The Grinch ***
Solid family entertainment that may feel lacking in wider, original narrative, but borrows or mimics the elements that made the previous kids classics like Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets so highly successful.
Category: Action
BFI LFF 2018: Outlaw King ***
It is as entertaining as it is patriotic, banging the David vs Goliath drum for the downtrodden everywhere. It should go into battle with pride in theatres.
BFI LFF 2018: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ****
These bite-size stories are certainly a labour of love for the Coens, a romantic jaunt back to a time when a country was being born and was strikingly volatile, with many stark parallels to present-day USA.
BFI LFF 2018: Widows ****
It is this fight for survival, coupled with an urgency that makes Widows the movie an apt fit for McQueen’s filmmaking skills. Look out for it at awards season – it will pay off for the British director.
The First Purge ***
The First Purge is a mixed bag. It’s definitely divisive and borderline glorifies violence. However, it’s not altogether superficial either. It empowers as it champions change and industry diversity on screen. Without question it gets the viewer to address where they stand on all the societal issues it raises which can only be a good thing.
Sicario 2: Soldado ****
Soldado is a very worthy, well-paced and multi-layered sequel that moves the narrative forward. In fact it displays global problems and security concerns still within the same stomping ground, never tiring in its narrative that is ever expanding and consuming. It will be very exciting to see where allegiances lie next.
Ocean’s 8 ****
The action is less than the other films but the strategy and technology is still abundant. Writer-director Gary Ross’s slick production does not stray from the latter films either.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ****
Fallen Kingdom obliterates the dinosaurs’ habitat but places them in our midst. It is a frightening concept, given the advances of DNA science and too much power in some corporation’s hands in reality. This film feeds off that, as well as has enough dino and man heroes to be a solid 12A contender at the box office.
Show Dogs **
Show Dogs does exactly what it says on the tin; feeds fans of such family entertainment but with little meaty substance. As much as you want to feel satisfied in laughs, the effect is as short-lived and superficial as some of the talent contest paraphernalia.