Free Birds (2013) 8/10

Starring : Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler, George Takei, Colm Meaney, Keith David, Dan Fogler
Director : Jimmy Hayward
Running Time : 92 mins

Reggie (Wilson) is a turkey who has discovered that he and his fellow birds are going to be slaughtered for Thanksgiving. When he is kidnapped by another turkey named Jake (Harrelson), he finds himself taken to a secret underground lair that contains a time machine, and is thrust into the past as part of Jake’s plan to end the Thanksgiving tradition of eating turkeys.

I went into this blind, suspecting it would be another Barnyard or Over The Hedge. Instead this is a bizarre time-travel comedy-romance that whizzes along at breakneck speed, delivering laughs and action as it goes. It’s nice to see one of the lesser known animation studios deliver such an action packed comedy that will appeal to both children and adults alike, and here’s hoping their next effort is just as good.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Nut Job

Road Train (2010) 4/10

Starring : Xavier Samuel, Bob Morley, Georgina Haig, Sophie Lowe, David Argue
Director : Dean Francis
Running Time : 91 mins

When four Australian teenagers get run off the road by a Road Train, they find themselves injured and trapped in the wilderness. When they spot that the truck that ran them off the road is parked a short distance from their location, they decide to steal it when someone starts taking pot shots at them. It isn’t long before they realise that there is something very strange about the truck they now find themselves driving around in.

This movie started off like a standard horror flick, and then went downhill. Apparently, and this might be a spoiler, the truck was controlling people and forcing them to feed it fuel in the shape of human corpses. I just shook my head at how stupid this concept was, and also that this was an unfunny rip-off of Blood Car. Steer clear, this may start off okay, but this isn’t worth sticking around for.

You’ll like this if you liked : Maximum Overdrive

The Mortal Instruments : City Of Bones (2013) 5/10

Starring : Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan , Kevin Zegers, Lena Headey, Kevin Durand, Aidan Turner, Jemima West, Godfrey Gao, CCH Pounder, Jared Harris
Director : Harald Zwart
Running Time : 130 mins

When Clary Fray (Collins) starts seeing strange runes everywhere she goes, she soon discovers that she is descended from a line of half-angel demon killers called Shadowhunters. Joining forces with a group of these half-angels, Clary finds herself launched into a magical world of good versus evil.

This had potential, and this feels like a world that is filled with possibilities, but the lazy execution made this a troubling and confusing movie. Nothing is really explained (exposition is sometimes necessary) and the powers of the characters are ridiculously convenient. Things happen to characters that are later largely ignored, and the relationships between the characters have little or no relation to what they have been through together, some of them being spelled out to us and others just randomly occurring as if from nowhere. I haven’t read the books, but I’d like to just to give Cassandra Clare the benefit of the doubt. Plus, carving runes into people’s arms? Talk about promoting self-harm!!

You’ll like this if you liked : Eclipse

Thor : Tales Of Asgard (2011) 7/10

Starring : Matt Wolf, Rick Gomez, Tara Strong, Alistair Abell, Paul Dobson, Brent Chapman, Chris Britton, Ron Halder, Cathy Weseluck, Michael Dobson, John Novak
Director : Sam Liu
Running Time : 74 mins

A young Thor (Wolf) has been told by his father Odin (Britton) that he is not to leave Asgard due to the dangers of the surrounding worlds. So, along with his half-brother Loki (Gomez), he stows aboard the vessel of the Warriors Three, Fandral (Abell), Hogun (Dobson) and Volstagg (Chapman), in order to journey in search of the fabled Sword of Surtur, but accidentally starts a war with the frost giants.

Again the team behind the direct-to-video Marvel animated movies has decided that their audience want to see kids as the heroes of their films, something that is even reflected in the animation style. Like Next Avengers, this is clearly aimed at a far younger audience and, because of this, alienates the older viewers from the outset. But if you give it a chance it is actually far better than Next Avengers and some very interesting character development for both Thor and Loki, plus a neat plot twist towards the end.

You’ll like this if you liked : Next Avengers : Heroes Of Tomorrow

Captain America : The Winter Soldier (2014) 9/10

Starring : Chris Evans, Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders
Director : Anthony & Joe Russo
Running Time : 136 mins

Having awoken in the present day after years spent in suspended animation, Steve Rogers (Evans) faces a world where villainy isn’t as obvious as it once was. When it comes to light that SHIELD has been infiltrated by its enemies, and that SHIELD director Nick Fury (Jackson) has been killed by the mysterious Winter Soldier, Steve dons his guise as Captain America and finds himself on the run, believed to be an enemy of the state.

This is such a different movie to The First Avenger that it is hard to compare them. Evans does a fantastic job in the lead, with Jackson actually doing some work to earn his credit in the movie. The plot, if you know anything about the comic books, is predictable but if you don’t then the set up for the identity of the Winter Soldier is pretty subtle. A great movie which, in many ways other than visual spectacle, surpasses Avengers Assemble.

