A star-spangled feast of intergalactic fun
GUARDIANS Of The Galaxy was always going to be a hard act to follow. The swashbuckling adventures of its space-age misfits made for one of the freshest, hippest superhero epics in recent memory. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 does not tamper with the winning formula of witty banter and breakneck action set to an eclectic retro soundtrack. But it does dilute the potency of the formula by expanding the cast and shifting the focus to the personal issues besetting various characters.
Predictably it is rascally reprobate Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) who plunges the Guardians into a whole heap of new trouble by stealing valuable batteries that belong to the empress Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki). She is definitely not amused.
The gang’s attempt to flee her wrath brings them into contact with Ego (Kurt Russell) who happens to be the long-lost father of Guardians leader Quill (Chris Pratt).
Joy is unconfined at a family reunion that promises to reveal all about Quill’s past and perhaps explain why he was snatched away by the evil, blue-faced, orthodontically challenged Yondu (Michael Rooker) all those years ago. Yondu’s expanded role in the story is very welcome. But Quill is not the only one with family issues as Gamora (Zoe Saldana) remains locked in a deadly feud with her vicious sister Nebula (Karen Gillan).
Meanwhile, man mountain Drax (Dave Bautista) is getting in touch with his softer side as he warms to Ego’s endearingly naive assistant Mantis (Pom Klementieff).
There is also the introduction of Sylvester Stallone as the warrior-like leader Stakar and fear not, infantile sequoia Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) is more adorable than ever.
It feels like there is a whole lot going on although none of it has a great deal to do with guarding the galaxy.
There is also such an appetite for death and such a casual attitude to violence that the 12A certificate feels very lenient.
The fllm boasts some eye-popping visuals and you feel like you have been plunged into a psychedelic comic book while the soundtrack ranges far and wide through the wastelands of 1970s and 1980s popular music to include Glen Campbell, ELO, George Harrison, Sam Cooke and many others.
It is often vastly entertaining and there is plenty of whizz-bang fun in a film that feels like a bumper edition of classic sci-fi TV – a Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica.
But the relationship between Quill and Ego never carries the weight you feel it should. When everything is about cliffhanger action and flippant insults, it becomes impossible for the movie to resonate on a deeper emotional level and that is its biggest flaw.
Remember to stay for the credits as several sequences come after the grand finale along with the announcement that Guardians Of The Galaxy will return for a third outing. Let’s hope for a sharper, more focused plot. lady MacbeTh HHHH (Cert 15; 89mins) LADY Macbeth is not your typical period drama and anyone expecting starched bonnets and sodden britches should look away now. This is more earthy and arresting as it charts the fate of 17-year-old Katherine (Florence Pugh) in 1860s Northumberland.
Her marriage to older collier heir Alexander (Paul Hilton) is more of a business merger than a love match and once the deal is done he seems content to leave her to her own devices. Boredom leads her into a reckless affair with handsome stable lad Sebastian
hANdSOMe devIl HHHH (Cert 15; 95mins)
HANDSOME Devil plants a big smile on your face and leaves you feeling better about the world – and that is no mean feat. John Butler’s coming-of-age, coming-out charmer might not be full of surprises but it is so well made and deftly played that it is irresistible.
The cast includes Fionn O’Shea as gawky teenager Ned, a bright, artistic lad facing hell on earth when he is sent to an all-boys Irish boarding school where rugby is regarded as a religion. New roommate (Cosmo Jarvis). Maid Anna (Naomi Ackie) is not the only one to show her disapproval but Katherine is made of stern stuff and once she realises the power she might wield as lady of the manor, nothing will stand in her way.
Based on Nikolai Leskov’s novella Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk, Lady Macbeth shows the influence of Madame Bovary, Wuthering Heights and Lady Chatterley’s Lover as it builds towards a ferocious climax. An impressive film debut from theatre director William Oldroyd with a chilling performance from Pugh.
The PROMISe HHH (Cert 12A; 133mins)
MIKAEL (Oscar Isaac) is a small-town apothecary who uses the dowry from an arranged marriage to finance his medical studies in Constantinople. He may be betrothed but his heart is captured by the beautiful Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), the current companion of fearless American journalist Chris Myers (Christian Bale). However, Mikael is Armenian and as the Conor (Nicholas Galitzine), the star player in the rugby squad, adds to the nightmare.
The two lads seem to have nothing in common until they start to bond over their shared love of cool indie music.
But an unlikely friendship struggles to survive in a school where the boys are grimly attached to narrow, macho values. Funny and full of heart, Handsome Devil has echoes of Dead Poets Society and Gregory’s Girl, plus a great performance from Andrew Scott as inspirational English teacher Dan Sherry.
A joyous crowd-pleaser. Turkish authorities begin their ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population, the indestructible Mikael survives everything from internment in a labour camp to a leap from a speeding train.
If the idea behind The Promise was to raise awareness of the Armenian genocide, then it does not really succeed. The historical backdrop often feels authentic but it takes a back seat to a clichéd, unpersuasive romantic triangle. HISTORIC: Bale and Le Bon in The Promise
heAl The lIvING HHHH (Cert 12A; 104mins)
THE precious gift of life lies at the heart of Heal The Living, an adaptation of a hugely popular French novel.
The film begins as 17-year-old Simon (Gabin Verdet) leaves his sleeping girlfriend to meet his friends and go surfing by dawn’s early light. Within hours he is in a coma and only being kept alive by machines.
Simon’s devastated mother Marianne (Emmanuelle Seigner) is asked to consider a request for organ donation. We then meet music writer Claire (Anne Dorval) who is waiting for a heart transplant.
The events in Heal The Living make it sound like an episode of Casualty but director Katell Quillévéré views everything and everyone with such tender-hearted compassion that it builds into an elegantly handled, deeply felt drama.
SuNTAN HHH (Cert 18; 104mins)
MIDDLE-AGED doctor Kostis (Makis Papadimitriou) arrives on the tiny island of Antiparos.
When he treats 21-year-old Anna (Elli Tringou) for a minor injury, he is irresistibly drawn to her and her extremely annoying friends. He is pale, podgy and straitlaced. She is golden, glowing and uninhibited.
Flirtation is taken as a green light for something more in an intriguing, increasingly disturbing tale of obsession.
A MOvING IMAGe HH (Cert 15; 74mins)
THE people of Brixton and the problems around gentrification add some life to A Moving Image, an ambitious, low-budget hybrid of drama and documentary.
Tanya Fear stars as Nina, an actress who returns to Brixton to create a visual arts project around an area under threat from the “quinoa and kale” brigade.
Unfortunately her romantic travails and professional dreams feel trite in a sincere affair that feels fatally undercooked.