FILM: Blinded By The Light (dir: Gurinder Chadha, 2019)

"Is that Billy Joel?"

The latest music-legend-driven film in the current popular cycle, Blinded By The Light proves to be an occasionally confusing and frustrating viewing experience, but it certainly is very entertaining and warm-hearted indeed.  The first act sets about establishing the film's 1980s Luton setting with the predictably loud hair and fashion, accompanied by a killer soundtrack of everyone's 7" vinyl pop collection from that era, before introducing antagonist Javed (a wonderful performance by Viveik Kalra) to the music of Bruce Springsteen, and from then on it is The Boss's music that provides the background and impetus of the story.  There are lots of supporting performances to enjoy, Springsteen's golden era tracks are unquestionably a joy to hear loud in a cinema, and the coming-of-age story staples used here actually mean something when placed in the context of destructive Thatcherism, racism and cultural loyalty.  When the film embraces wholeheartedly the quasi-jukebox-musical style silliness, it works beautifully, and when the film takes a step back to breathe and allow the actors to engage with real drama, it shows real depth, but there are a few times when the film falls between the two styles and displays a stilted artificiality that lacks conviction in both writing and performance.  Overall, however, Blinded By The Light is an entertaining and engaging film that has ideas and uses the Springsteen music and ideas to very good effect.

FILM: The Sun Is Also A Star (dir: Ry Russo-Young, 2019)

"No one ever does that."
"What?"
"Look up."

This love letter to the city of New York and to romantics everywhere plays like a younger-targeted and very contemporary version of Linklater's Before... trilogy   Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton are both charming and easily likable leads, and even though we are firmly in romantic fantasy territory here, they play their individual roles and the couple with very watchable appeal.  The lack of of reality in the storylining is a given for the genre, but the eclectic mix of songs and music on the soundtrack adds freshness, and the cinematography brings a real vibrancy and beauty to its depiction of a romanticised New York.  The Sun... is a cut above the standard young romance movies of late and very watchable indeed, and it will be interesting to see its two talented young stars in future roles.

FILM: Horrible Histories The Movie - Rotten Romans (dir: Dominic Brigstocke, 2019)

"High V!"

Hardly lavishly cinematic, the TV show's transition to the big screen does make an effort to appear a bit more expansive but essentially plays like a TV special.  The movie will work well with the younger fans of the series, but to adults the very hit-and-miss jokes and lulls in advancement may be trying, and the signature music numbers will induce eye-rolling.  The young cast members are pleasant, and the numerous veteran Brit-com actors clearly enjoy themselves.  There are some nicely-used running gags, Craig Roberts is always watchable as the petulant childish young Nero, and the whole enterprise is harmless but hardly essential.

FILM: The Angry Birds Movie 2 (dir: Thorup van Orman, 2019)

"DUCK!"

The sequel to the surprisingly entertaining 2015 movie sticks to the formula and provides more silly, colourful fun.   A lot of mileage is derived from the typical set-up of the birds and their pig enemies having to work together, uniting against attacks from an Ice Island led by a deliriously deranged eagle.  There is a nicely-developed sub-plot involving the hatchlings, and hero Red has an effective arc, but mostly this film is all about the quick-fire barrage of visual, verbal and physical gags that mostly play well.

FILM: Fast and Furious - Hobbs & Shaw IMAX (dir: David Leitch, 2019)

"Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Of course I think you're stupid!"

The first spin-off from the Fast and Furious franchise pretty much delivers everything you would expect: the one-liners, the banter, uber-macho posturing, physics-bending (and spectacular) set pieces...everything you could want from a big dumb Friday-night popcorn movie.  Director Leitch as expected does a great job of marshalling the whipcrack-fast, high-end action, with one truly jaw-dropping moment in the final extended smackdown, which all meets the franchise fans' expectations.  There is surprisingly less humour than might be expected, as it is mostly delivered with great seriousness for two cartoon-like characters.  Johnson does what he does effortlessly, with no room for nuance or characterisation; Statham is again great value in this renaissance of his career; Idris Elba makes for a powerful and convincing nemesis; and, as Shaw's sister, Vanessa Kirby is a strong and engaging  addition.  With the sequel-baiting ending clearly signposting more to come, Hobbs & Shaw is not up there with the best of the parent franchise, but it is pacy and well-crafted action entertainment in its own right.

