The Angels' Share (2012) 7/10

Starring : Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw, Gary Maitland, Jasmine Riggins, William Ruane
Director : Ken Loach
Running Time : 102 mins

A group of repeat offenders on community service, led by new-dad Robbie (Brannigan) who has vowed that his son will not follow in his criminal footsteps, come up with a plan to turn their lives around and go straight – getting into the business of buying and selling whisky!

It’s always annoying watching a movie about a bunch of criminals trying to better themselves – especially when you don’t think they have the right to move on from their crimes if they’re particularly bad - but to be fair these guys crimes weren’t all that offensive, the majority of them getting community service for petty criminal activity such as drunk and disorderly. Fans of Ken Loach movies will recognise his slow pacing and his subtle humour, but those who aren't fans or have never watched one of his films should still give this a go. There’s a certain kind of feel-good innocence which you don’t often get in these kind of movies that makes this an engrossing film to watch.

You’ll like this if you liked : Crazy On The Outside

Cirque Du Freak : The Vampire’s Assistant (2009) 7/10

Starring : John C Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia
Director : Paul Weitz
Running Time : 105 mins

When Darren Shan (Massoglia) and his best friend Steve Leonard (Hutcherson) hear that a freak show is coming to town, the two can’t resist sneaking out to see it, but when vampire obsessed Steve recognises freak show attraction Larten Crepsley (Reilly) as being a well-known vampire and Darren steals Crepsley’s pet spider, the two find their lives forever changed with Darren turned into a half-vampire and Steve transformed into a half-Vampaneze.

This is an interesting movie in that it comes up with a unique perspective on vampire mythology, splitting the species into two distinct categories. Fans of the books might be disappointed that it looks like the remainder of the series may never get adapted, but this was a pretty good kids film with some okay effects and some good performances from the myriad of stars involved.

You’ll like this if you liked : Percy Jackson & The Olympians : The Lightning Thief

Dredd (2012) 7/10

Starring : Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey
Director : Pete Travis
Running Time : 96 mins

Judge Dredd (Urban) is partnered with psychic rookie Cassandra Anderson (Thirlby). Together they are called out to the slum tower block Peach Trees where three apparent suicides turn out to be killings orchestrated by drug dealers working for Madeline ‘Ma-Ma’ Madrigal (Headey) who has been peddling the reality-altering drug known as SLO-MO. Ma-Ma locks down the building, organising her cronies to take out the two Judges, and a deadly game of cat and mouse begins.

I liked that this didn’t try to give too much information about the characters, basically just give very minor information about Anderson and practically nothing about Dredd. I didn’t quite think that Urban looked big enough for Dredd, but if you look back at Dredd’s early comic book appearances he was actually really skinny! Fans of the comics will love the over-the-top violence, and fans of futuristic sci-fi thrillers will enjoy the action and the silly gadgets.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Raid

Batman : Gotham Knight (2008) 6/10

Starring : Kevin Conroy, Jason Marsden, Scott Menville
Director : Shoujirou Nishimi, Futoshi Higashide, Hiroshi Morioka, Yasuhiro Aoki, Toshiyuki Kubooka & Jong-Sik Nam
Running Time : 76 mins

In these six vignettes, the Batman (Conroy) is seen in various different ways. In the first story, Have I Got A Story For You, three teenagers discuss their various experiences in seeing The Dark Knight, each of them remembering him in a different way. In the second story, Crossfire, two police officers discuss whether Batman can be trusted. In the third story, Field Test, Batman tries out a new piece of tech for deflecting bullets. In the fourth story, In Darkness Dwells, Batman searches for a lizard-monster in the sewers. In the fifth story, Working Through Pain, Batman tries to deal with a gunshot wound. And in the final story, Deadshot, Batman considers the use of firearms as he thinks back on the death of his parents.

Fans of Batman will enjoy seeing their hero in true anime style for what I believe is the first time – though due to the animation being handled by multiple studios, it does get confusing about what Bruce Wayne looks like. The average length of each story is around twelve minutes, so it can easily be watched in short spurts rather than all at once. The main failing of this movie is the inconsistency of the story line, which tries to connect each section but doesn’t quite manage it to my mind.

You’ll like this if you liked : Origin : Spirits Of The Past

Red Tails (2012) 6/10

Starring : Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Tristan Wilds, Ne-Yo, Elijah Kelly, Andre Royo, Cliff Smith, Marcus T Paulk, Cuba Gooding Jr, Terrence Howard
Director : Anthony Hemingway
Running Time : 125 mins

During World War II a team of black pilots, presumed by white people to be incapable of flying fighter planes, take it upon themselves to prove that they can be just as good, if not better, at battling against the Axis powers who want nothing more than to take away Western freedom.

Although slow paced and featuring some very underutilized actors, this is an okay movie that tries to deal with the racism that existed in during the Second World War, a time when black people were considered less than second class citizens. In spite of this being a nice tale that proves that black were as good, if not better, than whites at flying aircraft and proved that they weren’t mentally inferior or the cowards that the American army thought they were, it still doesn’t stop the racist comments that people made in the movie – even those people that weren’t being intentionally racist – and it clearly showed that there was still a long way to go before everyone could accept black people as equals.

