FILM: Captain Underpants - The First Epic Movie (dir: David Soren, 2017)

"Well, that was invigorating!"

Bringing Captain Underpants to the big screen, this is clearly a lower-league DreamWorks animation but it has a lot going for it.  George and Harold, our two young (and quite endearing) protagonists and comic-book creators of the film's eponymous hero, frequently break the fourth wall and share a warm friendship that gives the movie heart, ultimately bringing their superhero creation to life by hypnotising their fun-hating headteacher.  The animation is simple but fluid and colourful for its budget level, and whilst squarely aimed at young children (although adults will find themselves smiling at times in spite of themselves!), it has sufficient creativity and (slightly) anarchic energy to get by.  Pitched somewhere between the Peanuts cartoons and the Wimpy Kid movies, Captain Underpants is a mild and inoffensive offering that is not up there with the big hitters, but it is pleasant and enjoyable enough.

FILM: Dunkirk IMAX (dir: Christopher Nolan, 2017)

"We have a job to do."

This is nothing like a typical World War II, and you will not be prepared for the experience it offers.   Dunkirk is an extraordinary and magnificent movie.  The tension and impact is there from the very start, and it never lets up, with the clever interplay of three main narrative strands (Fionn Whitehead's young soldier trying to leave the Dunkirk beach, Tom Hardy's fighter pilot and Mark Rylance as the skipper of one of the civilian rescue armada's tiny boats) and a completely visceral and emotion-shredding visual and aural assault on the senses (especially in IMAX) that is overwhelming.  Hans Zimmer provides an incredible score/soundscape that gives an effectively contemporary edge and complements the sounds of warfare brilliantly as well as generating fantastic tension.  The film is deceptively simple in its pared-back dialogue, limited colour palette (that pays off at the end) and very focused locations and narrative, but every frame counts and is superbly constructed.  The uniformly excellent performances are naturalistic to the point of understatement, with the (at times) almost documentary style of shooting giving the film a raw and utterly credible feel, with no room for sentimentality or Hollywood tropes.  The term 'visionary' is too often thrown about for lesser directors, but the term definitely applies to Christopher Nolan, and this is his best work so far.  

FILM: Cars 3 3D (dir: Brian Fee, 2017)

"Looking for your lost mojo?"

This bizarre franchise trundles on, fuelled by stellar merchandise sales and mystifying everyone but the very young, who must be sorely tested by this third outing.  The first film was all about the concept, the second a chaotic genre-pastiching mess, but this third one is unexpectedly stripped back in terms of story and fully focused on character and dialogue, leading to some very heavy and wordy scenes  Taking some story beats from the middle Rocky films, the big themes of ageing and new technology are rather adult-targeted, even if delivered by cute animated talking cars.  The ridiculously high budget for Cars 3 is gloriously evident on screen: some of the photorealism in exterior scenes is outstanding, a couple of set-pieces are stunningly realised - the animation in the Crazy-8 demolition derby sequence in particular is hugely impressive - and the lighting job in this film is a technical triumph.  As a dramatic piece, Cars 3 does work to a large extent and may well be the best of the three, but it seems curiously at odds with its target audience.

FILM: War For The Planet Of The Apes 3D (dir: Matt Reeves, 2017)

"They said you were smart, but that's impressive."

The 2010s incarnation of the Planet Of the Apes franchise has surprised with its intelligence and quality, with War... providing a superb (and possibly trilogy-closing) film that is emotionally challenging, extremely well-made and utterly compelling from start to finish.  Starting off as a war film that pitches somewhere between Aliens and Apocalypse Now, it smartly moves forward to take in tropes from the western and prison genres and also addressing war on the large and personal scales.  It is a beautifully shot movie, mostly placed in grim wintry settings that look epic on the big screen.  Matt Reeves does a stunning job of not only marshalling the big sequences but also creating extraordinarily affecting single moments, Michael Giacchino's score is often deceptively subtle in its impact, and Andy Serkis's creation of Caesar is a simply remarkable performance, with Woody Harrelson at his best as the lead human antagonist.  The third act lead-up to the amazing double-finale is perhaps a shade too long, but this is a minor quibble in this impressive and wonderful movie that is both a technical and emotional triumph.

FILM: Spider-Man Homecoming IMAX 3D (dir: Jon Watts, 2017)

"You're terrible at keeping secrets."
"You'd be surprised."

It has become increasingly clear just how important was the short appearance by Spider-Man in Captain America - Civil War, and this third big-screen iteration in the last two decades more than fulfils the promise of that brief introduction and quickly dispels any worries about hasty rebooting.  Homecoming is fun, funny, thrilling and hugely entertaining throughout.  A key factor is Tom Holland's terrific performance, instantly likable and conveying infectious enthusiasm and energy, whilst showing continued development as a very strong young actor (as introduced in 2012's memorable The Impossible) in delivering spot-on humour and drama.  Also, the film is notably written for a truly younger teenage protagonist and for the contemporary teenage audience, giving it an almost relentless pace and entertaining secondary characters, particularly Zendaya as the off-centre Michelle and Jacob Batalon as Peter's endearing best friend Ned.  Keaton makes for a good antagonist as The Vulture with an effective narrative arc that also manages one terrific surprise if you do not see it coming.  Indeed, Homecoming is a very well-written film, not just in its snappy dialogue but in the amount of plot content over its two-hours running time and its very secure references that link Spider-Man and this film's story into the MCU very effectively.  The action/fight set-pieces are pacy and ambitious, with the Washington Monument sequence and the superbly-constructed finale as stand-outs.  As a bonus, the final ten seconds of the film got one of the biggest cinema audience laughs of this year!   Homecoming is a delightful, pleasing and thoroughly entertaining popcorn movie, ably demonstrating that there is plenty of life left in Marvel yet.

