The Huntsman : Winter’s War (2016) 7/10

Starring : Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith, Alexandra Roach, Chalize Theron
Director : Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Running Time : 121 mins

The Huntsman (Hemsworth) is challenged with tracking down the magic mirror which has gone missing, in order to prevent the ice queen Freya (Blunt) from using its power to further conquer the world. On his journey he is united with Sara (Chastain), his long-lost love he thought had died at the hands of the queen.

I actually preferred this to Snow White And The Huntsman, partially because Kristen Stewart isn’t in this, but mostly because I liked the background characters in this more. The romance between Brydon and Smith felt believable, and didn’t go too far in becoming unrealistic, though the romance between Hemsworth and Chastain couldn have used some more work. The overall plot was pretty basic but still enjoyable, and this is definitely not a big thinker of a film but will keep you entertained on a quiet Saturday night in.

You’ll like this if you liked : Snow White And The Huntsman

Son Of Batman (2014) 7/10

Starring : Jason O’Mara, Stuart Allan, Thomas Gibson, Morena Baccarin, Dee Bradley Baker, Xander Berkley, Giancarlo Esposito, Sean Maher, David McCallum
Director : Ethan Spaulding
Running Time : 75 mins

Bruce Wayne (O’Mara) discovers that he has a son, Damian (Allan), who has been raised by The League of Assassins. As a result, Damian has become violent and unruly, and as Bruce tries to turn him on to the straight and narrow, Damian discovers that his father is in fact Batman. Realising that Damian will never give up his violent tendencies, Bruce decides to turn him into the new Robin.

I really wanted to slap Damian – hard! But that was the point. He was very annoying, yet very talented, and had been wasting that talent by being a snot nose little brat. This movie shows how Bruce Wayne manages to turn his son around in the best way he cane – by turning his violent tendencies to what he deems as good. This is a fun movie and the action comes thick and fast, but doesn’t get in the way of character development.

You’ll like this if you liked : Superman / Batman : Public Enemies

Green Room (2015) 7/10

Starring : Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole, Callum Turner, Imogen Poots, Patrick Stewart
Director : Jeremy Saulnier
Running Time : 95 mins

A struggling punk band take a gig at a bar well-known for its neo-Nazi skinhead patrons, but when they accidentally witness a murder they find their lives in danger as they are locked in the bar’s green room.

Not knowing what the plot of this move was going in, I was surprised when it suddenly turned from a simple story about a struggling band on the road into a violent and bloody movie which leaves no holds barred. The basic plot of the band trying to escape from the green room is effective as the pacing allows us to wonder if they will actually get out alive. But not making this an obvious horror film, the makers allow us to think of it more like a Die Hard style action movie until the very end.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Hole

The Secret Life Of Pets (2016) 8/10

Starring : Louis CK, Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Albert Brooks, Lake Bell
Director : Yarrow Cheney & Chris Renaud
Running Time : 87 mins

Max (CK) loves his life in the city, living with his owner Katie (Kemper) in her apartment, but when Katie brings home a new dog, Duke (Stonestreet), Max gets jealous and tries to come up with a plan to get rid of him. Those plans soon go awry, and the two end up lost in the city, desperate to try and find their way home.

In spite of not having the most original story line – similar to other children’s movies such as Garfield and Toy Story – this is still a lot of fun. The characters are wildly over the top and manage to work against stereotypes while somehow remaining stereotypical, while the basic premise allows for a wide range of humour and action to take place. Fans of movies where the two leads hate each other but have to join forces to battle a larger foe will definitely enjoy this, no matter what age you might be.

You’ll like this if you liked : Toy Story

Mother’s Day (2010) 8/10

Starring : Rebecca De Mornay, Jaime King, Briana Evigan, Patrick Flueger, Warren Kole, Deborah Ann Woll, Frank Grillo, Matt O’Leary, Jessie Rusu, Shawn Ashmore
Director : Darryn Lynn Bousman
Running Time : 113 mins

A gang of criminals fresh out of jail return to their mother’s home to retrieve their stash of stolen money, only to find that the house has been sold to a young couple who are throwing a house warming party with their friends. The criminals take them hostage, threatening to kill them if they don’t get their money back, and soon their mother arrives to mediate between the two groups.