You’ll like this if you liked : Flyboys

Ghosts Of Mars (2001) 6/10

Starring : Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Clea DuVall, Pam Grier, Joanna Cassidy
Director : John Carpenter
Running Time : 95 mins

In the distant future a team of police officers is sent to Mars to transport a wanted criminal, Desolation Williams (Cube), back to Earth but upon arrival they discover that everyone in the Martian mining community has been possessed by malevolent and incredible violent Martian spirits.

This is definitely not one of John Carpenter’s better efforts, although I still think it is miles better than Halloween. The effects are pretty subpar, and the acting could be better, coupled with the fact that the lighting really makes everything look like a bad set and you have the makings of a pretty poor movie. Thankfully the plot is kind of original, even though the possessed miners do look just like the villains from any of a number of Carpenter’s movies, and we have to give him points for that.

You’ll like this if you liked : Doomsday

What To Expect When You’re Expecting (2012) 7/10

Starring : Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Ben Falcone, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Rodrigo Santoro
Director : Kirk Jones
Running Time : 110 mins

Celebrity fitness guru Jules Baxter (Diaz) finds her world turned upside down when she discovers she is pregnant. Baby photographer Holly (Lopez) would love nothing more than to have kids but can’t. Wendy Cooper (Banks) is over the moon when, after two years of trying, she finally falls pregnant, but her much younger step-mother-in-law Skyler (Decker) falls pregnant at the same time and steals her thunder. And Rosie Brennan (Kendrick) finds life hard after she loses her baby.

This wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but it was still one of those annoying ensemble formulaic comedies that Hollywood churns out at least once a year. The cast do an okay job dealing with an uninspired script that once again appears to be a series of movies without enough substance to sustain individual movies, but there were some funny moments that were well balanced with more somber moments that did manage to keep this interesting from start to finish.

You’ll like this if you liked : He’s Just Not That Into You

The Debt (2010) 6/10

Starring : Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Tom Wilkinson, Ciaran Hinds, Marton Csokas, Jesper Christensen
Director : John Madden
Running Time : 114 mins

In 1965 three mosad agents, Rachel Singer (Chastain) Stephan Gold (Csokas) and David Peretz (Worthington) are tasked with capturing and bringing in the Nazi war criminal Dieter Vogel (Christensen) aka. The Surgeon Of Birkenau, but he manages to escape. The three decide to concoct a lie claiming that Rachel killed him in his escape attempt. Thirty-two years later Rachel (Mirren) is being honoured for their part in the operation when news is received that the lie they’ve been living with may soon come to light.

This is unusual for a Vaughan / Goldman movie in that it didn’t immediately grip me. I suppose it’s because I’m used to their comic book adaptations. In any case this did finally get going towards the end, and it was mildly entertaining thanks to the acting skills of the likes of Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson, but sadly the script was a little weak and, as a result, the story felt a little stunted.

You’ll like this if you liked : Act Of Valour

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) 7/10

Starring : Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Mark Strong
Director : Tomas Alfredson
Running Time : 128 mins

It’s 1972, and when Control (Hurt) resigns over the failure of a mission in Budapest and his belief that there is a mole working in British Intelligence, George Smiley (Oldman) is forced into early retirement. He is later asked to investigate the suspicions of a mole due to the mission failure in Hungary and the questionably successful source of Soviet Intelligence, Operation Witchcraft.

John le Carre’s stories are famously slow and tend to have little or no action. Unlike Bond films, this moves more towards realism than sensationalism and concentrates on the paranoia of the period rather than the nuclear threats from enemy countries. Fans of traditional spy fiction will love this, but personally I found it a little hard going and it did drag a little in the middle.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Debt

The Bourne Legacy (2012) 7/10

Starring : Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach
Director : Tony Gilroy
Running Time : 136 mins

As a result of Jason Bourne’s expose on Black Ops operations Treadstone and black Briar, those behind them decide to close down their other secret operations before they are compromised and make sure that all the agents involved ‘disappear’, but when they go after undercover agent Aaron Cross (Renner) they fail to kill him and he goes on the run, eventually tracking down Dr Marta Shearing (Weisz) when he realizes from a news report that she is the sole survivor of another calculated disposal operation.

I was so confused at the beginning of this movie because I thought Jeremy Renner was playing Jason Bourne. Things soon cleared up a bit when I realized he was Aaron Cross. The plot is what you’d expect from a Robert Ludlum movie, with lots of running around and trying not to get killed, and it’s a shame the opening half hour takes so long, but once we get to the shooting scene at the lab things soon kick in to high gear.

You’ll like this if you liked : Casino Royale

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close (2011) 7/10

Starring : Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn, Sandra Bullock
Director : Stephen Daldry
Running Time : 130 mins

Nine year old Oskar Schell (Horn) discovers a key in the belongings of his father Thomas (Hanks), who died a year earlier in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11th 2001, and sets off on a scavenger hunt similar to the ones he used to enjoy when his father was alive.