You’ll like this if you liked : Captain America : The First Avenger

Justice League : Doom (2012) 7/10

Starring : Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg, Nathan Fillion, Carl Lumbly, Michael Rosenbaum, Bumper Robinson, Phil Morris
Director : Lauren Montgomery
Running Time : 77 mins

The Justice League find themselves facing off against some of their greatest enemies in the form of the Legion Of Doom – lead by the immortal super villain Vandal Savage (Morris) - and each member of the League is taken out one by one, with the use of plans compiled by Batman (Conroy) in the event that one of the Leagues members should turn on the others. They soon discover that the reason behind their attack is a plan to use a solar flare to destroy half of the planet, and the Legion wanted the League out of the way so they could complete their plan for world domination.

Fans of the DC universe will love this movie which, although it has an engaging character driven storyline, also features a hell of a lot of one-on-one fight scenes with everyone’s favourite characters. DC have gone back to the standard Warner Brothers animation. Which I like, and the characterizations are great, with many voice actors returning to roles they have played before (Fillion as Green Lantern is perfect).

You’ll like this if you liked : Justice League : Crisis On Two Earths

White House Down (2013) 8/10

Starring : Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, James Woods
Director : Roland Emmerich
Running Time : 127 mins

Failed secret service applicant John Cale (Tatum) takes his daughter Emily (King) on a tour of the White House as part of an attempt to help strengthen their relationship, but when terrorists attack the White House and his daughter goes missing, Cale is forced to do everything in his power to save her. In his search, he comes across President James Sawyer (Foxx) and finds himself acting as his protection duty.

From the outset this movie sounds like nothing more than another version of Olympus Has Fallen, which came out in the same year, but having watched both I actually thought this was the superior of the two movies. The characters are more lively, and have more personality, and there’s actually a much-needed injection of humour in the movie that was largely absent from Olympus. Fans of big budget action movies will really get a kick out of this.

You’ll like this if you liked : Die Hard

Billy Elliot (2000) 8/10

Starring : Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Jean Heywood, Jamie Draven, Gary Lewis
Director : Stephen Daldry
Running Time : 106 mins

While training at his boxing class in Durham, eleven year old Billy Elliot (Bell) discovers a liking for ballet, but with his father Jackie (Draven) and his older brother Tony (Lewis) stressing over the mining strikes he finds himself torn between his newfound love of dance and his loyalty to his family, and he is forced to decide between the two when he is offered an audition at the Royal Ballet in London.

This would have been a great kid’s film if all the swearing had have been removed, but this is still a good film even if young children can’t see it. Bell is great in the lead role, and the supporting cast keep things dark in what could otherwise have been a bright and fluffy flick. My only gripe is the ending – set in the future – so we don’t get to see Jamie Bell as Billy performing Swan Lake.

You’ll like this if you liked : This Is England

A Million Ways To Die In The West (2014) 7/10

Starring : Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, Liam Neeson
Director : Seth MacFarlane
Running Time : 116 mins

Albert (MacFarlane) is a lazy sheepherder living in the old West whose girlfriend Louise (Seyfried) has left him after he backs out of a duel. When he meets Anna (Theron), a woman who is new to town, they come up with a ploy for him to win back his lady by training as a gunfighter, but Anna’s husband is the dangerous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Neeson), and he doesn’t take kindly to folk messing with his woman.

After the disaster that was Ted, and the fact that Family Guy has been on a steady decline for over a decade, I really didn’t expect much from this effort. Surprisingly there were a few laughs, mostly uncomfortable ones, but not as many as you’d hope for in a modern comedy. As usual with MacFarlane, there were some unnecessary racist jokes and observations (since when is calling someone yellow a slur against the Chinese?), and the strongest moments were probably the scenes that didn’t feature MacFarlane such as those between Ribisi and Silverman which were pretty funny. Fans of MacFarlane (of which I’m guessing there are millions) will no doubt find this appealing, otherwise steer clear.

You’ll like this if you liked : Anchorman 2 : The Legend Continues

American High School Teen Party (2008) 7/10

Starring : Larry Miller, Tara Reid, Gary Lundy, Kayla Ewell, Lea Thompson
Director : Nick Weiss
Running Time : 86 mins

Adam Harris (Lundy) accidentally reveals the location of this years senior skip day party to principal Dickwalder (Miller), everyone hates him for ruining their good time. So, in order to make amends, he decides to organise a replacement party at his house.

Generally known as Senior Skip Day outside of the UK, this teen comedy openly admits to paying homage to teen movies of the 80s, specifically Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Lundy feels at times to be doing an impression of Ryan Reynolds, but this doesn’t get in the way of the story and character development. Fans of teen comedies could do much worse than check this out, though it isn’t as good as recent teen movies like Superbad.

You’ll like this if you liked : American Pie Presents Band Camp

Broken City (2013) 6/10

Starring : Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jeffrey Wright, Barry Pepper
Director : Allen Hughes
Running Time : 105 mins

Seven years after quitting his job as a police officer, Billy Taggart (Wahlberg) has turned private detective and is employed by current mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Crowe) to investigate the movements of his wife Cathleen (Zeta-Jones), suspecting she is having an affair. When he discovers she is meeting with a man who is co-ordinating an opposing mayoral campaign, Taggart starts to suspect that Hostetler’s request for him to tail his wife may be for another reason when the campaigner turns up dead...