This is such a surprisingly engaging movie, especially when you consider it’s a remake. I thought at first it was going to be a pretty standard horror flick, but instead it becomes a tense thriller. By having the ‘children’ of the titular mother seem perfectly normal instead of horror standard freaks, the scares feel much more real and the horrors that are inflicted on those trapped in the house feel much more close to home.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Last House On The Left

The Big Short (2015) 8/10

Starring : Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Melissa Leo, Hamish Linklater, John Magaro, Rafe Spall, Jeremy Strong, Finn Wittrock, Marisa Tomei
Director : Adam McKay
Running Time : 131 mins

A handful of financial experts predict the collapse of mortgages in the USA, and take advantage of the situation as nobody believes them that what they’ve discovered could possibly reach fruition.

This is yet another interesting true life story that manages to make an entertaining movie. Unlike Spotlight, which came out the same year, this is much more of a tongue in cheek comedy, with plenty of jokey asides and breaking of the fourth wall. Whenever there’s a boring bit where something needs explaining, a celebrity shows up in an unlikely situation and tells us precisely what’s going on. The three leads do an excellent job of showing things from different angles and taking the material and showing just how corrupt the American economy truly was, and in fact still is.

You’ll like this if you liked : Spotlight

Captain America : Civil War (2016) 8/10

Starring : Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Daniel Bruhl
Director : Anthony Russo & Joe Russo
Running Time : 148 mins

When the government decide that The Avengers should not be allowed to go off and cause international incidents in the name of justice, Captain America (Evans) and Iron Man (Downey Jr) have a major falling out, one believing that the government are right to place controls on those with powers, and the other feeling that The Avengers need their freedom to ensure the safety of the planet.

The plot is slightly different from the comic book version, replacing the superhero registration act with simple oversight by the government of The Avengers, but the outcome is the same. Friend fights friend, fight scenes go on for ages, and everyone’s favourite Marvel Cinematic Universe hero makes an appearance (apart from, for some reason, Thor and Hulk). This was a fun, frivolous movie that takes all the action you’d expect from a Marvel movie and amps it all the way up to maximum. Plus it introduces some upcoming movie characters, such as The Black Panther and the new Spider-Man. Awesome family fun.

You’ll like this if you liked : Avengers : Age Of Ultron

How I Live Now (2013) 9/10

Starring : Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, George MacKay, Harley Bird, Danny McEvoy, Anna Chancellor
Director : Kevin Macdonald
Running Time : 102 mins

A young American girl named Daisy (Ronan) is sent to visit her relations in the English countryside. A terrorist attack on the capital, detonating a nuclear device in London, leaves Daisy and her cousins trying to survive as the United Kingdom is faced with the turmoil and the devastation of the aftermath of the attack.

I absolutely loved this underrated gem of a movie. Ronan proves she’s a great actress once again (‘The Host’ was just a glitch) by playing possibly the most horrible character ever, then turning it round and making you not only like her but actually sympathise with her. The plot comes as something of a surprise based on the opening scenes, but its drastic change of pace isn’t too jarring and the events that unfold are both touching and realistic, in spite of the dystopian overtones.

You’ll like this if you liked : Tomorrow When The War Began

Black Mass (2015) 7/10

Starring : Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard
Director : Scott Cooper
Running Time : 123 mins

James ‘Whitey’ Bulger (Depp) is an Irish mobster who uses his connections his state senator brother, William (Cumberbatch) to keep himself out of trouble, along with his childhood friend John Connolly (Edgerton) who now works for the FBI. After years of pretending to be an informant for the FBI, agents start to realise that his information has been taken from other informants reports, and that Whitey has never done anything to keep himself out of jail.

