The Herald - The Herald Magazine
PICK OF THIS WEEK’S FILMS
SGT STUBBY: AN UNLIKELY HERO (PG)
Bravery on two and four legs during the First World War wags the tail of director Richard Lanni’s charming if lightweight computer-animated history lesson. Sgt Stubby: An Unlikely Hero pays tribute to the most decorated dog in US history, who served his country for 18 months, predominantly alongside one master for 17 battles and four military campaigns. Lanni’s picture concludes with photographs of the real-life Stubby and his proud handler, Robert Conroy. Patriotic pride courses through the veins of a script co-written by Mike Stokey, which narrates the flourishing bond between man and beast in the words of Conroy’s sister Margaret (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter). “This is the true story of a special friendship my brother made while training for the war,” she coos at the start. The narrative is simplistic in order to appeal to children and parents, both of whom will struggle to resist the wide-eyed charms of the titular terrier.
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (12A)
Earlier this summer, larger-than-life characters from across the Marvel Comics galaxy united to combat the threat of the mighty Thanos in the superhero showdown Avengers: Infinity War. However, one miniature crimefighter – wisecracking cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) – was notable by his absence from the pyrotechnic-laden combat. Peyton Reed’s crowd-pleasing sequel neatly explains Lang’s no-show against Thanos with a high-octane blast of rip-roaring entertainment, which dizzies and delights in equal measure. Adopting a more intimate style of storytelling, Ant-Man and the Wasp choreographs a series of outrageous setpieces without losing the broad humour or tender emotion that made the original 2015 film a sizeable hit. Notably, this is Marvel’s first action-packed feature with a female superhero and Evangeline Lilly’s airborne assassin dominates the bruising fight sequences when she isn’t catalysing molten on-screen chemistry with Rudd’s reluctant saviour.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT (12A)
In 1996, when Tom Cruise accepted his mission to revamp the classic 1960s TV series, it’s unlikely he envisioned that he would still be breaking sweat as gung-ho IMF agent Ethan Hunt more than two decades later. Life is full of surprises and few are as sweet or exhilarating as Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The sixth and arguably best instalment of the globe-trotting franchise welcomes back writer-director Christopher McQuarrie, Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Usual Suspects, for a suspenseful thriller that unravels tangled narrative threads from the 2015 film Rogue Nation. While other blockbusters rely heavily on digital trickery, Fallout places its most expensive special effect – its leading man – in almost every adrenaline-pumping shot.
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: A MONSTER VACATION (U)
Towards the gently effervescent conclusion of director Genndy Tartakovsky’s computer-animated sequel, a DJ tries to break the evil spell that has enslaved a kraken by blasting out Bobby McFerrin’s upbeat anthem Don’t Worry, Be Happy. The infectious hit should play throughout Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation, which doesn’t worry about character development or a coherent plot and is blissfully happy to set sail for predictable laughs in foreign climes. Humour in this third chapter, co-written by Tartakovsky and Michael McCullers, is decidedly long in the vampire’s tooth as Dracula (Adam Sandler) dips his immortal toes into the perilous world of right- and left-swiping potential love matches.
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN (PG)
This sequel doesn’t quite have the same intoxicating sense of nostalgia-drenched delirium of the first film. The bittersweet return to the sun-kissed Greek island of Kalokairi comes off second best to the razzle-dazzle of Hugh Jackman and his kaleidoscopic circus of melodic misfits. However, Parker’s film is hard-wired to entertain, with a comforting recipe of glossy song and dance numbers, saucy humour, simmering romance and Oscar-winner Meryl Streep ripping the hearts out of chests as she mines the raw emotion of Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus’s lyrics. The addition of Cher as Streep’s impeccably coiffed mother is a masterstroke and she blows the roof off the taverna with her rapturous interpretation of Fernando with fellow newcomer Andy Garcia. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again lays all of its Abba love on us and, although the fragmented chronology hampers the dramatic momentum.
