FILM: Early Man (dir: Nick Park, 2018)

"Right, let's go and get some balls!"

Early Man plays gloriously fast and loose with history and evolution whilst incorporating Nick Park's love of football to create another odd but very good-natured Aardman feature.  The stop-motion animation is now so slick that it is sometimes easy to forget the physical hours and hard work that went into the film, and the scale of action is also bigger than the studio's earlier efforts.  The Stone Age characters are endearingly dopey, the voice cast is strong, and the script is full of the trademark bad puns and very British humour that is expected.  Early Man is not quite up there with Aardman's very best, but it is cosy, warm and well-crafted entertainment.

FILM: Maze Runner - The Death Cure (dir: Wes Ball, 2018)

REVIEW No. 850!

"This is so far away from The Glade..."

The third and final entry in this surprisingly strong YA series mostly manages to deliver where others (Divergent, The Hunger Games) faltered.  Starting with a well-executed train heist, the film is rarely short of Wes Ball's confident vision and sometimes stylish direction.  Dylan O'Brien again proves to be a watchable centre to the whole series, with good supporting work from Kaya Scodelario and Ki Hong Lee in particular.  As with all good concluding instalments, meetings of old friends and enemies from previous films is entertaining as all the major players are drawn together .  There is some excellent dystopian world-building on display, and although this third film is just slightly the least interesting or original of the trilogy, it does serve as an effective, efficient and well-made closer to a franchise that has consistently punched well above its weight.

VOD: Starship Troopers - Traitor Of Mars (dirs: Shinji Aramaki, Masaru Matsumoto, 2018)

"Oh, my God!  This is really happening!"

Starship Troopers is one of those franchises in which no sequel comes even remotely close to the terrific first movie, as Traitor Of Mars delivers a rather low-key and low-rent take on the concept.  Apart from a dim and not particularly likeable bunch of grunts, the main culprits here are the rather weak dialogue and a painfully limp antagonist.  One aspect that this CG-animated entry does succeed at is making the bugs malevolent again - and the scale of the final assault is quite impressive - but the return of the Dizzy Flores character (voiced as originally played by Dina Meyer) sadly is nothing to get excited about.  This is a good try, but its weaknesses are rather too evident.

FILM: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (dir: Martin McDonagh, 2018)

"Ain't life crazy?"

Three Billboards... finds writer/director Martin McDonagh back on blistering top form.  Cancer, police brutality, rape, murder...this fearlessly jet-black comedy/drama sees this microcosm of small-town America arrive fully-formed, with its hilariously profane and at times offensive dialogue and tone that takes shockingly abrupt turns in an instant.  The lead cast is staggeringly strong, led by the magnificent Frances McDormand, with terrifically sensitive work by Woody Harrelson and another superb demonstration of character-building by Sam Rockwell, and eye-catching smaller roles for Peter Dinklage, Amanda Warren and Lucas Hedges.  Managing to be laugh-out-loud funny, occasionally shocking and utterly engrossing, Three Billboards... is a terrific achievement and hugely entertaining.

FILM: Darkest Hour (dir: Joe Wright, 2018)

"He's a man...like any other..."

Covering the first month of Churchill's stint as Prime Minister, Darkest Hour sees Gary Oldman give a monumental and hugely impressive character performance that gives an insightful political spin on familiar territory (which dovetails nicely with Nolan's Dunkirk) and manages to humanise the historical figure most effectively.  The script is confident and compelling, and there are many excellent supporting performances to admire, from Kristin Scott Thomas as steadfast wife Clemmie to Lily James as Churchill's long-suffering secretary and Stephen Dillane as his political counterpoint in Lord Halifax.  This time, Wright mostly avoids over-theatrical direction and devices (even the whimsical meet-the-public on the London Underground sequence is almost forgivable) and presents a well-constructed, brisk and handsome-looking film that is a fantastic showcase for a career-best Oldman.

VOD: Leatherface (dirs: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury, 2018)

"Are you ready for your present?"

This prequel to the 1974 classic is a just-above-middle-ranker in the overall Chainsaw Massacre franchise.  Veterans Lili Palmer (as the matriarch) and Stephen Dorff (a grief-driven sheriff) reliably lead an invested cast, with interesting casting and an effective performance from pretty Brit Sam Strike as the teen whose transformation into the disfigured Leatherface is handled well.  It has good visual and scenic references to previous (subsequent?) films and offers little in the way of originality, but it joins the story dots appropriately and has a number of moments that are delivered effectively for its budget in a generally well-made production.

FILM: Coco 3D 4DX (dirs: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina, 2018)

"It has been an honour to meet you, Miguel."

