FILM: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (dir: Kirk Jones, 2016)

"It's what we do."

This belated follow-up to the inexplicably successful 2002 original takes the next-generation step with Vanderlos's daughter now 17 and contemplating love, college and identity all in the shadow of her extended Greek family and heritage.  Age and experience makes this sequel a more languid and gentle affair, with the comedy played very broad and unthreatening.  Nevertheless, there is a pleasing amount of warmth, some well-played comedy and some touching moments, making this a pleasant if undemanding sequel.

VOD: Area 51 (dir: Oren Peli, 2015)

REVIEW No. 650!

"We shouldn't have done this.  This was dumb."

It is clear to see why Oren Peli's follow-up to his breakout hit Paranormal Activity was not released with great fanfare.  After some good world/character-building at the start, it takes over half the running time to actually get on to the eponymous base, at which point the first-person shooting makes the descent through corridors and stairwells look like an old-fashioned videogame.  The solid cast plays it well, and the overall construction is simple but effective, but Area 51 cannot overcome its fundamental limitations that it looks exactly how you expect it to look, it plays out exactly as you predict, and therefore it has little dramatic point.  Once Idiot Plot takes over for the final third in what is clearly the least secure secret base ever, and with a lot of Blair Witch running, it all leads to yet an another disappointing abrupt finish.

FILM: Kung Fu Panda 3 (dirs: Aleesandro Carloni, Jennifer Yuh, 2016)

"Subtle, Po.  Very subtle."

Never the deepest of the animated franchises, this hyperactive and energetic third entry in the Kung Fu Panda series delivers a clear, simple and effective three-act story and restores some of Po's childish glee and an overall feel of lightness that was missing from the worthy first sequel.  The stylised design and use of colour is simply stunning, the breathless pace holds attention and the previously-hidden panda village charms but is not over-cute.  Box office returns will determine if another cinema outing will happen, but Kung Fu Panda 3 is a decent, well-produced children's film that would serve as a fitting trilogy-closer to hero Po's journey if needed.

FILM: Zootropolis 3D (dirs: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush, 2016)

"I like trying, actually."

Disney Animation comes up with another winner, and Zootropolis turns out to be an extremely smart, well-made and entertaining movie. It plays the tropes of the police procedural very straight, leaving the humour to emerge from its collision with the high concept of an animal-filled human-style society.  The film is propelled energetically by character and story, both of which are consistently engaging and very successfully developed.  The voice talent does an exceptional job, with the excellent mis-matched pairing of enthusiastic new bunny-cop (Ginnifer Goodwin) and street-wise hustler-fox (Jason Bateman), who are together on-screen for most of the time.  The design work is imaginative and well-realised; there is some wonderful playing with scale using the different animals and their environments.   Even the blatant themes (prejudice, tolerance, aspiration) develop organically, apart from a spell-it-all-out tubthumping end speech followed by the now-obligatory awful closing song-and -dance number.  Overall, Zootropolis is an imaginative, beautifully-crafted and well-told tale that showcases what Disney does best in a very effective contemporary manner.

FILM: The Huntsman: Winter's War 3D (dir: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, 2016)

"Love conquers all....so I've heard...."

Hardly the light-hearted romp its stars have been selling, this prequel/sequel is quite a sombre and ponderous affair, occasionally livened up by sparky dwarf banter and brief but well-staged fight sequences.  There is a lot of excellent design work on display and the use of 3D is very well executed.  Hemsworth broods and swaggers effectively with an interesting accent, Theron positively eats up every moment of what screen time she has, and Blunt gives a nicely precise performance as the Ice Queen.  It builds slowly to a somewhat lively but mad Narnia meets Terminator 2 final showdown, which only serves to show that keeping the main characters apart for most of the running time smacks of missed opportunities.  Whether Winter's War turns out to be part of an ongoing franchise or just an interesting sideline, the film itself is solid and well-made but not exactly thrilling. 

FILM: The Boy (dir: William Brent Bell, 2016)

"Well I don't know about you, but that certainly wouldn't wake me up!"

