The 5th Wave (2016) 7/10

Starring : Chloe Grace Moretz, Matthew Zuk, Gabriela Lopez, Bailey Borders, Nick Robinson, Ron Livingston
Director : J Blakeson
Running Time : 107 mins

An unknown race of aliens known simply as the Others have launched four waves of attack on the planet Earth, leaving the planet relatively unharmed but slowly making it unliveable for mankind. As the world’s military starts enlisting children to help battle the alien forces, a young girl named Cassie (Moretz) starts to discover the truth behind the attacks and the potential problems that might arise from fighting back against this deadly enemy.

This was a fun enough alien invasion movie, with some very predictable moments and some less predictable (I won’t list them here). Fans of Moretz might be disappointed she hasn’t been embracing her comedy roots lately, but this is a nice enough dystopian drama that might not do anything new for the genre but definitely makes an entertaining spectacle for youngsters.

You’ll like this if you liked : Ender’s Game

Premium Rush (2012) 8/10

Starring : Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Wole Parks, Aasif Mandvi, Jamie Chung
Director : David Koepp
Running Time : 91 mins

Reckless bike messenger Wilee (Gordon-Levitt) is given an envelope to deliver, but when he attracts the attention of crooked cop Bobby Monday (Shannon) he finds himself in a race to deliver the envelope before the copper gets it. It doesn’t take long for Wilee to find out what the envelope actually represents, which makes his delivery of the envelope all the more urgent.

Even though this feels like it was written for children, this is still a fun thriller with plenty of action. The flashbacks to explain stuff was a little annoying, but it didn’t hinder the storytelling and as usual Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes a fine lead. Fans of his work will enjoy this easy watch, and even those who aren’t fans will most likely enjoy the simple tale of good triumphing over evil.

You’ll like this if you liked : 16 Blocks

Alvin And The Chipmunks : The Road Chip (2015) 6/10

Starring : Jason Lee, Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Josh Green, Tony Hale, Bella Thorne
Director : Walt Becker
Running Time : 92 mins

When Alvin (Long) and his brothers mistakenly believe that Dave (Lee) is planning on proposing to his new girlfriend Samantha (Williams-Paisley), they worry that they’ll either be stuck with her bully of a son Miles (Green) as a step-brother, or that Dave will abandon them. So they decide to sabotage the proposal by travelling across the country to Miami and steal the ring.

I’m honestly surprised that there’s still enough money left in this franchise to allow companies to make a fourth movie, but I guess they must be profitable. This was better than Chipwrecked, but I don’t know if it made sense to make another Chipmunks movie. It seems that Jason Lee can’t get any other work in Hollywood (even though I like him), so at least this means he’s still getting some sort of recognition, but even the guest actors didn’t make sense (any child watching this who recognises Crazy Eyes from Orange Is the New Black should probably be taken into care. Children might find a few laughs here, but there isn’t that much on offer for adult viewers.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Smurfs 2

Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) 7/10

Starring : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill
Director : JJ Abrams
Running Time : 139 mins

When a storm trooper (Boyega) decides that killing people isn’t the life for him, he finds himself teamed up with a scavenger named Rey (Ridley) and her recently adopted robot BB-8. Together they steal a spaceship – the Millennium Falcon – only to meet up with the famed original owner, Han Solo (Ford) and find themselves caught up in a mission with the resistance to destroy the newly built Starkiller Base, created by the newly formed First Order.

After hearing the rumours, I sat down to watch this and could definitely see why some people thought this was just a retelling of A New Hope. However, there is a lot more to the story than just being a rehash, and by having events repeat themselves throughout the movies we soon learn that, as with most things, people never learn from their past mistakes. On top of all the repetition we also have some new aspects to take in, such as the re-emergence of the force and the search for Luke Skywalker, and hopefully things will pickup plot wise in the next two movies which hopefully won’t just be unending spectacle.

You’ll like this if you liked : Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope

Misty Island Rescue (2010) 7/10

Starring : Michael Angelis, Ben Small, Matt Wilkinson, Keith Wickham
Director : Greg Tiernan
Running Time : 60 mins

When Thomas (Small) gets lost at sea, he finds himself on the legendary Misty Island and meets three strange trains; Bash (Wilkinson), Dash (Wickham), and Ferdinand (Small). When he realises that the wood on the island is precious jobi wood, he enlists the three trains help to reopen a tunnel back to Sodor so they can deliver the wood to his home.