Although this has a plot that has been done to death over the years, this had the potential to be an entertaining movie. Sadly there is little or no charisma present in any of the actors involved, and there are so many clichés that you immediately know who the good guys and the bad guys are, even when you’re not really supposed to. My advice would be to watch something else, because this has so much unnecessary filler that it starts to distract you from what the main plot really is.

You’ll like this if you liked : We Own The Night

Children Of Men (2006) 8/10

Starring : Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pam Ferris, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine
Director : Alfonso Cuaron
Running Time : 105 mins

In the year 2027, 18 years since the last human birth as women have mysteriously become infertile, Theo Faron (Owen) is called back into his life as an activist by his ex-partner Julian (Moore) when a young girl named Kee (Ashitey) is found to be miraculously pregnant.

Although this is a sci-fi, set in a dystopian future where mankind is soon nearing extinction, this is perfectly accessible by those who wouldn’t normally enjoy science fiction. Loosely based on the story by PD James, this has a lot in common with an earlier book, Earth Abides by George R Stewart. It was nice that the future portrayed in this movie didn’t look that much different from our own present, aside from the animated advert posters, and by making the movie in this way it brings the message a lot closer to home.

You’ll like this if you liked : 28 Days Later

Rio 2 (2014) 6/10

Starring : Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, George Lopez
Director : Carlos Saldanha
Running Time : 102 mins

Blu (Eisenberg) and Jewel (Hathaway), two Spix’s macaws that live in Rio with their three children, hear on the news that their previous owner Linda Gunderson (Mann) and her husband are in the Amazon seeking out another rare macaw so eventually decide to travel to the Amazon to help them out. But they soon find themselves in danger from a group of Scarlet macaws as well as some loggers who plan on demolishing their habitat.

This sequel to the wonderful 2011 original suffers from the fact that what made the original so fun has been totally ignored and the characters have moved on far too much. Blu and Jewel have a family which spoils the mystery of their romance in the first movie and their endeavours in the Amazon feel forced and at time pointless. Even the most diehard fan of the original will find it hard to find anything extremely likeable about this poor effort that has one of the most predictable plots in recent cinematic history.

You’ll like this if you liked : Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Scooby-Doo! Mask Of The Blue Falcon (2012) 8/10

Starring : Frank Welker, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle, Matthew Lillard
Director : Michael Goguen
Running Time : 74 mins

In the nineteenth of the direct to video Scooby-Doo series, Shaggy (Lillard) and Scooby-Doo (Welker) attend a comic convention in the hope of meeting their heroes, TV characters the Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, ans also to see a preview of the new movie. But when one of Blue Falcon’s enemies mysteriously comes to life and tries to sabotage the movie launch, the gang find they have another mystery on their hands.

Fans of the old Hanna Barbera cartoons of the sixties and seventies will really get a kick out of this. Not only does it feature Dynomutt and The Blue Falcon, but there are plenty of other cameos amongst the attendees at the comic convention. Like the early Scooby-Doo animated movies, this movies resolution features a nice double-bluff that really allows the viewer to get involved in the mystery itself.

You’ll like this if you liked : Scooby-Doo And The Witch’s Ghost

Odd Thomas (2013) 8/10

Starring : Anton Yelchin, Addison Timlin, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nico Tortorella, Patton Oswalt, Willem Dafoe
Director : Stephen Sommers
Running Time : 93 mins

Small town fry cook Odd Thomas (Yelchin) has the unusual ability of being able to see the dead, as well as creatures called bodachs which feed off the death energy from huge disasters. When a large number of bodachs arrive in town, Odd finds himself investigating what they are here for, and hoping to prevent the massive disaster that they are here to witness.

I really enjoyed this adaptation of the first in the Dean Koontz series, and thought the characters were just as lively and likeable as they were in the books. All the nuances are there, as are all the comic touches, and the effects are reasonably good (you can tell this is directed by Stephen “The Mummy” Sommers). I’ve always felt that Odd Thomas had a lot to thank the TV show Dead Like Me, both for its premise and its visuals, but that doesn’t stop this from being a fun-filled supernatural detective thriller!

You’ll like this if you liked : The Frighteners

Ready Or Not (2009) 6/10

Starring : Christian Oliver, Seamus Deaver, Evan Helmuth, Jonathan Murphy, Fernanda Romero
Director : Sean Doyle
Running Time : 88 mins

For his bachelor party, Chris (Oliver) heads off to Las Vegas with three of his closest friends, but when anti-marriage Marc (Deaver) decides to fly the gang to Cabo for a few days, but they accidentally end up in Mexico where they find themselves stuck with no money and no real way of getting home.

I’m not sure if this came before or after The Hangover, but it really is the poorer sibling of the two. There is little to find funny in this buddy movie that has some pretty poor execution. The moral this movie tries to tell is a little on the weak side, and as for the ending, the whole this-was-all-a-test thing really annoyed me.

You’ll like this if you liked : Bachelor Party