Do blonds have any more fun?
True Things Cert: 15, 1hr 42mins ★★★☆☆ Morbius Cert: 15, 1hr 44mins ★★☆☆☆ Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Cert: PG, 2hrs 2mins ★★★★☆ The Bad Guys Cert: U, 1hr 40mins ★★★☆☆
The basic story at the heart of True Things is a familiar one – nice but lonely and slightly mixed-up girl meets handsome, twinkly-eyed goodfor-nothing.
And from the moment the charmingly roguish and swiftly nicknamed Blond saunters into the benefits office where Kate reluctantly works, we’re pretty sure no good is going to come of it.
Blond – played by a bleached Tom Burke channelling an awful lot of mid-career Simon Le Bon – might as well have ‘Bad Lad’ tattooed across his forehead. But Kate, very nicely played by Ruth Wilson (also on stage in The Human Voice – see review below), is bored, there’s an instant mutual attraction and pretty soon they’re off for sandwiches, skinnydipping and quite a lot of sex.
Director Harry Wootliff serves up a stylish and atmospheric first half, helped by a seaside setting that reinforces distinct echoes of Brighton Rock. But while Wilson – star of The Affair, of course – continues to impress, the film runs disappointingly out of steam as the last lap approaches.
The release of Morbius – the lattheories est film to feature yet another character plucked from a Marvel comic – has been delayed many, many times and as the first 15 minutes play out, it’s easy to imagine why.
After all, the main plot, about a gifted doctor born with a debilitating genetic blood disorder transforming himself by combining human DNA with that of a vampire bat, does bear an uncanny resemblance to one of the most widely reported about the origins of the Covid-19 virus.
But as the rest of the opening hour slowly unfolds, another possible explanation for the multiple delays presents itself. Morbius is dreadful, quite possibly the worst example of the comic-book, super-hero genre I’ve ever seen.
Jared Leto isn’t actively bad as Dr Michael Morbius but he is almost criminally dull which, given that he’s become a living vampire inside half an hour, is quite an achievement.
But this is a film where nothing works – there isn’t a single likeable character, the screenplay is lacking both structure and humour and far too often we’re left watching two blurry visual effects battling out against the background of an even blurrier third.
For those thinking of going because they’ve heard Michael Keaton is in it, I have two words of advice: don’t bother.
Most fun this weekend – especially for parents with the Easter holidays to survive – is Sonic The Hedgehog 2, which sees the old video game returning for a second live-action feature film outing with the help of a well-polished and genuinely funny screenplay, a fabulously bonkers performance from Jim Carrey as the evil Dr Robotnik and a very nice voice-turn from Idris Elba as Sonic’s supposed nemesis, Knuckles.
Sonic is probably best not combined with an outing to see The Bad Guys with some entirely coincidental plot similarities eventually emerging, as we watch the criminal characters who give this animated feature its title – Wolf, Snake, Tarantula, Shark and Piranha – being forced to become good by the award-winning social reformer Professor Marmalade. Who’s a guinea pig, of course.
But are they as bad as they like to appear and he as good as he says he is? It’s a little repetitive but a top voice cast led by Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina and Richard Ayoade eases the potential pain.