Reviews

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...

The Boss Baby Released: March 2017 Starring: Alec Baldwin, Miles Bakshi, Steve Buscemi Director: Tom McGrath Not everyone is born equal. Some are born into loving families, others into suits and management roles. So what happens when the two meet? _____________________________________________________________________________ Tim Templeton (Bakshi & Buscemi) is just a normal seven year old boy, playing with his toys, his imagination, and his two favourite things in the world, his doting parents. But all of that suddenly changes with the arrival of Theodore, his new, suited and booted, baby brother (Baldwin). From the moment he arrives though, Tim is aware that all is not right with Theodore’s presence. For one, the baby wears a suit, for another, he arrived in a taxi, rather than by more traditional means. Yet, nobody else seems to notice or care; instead his parents are now dedicating all of their time to the new baby, not Tim. So he has to take matters into his own h...

Beauty & The Beast Released: March 2017 Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens Luke Evans, Josh Gad Director: Bill Condon How do you re-tell a tale as old as time? Simple, you tell it almost exactly like you always have, but embellish it every so slightly _____________________________________________________________________________ The original Disney Beauty and the Beast (1992) provided me with some of my most nostalgic childhood memories and is one of my favourite Disney films. It’s one of my favourite films full stop. After that, the benchmark was set incredibly high for any other film, which really only The Lion King and Toy Story have managed to jump successfully (as far as I’m concerned). To hear that Disney was to begin recreating their classic stories as live-action versions, I was apprehensive to hear that one of my all-time favourites would be remade, and potentially spoiled. John Favreau performed wonders with his version of The Jungle Book (2016) [one o...

Kong: Skull Island Released: March 2017 Starring: Tom Hiddlestone, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, Corey Hawkins Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts The latest attempt to revamp everyone’s favourite giant gorilla doesn’t disappoint _____________________________________________________________________________ A group of soldiers and scientists embark on an expedition to survey an unexplored island, but their quest for knowledge rapidly turns into a fight for survival as prehistoric peril rears its head. With the recent attempts to re-revive classic movies such as Godzilla (1998 & 2014) , you could be forgiven for thinking that Kong: Skull Island is just another inferior re-hash of something we already love. Another touch of unnecessary modernisation. And with Peter Jackson’s fantastic (and very much one-off) King Kong (2005) still living in recent memory, a traditional reboot of the story would pale in comparison. So, Kong: Skull Island has w...

Logan Released: March 2017 Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen Director: James Mangold A fitting final chapter to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine story. _____________________________________________________________________________ In the near future mutants have become almost extinct. Logan’s powers are fading, and he has dropped his Wolverine mantle to care for a deteriorating Professor X. All that changes though with the emergence of a new mutant. Righty ho, let’s clear some stuff up quickly. Logan is not a traditional superhero film. But then, Wolverine is not a traditional superhero; he’s more akin to an anti-hero, a man who ultimately doesn’t mean ill, but who isn’t necessarily prone to bouts of self-sacrifice. So don’t go in expecting something similar to the other X-Men films. This has story, substance, and emotion. I am a massive Wolverine fan. From to the comics, to the TV series and beyond, he has always been one of my al...

Split Released: February 2017 Starring: James McAvoy Director: M. Night Shyamalan One of those lovely films which does exactly what you’d expect it to. Although with an M. Night Shyamalan film, that’s pretty much the last thing you’d expect. _____________________________________________________________________________ Three young girls are kidnapped and held hostage by a man with 23 different personalities. Who is this man, where are they being held, how can they escape, and who is “The Beast” that he keeps referring to? Before I sat down to watch Split I did some cheeky maths. With 23 different personalities residing inside James McAvoy’s head and a 117-minute run time, we would be looking at up to five minutes of dedicated screen time for each of them. If the entire film was just one man talking to camera and changing his stance every now and then. Split deals with this predicament in a way which, I at least found satisfying; by only giving any real screen time...

The LEGO Batman Movie Released: February 2017 Starring: Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Zach Galifianakis Director: Chris McKay The post-Nolan Batman move that we all deserved. _____________________________________________________________________________ When I first heard about The LEGO Batman Movie being made, two thoughts came to my mind. Firstly, what does this say about Warner Bros opinion of their Caped Crusader? Does it mean his stock is at an all-time high, and he is currently immune to even the most unrelenting of public roasts ( which surely this would be )? Or, has his value completely crashed following the shambles that was Batman vs Superman (2016), and they simply couldn’t give a guff if their Dark Knight is torn to shreds? Secondly, I don’t care what the reasons are, I simply must see this! And I was not disappointed. The LEGO Batman Movie  is a triumph. It has retained all of the quirk and charm that were integral t...