TV Movie Guide

The Dark Crystal M ori TV, 7pm Starring Jim Henson, Kathryn Mullen. Fantastic puppet flora and fauna from Muppet man Jim Henson, this dark but wonderful children’s movie follows Jen and Kira, two young Gelflings who are the last of their kind, as they try to fulfil the prophecy of the Dark Crystal. ★★★

Rush Hour 3

TVNZ 2, 7pm

Starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker. It’s unoriginal, formulaic, cliche-ridden and fosters racial stereotypes. And it’s not even that funny either. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker return once more as mismatched cop buddies Lee and Carter in this franchise that has surely done its dash. This time around the bickering twosome are in Paris taking on the Triads. ★★

Despicable Me 2 Three, 7pm Voices Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig. While not nearly as good as the original, this animated family comedy following the continuing adventures of supervillain Gru (now not so villainous) and his hilarious yellow minions is far from a lazy sequel, delivering plenty of laughs for young and old. ★★★★ The Circle Sky Premiere, 8pm Starring Emma Watson, Tom Hanks. Techno thriller which floats some impressive ideas but still flounders because of the improbable behaviour of all involved. It centres on a young woman who lands what seems to be a dream job at The Circle, the world’s most powerful social media and tech company. But what could have been a telling insight into the encroachment of social media into our daily lives becomes a confused ‘Big Brother is watching you’. ★

Jaws 2 Three, 8.50pm Starring Roy Scheider. This second instalment of the Jaws franchise is naturally not as good as the first, but still delivers reasonable value in terms of shocks and suspense. Roy Scheider returns as dogged police chief Martin Brody, but the whole is noticeably lacking for the absence of director Steven Spielberg. ★★★

Tokyo Story M ori TV, 8.50pm Starring Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama. You may not agree with the sentiment that Tokyo Story from 1953 is the greatest film of all time. Its theme is the growing chasm between Japanese parents and their children in the aftermath of World War ll. But you’ll be hard pressed not to shed a tear or two at this incredibly moving piece of work which embodies the traditional Japanese emphasis on detail and perfect form. ★★★★★

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

TVNZ 2, 9pm

Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone. Released just five years after the franchise it was rebooting finished up, this blockbuster comic-book adaptation necessarily re-covers some familiar ground, but thoughtful direction and a solid cast manage to keep the story feeling fresh. ★★★★

Lake Placid

TVNZ Duke, 9.25pm

Starring Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda. Tongue-in-cheek thriller about a giant crocodile which terrorises a lake, eating everything from bears to humans. It has a good cast, but trying to mix suspense with comedy doesn’t work so well here. ★★

Invictus TVNZ 1, 9.30pm

Starring Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon. Invictus is not just a movie about the 1995 Rugby World Cup. This solid drama is less about rugby and more about one man’s mission to unite his

beloved South African nation against all odds. That man was Nelson Mandela, portrayed here by Morgan Freeman, the distinguished African-American actor who was Mandela’s long-time friend and the South African statesman’s own first choice to play him. Freeman is more than equal to the task, and his seemingly effortless performance lends Invictus an air of realism and conviction. ★★★★

Elysium

TVNZ 2, 11pm

Starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster. Director Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 from 2009 was a thinly disguised metaphor for the apartheid in Blomkamp’s home country of South Africa. Elysium, too, has a subtext – rich v poor and the allocation of health care. The privileged live, long happy lives on a paradise in the sky run by the ruthless Secretary Rhodes (Foster), while the masses struggle beneath on a ruined Earth. Then one man gets a terminal dose of radiation sickness and leads a rebellion. ★★★★

The Purge Three, 11.05pm Starring Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey. With a largely implausible plot that seems to exist merely as a framework for propelling a number of violent shocks at the audience, this horror thriller appears to be trying to make some kind of point, but there is little about it that actually works. The basic premise is that following the collapse of society, for one night each year all crime becomes legal, with the intent of purging such actions for the rest of the year. ★★

Battle Of The Year

TVNZ 2, 1am (Sunday)

Starring Josh Holloway, Josh Peck. Inane dance flick in which a hip-hop mogul hires a former top basketball coach (yes, really) to help him train a world championship-winning dance crew. ★★