Raya and the Last Dragon (2021, dir. Don Hall & Carlos López Estrada, with Paul Briggs and John Ripa)

A warrior princess embarks on a quest to unite five fractured kingdoms and repel their collective threat. A very straightforward fantasy drawing on South East Asian design and story influences. Some pleasures in the incidentals, but this is secondhand tick-box monomyth stuff throughout.

Here’s the trailer.

Mary Queen of Scots (2018, dir. Josie Rourke)

A dramatisation of the rivalry between Mary of Guise and Elizabeth of England. Goodlooking though talky and obvious historical retelling, neither drama nor straight history lesson. A couple of nice moments, and there’s strength in the visuals and the cast, but the script is the problem here.

Captain Marvel (2019, dir. Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck)

An alien warrior works to prevent a rival species from gaining a foothold on 1995 Earth. Slow-starting but generally entertaining superhero origin flick, wisely not overdoing its nostalgic comedy; the film’s hampered somewhat by the low-stakes storyline.

Stratton (2017, dir. Simon West)

A Special Boat Service operative races against time to prevent a terrorist attack. Utterly secondhand and dull thriller, lacking in decent action, watchable performances, or a script with an iota of originality. Astonishing this got a cinema release, when stronger fare goes straight to download/DVD.