Ben Affleck plays Detective Danny Rourke, a damaged man who is still dealing with the kidnap loss of a daughter and a life that unravelled from that point on. While on duty he is called to the scene of a potential bank robbery and this is where things get rather strange.

As events unfold you are left with a number of misdirections that collectively send you in several wrong directions. The film incorporates a multiple-genre approach. It’s a little bit police procedural, a little bit science fiction and a little bit phycological horror and it never squarely lands in any one category

Tying so many disparate threads into a cohesive strand is a challenge that Rodriguez is almost up for. He’s not helped by several vague character arcs but this is the interesting part when the final reveal happens, the lens is cleaned and the ambiguity is resolved.
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Aided by Diana Cruz, a gifted psychic, Rourke simultaneously pursues and is pursued by a lethal specter – the one man he believes holds the key to finding the missing girl – only to discover more than he ever bargained for.

Hypnotic is co-written and directed by Robert Rodriguez and stars Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, JD Pardo, Hala Finley, Dayo Okeniyi, Jeff Fahey, with Jackie Earle Haley and William Fichtner

Hypnotic is coming to Australian cinemas on May 11, 2023.
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Christoph Waltz plays Dr. Dyson Ido, a Geppetto like character who finds some cyborg remains in a scrap heap that is formed by the castoff rubbish of an Emerald City called Zalem. This city floats above the squalor that makes up the area called Iron City. Dr. Ido soon uses these parts to build a complete cyborg that he names Alita.

Alita (Rosa Salazar) has no immediate memory of her past and starts her new life doing things teenagers do, like disobeying her parental units, hanging out with a rowdy bunch and falling in love with boys. As she learns more about her past, her life become more noble.

With an ending that makes the proceeding 122 minutes feel a bit like an extended trailer for part two, Alita: Battle Angel still wins you over with solid conceptualisation and strong character development. Director Robert Rodriguez has a solid track record and it will be interesting to see how he builds on this with episode two.

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As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo (Keean Johnson) offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control.

If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she’s grown to love.

Alita: Battle Angel stars Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson and will be released in Australian Cinemas Boxing Day 2018.
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Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in.

Everything is new to Alita, every experience a first. As she learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield Alita from her mysterious past while her street-smart new friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), offers instead to help trigger her memories. A growing affection develops between the two until deadly forces come after Alita and threaten her newfound relationships. It is then that Alita discovers she has extraordinary fighting abilities that could be used to save the friends and family she’s grown to love.

Determined to uncover the truth behind her origin, Alita sets out on a journey that will lead her to take on the injustices of this dark, corrupt world, and discover that one young woman can change the world in which she lives.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez, Alita: Battle Angel stars Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson and is in Australian cinemas July 2018!
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