VOD: Papillon (dir: Michael Noer, 2019)

"Do you think a person knows when he is going mad?  Or do you think it is blissful ignorance?"

This somewhat unnecessary remake is very much on current trend, eschewing the more lurid and pulpy qualities of the 1973 original to present a relentlessly grim, dour and at times dull version of the classic prison tale.  Charlie Hunnam is in his very-serious-acting mode which for the most part plays well, but Rami Malek would not expect an Oscar nomination for this one.  The film has an interesting melancholic score, it is well shot, but it is also an unnecessarily very long slog.

VOD: Escape Room (dir: Adam Robitel, 2019)

"Survival is a choice."

This glossy and slick Saw/Final Destination/Cube/Hostel-lite holds very few surprises but is executed well.  The six predictably mis-matched players drawn into an immersive escape-room set-up are played solidly by the game cast, set and technical design are good and effective for this scale of film, and whilst the attempt to tie in the characters' back stories does not quite convince, the story moves along apace and interest is maintained, with some appropriate nuances to the well-worn path -especially towards the end - to be enjoyed along the way.

FILM: Toy Story 4 (dir: Josh Cooley, 2019)

"OK, I get it - it's been a while."

Elephant in the room: given the perfect trilogy-closer that preceded it, there is no reason for this film to exist other than commercial needs.  Mercifully, Pixar have delivered and not disappointed; Toy Story 4 is funny, sweet and very entertaining, if not quite at the level of the first three films.  As expected, the film looks fantastic, storytelling and the little details are very good, and apart from one extended sequence towards the end that goes on just a bit too long, the characters we all love are used to great effect, including the retooled 2019-savvy update of Bo Peep and the delightful new character Forky, who seemed to be an instant hit with the young children in the cinema audience.  Interestingly, Toy Story 3 provided very emotional closure for the audience, whilst here Toy Story 4 provides closure for the characters.  If occasionally more in tune with the half-hour made-for-TV specials, it is good to see the characters back on the big screen in this generally befitting movie.

VOD: Rim Of The World (dir: McG, 2019)

"If I see a clown on a tricycle, I'm out!"

This Netflix teen movie is one of those oddities whereby the film's rating (15) is higher than the age of its protagonists (13), and thus seems slightly gory and aggressive for its presumably intended young teenage audience.  The opening scenes are groan-inducing, awash with embarrassing stereotyping and poor dialogue, as we meet four mis-matched summer campers who are forced together when alien invasion ruins their vacation.  However, once the action starts the film has many lively moments, well presented as expected by director McG.  The tick-the-box PC casting is obvious, but the young actors handle themselves well and come across with a vibe of the Stranger Things cast, and whilst the very genre-aware references are fun, large chunks of storyline are Independence Day genre staples.   No doubt this film will play well with teenagers with little experience of the sci-fi/action genre, who will enjoy the banter and the battle scenes.

VOD: The Wandering Earth (dir: Frant Gwo, 2019)

"Best of luck to Earth!"

If nothing else, it is an interesting exercise to watch this Chinese mega-blockbuster that is showing on Netflix.  This is Chinese film meeting Hollywood sci-fi-disaster movie head on and then some, with the daftest high concept premise imaginable that bears no scrutiny whatsoever: faced with a dying Sun, move the entire Earth to a new solar system!  The main influence here seems to be the Roland Emmerich movies such as 2012, Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, but written and presented on an incredibly huge scale, and - most surprisingly - the effects work mostly holds up and delivers.  As expected of the Far East style, the acting is suitably unrestrained to Western viewers, but the (preposterous) storytelling hangs together, spectacle is the order of the day and The Wandering Earth is unexpectedly and absurdly entertaining.