FILM: The Lego Movie 2 - The Second Part (dir: Mike Mitchell, 2019)

"Did you want to do this in, like, fifteen minutes?"
"Make it a quarter of an hour."

This sequel gives the viewer an even more dementedly breathless battering, never letting up for a moment as its gloriously candy-coloured  world is expanded and throws all manner of visual and verbal jokes at the screen with total abandon.  Indeed, the relatively careful plotting of the first film is abandoned for a hectic and seemingly random mish-mash of ideas that almost hangs together in the final act.  Inevitably, the freshness and the smart closing conceit of the first movie cannot apply here, but all you can do is revel in the mayhem and brace yourself for the onslaught.  It was interesting to note that the adults in the audience were chuckling more than the young children, but then any kids' animated film that can manage a reference to They Live in the first two minutes must be trying to appeal across the board!

FILM: Alita Battle Angel IMAX 3D (dir: Robert Rodriguez, 2019)

"I'm with her."

This huge-scale live-ish action 2019 realisation of Alita works much better than the recent adaptation of  another manga/anime classic, Ghost In The Shell.  The swift and efficient story-setting at the start is matched by excellent detailed visual world-building, and very quickly it becomes clear that the action/fight sequences are brutal, fast and very enjoyable, and also surprisingly violent for a 12A-rated film (no doubt the old 'fantasy violence' excuse comes into play).  Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali and Ed Skrein all deliver well, with Rosa Salazar engaging through the CGI as Alita and even Keean Johnson managing better than most in similar thankless floppy-haired-eyelash-heavy-boyfriend roles, but occasionally the story and motivations are a little fuzzy and underwritten, especially for the antagonists, but overall the writers have condensed the sprawling fiction into a lively and streamlined single movie.  The only other real problem the film has is the over-familiarity of its influences (Robocop, Rollerball, Blade Runner and so on) and products it has subsequently influenced, but it is all done with a lavish budget and state-of-the-art CG and 3D techniques.  It is remarkable to think of Robert Rodriguez's cinematic journey from the micro-budget El Mariachi to the FX-excesses of Alita, and even though this movie has James Cameron stamped all over it, surely this Rodriguez-directed version is a lot more fun and energetic than a full-on Cameron-fest might have been.  This is hard sci-fi that might not find a wider audience, but for fans of the genre, in spite of a couple of narrative hiccups, Alita delivers spectacularly.

FILM: How To Train Your Dragon 3 - The Hidden World (dir: Dean DeBlois, 2019)

REVIEW No. 950!

"I intend to finish what I started."

The trilogy closer of this delightful over-achieving children's animated franchise continues to deliver from the first two films and provides a strong conclusion.  Again, the animation is detailed, fluid and impressive, the characters remain focused and charming, and the coming-of-age stories for both (now Leader) Hiccup and his dragon Toothless are taken another step further.  Storytelling is simple but classic, and whilst it feels a little too long - the first act is surprisingly wordy, and occasional scenes outstay their welcome a little - the dialogue is generally pacy and the story keeps moving along.  This has been one of the more enjoyable children's animated franchises of recent times, and the ending wraps it up most effectively.

FILM: Green Book (dir: Peter Farrelly, 2019)

"Dignity always prevails."

Although the odd-couple pairing of Italian-American Tony hired to drive Dr Shirley - a star African-American pianist - on a tour of the Deep South in the early 1960s might seem to follow a rather obvious path, Green Book is an absolute treat to watch.  Not only does every department score highly - from music amazing set design to cinematography to script - but the two lead performances from Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali are simply superb both as individuals but particularly together.  The film is far funnier than you might expect, again down to the leads but also the wry streak of humour that flows throughout, but the moments where racism comes to the fore are sharp and powerful.  Green Book makes strong points about its times, but it also a hugely enjoyable and heartwarming film to watch.

FILM: Holmes & Watson (dir: Etan Cohen, 2018)

"It reeks of exposed loins!"

Could it really be as bad as the critical consensus made out?  Oh, yes.  Holmes & Watson is a remarkable and staggeringly poor film, and it is incredible that at no point in its creation did anyone have the guts point out its weaknesses.  Two basic rules of comedy are abandoned: shouting does not automatically make lines funny, nor does saying random words in a peculiar manner.  The script is simply bereft of humour, the style is completely and randomly inconsistent, but above all Ferrell and Reilly seem to think they are funny, but the very loose charm of their Step Brothers pairing is woefully absent here.  Apart from one very early bout of slapstick that raises a smile, this really is an unforgivable movie.

FILM: Vice (dir: Adam McKay, 2019)

"What do we...believe?"

