With amusing insights into pre-teen neurosis reminiscent of the Peanuts comics, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid films, which are based on the hit Jeff Kinney books, have been a refreshing addition to the kid/ family film landscape. They have, however, provided diminishing returns with the standard declining after the very funny first film. That slide continues with the latest
Read moreRecently, Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword sinfully injected the over-the-top style of a Michael Bay film into the Arthurian myth. Now, Transformers: The Last Knight inserts pieces of the Arthurian legend into a Transformers film. What on earth did poor old King Arthur do to deserve such a fate? Admittedly, the film’s opening sequence in which Arthur
Read moreBased on the Daphne Du Maurier novel, My Cousin Rachel is a period melodrama with a touch of Hitchcockian mystery. While well-performed by an impressive cast that includes Sam Claflin and Rachel Weisz, the film’s minimalist plot, leisurely pacing and odd tonal shifts make it a slightly unsatisfying experience. Sam Claflin plays young English country gent Phillip Ashley who, since
Read moreThe latest incarnation of The Mummy is thankfully not connected to the horror-comic series that featured Brendan Fraser. Instead, this is the first offering from the so-called Dark Universe franchise, a proposed film series in which classic monsters such as The Mummy, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the Invisible Man and Frankenstein’s monster are repackaged for a modern action cinema
Read morePrior to seeing the new Wonder Woman film there was hope it would provide something different from the typical po-faced tedium of DC adaptations like last year’s awful snoozer Batman vs Superman. Wonder Woman does offer something a little different and in many ways it succeeds although a little it too often succumbs to superhero movie formula. The film does
Read morePirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is yet another lumbering, plotless farce in what has to be one of the most undeservedly successful franchises in cinema history – first film excepted. These Pirate films should be rollicking campy adventures but they’re so waterlogged with cgi and so incoherently plotted that they lack both sense and charm. Also,
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