songs. Unfortunately nothing dissipates dramatic tension more than when the actors break into song so the dynamic structure is effected. They have also wisely cleaned up a lot of the questionable stereotypes.   //   While Will Smith is certainly no Robin Williams, the demands placed on the actor are greatly diminished, so he is more than capable of the role. ...

Acute Misfortune Movie Review

The film is based on the respected biography of Cullen by Erik Jensen’s and both the book and movie probe the depths of the complexities and contradictions of this tortured soul. Jensen deserved combat pay as his time spent with the artist included him being shot, stabbed and pushed off the back of a moving motorcycle. He also spent enough time with Cullen to see below the facade.   //   Put into a larger context the film is also about family and the degree to which ...

The Vanishing Movie Review

Director Kristoffer Nyholm (Taboo and The Killing) helps to craft an earthy existence on the lonely island. One filled with great accents, male bonding and an over riding sense of tension. Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan and Connor Swindells star as the three lighthouse men and the casting really works.   //   Butler and Mullan are the grizzled veterans with beards and crinkled brows, while Swindells is the fresh faced new recruit. When a mysterious man washes up on shore, ...

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Movie Review

After Wick (Keanu Reeves of course) runs afoul of the rules of the Continental Hotel by killing someone on its premises, a bounty of 14 million dollars is placed on his head, so every assassin in New York city is after him. This leads to a protracted fight scene as he escapes the confines of the Big Apple.   //   The popularity of the franchise has lead to an expanded budget, so its drops a few dollars and visits exotic locations and fills out its cast with the addition ...

Me & My Left Brain Movie Review

We’ve all had moments where that little voice in our head gives us advice, sometimes good, sometimes bad and sometimes monumentally misguided. Building a story around that voice is a clever idea and basing it on such a neurotic subject as Arthur, opens up the situation for much laughter.   //   Having the left brain voice personified by an actual person, in this case actor, Malcolm Kennard gives the film a surreal edge. Playing with flashbacks, timelines and dream ...

All Is True Movie Review

The bard (Branagh) has returned to his rural home in Stratford-upon-Avon after giving up on writing after the 1613 fire that burned down the Globe Theatre in London. The family is still rife with the grief that followed his young son’s death. This grief starts a chain of events that will reveal many family secrets and scandals.   //   Elton’s script gives the a-list cast a lot to chew on and there are some real highlights. The conversation between Will and the Earl ...