THE BIG SCREEN
KONG: SKULL ISLAND (12A)
Bill Randa (John Goodman) spearheads a secretive government organisation which specialises in the hunt for massive unidentified terrestrial organisms. He leads an exploratory geological survey to a Pacific island with Preston Packard (Samuel L Jackson) to fly the mission. Passengers include tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), anti-war photojournalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson). Crash-landed on the island, the survivors encounter a crazed US airman called Hank Marlow (John C Reilly), who has been living wild since his aircraft was downed during the Second World War. Kong: Skull Island angrily flexes its muscles, but punches below its weight.
THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES (12A)
Unassuming housewife Priscilla (Pauline Collins) quietly marks the anniversary of her son’s death, but her embittered husband Frank (Ronald Pickup) ruins the melancholic moment. At the local supermarket, the couple argue over the price of biscuits and Priscilla temporarily escapes her misery to help another customer, Helen (Joan Collins). Unexpectedly, the doors close and Priscilla becomes an unwitting companion to Helen on a daytrip to the seaside for residents of the nearby retirement home.
LOGAN (15)
World-weary Logan (Hugh Jackman) lives under his birth name, James Howlett, in a tumbledown ranch in the desert, where he cares for ailing Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) aided by albino tracker Caliban (Stephen Merchant). Logan’s abilities as Wolverine are waning – pus oozes from his knuckles when he retracts his Adamantium claws and his body no longer self-heals. Logan strikes a contemplative tone, which sets it apart from the other standalone Wolverine films. Strong performances from Jackman and Stewart, coupled with a sparkling film debut for 11-year-old Keen, ensure a fitting send-off.
VICEROY’S HOUSE (12A)
Lord Louis Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville) arrives in the swelter of 1947 Delhi at the behest of King George VI to replace Archie Wavell (Simon Williams) as viceroy of India and oversee the transfer of power. Lady Edwina Mountbatten (Gillian Anderson) and daughter Pamela (Lily Travers) also make the journey in the face of shocking reports about sectarian violence. Louis and chief of staff Lord Ismay (Michael Gambon) host the political elite to debate the way forward and end the bloodshed.
TRESPASS AGAINST US (15)
Colby Cutler (Brendan Gleeson) presides over a fiefdom of caravans and campfires with a clenched rather than an iron fist. He meets dissent with biblical scripture and repeatedly reminds other families to “stay tight” in the face of intimidation from the local constabulary. Colby’s son Chad (Michael Fassbender) cowers in the old man’s shadow, but is secretly planning to transplant his wife Kelly (Lyndsey Marshal) and two children to a neighbouring site.
PATRIOTS DAY (15)
On April 15, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Alex Wolff) and his brother Tamerlan (Themo Melikidze) head into Boston with homemade bombs concealed in rucksacks. They drop the bags and move to safety before detonating the devices in quick succession near the finish line. Hundreds of people are injured in the blasts. Director Peter Berg’s bombastic approach to action sequences sets our pulses racing and he effortlessly holds us in a vice-like grip for more than two hours.
A CURE FOR WELLNESS (18)
Ambitious executive Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) gains rapid promotion when a colleague suffers a fatal heart attack. Senior staff reveal CEO Roland Pembroke (Harry Groener) has disappeared to an Alpine spa at a crucial juncture in a business deal. They need Lockhart to bring Pembroke back to sign off a hugely profitable merger.