SPACE DOGS: RETURN TO EARTH (U)
★★★ ★★
DIRECTOR Inna Evlannikova teaches old dogs newish tricks in the third computer-animated chapter of the Space Dogs saga, which originally took flight in 2010. Bolted together in Russia then dubbed into English, Space Dogs: Return To Earth blasts off for an out of this world adventure that seldom escapes the gravitational pull of a pedestrian plot and solid, unremarkable visuals.
Dogstronaughts Belka (voiced by Maria Antonieta Monge) and Strelka (Mauriett Chayeb) are ordered to terminate their sample-gathering mission on an ice moon of Saturn and return to Earth.
The plucky duo is requested to investigate an anomaly in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cuba.
According to scientific data, the giant whirlpool will swallow the water of the Atlantic in less than three days.
Belka and Strelka pilot their spacecraft close to the column of swirling aqua and are struck by lightning. The plucky pooches plummet into the ocean and discover the source of the disturbance: a submerged alien spacecraft manned by an elephantine creature named by Pumbary (Oscar Cheda) and guard Croakagy ( Jason Michael Kesser).
In selected cinemas
SONGBIRD (15) Preview
DEMI MOORE, right, stars in this sci-fi thriller based on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
In the years since coronavirus swept the globe, the latest mutation, Covid-23, is the deadliest yet. Citizens are ordered to stay indoors to avoid infection.
A morning temperature check on mobile devices identifies anyone who should be dragged from their home by Hazmat-suited agents and deposited in quarantine camps known as Q-zones.
Former paralegal Nico (KJ Apa) has immunity and is allowed outside during daylight hours to work as a bicycle courier. He pedals furiously around deserted Californian streets, delivering parcels to customers including wealthy couple, the Griffins (Moore and Bradley Whitford).
Nico dreams of earning enough money to run away with his girlfriend Sara (Sofia Carson), who he has never been able to touch for fear of transferring the deadly contagion. When a daily temperature check puts Sara in jeopardy, Nico races against the clock to engineer an escape route through the city’s heavily armed barricades.
In selected cinemas.