A mild-mannered accountant teams up with a spy on the eve of their school reunion. Patchy action comedy, veering between sentimentality, shoot-em-up scenes, and improvised moments.
Month: March 2017
Clear and Present Danger (1994, dir. Phillip Noyce)
Jack Ryan v the drug cartels. Second and better of the Ford/Noyce Tom Clancy adaptations, Danger works well as both a procedural thriller and an action piece, and isn’t afraid to make the good guys complicit.
Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (2015, Dir. Brad Bird)
Fun film where a teenager enters a secret fantasy world and uncovers a dark plot. Incredible VFX, action and cast. Plenty to like here! Some clumsy scripting and a hint of a disingenuous plot occasionally get in the way, but very watchable! :-
Moonwalkers (2015, dir. Antoine Bardou-Jacquet)
The CIA try to hire Stanley Kubrick to fake the Apollo 11 moon landing. Weak-sauce low budget farce with a shaky grasp of space history, though with some game playing in service of a duff script and an old idea.
The Lazarus Effect (2015, dir. David Gelb)
Attempts to create a serum to reanimate the dead go predictably awry. Flatliners meets Lucy in this by-the-numbers lab-bound horror/thriller in which a decent cast try their best to get through a rote script.
Legion (2010, dir. Scott Stewart)
An apocalyptic siege movie with a complicated backstory that starts off well enough, but doesn’t have its own story to tell once the Terminator-with-angels premise wears off. Some freaky moments, tho.
GoldenEye (1995, dir. Martin Campbell)
Very solid 90s Bond, refitting the cycle into post-Cold War realities, excepting dated then-new internet gubbins. The best of the Brosnan flicks, though it recycles (yet again) You Only Live Twice, plot-wise.
Logan (2017, dir. James Mangold)
2029. An aging Logan and a dying Xavier commit to one last stand. Overlong and clunky in parts, this is nevertheless an elegiac and fittingly serious send-off, riffing on time-worn western and road movie themes.
Kong: Skull Island (2017, dir. Jordan Vogt-Roberts)
Or, Heart of Kongness. 1973-set mash-up of Conrad, every Vietnam flick ever, and Conan Doyle-ish Lost World stuff, with a bit of Treasure Island thrown in. B-movie fun while it’s on.
Want a different opinion from a member of the 255Review crew? Here’s MA Randall’s take.
Get Out (2017, dir. Jordan Peele)
A photographer’s first weekend visit to his girlfriend’s parents. A fantastic contemporary horror picture with a social message, Get Out delivers on all fronts. Highly recommended.
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