Following a promising trailer, and after a nicely-played off-kilter opening, The Boy turns out to be a rather dull and dopey affair.  Along the way it packs in a large number of genre clichés and a couple of decent jump scares, all leading up to a routine finale that is quite jaw-droppingly silly.  As far as creepy-doll movies go, this is certainly no Trilogy Of Terror or Dead Of Night, and it even lacks the energy or fun of an average Chucky movie.  The Boy is a good-looking film with some excellent sound placement, but it is simply rather tedious to sit through.

VOD: The Diabolical (dir: Alistair Legrand, 2015)

"You have to be brave..."

What starts off as a rather dull and routine TV-movie-level Poltergeist/Paranormal potboiler is not quite all it seems, thanks to a belated but implausible twist.  The film wastes no time in setting out its stall, with an early matter-of-fact reveal of the increasingly corporeal malevolent spirit menacing a single mother and her young children.  The incessant overpowering droning soundtrack irritates rather than unsettles, and spite of the reliable Ali Larter giving it her all, the film never really shocks or engages.

FILM: Eddie The Eagle (dir: Dexter Fletcher, 2016_

"What a doddle!"

Leave all your cynicism at the door: Eddie The Eagle is an unashamed feel-good delight that will win you over within five minutes.  With a huge dollop of whimsy and a lot of good-natured humour, this is a very smart re-construction of the myth into heroic epic fable.  Taron Egerton charms utterly from start to finish with a warm and well-played comic performance that shows real attention to detail, and the fabricated Hugh Jackman character serves as an effective narrative counterpoint.  The film is well-directed and looks stunning, with a wonderful soundtrack of well-placed 80s hits and a superbly cheeky score by Matthew Margeson powered by perfect retro synths and production.  Like most successful feel-good films, this is very carefully constructed and this particular dramatising of the Eddie The Eagle story does not bear much scrutiny, but that is not the point here: simply wallow in a wonderfully-made and excellently-delivered slice of joy.

FILM: Batman v Superman Dawn Of Justice IMAX 3D (dir: Zack Snyder, 2016)

"Things fall."

As someone once said: why so serious?  Bookended by shots of coffins, Batman v Superman does not get much cheerier for the rest of its long running time.  In spite of being somewhat joyless and fun-free, this is a very good grand-scale blockbuster movie.  It is almost as if DC have sent out a mission statement - Marvel is for the kids, DC is for the grown-ups - making The Winter Soldier look like a light-hearted romp by comparison.   It has a very careful and well-constructed narrative, with characters and events purposely introduced and positioned, in spite of a mid-section wobble that plays very oddly (the victim of trimming for run-time?), and mostly well-written dialogue.  Particularly striking is the early 9/11-inflected re-telling of the Zod/Superman brawl from Man Of Steel from Bruce Wayne's perspective.  Affleck/Batman is absolutely terrific throughout,  Cavill/Superman is mostly good in spite of his 'serious' face still sometimes looking like severe puzzlement, and there are very strong supporting performances by Adams, Fishburne, Hunter and Lane.  Eisenberg paces Lex's descent into madness well from an already jittery and energetic starting point, and Gal Gadot is a real find as Wonder Woman, making her solo movie a real prospect at last.  Even the brief but smart introduction to other potential Justice League members intrigues.  Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL provide an excellent score, and the film looks absolutely wonderful in terms of both 3D and the ambitious visual effects.  Batman v Superman does feel very long, but if you do not mind a superhero movie being very grim indeed and thus quite distancing emotionally, there is a lot to admire in this superhero-clash 'Fight Night'.

FILM: 10 Cloverfield Lane (dir: Dan Trachtenberg, 2016)

"Are you being funny?"

The pre-title sequence of this unexpected side-quel is a masterful construction of images, pace and sound that engages straight away.  After a short period of wrong-footing - is this Cloverfield?  Hostel?  Misery? - the movie very quickly settles down into a well-written but standard people-in-a-bunker-with-an-apocalypse-outside genre entry.  Thus the film's success stands or falls on the cast, and with John Goodman (always seemingly just one step away from full-on crazy) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (another nuanced performance) in full flight there is little to worry about on the acting front.  Eventually, the actual Cloverfield link staggers in for a quite mad finale, which makes one wonder if this were an existing project retro-fitted for marketing purposes.  Nevertheless, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a solidly-made and well-performed movie overall.