Film Reviews

FILM OF THE WEEK

THE SUICIDE SQUAD in IMAX

The worst super villains are back following their first prison outing under David Ayer’s direction for SUICIDE SQUAD in 2016. Viola Davis returns as Amanda Waller, the government official who assigns the criminals to a deadly mission in exchange for a reduction to their sentence at Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the U.S. Margot Robbie is also back as Harley Quinn, the psychotic villain who fell in love with Joker in the last movie. She is still as mad as ever and is thrilled to join a new assignment on the remote island of Corto Maltese with a new team that includes Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena) and King Shark (voice by Sylvester Stallone)…
Writer/director James Gunn adapts the comic book with style and flair and delivers highly impressive action sequences that look splendid on the giant IMAX screen. Robbie continues her scene stealing performance with much gusto and brio while Elba is a strong presence as ever. It is certainly a huge improvement on the muddled plot of the original and here THE GUARDIAN OF THE GALAXY director brings humour and lots of energy to the proceedings that will give a lot of pleasure to the plethora of fans of the genre. Perfect summer blockbuster entertainment!

JUNGLE CRUISE

This is inspired by a Disneyland theme park ride, In similar fashion to THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN – a crazy adventure which begins in Victorian London before it moves to the Amazon. Dr Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) travels to the Amazon jungle in search of an ancient tree with amazing healing powers. Lily’s nerdy brother (Jack Whitehall) comes along for the ride, and it is not too long before they recruit the services of mischievous skipper Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) and his rundown boat for the downriver journey on La Quila…
Blunt is delicious as the feisty heroine and shares an appealing chemistry with Johnson – an unusual pairing that recalls films like THE AFRICAN QUEEN or perhaps ROMANCING THE STONE. The set pieces are impressive with clever use of CGI, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a beginning of a new franchise.

LIMBO

A powerful, urgent piece of filmmaking from Ben Sharrock, who photographs the beautiful yet harsh Scottish landscape as if it is one of his protagonists. His eloquent screenplay follows the story of Omar (Amir El-Masry), a young Syrian musician seeking asylum but is stuck on a remote Scottish island amongst a group of other young hopefuls from other countries eagerly waiting news about their fate…
There have been several films throughout the years focusing on the plight of asylum seekers like LEAVE TO REMAIN and most recently THE FLOOD, but here promising filmmaker Sharrock offers a much more poetic and lyrical look at these poor people’s unfortunate predicament. Worth discovering! (MUBI)

FIRST COW

Kelly Reichard’s illustrious career first came to prominence with OLD JOY in 2006 and has been going from strength to strength with many outstanding features like MEEK’S CUTTOFF and CERTAIN WOMEN along the way. Now, in this western, she examines a priceless friendship between a cook (John Magaro) and a Chinese immigrant (Orion Lee) both seeking the American Dream. These two loners join forces in Oregon Territory with a smart enterprise to make quick money before they move down to San Francisco…
Reichard is a true visionary and photographs the magnificent landscape like no other filmmaker. Every frame is a work of art in one of the most compelling and essential films of the year! (MUBI)

THE HUMAN VOICE

Spanish maestro Pedro Almodóvar adapts freely Jean Cocteau’s short stage play for the screen, the source also for his WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. During the solo play a distressed woman is on the phone to her lover who is about to leave her for another woman and here in his first English speaking film Almodóvar opens the action in a shop where Tilda Swinton’s protagonists buys an axe before she moves into her luxurious apartment for the fatal phone call.
It is classy and stylish with a scarlet looking Swinton delivering a sharp performance but curiously lacking in vulnerability! (MUBI)

OLD

M. Night Shyamalan’s intriguing new film is based on Pierre Oscar Levy’s graphic novel “Sandcastle” which follows the story of an American family on a tropical holiday in an idyllic location. They can’t believe their luck especially after they are selected to join a small group to a secluded beach which at first seems like the ideal place to relax, but soon enough they realise that “there’s something wrong with this beach”…
Gael Garcia Bernal and Vicky Krieps struggle to make their banal dialogue work as the parents before they finally give in to Shymalan’s approximate direction and uninspired screenplay. Still, it will keep you hooked and mesmerised until the preposterous climax!

THE OFFERING: A fascinating psychological drama from Spain’s Ventura Durall, who tells the story of Jan, a man still haunted by past events that led him lose the love of his life, but now he concocts a complex plan to win back Violetta’s heart…The action blended with flashback sequences, when the two protagonists were young, is suitably intriguing thanks to elegant performances and Durall’s sensitive direction.

HOW TO DETER A ROBBER: This enjoyable dark comedy follows the story of Madison and her boyfriend Jimmy- two amateur detectives determined to outsmart the robbers that terrorise their neighbourhood…It is good natured and fun with watchable performances but overall, it lacks tension and suspense.

I NEVER CRY: This compelling Polish Irish coproduction is written and directed by Piotr Damalewski, who tells the story of Ola (Zofia Stafiej), a fearless teenager from Poland on a mission to bring back home her father’s body from Ireland…It is a fine study of a young woman’s determination to achieve her goal despite the immense bureaucratic and financial problems she is forced to face in an inhospitable land. (Eureka)

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