Director:
Julius Onah
(Netflix)
The third
of the Cloverfield movies, this is set on a space laboratory where a
team of scientists are trying to solve the world's power crisis. What
could possibly go wrong? Parallel universe theory gives the director
a chance to play with some gory scenarios, interesting protagonist
dynamics, grim humour and weird science. A disaster movie in horror
movie clothing with an ensemble cast including: Gugu Mbatha-Raw,
David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl,
John Ortiz, Chris O'Dowd, Aksel Hennie, Ziyi Zang, Elizabeth Debicki
and Roger Davies.
Three
out of five stars
*****
*****
Thor
Ragnarok (12A)
Director:
Taika Waititi
(Amazon)
The next
Marvel instalment of superhero mayhem starts tying together the
various franchises towards this summer's Avengers:Infinity War. Thor,
Loki and The Hulk team up in an action packed brawl set across the
Guardians of the Galaxy universe as Thor tries to save Asgard from a
new enemy, his big sister Hera. A big, fun, brightly imagined slab of
superheroness. Break out the popcorn and enjoy.
All star
cast includes: Jeff Goldblum, Anthony Hopkins, Cate Blanchett, Idris
Elba, Mark Ruffalo, Karl Urban, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth and
Tessa Thompson
Four
out of five stars
*****
*****
Kingsman:
The Golden Circle (15)
Director:
Matthew Vaughn
(Amazon)
Unfortunately
this follow up to the first Kingsman fails to grow into anything
particularly likeable which is a shame as the franchise could have
become a teen Bond/The Avengers. What should have been smart, funny
and slick gets weighed down by caricature and 70's vulgarity. The
plot is psycho woman, holding world to ransom, gets arse kicked by
man spies...
The cast
includes: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Julianne Moore and
Hannah Alström
Two
out of five stars
*****
*****
Altered
Carbon ~ Season 1 (18)
Creator:
Laeta Kalogridis
(Netflix)
A much
anticipated adaptation of Richard K Morgan's cyberpunk book, this
complicated dystopian sci-fi series places a digitally reanimated
long-dead warrior in the body of a dead cop working the case of a
rich man's murder to gain freedom from prison. The plot interweaves
the main character's dual stories against a backdrop of sex and
violence in a world where endless digital life has muted morality.
Interesting and quirky enough fantasy to watch to the convoluted,
bloody end. Cast includes: Joel Kinnaman, Will Yun Lee, James
Purefoy, Martha Higareda, Chris Conner and Dichen Lachman.
Three
out of five stars
*****
*****
Travelers
~ Season 2 (15)
Creator:
Brad Wright
(Netflix)
In this
second series the team of intrepid mind-time-travelling specialists
continue to save the world, beamed back in time and taking over the
bodies and lives of a disparate group of people. They battle past and
future foes in order to reshape the past to save the future. Set in
the present, this series avoids overblown special effects and keeps
the plot firmly human-centric. Cast includes:
Eric McCormack, MacKenzie Porter, Nesta Cooper, Jared
Abrahmson, Reilly Dolman, Leah Cairns and Patrick Gilmore
Three out of five stars
*****
*****
Star Trek Discovery (12)
Creators:
Bryan Fuller & Alex Curtzman
(Amazon)
Star Trek
Discovery boldly travels back in time to reboot this franchise with a
prequel to the original mission. It also steps into uncharted space
with Machiavellian main characters, violence and more torturous
violence. The re-imagining of old foes, spaceships and Trek lore is curiously unbalanced for example, while the Klingons are unrecognisable,
verbose and ready-wrapped in tinfoil, the Vulcans are unchanged.
There is a plot twist to shake up and make sense of it all but it is
far too late in the series. This new Star Trek series is fleshed out
with some cute sideline crew stories and great female leads but it
seems to want to both embrace and stomp on what has gone
before.
In an overcrowded fantasy/superhero market there was a chance
to spearhead some space science backed with a bit of soul-searching
and fast-thinking action. If there is a second series of this space
opera, let's hope it tries to find a more hopeful vision, it doesn't
have to be politically correct but it does need to be likeable.
Cast
includes: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony
Rapp and Mary Wiseman.
Two out
of five stars
*****
*****
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