The second of the Thomas CGI movies introduces us to even more characters, and fans of the current show will love this. Small children will enjoy seeing Diesel causing trouble and Thomas making friends with Bash, Dash, and Ferdinand as they all team up to build the Search and Rescue Station together. Adults might find this a little bland, but under fives will love every minute of it.

You’ll like this if you liked : Hero Of The Rails

The DUFF (2015) 7/10

Starring : Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Nick Eversman, Skyler Samuels, Bianca Santos, Romany Malco, Ken Jeong, Allison Janney
Director : Ari Sandel
Running Time : 102mins

Bianca Piper (Whitman) is horrified to discover that she is considered a DUFF – Designated Ugly Fat Friend – because her tow best friends Jess (Samuels) and Casey (Santos) are better looking than her. With the help of her childhood friend and neighbour Wesley Rush (Amell), Bianca decides to reinvent herself and prove that she isn’t a DUFF, but is sabotaged at every turn by school bitch Madison Morgan (Thorne).

I actually enjoyed this movie, even though it was pretty predictable at times. Apparently it’s very different from the book, which I haven’t read yet, and that the book is much more original and clever, but that didn’t stop me liking this silly movie about how people are seen in comparison to their friends and those around them. My one gripe was that the character of Madison was made out to be the bad guy, when her friend Caitlyn (played by Rebecca Weil) was a hundred times worse, and the person who was actually making the movies of Bianca to be transmitted around school, yet she got off scot free in the end with no repercussions.

You’ll like this if you liked : She’s All That

Pride And Prejudice And Zombies (2016) 7/10

Starring : Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance, Lena Headey
Director : Burr Steers
Running Time : 103 mins

Colonel Darcy (Riley) travels to a village in 19th Century England after hearing rumours of a recently infected zombie. There he meets Elizabeth Bennett (James), one of five sisters that have been trained in the art of killing zombies, but she takes an instant disliking to him after overhearing his comments about her.

I never read the parody book that this movie is based on, but if this is loyal to the text then it’s a pretty decent parody. It isn’t just the original Austen novel with the word zombie thrown in, there is a new plot about a version of the zombie that lives on pig brains and hasn’t gone completely savage. Fans of the original Austen novel might find this a little much to swallow, but if you like period dramas and zombie movies, then this is the perfect combination of the two.

You’ll like this if you liked : Warm Bodies

The Equalizer (2014) 7/10

Starring : Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloe Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Haley Bennett
Director : Antoine Fuqua
Running Time : 133 mins

After having retired from working in black ops, Robert McCall (Washington) tries to live a quiet life, working at a hardware store and pretty much keeping to himself, but when he meets and befriends a prostitute named Alina (Moretz) he witnesses her poor treatment by the Russian mob that own her and decides to take matters into his own hands.

Fans of the 1980s television series might wonder where McCall’s detective agency is in this updated version. Here, instead of being employed by people to investigate cases the police aren’t interested in, he just does things off his own back and goes vigilante on folks who bother his friends, from crooked cops and shoplifters, to the Russian mob. The movie is fun, and the cast do a sterling job with the material, but if you like your movies a bit more down to earth then the over the top violence and the very idea that a man in his sixties can take down an entire gang on his own might seem a little far-fetched.

You’ll like this if you liked : John Wick

Accidental Love (2015) 5/10

Starring : Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, Catherine Keener, James Marsden, Tracy Morgan, James Brolin
Director : David O Russell
Running Time : 101 mins

Reserved small town waitress Alice Eckle (Biel) is accidentally shot in the head with a nail gun, which results in her behaviour becoming highly erratic and her becoming highly sexually charged. When she sees an unprincipled congressman, Howard Birdwell (Gyllenhaal) on television, she decides to head to Washington DC to seek his help in campaigning for the treatment of people with weird conditions they can’t afford to fix.

