FILM: Let's Be Cops (dir: Luke Greenfield, 2014)

"You get what you pay for."

Like its title, Let's Be Cops is a simple and undemanding movie, which is generally entertaining.  The script is efficient and effective, targeted very clearly at the level of the teenage male audience, which bowls along by the solid and very amiable buddy teaming of  Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr who both do enjoyable comedic work both individually and as a duo.  As another example of the male-mid-life-crisis movie now hitting 30-year-olds - and inevitably our two male leads are immature and ineffectual in their daily lives - this movie scores points by almost being a credible scenario, and the more serious turn taken towards the end provides a nice contrast with the knockabout early scenes.  It's not quite another Jump Street, but Let's Be Cops delivers straightforward fun.

FILM: Lucy IMAX (dir: Luc Besson, 2014)

"Thank you for sharing."

Lucy is a (deliberate?) welcome throwback to Luc Besson's early hits (even boasting an Eric Serra soundtrack, which is effective but sadly not as memorable as previous work), and this mix of Nikita with Limitless and The Lawnmower Man for the most part succeeds in being very entertaining.  For a long time, the frenetic, neon-soaked action is terrific, but in its later stages the film becomes increasingly less real-world grounded and resorts to odd CGI and what feels like an uncertain scramble for some kind of resolution.  Indeed the Malick/Matrix/2001 ending (which all happens rather suddenly) will be divisive, seen either as bold and brave or a peculiar mis-step.  The film's strengths are, unsurprisingly, Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, who both give the material gravitas and credibility even as it becomes increasingly sillier, and Amr Waked does some nice work as the utterly bemused French police inspector caught up in Lucy's antics.  The film itself adds disappointingly little to what was seen in the trailer, but for at least the first half Lucy is an entertaining return to what audiences loved about Luc Besson movies.

FILM: Deliver Us From Evil (dir: Scott Derrickson, 2014)

"Do you think she's single?"

This marriage of police procedural and possession genres is faithful to both but does not quite gel convincingly.  The frequently very noisy soundtrack cannot disguise the thinness of the writing here, which makes the film a very long haul to watch, and it is shot like a poor man's Seven (rainy, glum and lots of torchlight), but the film does manage to pull off one hugely effective shock-shot about half-way through.  Eric Bana and Joel McHale actually work well on screen as the hardbitten NYPD duo (even if they are not the sharpest or most efficient pair on the force), creating a hint of reality - on which the film purports to be based - amongst the supernatural nonsense and soapy home-life theatrics.  As the various plot strands come together awkwardly for the big exorcism finale, ultimately, Deliver Us From Evil is an earnest but rather long-winded affair.

FILM: Into The Storm (dir: Steven Quale, 2014)

"That's why tripods were invented."

The main reasons for seeing any disaster movie are the effects and the destruction they wreak, and on these fronts Into The Storm absolutely delivers for its ($50 million) budget.  The central father/son relationship veers perilously close to The Day After Tomorrow, and for the most part there is an attempt to treat the tornadoes with a more somewhat realistic approach that the obvious touchstone of Twister.  However, there are distracting inconsistencies on two levels that undermine the overall effectiveness of the film: the first-person strategy - at times  hugely effective in placing the audience right in the action - sits awkwardly with more generic disaster movie tropes, and tonally the film lurches all over the place (in a short space of time early on, the film lurches from family drama to Jackass to cheesy promo video to teen romance, for example), where clearly - with a script fix - a more grounded and consistent approach would have been very successful here.  As with most disaster movies, the actual characters make very little impression, but the sheer power of the effects (both CGI and exemplary sound) creates interest.

FILM: The Expendables 3 (dir: Patrick Hughes, 2014)

"This is the happiest day of my life!"

Thankfully better than the first sequel, The Expendables 3 is an utterly simplistic generic action potboiler, with a very straightforward and basic narrative (every story beat holds no surprise whatsoever) and a handful of well-staged set pieces. What may have been a cynical marketing strategy to bring the series down to 12A/PG-13 level is not as damaging as, say, in the Die Hard franchise, although the end result plays more like the A-Team movie that Hollywood's recent actual attempt failed to be.  There are some saving graces: Antonio Banderas is a delight, Mel Gibson shows he can still deliver as a convincing bad guy, and of the new younger Expendables Kellan Lutz and Ronda Rousey make a reasonable impression.  Overall, this is efficient, passably entertaining but utterly undemanding fare.

FILM: The Inbetweeners 2 (dir: Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, 2014)

"Wait.....I'm thinking......"

The Inbetweeners sequel is very much more of the same, but with a slightly stronger script than the original movie.  Boasting a couple of spectacularly memorable gross-out set pieces and lots of good ideas, this time round there seems less uninteresting filler and a deliberate focus on what made the TV series work consistently: the relationship between the four lads.   The easy-going relationship between the actors/characters makes it very easy to watch these amiable idiots, and the whole enterprise lacks the cynicism of the similar American Pie franchise.  Emily Berrington makes a strong addition as Will's junior school friend, and it is good to see the return of ongoing characters from the first film as well as appearances from the parents and Mr Gilbert from the TV show.  This unexpected and amusing further entry in the Inbetweeners canon certainly does not sully the legacy and - like the first movie - also would serve as a positive send -off unless box-office, sorry, 'pressure from the fans', dictates a third film....

FILM: Guardians Of the Galaxy IMAX 3D (dir: James Gunn, 2014)

"What are you doing?"

Marvel's latest is a glorious way to wallow in epic daft space-opera for a couple of hours.  Gunn's quirky and off-kilter directorial style together with his brilliant handling of character and throwaway humour all remain intact, making this a lavish, ambitious, colourful and hugely enjoyable romp.  Indeed, the film opens with unexpectedly strong and well-handled emotional beats that inspire confidence from the outset and which is maintained throughout.  The comedy genius of Chris Pratt is a superb piece of casting as Peter 'Star-Lord' Quill, centring the film with genuinely joyful swagger and strength, Groot and Rocket are winning characters realised wonderfully on screen, and Zoe Saldana and (an almost unrecognisable) Karen Gillan flesh out their characters strongly.  The links to the MCU work effectively but Guardians expands the existing scope considerably and with great success.  The main triumph of the film is establishing its space-hopping expanded universe so naturally and effectively (as well as its relatively unknown band of likeable rogues) that the film is easy to engage with and extremely entertaining.  (Be warned: the now-traditional credits scene - right at the very end of the credit roll - is inessential and bizarrely unexpected!)

DVD: Cheap Thrills (dir: E.M. Katz, 2014)

"What are you waiting for?"

This micro-budget production plays like a stage production for the most part, and as a result the claustrophobia and tight-as-a-drum scripting makes it a hugely engaging piece.  Playing it straight and as realistically as possible, the deeply dark humour and escalating stakes for a hapless pair following the whims of a bored rich couple who set increasingly extreme (and financially rewarding) dares maintains an air of authenticity and places the scenario firmly in the real world, making the social and financial satire bite effectively.  The acting and direction are relentlessly strong,  and this is a clear example of how a tight budget can focus a production on excelling in the areas that really matter.