This was an intriguing story of how easy it was to get away with crimes in the 1970s if you had the right contacts. Depp is expertly creepy in the lead role, with Edgerton’s FBI agent being a very ambiguous character indeed, what with him trying to be loyal to those he grew up with in spite of the fact that they are all criminals. He almost comes across as a little bit backward because of this unflappable allegiance to Whitey and his gang. Fans of gangster movies will enjoy this flick, which manages to give us some great insights into how the criminal mind works, though there are moments that felt a little too over the top and unnecessary – we know Depp’s character is creepy, so we don’t need it to be rubbed in our faces.

You’ll like this if you liked : Sicario

Keanu (2016) 7/10

Starring : Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Tiffany Haddish, Method Man, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Jason Mitchell, Jamar Malachi Neighbors, Luis Guzman, Will Forte, Nia Long
Director : Peter Atencio
Running Time : 100 mins

Rell Williams (Peele) finds a stray cat and takes him in, naming him Keanu. He acts as a muse for his artistic talents in making humorous calendars, but a few days late the cat is stolen from him. With his best friend Clarence (Key), the two set out to find the kitten, only to discover that it originally belonged to a dead gang leader and they decide to pretend to be criminals themselves in order to get Keanu back.

This is one of those movies that’s starts off with a simple idea and then slowly spirals completely out of control. The humour is obvious but still amusing, and Key and Peele do a great job of building up the comedy and the tension until the conclusion of the film. If you like silly movies then this will be for you, otherwise you might find yourself getting annoyed with the choices the characters make through the duration.

You’ll like this if you liked : Walk Of Shame

Flight Of The Phoenix (2004) 7/10

Starring : Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Tyrese Gibson, Miranda Otto, Tony Curran, Hugh Laurie
Director : John Moore
Running Time : 108 mins

A team of oil rig workers are being taken home, their rig having been closed down due to a lack of productivity, when their plane crashes in the middle of the Gobi desert. The survivors are faced with having to try to survive, teaming together to repair or rebuild their plane in the hope of getting out of the desert alive.

This wasn’t the most exciting disaster movie, but it did have some great moments, and Ribisi is about as creepy as it gets in spite of not actually being an intentionally evil character. This movie will be fun for fans of disaster movies such as Vertical Limit, Cliffhanger, or 27 Hours, but be warned that most of the major action is confined to one crash scene near the start. if you can stand the tension that you don't often find in disaster movies, then this could be right up your street.

You’ll like this if you liked : Vertical Limit

Maggie’s Plan (2015) 6/10

Starring : Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph
Director : Rebecca Miller
Running Time : 99 mins

Maggie (Gerwig) has decided that she wants to have a child on her own without the assistance of a father for the child, but when she meets married man John Harding (Hawke), he leaves his husband and married Maggie, and the two have a child together. Three years into the marriage, Maggie starts to feel used in the relationship, and starts to suspect that John’s ex-wife Georgette (Moore) might actually be perfect for her husband and so she sets out to set the tow of them on the road to reconciliation so she doesn’t have to break up her marriage herself.

This comedy drama is a little strange to say the least. The lead characters decision to save face by not asking to break up with her husband but instead set him back up with his ex is the cornerstone of the humour, but most of the humour is dry and subdued. Plus one of the early plot devices – Maggie wanting a child without a husband – is rather cleverly used to bookmark the movie with the revelation at the end but, sadly, this wasn’t enough for me to recommend this any higher than I have.

You’ll like this if you liked : To Rome With Love

Suicide Squad (2016) 8/10

Starring : Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Cara Delevingne, Karen Fukuhara
Director : David Ayer
Running Time : 124 mins

Following the death of Superman, the American government becomes concerned that the world may be vulnerable to attack from other alien beings, so they sanction a task force of ex-criminal meta-humans to use as fodder against any potential threat – but their first threat comes from far closer to home than they could have imagined.

This was such a fun movie. I was surprised that, on the whole, the characters were pretty well rounded and had back stories that could have themselves been full movies. Robbie was Harley Quinn was the standout star, even overshadowing Smith whose take on Deadshot was pretty much the straight man to the rest of the squad, and Leto’s Joker may be criticised for not being like Nicholson or Ledger, but then if it was he would have just been considered a rip-off and instead makes him both quirky and unique, something that was helped by his romance with Quinn.

You’ll like this if you liked : Deadpool