Whilst mostly the story of Dick Cheney, whose machinations made him a shadowy but supremely powerful Vice President to George W Bush, this film is also a very sharp social and political survey of the last few decades of the USA from Watergate to 9/11 and beyond.  As Cheney and his wife Lynne, these are the type of character roles that Christian Bale and Amy Adams devour with relish, and indeed they are a pleasure to watch here, with a high-powered supporting cast led by Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell.  McKay uses his same tricksy cinematic and storytelling stylings that he used in The Big Short which always keep the viewer interested (including a glorious fake ending at one point), but overall Vice is a little less compelling and shocking.  Where it does score highly, however, is in conveying how much power can lie in the hands of so few people, and the shifting dominance in the Cheneys' relationship is intriguing, although sadly it is given less attention in the latter part of the film.  Ultimately, Vice presents a heavily-selective, highly-orchestrated and singular viewpoint of events, which nevertheless makes for both entertaining and thoughtful viewing.

FILM: Beautiful Boy (dir: Felix van Groeningen, 2019)

"Know your enemies, right?"

A cameo by Timothy Hutton (as an info-dump doctor) proves an interesting touchstone here, as Beautiful Boy treads a similar path to Hutton's career-turning role as the troubled teen in a fantasy-upper middle-class family in the Oscar-winning Ordinary People nearly four decades ago, then the focus bring mental health, here drug addiction.  Based on a true family case, the film is undoubtedly worthy and earnest, but it also offers little new and leaves no drug-addiction-movie cliché unturned.  Timothee Chalamet clearly invests in portraying the drug-broken young man effectively, Amy Ryan and the wonderful Maura Tierney provide some real authenticity in the rare moments they are allowed to shine as mother and step-mother respectively, and Steve Carell gives another sincere and sympathetic dramatic turn as the committed but despairing father.  As the father becomes increasingly wearied and worn down by the repetitive failings of his son, so too does the viewer with the film, which, in spite of its glossy look, sincere performances and worthy material, does become somewhat flat and tedious to watch.

FILM: Glass IMAX (dir: M. Night Shyamalan, 2019)

"If superheroes exist, why are there only three of them?"

After the surprise revelation at the end of Split, Shyamalan's dual-sequel unites Split and Unbreakable in this interesting mash-up.  Low-budget and low-key, the film makes a generally good job of meshing together the characters and ideas behind the two previous instalments, and whilst many of the plot points are too heavily signposted and talked to death, it does maintain interest.  James McAvoy is once again completely watchable as he delivers multiple personalities impeccably and with impressive turn of speed, Samuel L Jackson certainly knows how to deliver a line, and Bruce Willis shows he still has screen presence and thankfully is not required to show too wide a range here.  The narrative lurches along at times, but Shyamalan directs efficiently if a little unevenly and leads to a reasonable conclusion for the characters.

VOD: Bird Box (dir: Susanne Bier, 2018)

"It's going to be rough...It's going to feel like it's going on for a long time...."

The Netflix sensation that gained huge social media traction, Bird Box is simply a well-mounted but generic post-apocalyptic survival movie, and whilst it has been a convenient short-cut for critics to refer to it as a sight-deprived version of A Quiet Place, it often lacks the depth and real tension of that film.  The descent into social breakdown is never fully explained but is swift and immensely effective in the early part of the film, similar to the opening of Cell or The Happening.  The film switches between telling the early sequence of the 'end of days' and five years later, the flashbacks being significantly more compelling than the present day scenes.  The film looks good, and the Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross soundtrack is one of their more mainstream but extremely good nonetheless.  It all feels very Stephen King-like and lacks surprise, but the material is elevated significantly by an inevitably excellent performance by Sandra Bullock as well as an on-form John Malkovich and Bullock making an great double act with Sarah Paulson as sisters.  

FILM: Stan & Ollie (dir: Jon S. Baird, 2019)

"You are the epitome of Hollywood."
"Don't you pity me!"

This film chooses an interesting part of the comic duo's career - their ultimate tour of the UK in 1953 as they chase an unsuccessful film project - which throws a thoughtful spotlight on their work, lives and friendship.  Setting the scene with an opening moment at their most successful time and showing the incident that created a schism in their personal and professional relationships, the time-jump forward to the twilight of their career shows the two men in very different places but with their undying friendship.  Like the duo's films, Stan & Ollie is whimsical, genuine and shot through with great stabs of melancholy, all delivered through Jeff Pope's wonderful script and Jon S. Baird's clear direction.  As Oliver Hardy, John C. Reilly gives one of his best performances, but Steve Coogan is awards-worthy as the open, hard-working and committed Stan Laurel.  Also of note are Nina Arianda and Shirley Henderson as the hilarious but loving chalk-and-cheese wives ("Two double-acts for the price of one!") and an archly ripe turn by Rufus Jones as their UK agent Bernard Delfont.  With peerless recreations of their craft both on-stage and reflected in real-life scenes (The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine is recreated gloriously, for example), Stan & Ollie is charming and beautifully-observed, making it a real treat of a film to watch.