FILM: It Follows (dir: David Robert Mitchell, 2015)

"The worst thing is...that it is certain."

It Follows is definitely a film that would best be seen not knowing the central conceit.  The opening of this old-school horror places us firmly in the autumnal suburban streets of Halloween suburbia, to which It Follows affectionately and effectively nods (from the carefully-framed pavement-walking conversations and the school-room scene to the synthesised score themes) as well as to other greats such as Fulci, Coscarelli, Craven and more.  The idea is terrific, even if the demands of creating an ongoing narrative means the internal logic definitely does not bear much scrutiny, especially the final showdown.  The film benefits enormously from a strong central performance by Maika Monroe, with her accompanying friends making for a refreshingly natural and very ordinary bunch of teens, and direction and use of camera make the film very watchable (the 360-degree pan at the school office works especially well).  Whilst not terrifying, there are a couple of wonderful sequences where It Follows really catches fire, and overall this is a thoughtful, sincere and well-made low-budgeter.

FILM: Fifty Shades Of Grey (dir: Sam Taylor-Johnson, 2015)

"Welcome to my world."

The film version of the international best-seller is a very mixed bag indeed.  Overall, it is a rather unlikely, tepid and frequently dreary slice of completely ludicrous (S&M-inflected) romance.  Jamie Dornan plays Grey with unblinking shark-like detachment appropriate to this characterisation but lacking any sense of the passion or humanity that would have driven him to achieve such power and riches (although interestingly it is difficult to see the first-cast more instinctively-natural Charlie Hunnam in the role), leaving Dakota Johnson to capably fill that void with more deftness and humanity, enabling her to manipulate Grey with occasional humour and sincerity.  Indeed, some of the minor characters - Anastasia's flatmate, Grey's brother - are more alive and provide rare spark when they appear on screen.  It is hard to tell if the comedic beats are intentionally self-aware, borne out of the sheer ridiculousness of the narrative and the book's success, especially in the first half.  It is directed with precision, and the drained colour palette and polished visual aesthetics are reminiscent of Shame, but without a truly magnetic screen presence at its core,  Fifty Shades takes a very long time to actually say or do very little.

DVD: [REC]4 - Apocalypse (dir: Jaume Balagueró, 2015)

 "This is going to be a hell of a party...."

After the somewhat odd sidestep (mis-step?) of Genesis - the third film in the [REC] series - this fourth and evidently final episode picks up from the second movie and attempts to pull together all the ideas and story threads whilst at the same time moving forward to a new location - here, a quarantine/research ship - making it a true hybrid, storywise and stylistically, of the preceding films.  [REC] 4 is inevitably deeply generic, but there is some inventive direction, sound design is very effective, it hurtles along at a good pace, and new and returning actors are clearly invested in giving the enterprise strength.  If this does turn out to be the series' swansong, it is nowhere near as good as the two openers but provides an acceptable conclusion.

FILM: Chappie IMAX (dir: Neill Blomkamp, 2015)

"I know what consciousness is!"
"That's nice."

Seemingly like Short Circuit via Mad Max, Blomkamp's third film starts off by hitting the reset button, stylistically following on from District 9 and bypassing the awkward bloat of Elysium.  The very-near-future story is established quickly and moves along swiftly, with an effective energy to the big set-pieces and the more narrative-heavy beats.  Chappie itself (beautifully mo-capped by Sharlto Copley) is endearing, with the compressed-lifespan/development conceit mostly effective if a bit jarring at times, but the human characters are written in very broad strokes indeed (especially with the less-than-convincing performances of Chappie's street-gang 'mom' and 'daddy'), in spite of nice comic touches by corporate boss Sigourney Weaver, Hugh Jackman relishing his (for a change) villainous role and Dev Patel as ever never less than committed and watchable.  Hans Zimmer provides a tremendous score, which thankfully at times distracts from the extraordinary plotholes on offer (an entire human consciousness downloadable, via a laptop, stored on a memory stick?).  Themes and allegories get hammer-heavy delivery (nature/nurture, family, man/machine), making Chappie overall feel slightly less organic and well-knit as District 9 but still much stronger than Elysium.  The bonkers finale shows what last year's Robocop remake could have been, and the potential for Blomkamp's upcoming excursion into the Alien franchise remains a very appealing prospect indeed.

FILM: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (dir: John Madden, 2015)

"Well, you're still in one slightly saggy piece, I see."

This second outing to the surprise hit (and profit-making) original brings back almost all of the original team and delivers more of the same, with all of the ingredients the precisely-targeted silver cinemagoing audience loved the first time round: veteran performers delivering with expertise and credibility, a refreshing take on older-age themes, the sunny exoticness of touristy India and a deft script.  As is common with modern sequels, the tone is slightly more sombre this time round, and there are nods to the first film's international breakout acceptance with the addition of a few younger/American characters (with the addition of a sincere Richard Gere working effectively).  The characters get well-balanced exposure to keep the various story threads running well, the teaming up of Maggie Smith and Dev Patel is considerable fun to watch, and there is a genuine sense that this was a sequel everyone involved actually wanted to make.

FILM: Jupiter Ascending (dirs: Lana and Andy Wachowski, 2015)

"Just get me out of here."

It is great to see big-scale space opera on the big screen, but it is unfortunate that Jupiter Ascending is such a ponderous and weak viewing experience, in spite of some excellent visuals and an enormous sense of scale.  Clearly aiming for the coolness of The Matrix films at their best, a lot of the Wachowski's ideas and visuals here come across as routine or uninteresting.  The frequently dull Lucas-sequels-level dialogue is not helped by surprisingly sub-par performances by Mila Kunis and Eddie Redmayne in particular, but Channing Tatum manages to give his (space-elf?) character some shading and interest.  It was notable that the cinema audience escaped so quickly the moment the end credits started to appear.

FILM: Shaun The Sheep Movie (dir: Mark Burton, 2015)

"Have a.....Day off!"

The expansion of the Shaun The Sheep TV show to movie length is surprisingly successful, and it does not deviate from the very gentle tone, the warmth and the well-delivered visual gags of its original short format.  The film is very much aimed at the youngest cinemagoers, but the hit-rate of gags is high for a near-silent full-length movie and the typical charm and attention to detail of Aardman is evident in abundance. Whilst the Shaun The Sheep movie is hardly an earth-shattering experience, it is nevertheless very pleasant and enjoyable to watch.