Reviews

Despicable Me 3 Released: June 2017 Starring: Steve Carell, Kirsten Wiig, Trey Parker, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Nev Scharrel Director: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin Will Despicable Me 3 be the grand completion of Gru’s trilogy, or will this be another animated over-reach? _____________________________________________________________________________ Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of the first two Despicable Me’s (2010 & 2013), but there was a feeling in my humours that number three would be a step too far. The beloved minions have already been given their own shot the stardom they deserved in Minions (2015) and new characters are being added at every juncture to bolster out the story. The addition of Gru’s long-lost twin brother just screamed of desperation to me. The signs were all there that this was going to be a frantic attempt to grab the brief attention of kids, before they sat down and watched the real Despicable Me’s . But you know what, I wa...

Wonder Woman Released: June 2017 Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Elena Anaya Director: Patty Jenkins One year after she was about the only good thing in Batman vs Superman, can Wonder Woman prove that she can go it alone? _____________________________________________________________________________ When it’s come down to the crunch I’ve always preferred Batman to Superman and The Joker to Lex Luthor. And all of them to Wonder Woman. She never really grabbed me and it always felt like she was only crowbarred into the DC universe to add a little more gender balance. When there was a choice between a vigilante with a bucket load of gadgets, an alien with lasers in his face, or a lady in hot pants with a lasso, here was only ever going to be one loser. Yet, when she debuted in Batman vs Superman (2016) I was surprised. I mean, there was a whole heap about that film which surprised me to be honest. I was expecting a wonderful, actio...

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge Released: May 2017 Starring: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario Director: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg The apparent final outing for Captain Jack, sees a return for many of our favourite characters from the first instalment, but can they still pull out a swashbuckling adventure like Curse of the Black Pearl? _____________________________________________________________________________ So, after a break of six years, Capt’n Jack (Depp) is back for a fifth (and supposedly final) adventure on the seven seas and he’s back with plenty of familiar faces, with a couple of new ones too. His hiatus from the big screen can certainly be felt too; our beloved Jack has clearly spent more time drinking rum than sailing the oceans. He is a little more confused and bumbling than the Jack we have seen before; is it possible that he has lost his edge? His customary grand entrance [we can all rem...

Alien Covenant Released: May 2017 Starring: Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, Billy Crudup, Carmen Ejogo Director: Ridley Scott In our latest trip to Ridley Scott’s version of space, will we be in for another thrill ride aboard The Nostromo, or will we have another horror aboard The Prometheus? _____________________________________________________________________________ Alien Covenant is the latest in the seemingly never-ending string of Alien films and the second of the newly formed prequels (although the first one which openly admits it is one from the get go [frankly though, Prometheus’ version of keeping it under wraps was about as subtle as David Dickinson’s [hopefully] fake tan] ). It opens ominously [how else would you want it to?] , with the colony ship, The Covenant [ah, now the title makes sense] hitting a snag of bother as they fly to their designated colony planet. Saved from disaster by their on board synthetic, Walter (Fassbender), the crew a...

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2 Released: April 2017 Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradly Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Kurt Russell, Karen Gillen, Pom Klementieff Director: James Gunn With the smash hit of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), will this be the awkward second album for Marvels most far reaching superheroes, or will Volume 2 got straight to number one? _____________________________________________________________________________ I’m not going to beat about any anthropomorphised, animated bushes here, I loved [no, wait I still do] love Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and I had incredibly high hopes for Volume 2 (so much so, that it was the first feature in my Trailer Trash blog [a shameless self-plug, yes] ). Lofty expectations though, so often lead to crushing disappointments, but Marvel has made adapting comic books into wonderful movies something of an art now. Surely, I’d be in for a delight. Wouldn’t I? Surely? Well yes, y...