FILM: Despicable Me 3 3D (dirs: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin and Eric Guillon, 2017)

"Life is like that sometimes: you're hoping for a unicorn, you get a goat."

Although Despicable Me 2 did mega-box office, it was an adequate film at best.  This threequel puts a bit more of the focus back on Gru and creates a stronger central storyline, but even then sidelines the Minions into their own subplots instead of integrating them properly into the story.  Fallen 80s child-star villain Balthazar Bratt is a fun creation ("Dance fight!") and Gru's newly-discovered twin Dru is again well-voiced by Steve Carell, but both characters could have been given a little more to do in the overall film - the children and Kristen Wiig's Lucy are all but sidelined.  Despicable Me 3 is well made - the character animation is particularly impressive, 3D perhaps less so here - but it is no Pixar movie for sure, and the thin and slightly messy story underwhelms for anyone above the very young target audience.

FILM: Baby Driver (dir: Edgar Wright, 2017)

"I'm drivin'."

If Edgar Wright's mission statement for this movie had been 'be cool and be entertaining', then Baby Driver meets expectations and succeeds fully.  The sheer joy of making this film leaps off the screen ranging from the big set-pieces (which are at times gob-smacking) to the endlessly cool and well-chosen soundtrack (to which the foley artists and editors take syncing the sound effects to new heights) to the evident glee of the performers.  It is an eclectic but immensely strong cast: Ansel Elgort absolutely nails the lead role, Kevin Spacey does his hilarious/menacing shtick with aplomb, whilst supporting cast such as Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal and Eliza Gonzalez create real characters.  Baby Driver might not be particularly original or memorable, but as an action movie it really motors along (sorry!), it leads to a great finale that really delivers, and as pure big screen entertainment it simply works to the max.

VOD: Moonlight (dir: Barry Jenkins, 2017)

"At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you wanna be."

In a year when any of three truly outstanding films could have walked away with the Best Picture Oscar (LaLa Land and Manchester By the Sea also fully deserving), Moonlight was (eventually!) announced the winner, and a superb film it is too.  It feels like an old-school low-budget indie (which of course it is), but it is simply so well made and performed in every aspect.  It also surprisingly echoes another recent Oscar-winner - Boyhood - with its harsh coming-of-age story told in three stages but here by three different actors, all of whom excel in conveying the very personal issues of black and gay identity with searing honesty and sympathy.   In supporting roles, Mahershala Ali (as the youngest Chiron's mentor) and Naomie Harris (Chiron's drug-addicted mother) give brilliant character performances that are an absolute joy to watch.  Director Barry Jenkins and cinematographer James Laxton work so hard to give the film its direct simplicity in construction and look that is frequently beautiful and powerful, and whilst primarily exploring important issues of ethnicity and sexuality, Moonlight manages to be universal and never forgets the importance of compelling character-building and storytelling, making this a truly memorable film.

FILM: Transformers - The Last Knight 3D IMAX (dir: Michael Bay, 2017)

"Now I welcome the End Of Days!"

You emerge from the cinema fearing that you have missed entire seasons by the time this fifth Transformers live-action movie comes to an end, and it feels like you have been watching it for even longer.  From the outset, this is another preposterously noisy, messy and huge-scale movie (aided well by native IMAX 3D shooting) by which the viewer is beaten senseless quite early on, meaning that by the time it reaches its insanely huge third act it almost loses sense and meaning.  The effect of the writers room approach shows clearly, written for action beats rather than narrative and emotional beats, but the dialogue is largely woeful almost to the point of self-parody, especially the dreadful and frequent attempts at humour that persistently fall flat, even with the introduction of more comedy sidekick robots that derailed the second movie.  Being UK-centred, there is a different look in evidence (especially the London and Oxford chase scenes, and the underwater/Stonehenge sequences at the end), with Anthony Hopkins giving a very knowing performance, Mark Wahlberg reliably trying to engage throughout and Laura Haddock getting a Megan Fox makeover.  Dark Of The Moon and (to a fair extent) Age Of Extinction showed a greater and more effective control of tone and structure; if you want the big-bang robots 'n' explosions, then The Last Knight delivers admirably, but - like Revenge Of The Fallen - it offers little more.

FILM: Gifted (dir: Marc Webb, 2017)

CELEBRATING OVER 100,000 VISITORS!

"You drive like an old lady."
"It's Florida.  I'm fitting in."

Gifted takes director Marc Webb back to his pre-Amazing Spider-Man days of small, intimate human stories, and whilst there is little that is original about the story of Gifted (orphaned child maths prodigy ends up being battled over by her grounded carer/uncle and her ambitious grandmother), this film certainly demonstrates the old adage that you do not have to re-invent the wheel, just make a very, very good one.  Webb's skill as a director is highly evident on screen in this superbly crafted and handsome-looking film as well as in the performances he enables, and the key players - Chris Evans, Lindsay Duncan, Octavia Spencer and the young McKenna Grace - are all excellent, notably in the delightful on-screen relationship between Evans and Grace.  The film engages throughout, and it provides two movie-magic heartmelting moments and two emotional wallops in the second half.  By turns amusing, thoughtful and emotional, Gifted is a very well-made and well-performed film that always feels sincere.