Blockbusters

THERE MAY BE SLIMMER PICKINGS AT CINEMAS AT THE MOMENT BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO MISS OUT ON SOME BIG-TIME FEATURES AS MOST STREAMING SITES CONTINUE TO WHEEL OUT A RAFT OF ENTERTAINING MOVIES

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WHILE cinemas are being forced to make do with mid-strength fare — or are shut altogether — the streaming platforms seemingly have a lock on the most entertaining features on offer.

LEIGH PAATSCH takes a closer look at some of the most prominent movies to liven up the streaming landscape recently …

THE OLD GUARD (MA15+) NETFLIX, 123 min

Big-budget, low-calorie action has long been a house specialty for Netflix Original productions. This new Charlize Theron butt-kicker will definitely appease those who thought highly of the platform’s recent hit Extraction with Chris Hemsworth. Theron plays Andy, the leader of a band of immortal warriors whose one job is save the world from its self-destructive tendencies. Andy is tired of centuries of dying and resurrecting repeatedly, and seems to want out just as her posse is admitting their first new member (Kiki Layne) in many generations. Plotting can get pedestrian here — the stakes feel a little low for a tale encompassing political hot spots like Afghanistan and South Sudan — but welldesigned fight sequences never drop their guard for a moment. Based on the cult graphic novel series by Greg Rucka.

GREYHOUND (M) APPLE TV, 87 min

A lean and meaningful war picture which turns out to be everything the similarly-themed recent cinema hit Midway was not. It is the height of WWII, and in a stretch of the North Atlantic known as the Black Pit, a convoy of American naval supply ships is being stalked by a sizeable pack of

German U-boats. The only protection the Allied vessels can hope for comes from destroyers such as the USS Keeling, which just happens to be under the command of a rookie skipper on his first assignment in combat conditions. The movie sticks close to the stressed, yet clear-thinking strategic perspective of Commander Ernest Krause (compellingly played by Tom Hanks, for whom this is a longstanding passion project). This gripping production will definitely appeal to military buffs, but its ability to grip a viewer and not let go is deceptively wideranging. Sequences where Krause is on the attack against an enemy he literally never sees are what really stick in the mind here. Another big plus: it’s all over inside 90 minutes (a rarity these days!).

HAMILTON (M) DISNEY+, 162 min

This is not a feature movie adaptation of the mega-hit stage musical that has been selling out houses around the world for several years. That will happen later this decade, for sure. No, this is a live recording of the spectacular stage show featuring the A-list company (headed by creator and chief composer LinManuel Miranda) that put this epic endeavour on the map in the first place. This is the version for which a ticket often changed hands for thousands of dollars. So a look-see up close from the comfort of your lounge room just has to be a bargain, right? Kind of. An ambitious biopic of American founding father Alexander Hamilton can easily get the better of those not totally up to speed with their US history. Don’t be afraid to press pause and take a breather.

ALI & CAVETT: THE

TALE OF THE TAPES (PG) BINGE, FOXTEL, 95 min

It is almost impossible to make a bad documentary about legendary heavyweight boxing champ and standout human being Muhammad Ali. While this new