FILM: Unlocked (dir: Michael Apted, 2017)

"Clean work."

Unlocked feels like a thriller from the early 2000s, with more than a hint of Bourne, the London-set scenes from the last couple of Bond films and a hefty dose of Spooks.  From its opening shot, most of the film is set in very-familiar central-London-tourist locations which do look good on the screen.  Noomi Rapace leads the movie strongly as ex-CIA interrogator brought back into the fold to 'unlock' a terrorist biological threat against Americans in London, with reliable support from Michael Douglas and John Malkovich, plus Orlando Bloom seemingly auditioning for Eastenders, Toni Collette doing her frosty Brit turn and the director running a Paul Greengrass tribute session. There are some sharp (and sudden) action sequences and enough twists and turns to keep attention, some very blunt and sometimes muddled messages about immigrants, but overall this is a reasonable if familiar thriller that feels confident enough to suggest ongoing adventures at the end. 

FILM: Sleepless (dir: Baran bo Odar, 2017)

"Ladies and gentlemen: Nevada's finest!"

This routine Las Vegas-set dirty cops and drug lords thriller has a good cast but rarely sets the pulses racing, set over one day/night as a seemingly double-dealing detective (adequately played by Jamie Foxx) has to rescue his kidnapped son after a drugs heist goes wrong.  There are a couple of very lively action sequences (the kidnap itself and a full-on kitchen fight), but most of the intended story surprises are quite predictable, the effects of seriously-sustained injuries seem to come and go randomly, the final act descends into quite extraordinary silliness, but there is some good work from Michelle Monaghan (even if stuck in angry mode) and notably Octavius J. Johnson as the teenage son.

VOD: Headshot (dirs: Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, 2017)

"This has been going for far too long.  I don't want to kill any more."

Headshot sets out its stall straight away, with a frantic and violent prison shoot-out/break-out with a coldly manipulative antagonist and a ridiculous body count, followed by our amnesiac hero washed up unconscious on a beach.  The film then follows a very well-worn path of discovering the past through fragmented random flashbacks and a returning set of 'special skills' that ultimately bring together the two opening narrative strands, but it is delivered with an effective and often nasty visceral edge tempered with the occasional softer or humorous moments.  The film also boasts a very cool music score that works well.  As with The Raid films, Iko Uwais is both sympathetic and charming but also delivers massively on the action front, which he also co-choreographed.  There is some creatively-staged mayhem, standouts including Uwais fending off a crazed attacker whist chained to a table and a terrific extended duke-out at a besieged police station, not forgetting the inevitable final showdown.  Headshot clearly knows its genre and its audience very well, and whilst it is a shade overlong, if you like Eastern action films, this film certainly delivers the goods.

VOD: The Void (dirs: Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski, 2017)

"You'd be surprised at the things you find, when you go looking."

This low-budget horror film tries very hard, and it intrigues from its interest-grabbing pre-titles sequence.  It leans heavily on early Carpenter, especially the body-horror of The Thing and the under-siege element of Assault On Precinct 13 (here, a closing-down hospital), using tightly-controlled direction and camerawork and an ominous soundtrack to create a relentless feeling of unease and foreboding, punctuated with sudden bursts of strongly-realised physical gore effects.  Unusually, the characters react almost realistically to the increasingly shocking, bizarre and unpleasant events as they unfold, until the movie finally tips over into true Lovecraft/Barker territory in the final act which has great ambition and nearly works.  Overall The Void is a pleasing and well-made effort that horror fans will enjoy.

VOD: Phantasm RaVager (dir: David Hartman, 2017)

""I'm still trying to make sense of this story of yours..."

Way back at the end of the 1970s, as teenagers we were captivated and somewhat bemused by Don Coscarelli's little indie horror that introduced us to The Tall Man, the Lady In Lavender and the silver spheres.  Now, the long-promised fifth and final chapter of the Phantasm saga arrives after a wait of nearly two decades, without its series director in the big chair, and it is quite a disappointment.   This micro-budget effort - originally conceived as webisodes, and it clearly shows - simply lacks the resources to put on screen a satisfactory ending to the franchise.  Although the Phantasm series is famous for its dream-logic and loose grip on reality and coherence, even by its own standards RaVager has some very weakly-written and unnecessary scenes.  What does work to a large extent is Reggie's framing dementia storyline, which allows for occasionally effective intercutting between 'realities' and leads to a surprisingly emotional ending to his story, but even then this is undermined by an unnecessary tacked-on coda.  To its credit, all the major players return, with the late Angus Scrimm still effective as The Tall Man in his limited final appearance.  There are some nice fan-pleasing moments - the film even manages to find a couple of new twists on the flying spheres - but overall it is a great shame that RaVager is largely underwritten, underpowered, underfunded and not very satisfying.