This is one of those movies where you are expected to forget all the terrible things that have happened and concentrate on the wonder of a child’s mind, like in Bridge To Terabithia. At least this movie doesn’t say that his dad died because he wouldn’t play with him or something; it was just another ordinary day and bad luck stepped in and punished whoever got in its way. The scenes between Hanks and Horn are nice, and the narration by Horn is well thought through and actually sounds like a child’s voice - although it did start to get annoying when he'd use Japanese words instead of swearing, but it was the scene with Bullock and Hanks talking on the phone that had the most power behind it.

You’ll like this if you liked : Hugo

Adam (2009) 7/10

Starring : Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving
Director : Max Mayer
Running Time : 99 mins

Schoolteacher BethBuchwald (Byrne) moves into a new apartment and meets Adam Raki (Dancy), her upstairs neighbour who she is attracted to in spite of his peculiar ways. They soon develop a relationship with each other, but Adam’s issues with Asperger’s Syndrome cause them to struggle, especially when he loses his job and starts acting out against her.

This is a sweet movie, but the problem for most people is that Adam isn’t very likeable. The fact is he shouldn’t have to be – he has an illness and that’s what viewers have to realise. Byrne and Dancy work well together on the whole, but after a while you start wondering what Byrne sees in him, other than the idea that she wants to fix him and help him rather than love him.

You’ll like this if you liked : Mozart And The Whale

Rec 3 Genesis (2012) 7/10

Starring : Leticia Dolera, Diego Martin, Ismael Martinez
Director : Paco Plaza
Running Time : 78 mins

At the wedding of Clara (Dolera) and Koldo (Martin), Koldo’s uncle falls sick after being bitten by a dog at the vet. Everything is fine at first, but when he falls off a balcony and then bites his wife, the guests all start to become infected and start attacking and killing one another.

This movie doesn’t explain as much as it claims to, other than pointing out that the people are possessed by demons and are not zombies, but this was mentioned in Rec 2. The move away from found footage – about twenty minutes in – was an interesting choice, but may also show a lack of imagination in the writers who couldn’t find a way to follow both the bride and groom without using two cameras throughout the film, and it also would have meant that the bride couldn’t have been on her own as much as she was. Still, this is an interesting addition to the series, and I look forward to seeing Rec 4.

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

Species 3 (2004) 7/10

Starring : Sunny Mabrey, Robin Dunne, Robert Knepper, Amelia Cooke, Natasha Henstridge
Director : Brad Turner
Running Time : 108 mins

The human-alien hybrid Eve (Henstridge) has given birth to a daughter, Sara (Mabrey). Sara has been kidnapped by scientist Dr Abbot (Knepper) who plans to use her eggs to perfect the hybrid DNA, but the escaped imperfect hybrids are tracking Sara down and plan to use Sara to keep their species alive.

Surprisingly enough this was actually pretty good, probably thanks in some part to Robert Knepper. It also helped that the appearance of Natasha Henstridge shows that she either endorsed the movie or was desperate for money. Fans of the originals will be pleased that, in many ways, this is better than Species 2, but it definitely isn’t as good as the original.

You’ll like this if you liked : Resident Evil : Afterlife

Total Recall (2012) 6/10

Starring : Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston
Director : Len Wiseman
Running Time : 114 mins

Douglas Quaid (Farrell), a factory worker who is displeased with his lot in life, decides to pay a visit to a company called Rekall – a company who insert artificial memories into people’s minds to make them think they’ve had an experience that never occurred – but when he ops for the super-spy experience he soon finds himself on the run from the police and discovers that his wife Lori (Beckinsale) is an undercover operative for an enemy state.

When this starts, and gives the background to what has happened to the planet Earth between now and the end of the century, this almost feels like it’s going to be a unique movie, and not just a remake of the Schwarzenegger classic, but as things progress it starts to reveal itself as a high-tech looking poorer cousin of the original. Rather than using the novel “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”, the makers of this have simply remade the original with some extra bits thrown in about territorialism and evil Brits. Worth watching, but it’s basically the 1990 version with a bigger role for the wife.

You’ll like this if you liked : Minority Report

Exit Wounds (2001) 6/10

Starring : Steven Seagal, DMX, Isaiah Washington
Director : Andrzej Bartkowiak
Running Time : 100 mins

Police Officer Orin Boyd (Seagal) is transferred to one of the worst precincts in Detroit, only to discover that some of his fellow officers are providing street grade heroin to local drug dealers and making a hell of a profit from it, so he sets out using his own unique brand of crime solving to stop these criminals in their tracks.

This starts off how you’d imagine a Seagal movie to start, with lots of fighting and explosions, but soon the budget runs out and the writers are forced to rely on a storyline. Seagal plays a borderline Dirty Harry rip-off who basically hits people until he gets results. This is considered one of Seagal’s better movies, though personally I wasn’t a huge fan, but Anthony Anderson does manage to lighten things up without going to over the top.

You’ll like this if you liked : Walking Tall