The seemingly endless Marvel movie parade careens ahead with the latest cgi-drenched action extravaganza, Dr Strange in The Multiverse of Madness. While as visually inventive and eyeball pummelling as any film in the various Marvel universes (MCU, Spiderverse) this movie seriously lacks the energy and fun of the best Marvel movies such as the recent Spider-Man No Way Home and
Read moreFantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore After the zeitgeist-shaping triumph of the Harry Potter films, the Fantastic Beasts movies, which are essentially Potter prequels, have been a major disappointment. Whereas the Potter films brimmed with invention and the youthful energy of their extremely likeable teen cast, the Beast movies have been flat, dull, grey-brown CGI–drenched slabs with confusing plots and
Read moreWith a guaranteed worldwide audience but also an amazingly finicky, near-fundamentalist fan base, helming a Star Wars film must be a very tantalising and yet daunting prospect for any director. After directing the mostly loved The Force Awakens, JJ Abrams takes back the reins from Rian Johnson who gave us the intriguingly off-beat but ultimately silly, The Last Jedi. With
Read moreThe original Jumanji from 1995 was a minor Gen X pop cultural touchstone. Often resembling a Spielberg film, it combined childhood escapist adventure, over-the-top special effects and the late Robin Williams patented brand of manic performance for a mostly entertaining adventure. Sniffing the Gen X nostalgia dollar and the instant merch potential of a film built around a video game,
Read moreFrozen has become a cinema icon, the most successful animated film of all time and sure to be a pop-cultural touchstone for today’s youngsters to enthuse about with both irony and nostalgia in fast food car parks in years to come. Not surprisingly, it’s sequel Frozen 2 is one of the most anticipated films of the year. Despite some impressive
Read moreMore than half a century after the much-loved original Mary Poppins comes Mary Poppins Returns starring the luminous Emily Blunt in the title role. Set once again in London but about 20 years after the original film during the depression, Returns sees the Banks children now grown up and dealing with the difficult realities of adult life. For Michael (Ben
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