Epic monkey business for action man
RAMPAGE ★★★ (Cert 12A; 107mins)
DWAYNE JOHNSON has reached a stage in his career when he can do no wrong. Even the wretched Baywatch did nothing to damage his reputation as one of the world’s biggest box-office attractions.
His last film Jumanji has earned close to a billion dollars since it was released at Christmas and you wouldn’t bet against Rampage repeating that feat.
Rampage is loud enough to hurt your ears and dumb enough to insult your intelligence so you need to approach it with a generous spirit and a very large tub of popcorn. This is a B-movie on a mega budget, designed only to help you escape the cares of the world for a few hours.
It is blockbuster cinema that is often ridiculously silly but still engaging. It helps that it never takes itself too seriously. Johnson plays primatologist Davis Okoye, a brawny he-man whose best friend in the world is a silverback gorilla called George whom he has helped raise since he was a little nipper. There are echoes of everything from Lassie to Born Free and even King Kong in the close bond between man and beast.
It all starts to go horribly wrong when a misguided genetic experiment makes the lovable George bigger, fiercer and a great deal less cuddly. He is not alone and soon genetically modified monsters are on the rampage across America.
Davis is determined to stand by his pal George even if it involves fighting the monsters himself and saving the world in the process. Naturally that requires endless scenes of mass destruction in which the fantastic beasts wreak havoc across the country. The special effects are spectacular and on a scale that almost has you laughing in disbelief.
Rampage is based on a video game so characterisation and dialogue are cartoonish at best. But a strong cast does its utmost to make you suspend your disbelief and accept the impossible.
Oscar nominee Naomie Harris brings some spark and star presence to the conventional sidekick role of scientist Dr Kate Caldwell and Jeffrey Dean Morgan is Agent Russell, a smarmy, swaggering operative of a shady organisation. He is clearly not to be trusted.
Dwayne Johnson is completely convincing as a man of action and brings enough wise-cracking jocularity to his role to set the tone for the film. He is clearly having a ball and encourages you to relax and do the same. He even makes you care about the relationship with George and ensures there is a little heart and soul to this outrageous monkey business.
CUSTODY ★★★★ (Cert 15; 94mins)
THE full horror of domestic violence is vividly captured in award-winning French drama Custody. Miriam (Léa Drucker) has left husband Antoine (Denis Ménochet) and now seeks sole custody of their 12-year-old son Julien (Thomas Gioria).
At the public hearing there are accusations of violence and hints that not everyone is being entirely honest. The judge must decide whether the reasonable, seemingly repentant Antoine deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Her decision is the starting point for a brilliantly acted tale in which director Xavier Legrand escalates the tension towards breaking point. The audience is also encouraged to give Antoine a second chance as his desire to spend quality time with his son seems only human.
Thomas Gioria’s compelling performance as Julien tells us all we need to know as he flinches from his father’s touch and his expressive eyes convey a mixture of panic and plucky defiance.
Custody starts quietly but by the end you will be holding your breath and perched on the very edge of your seat.
THE TITAN ★★ (Cert 15; 95mins)
THE Titan takes a decent science-fiction premise and turns it into a desperately average film.
Once again the future is grim and by 2048 the planet is in crisis. Air Force pilot Rick Janssen (Sam Worthington) takes part in a Nasa research project that might enable humans to live on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons.
But there are some nasty side-effects to the experiment and Rick’s wife Abigail (Taylor Schilling) notices alarming mood swings and changes to Rick’s DNA.
A modest budget and equally modest ambitions make for a forgettable B-movie.
WESTERN ★★★★ (Cert 12A; 121mins)
WESTERN is a slow-burning drama that works its way under your skin. A group of German workers arrive in a Bulgarian village to construct a water plant. The locals seem far from friendly and the workers act like arrogant invaders.
Mysterious loner Meinhard (Meinhard Neumann) is the exception as he becomes curious about the area and develops a sense of kinship with the villagers.
The growing tension is exposed in petty misunderstandings and competition for scarce water resources. A thoughtful tale of identity, flawed masculinity and the way past actions constantly haunt the present.
A GENTLE CREATURE ★★★★ (Cert 18; 143mins)
NIGHTMARISH epic A Gentle Creature is loosely inspired by a Dostoevsky short story and stars Vasilina Makovtseva as an unnamed woman whose husband is currently in prison on a murder charge.
She has sent him a parcel that is returned to sender with no explanation. She decides to investigate and embarks on what becomes a journey into hell as she is denied information, left to the mercies of corrupt officials and exposed to a dog-eat-dog Russia.
This challenging film requires some patience but the reward is a portrait of Russia that feels like a howl of anguish.
MARLINA THE MURDERER IN FOUR ACTS ★★★★ (Cert 15; 93mins)
THERE is more than a twang of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western in Indonesian revenge drama Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts.
Marlina (Marsha Timothy) is a young widow living alone in a remote farmhouse when robbers attempt to take her livestock and her virtue. Marlina has very different ideas and her actions play out in an oppressive society where any woman seeking justice is obliged to take the law into her own hands. A striking feminist twist on a traditional western.