An orphan seeks revenge on the fashion maven who killed her mother. Confident, stylish, though thin and overlong prequel to 101 Dalmatians. Basically a supervillain origin story (Cruella is Tim Burton-era Batman, plus Joker and Catwoman here) though borrowing from all-sorts, including The Terminator. MVP is Paul Walter Hauser, though everyone is in on the joke.
Here’s the trailer.
A last-ditch effort to restart the Sun through deploying a nuclear device goes awry. Handsome though derivative SF that can’t decide if it’s an arthouse piece or a mainstream thriller. In trying to be both, and in quoting from Alien, 2001, 2010, Silent Running, Event Horizon, Dark Star and others along the way, it struggles for clarity and distinctiveness.
A foster-child is granted superpowers which come with an adult hero persona; but a nemesis figure emerges. OK, but overlong and tonally-awkward superhero origin movie. Hampered by its Big-with-cape conceit and story uncertainty, it tries a bit of everything. Fun in the moment, tho, and some nice gags.
Two soldiers are given orders to deliver an urgent message to prevent a massacre. Works better as a race-against-time action movie than as an anti-war flick, but sustains itself impeccably and looks great throughout. The single-shot/more-or-less real-time aesthetic just about justifies itself, though can be distracting in quieter moments.
A cockney youth is inducted into an elite British secret agency. Confident spy comedy from the graphic novel series, both spoofing and celebrating Bond and The Avengers in equal measure. Stylised and violent; not for everyone in its laddish glee. A sequel, expanding the universe, soon followed.
A dramatisation of the hunt for and killing of Osama Bin Laden. Sober and focused, with an eye for detail and on the selling of its version of events as truth through the use of faux documentary techniques, this works as an intelligent thriller throughout.
A ruthless Washington lobbyist goes against the pro-gun lobby. Initially intriguing though ultimately glib dramatic thriller with good performances and a sense of seriousness undone by an unbelievable third act.
Kingsmen join with their American equivalent to battle a virus-wielding drug lord. Gleeful but over-stuffed, overlong and indulgent sequel, magnifying the first film‘s good points and its issues. Some fun to be had, tho, and Mark Strong gets a crowning moment of awesome.
A dramatisation of the 1980 Iranian embassy siege. Glum retelling which struggles to evidence a point for its existence, delivering neither on insight, telling detail, nor even on SASÂ action. Who Dare Wins was, at least, bonkers.
A CIA operative in the Middle East is caught between conflicting loyalties. Good-looking and well-directed though predictable tale of post-9/11 espionage, with opaque masculine moralities contrasted with a female archetype representing possible redemption.
255 Review 