Coco is an utter joy to watch and stands as one of Pixar's very best.  Taking on the potentially difficult concept of the Mexican Day Of The Dead (for a children's animation) proves to be a positive challenge, as the film finds the right balance between being culturally respectful and playful as well as handling the big theme of the afterlife in a direct but child-friendly way.   Pixar's usual heartstring-pulling backstory-setting is handled very efficiently and effectively, and the viewer is immediately drawn in to the story by the extremely amiable and endearing protagonist, Miguel.  Coco represents a huge step up in terms of animation, not just the astonishing level of detail but also the stunning use of colour and lighting; it is simply beautiful to watch, especially in 3D.  Themes of family, remembrance and tradition are skilfully handled, and the story takes some bold narrative steps and has a constant energy and drive that is maintained right to the tear-jerking/heart-warming/life-affirming ending.  Coco is simply a truly accomplished and totally delightful film.  

VOD: Beyond Skyline (dir: Liam O'Donnell, 2017)

"Oh, my God!  This is really happening!"

This unexpected and largely unwanted sidequel/sequel has two immediate selling points in the casting of excellent action stars Frank Grillo and Iko Uwais, which instantly invests this film with a level of talent lacked by the first film.  It is a game of two halves, as the first part takes an alternative story set during the first film in America, and then picks up from that movie's jaw-droppingly dopey ending and moves the action to Asia for a big final man vs. aliens battle.  The story is - if possible - even dafter but has more content and is more engaging, a Grillo/Uwais smackdown has to be worth the price of admission, and the variable effects are again mostly ambitious, but ultimately this is more 'beyond silly' than 'beyond skyline'.

VOD: Death Note (dir: Adam Wingard, 2017)

"Shall we begin?"

The central concept of the original manga/anime is wonderful in its simplicity, but this American live-action adaptation does not really hit the mark.  It starts off as an overly-camp Final Destination (with some very full-on gore moments), but for the most part it plays out as a flat police drama.  Although there are some very effective CG effects, the creature is not especially well-realised and lacks a true sense of malevolence.  With casting that does not feel particularly strong, it is more a case of (thin) style over substance and disappointingly this is Adam Wingard's least interesting movie so far.

FILM: The Greatest Showman (dir: Michael Gracey, 2017)

"Walking the tightrope...."

To get straight to the point, The Greatest Showman is not quite up there with La La Land - it curiously does not hit the same level of emotional connection with the viewer - but overall it is an immensely effective and well-staged movie musical.  It is a curious mix of typical Broadway narrative and musical tropes with an excellent (if anachronistic) modern score and bravura technical use of cinema that enables some pleasingly ambitious choreography in the musical numbers and some impressive transitions of time and place.  The ridiculously attractive lead cast is terrific: Hugh Jackman's superb musical theatre skills are employed to the max here, Michelle Williams and Rebecca Ferguson are (as usual) magnificent whenever on screen, Zac Efron shows that he can shine when given decent material, and Zendaya again proves to be one of the breakout stars of 2017 with another engaging performance.  This story is stagily but sumptuously mounted and extremely well-delivered, and Never Enough is likely to become female auditionees' new Let It Go.

VOD: The Babysitter (dir: McG, 2017)

"I don't yell at you, I just speak in all-caps!"

This gleefully demented movie is a riotous love-letter to horror fans, who will find it massively enjoyable and great fun.  Any pretence at subtlety is thrown out very early on, as the pedal-to-the-metal pace, spirited gore-gags, whip-sharp script and relentless knowing silliness is sugar-rush enjoyable.  Director McG unusually directs with a consistent energy, inventiveness and style, and the very game actors milk the script for all it is worth.  For a genre film of this type, The Babysitter is extremely well-crafted and thus delivers its glorious madness in a hugely entertaining manner.

VOD: Bright (dir: David Ayer, 2017)

"There's no version of you walking out of here with life as you know it intact."

Unashamedly sold by all concerned as police procedural meets The Lord Of The Rings, Bright delivers on that promise and is oddly entertaining.  The world-building is very effective from the outset in what is effectively a gritty update of Alien Nation, even if here the issues of race are handled bluntly and the narrative holds no real surprises within its genre-bound mismatched cops scenario.  The effects are solid, but what sells this Netflix production is an on-form Will Smith and a wonderfully-handled performance by Joel Edgerton underneath the prosthetics as the force's first Orc policeman.  Ayer may be on familiar territory here, but Bright is delivered much more effectively than his Suicide Squad, and whilst not world-changing it is entertaining enough.