This comes across as if it should be a slapstick comedy, with the wacky concept and over the top acting, but its actual delivery is pretty dry and flat. What really stuck in my mind after watching this was the end credits, which play out like every other big budget comedy, with crazy outtakes, silly dancing, and upbeat music, butt he movie itself had none of the key elements you might associate with that kind of movie. Instead this is a political parody, mocking how congressman use popular bills to sneak through parliament the bills they actually care about, in this case one to get medical aid for the woman he’s screwing. This isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, and the actors do their best with what little material they have, but overall this is something of a disappointment.

You’ll like this if you liked : Legally Blonde 2 : Red White & Blonde

The Hunger Games : Mockingjay Part 2 (2015) 7/10

Starring : Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore
Director : Francis Lawrence
Running Time : 137 mins

With Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) having joined the rebellion against the Capitol, she has just one thing on her mind 0 assassinating President Snow (Sutherland) and bringing an end to the Hunger Games once and for all. But along the way she also has to help Peeta (Hutcherson) get over his brainwashing which has turn him so thoroughly against her.

This was something of a damp squib in terms of ending the series, and in spite of the fact that Hollywood enjoy changing how books end when they adapt them to the screen, they kept the cringeworthy and, in my opinion, nonsensical ending from the books. Fans of the series will either find it refreshingly different from the previous movies, or will hate the direction change this series took.

You’ll like this if you liked : Maze Runner : The Scorch Trials

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005) 7/10

Starring : Jim Cummings, John Fiedler, Nikita Hopkins, Kath Soucie, Ken Sansom, Peter Cullen, Brenda Blethyn, Kyle Stanger
Director : Frank Nissen
Running Time : 65 mins

When Pooh (Cummings) and his friends suspect that there’s a Heffalump living in the woods, they set out on an expedition to find and catch the creature. Roo (Hopkins) is told he can’t go because it’s too dangerous, but he sneaks off and finds the Heffalump named Lumpy (Stanger), only to discover that it’s just a baby and has lost its mother.

Fans of traditional Winnie The Pooh might be disappointed that Heffalumps turn out to be real in this movie, as historically they were always a fiction that only existed in the minds of those living in the Hundred Acre Wood. That being said, Lumpy is cute and little children will love him, plus the story has a nice moral message for young people that you should never judge someone on what they look like or on what you have heard said about them.

You’ll like this if you liked : Piglet’s Big Movie

Run All Night (2015) 6/10

Starring : Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman, Boyd Holbrook, Bruce McGill, Genesis Rodriguez, Vincent D’Onofrio
Director : Jaume Collet-Serra
Running Time : 115 mins

When Michael Conlon (Kinnaman) witnesses a shooting, he calls on his dad Jimmy (Neeson) to help him get away from the killer, a man named Danny (Holbrook) who is also the son of Jimmy’s boss, Sean Maguire (Harris). But when Jimmy is forced to shoot Michael, Sean comes after him and his son, seeking retribution.

It seems that Liam Neeson has fallen into something of a niche market – playing men who have to protect their kids in over the top and drastic fashion. Here he’s a former mob hit man forced to turn on his former boss because said boss has a nut job for a son. The action is pretty slow for this type of movie, and fans of action flicks would probably be better off looking elsewhere, but it did have its moments.

You’ll like this if you liked : Taken 2

Sisters (2015) 7/10

Starring : Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Ike Barinholtz, James Brolin, Dianne Wiest
Director : Jason Moore
Running Time : 123 mins

Maura (Poehler) and Kate (Fey) are contacted by their parents to clean out their childhood bedroom, only to discover upon arrival that their parents have sold their home! In a vain attempt to relive and remember their teenage years, the two sisters throw a party and invite all their old school friends, while simultaneously trying to put off prospective buyers of the house.

This is an old fashioned (80s and 90s) comedy romp with lots of slapstick and silly drug and sex humour peppered around the place. It’s nice to see Poehler and Fey back together again (the first time I think since baby Mama) and the comedy is just as funny, even though they are playing dissimilar characters from their well-known television characters. The plot might be slim, but the humour is largely fun, though there are moments that go on for a little longer than they need to.

You’ll like this if you liked : Trainwreck