HOTEL ARTEMIS (15)
Style confidently trumps substance in Drew Pearce’s intriguing dystopian thriller about a secret membership-only hospital for the criminal fraternity. Set during a sweltering summer of civil unrest in futuristic Los Angeles, Hotel Artemis dazzles with expertly choreographed fight sequences and sharp one-liners. The writer-director is aided by a mesmerising lead performance from Jodie Foster as the agoraphobic clinician in charge of the hospital, who has spent 22 years within its cracked walls and self-medicates to numb the pain of her devastating loss. Foster’s searing performance is complemented by the bristling menace of Dave Bautista as an orderly, who threatens “to unheal” anyone who breaks the hospital’s bond of confidentiality. The promised prescription of thrills and spills delivers only a fleeting high.
JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (12A)
If you follow the lead of Jurassic Park’s hubristic scientists and splice the creative DNA of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 behemoth with the rumbustious 2015 reboot Jurassic World, the resultant hybrid would roar, rampage and ultimately stumble like this muscular fifth instalment. Directed at a gallop by Spanish filmmaker JA Bayona, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a slick yet soulless greatest hits of monster-munching mayhem, bolted together with overblown setpieces that hark back to earlier episodes. A cute grandchild in peril, a T Rex roaring triumphantly over its domain as composer John Williams’ familiar theme swells, a reflection of “objects in the mirror are closer than they appear”, Jeff Goldblum’s chaos mathematician foreshadowing wanton bloodshed with sage words about evolutionary order. Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly’s script takes a velociraptor’s claw to character development, meekly sketching a rogue’s gallery of computer hackers, palaeobotanists and Machiavellian men in suits before the chomping of human flesh begins in earnest. There are undeniable thrills and entrails spills, and Bayona choreographs the carnage with flashes of directorial brio, but the jump scares and blood-curdling screams are largely second-hand. Welcome to Jurassic World and bid farewell, for now at least, to originality
INCREDIBLES 2 (PG)
The odds of a lightning strike on the same spot 14 years apart are astronomical, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that the long-awaited sequel to Disney Pixar’s masterpiece falls tantalisingly short of the genius of its predecessor. Incredibles 2 is bigger in scope and ambition than the original and boasts thrilling action setpieces as well as a familiar menagerie of endearing characters including diminutive fashion oracle Edna Mode, whose ability to scene-steal has not waned since 2004. The sequel exploits the burgeoning powers of the youngest and cutest member of the Parr clan, baby Jack-Jack. Brad Bird’s sequel is effortlessly entertaining and, when the script hits its mark, guffaws come thick and fast but memories of the flawless original film temper enthusiasm for this return to dysfunctional super-powered family life.
SKYSCRAPER (12A)
Dwayne Johnson channels the spirit of Die Hard-era Bruce Willis in this vertiginous adventure thriller. Will Sawyer (Johnson) is a former FBI hostage rescue team leader who lost one of his legs in the line of duty. Sarah (Neve Campbell) was the attending surgeon that day and Will fell in love with her during his recovery. Ten years later, Will and Sarah are married with a sassy daughter, Georgia, and a young son, Henry. The doting father has retired from the FBI and is working as a security expert, having just been hired by Zhao Min Zhi to offer his assessment of The Pearl, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. A group of terrorists storm The Pearl and set the 96th floor ablaze. Will puts his FBI training into action to leap from a crane into the building and outwit the terrorists.
OCEAN’S 8 (12A)
Crime pays handsomely in a convoluted and effervescent caper, which continues the misadventures of the Ocean family from Steven Soderbergh’s trilogy. Director Gary Ross’s stylish picture ditches George Clooney, Brad Pitt and their tailored brothersin-arms for an all-female cast spearheaded by Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett. They plot an ambitious jewel robbery in plain sight which subtly acknowledges seismic shifts in gender politics by refusing to hire a male accomplice and strain the bonds of sisterly solidarity. The loosely coiled plot requires similar suspensions of disbelief to previous chapters, but there’s a loopy logic to each narrative twist and our enjoyment stems from watching the pieces of an elaborate puzzle fall into place, often with seconds to spare. Ross’s direction doesn’t steal the limelight from an engaging cast, who are clearly enjoying themselves and their geniality is infectious.