Reviews in a nutshell
The third installment of The Hunger Games saga has arrived, and without having any prior knowledge of the Suzanne Collins books, it’s the darkest and most relevant film (and story) so far that can be enjoyed without any insight (or interest) in the killing games. It’s also boosted again by the striking and formidable figure …
Continue reading “The Hunger Games – Mockingjay – Part I ****”
With concerns about our planet’s ailing health, and our renewed interest in what lies ‘out there’ among the stars, The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s new apocalyptic sci-fi Interstellar couldn’t come at a better time to play on our fears and curiosity. It’s set in a parallel ‘now’ on Earth that feels alien, even though …
What do you get when you cross Lord of the Flies with Lost? The answer is The Maze Runner, a screen adaptation from the first novel in the trilogy series by James Dashner. It has an appeal for all – the idea of living hand to hand and fending for ourselves in some great dystopian …
We’ve become blasé about our sci-fi stories – anything goes that initially seems crackers but gets persuasive as things progress. Luc Besson has combined a sci-fi passion with that of one of his strong, kick-ass women in Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson. You would be forgiven for thinking it was another Malick The Tree Of Life …
Each generation needs its own ‘E.T.’ to believe in, to feed little dreams of friendly alien life out there. Cameraman-come-debut-feature-director Dave Green’s PG-friendly flick introduces us to Echo, a more mechanical but still very organic being that also channels today’s youngsters’ gadget obsession. A neighbourhood is being phased out to make way for a highway, …
It’s another Michael Bay robot-carnage fest in the fourth instalment, Age Of Extinction that only feels strangely different because of a more intriguing cast this time around. Gone are bland, boyish LaBeouf and the wisecracking US marines. In comes proven screen action hero, Mark Walhberg, Stanley Tucci as a megalomaniac corporate man and Kelsey Grammer …
Apocalyptic movies about the destruction of ‘selfish mankind’ are becoming ten-a-penny, where we’re getting quite used to seeing our famous city landmarks reduced to dark, gloomy ruins. It would be easy to knock Tom Cruise’s new action flick Edge Of Tomorrow by instantly placing it in that category. However, Cruise as been a little wiser …
If you can’t get enough of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, you won’t be disappointed with the latest instalment from X-Men director Bryan Singer who places the clawed mutant in cerebral confinement for the sake of peace with humanity. It’s an intriguing and wildly energetic attempt at marrying two X-Men ‘generations’ while going full-tilt down the …
Marauding super monsters sent to remind Man that nature needs to take its course sometimes (and knock our cockiness down a few pegs) is the terrifying stuff of many an epic monster movie, as they wade through our cities like a toddler through LEGO structures. It’s easy to just repeat endless scenes of destruction and …
