Reviews in a nutshell
After the profound Atonement and whimsical Pride & Prejudice director Joe Wright demonstrates that not only can he bring his trademark subtle tones and emotion to an action film, but also inject humour and dramatic style. Hanna is the outcome, an intelligent action thriller with a pumping Chemical Brothers soundtrack, combining fairy tale with a …
Effective horror films these days are harder and harder to come by. But it all depends on what you want from the genre? In Insidious, Saw creators Wan and Whannell appear to have collected together all their favourite horror elements from scary classics – namely Poltergeist, The Amityville Horror and The Shining – but not …
You can’t deny that a film’s synopsis about a bunch of activists chasing a bunch of semi-naked hunt supporters across the Scottish glens doesn’t sound a tad appealing? And that’s the immediate hook of debut director Edward Boase’s new ‘blood sports’ film, Blooded. The first issue to overcome, though, is ‘realism syndrome’, where everything slightly …
With the acclaimed Moon, his debut film under his belt, Duncan Jones is fast proving to be a master of sci-fi mystery, a scholar of MacGuffin in his film plots. Source Code is no exception. It toys with its lead character, US Army pilot Colter Stevens, played by Jake Gyllenhaal – no stranger to military …
If you live alone this film is targeting you, playing on that feeling of foreboding you might experience when things go bump in the night, or the landlord gets a bit too familiar. In addition to the celebrated return of the Hammer Films with this film, The Resident also rejoices in the idea of creepy …
Matt Damon has certainly earned our respect as an action hero in the series of Bourne films, combining intelligence and athleticism into one complex character. And his performance in The Adjustment Bureau as US Senator-to-be David Norris is no exception. The film ought to be the perfect vehicle for allowing the acclaimed actor to play …
This is one of those films that fill you with great expectations, especially with Avatar’s James Cameron at the producing helm, but leaves you thoroughly underwhelmed afterwards. Exciting visions of a watery ‘other-world’ wonder from Cameron, especially with The Abyss reference (Virgil), turn into a lengthy cave-exploring/father-son-hugging tedium. Still, it is based on a true …
There’s been a real lack of film noir offerings in recent years, so it’s pleasing to have the choice of watching one at the box office – even though you may not have realised it from the former whimsical-looking poster. This is a tweaked version of the 1947 film of the same name, starring Richard …
This may well be a remake of the classic 1972 Michael Winner film that had the rather grander US title of ‘Killer of Killers’, and starred mean machine Charles Bronson, but when The Mechanic has Jason Statham in the lead, it’s another Transporter film, whichever way you (cynically) look at it. Good news for Statham …