FILM: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 IMAX 3D (dir: James Gunn, 2017)

"Show time, a-holes!"

What a wonderfully enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. With its potent mix of space opera and soap opera, and starting with an awesome opening credits sequence that shows real scale and ambition as well as making everyone instantly fall in love with Baby Groot if the trailers had not done that already, Vol 2 hits the ground running with now fully-formed characters and a real sense of confidence.  If the first film was about bringing together this mis-matched crew, the second film is firmly about family, both literal and metaphorical, almost to an overwhelming point like the Fast & Furious franchise, but as the issues are largely central to the main plot they are effectively handled.  Visually, the film is gloriously epic and beautifully realised, and James Gunn continues to delight in always looking for the unexpected and hugely effective camera angle, move or framing.  The cast is simply a delight to watch (Drax and Rocket also benefit from better writing and exposure in this film), the funny banter excellently written and delivered superbly.  This is another Marvel winner: energetic, colourful, huge in scale and very entertaining.  (Stay to the very end of the credits for a handful of worthwhile short scenes scattered throughout).

FILM: Their Finest (dir: Lone Scherfig, 2017)

"Authenticity, optimism...and a dog!"

First, the script is an absolute delight, with a well-crafted mix of wit, straight-out humour, sharpness and poignancy, and treading a very fine line between seriousness and comedy.  After a start that is worryingly perhaps a little melodramatic and blunt, the film very quickly settles down to become a wonderfully warm, strongly-written and terrifically-played piece that not only entertains but also delivers more affecting moments on misogyny, the human impact of World War II, ageing and more.  The interplay between life-imitating-art within the movie and real-life propaganda works very effectively and sets up the moving finale well.  Gemma Arterton again proves to be simply a great screen actress, Sam Claflin surprises with excellent work which is by far his strongest character performance yet, and Bill Nighy absolutely nails both the comedic and dramatic aspects of his role. 

FILM: Table 19 (dir: Jeffrey Blitz, 2017)

"You are the President of Idiots!"
"You are the dummy who elected me to Office!"

This film seems to divide viewers strongly.  For me, it is clearly unable to decide whether it is a comedy (severely underpowered) or a drama (paper-thin characters and relentlessly predictable), making Table 19 a very underwhelming experience.  It has one good running gag (thank you, Lisa Kudrow) and one effective moment of character self-realisation (thank you, Wyatt Russell), but largely numbing pacing and tumbleweeds-a-rolling mean that the reasonable cast struggles - even the reliably emotionally-open Anna Kendrick at times finds it hard to land the emotion.  There is a neat concept here of trying to turn the spotlight on the seemingly least significant guests at a wedding, but by sticking too closely to broad or predictable stereotypes and a final confused 'message' that really is perplexing, Table 19 does not really engage.

FILM: Fast and Furious 8 (dir: F. Gary Gray, 2017)

"Rule Number One: know your audience."

How do you follow Number 7's one-and-a-half-billion dollar box office?  More of the same, but even bigger.  Starting off in a (great-looking) Havana with a straight race sequence that hearkens back to the earlier F&Fs, and ending with a Mission:Impossible/James Bond fever-dream, Number 8 does not veer much from the now-established structural template of the series and relies closely on the events and characters of the previous episode (although Number 7 turns out to be a much sharper and more cohesive film overall) and the preceding two films before that.  For a series whose raison d'etre  has become jumping the shark, the demented final act here manages to be entertainingly preposterous, although lacking the true jaw-dropping moments of previous entries and with an obviously heavy reliance on CGI, but it does give Statham the opportunity to enact a brilliantly silly homage to that sequence in Woo's Hard Boiled.  There are numerous fan-pleasing moments, a couple of brutal shocks, a couple of surprises and a lot of humour that oddly the cinema audience was not picking up.  As well as the insane action sequences, there is also some smart deconstruction of the concept of family and some reasonably interesting consideration of fate versus choice at play here.  The core crew of actors delivers admirably (interestingly, Brian and Mia are definitely missed as part of the team), Charlize Theron does a great cool villain, and as pure popcorn entertainment the film delivers very effectively overall.

FILM: Free Fire (dir: Ben Wheatley, 2017)

"Now we're cooking!"

One of the real pleasures of watching a Ben Wheatley film is the security created by his depth of craft and vision, and Free Fire is one of his most riotously entertaining films so far.  This time, the Wheatley/Jump partnership channel 70s exploitation and early Tarantino with a consistently chucklesome script of the darkest and silliest humour, ferociously bold camera coverage in what is essentially a bottle movie, and overall providing a very visceral and immediate experience.  The cast is fantastic and clearly having a great time with the material, including a notably strong performance from Armie Hammer and Sharlto Copley at his sharply-delivered hilarious best.  Quite simply, Free Fire is further proof that Wheatley is one of Britain's best film-makers today, and the film both impresses and entertains hugely.