THE BIG SCREEN
FILM CRITIC PAUL GREENWOOD’S GUIDE TO WHAT’S ON
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (15, 120 mins)
In a post-apocalyptic Australia, wanderer Max (Tom Hardy) helps a group of women escape the clutches of a mad warlord, with Charlize Theron stealing the show as their leader in this insane reboot. Basically a two hour chase scene, this is breathtaking vehicular carnage that as an action spectacle leaves most everything in its dust, and is the blockbuster against which all other movies this summer must be judged.
DANNY COLLINS (15, 106 mins)
Screen legend Al Pacino is ageing rocker Danny Collins, who decides to revaluate his career in this engaging comedy drama, ditching his cheesy hits in favour of new material and seeking out his long lost family. Funny, warm and touching, it works well from several angles and it’s Pacino’s best performance and film in many years.
SPOOKS: THE GREATER GOOD (15, 104 mins)
The long running BBC spy drama comes to the big screen in cracking style, with brilliant MI5 boss Harry (Peter Firth) on the run and searching for a dangerous terrorist and a mole. Kit Harington is the young agent brought in to track him down and the results are pacy, exciting and tense and should work well for fans of the show and new comers alike.
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (12A, 141 MINS)
Superhero mega-team the Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man and the rest) are forced apart then together again when robotic villain Ultron is accidentally brought to life with plans to destroy earth. With some truly spectacular action and well-intentioned character work, this Marvel sequel is a cut above most comic book movies, though it can be a little overstuffed plot-wise and tries too hard to be funny.
SAN ANDREAS (12A, 114 mins)
Dwayne Johnson is a helicopter rescue pilot trying to save his daughter during a massive California earthquake in this ridiculous but very impressive disaster movie. The script is terrible, but that doesn’t matter too much when the spectacle and effects are this good, and it’s every bit as daft and entertaining as you’d hope and expect.
TOMORROWLAND: A WORLD BEYOND (12A, 130 mins)
Disney’s theme park-based fantasy adventure stars George Clooney as a scientist who discovers a futuristic world and is helped by a teenager in an attempt to steer the world away from disaster. Though visually impressive this is quite a disappointment, and while there are some likeable characters and a couple of decent action moments, the story and script are terribly muddled and it falls apart completely in the final stages.
PITCH PERFECT 2 (12A, 115 mins)
Anna Kendrick returns to the world of a cappella singing as the leader of the Bellas, who have been banned from competing in the States and travel to Europe for the world championship. The plot is flimsy in the extreme, but no end of terrific numbers are covered in energetic fashion in a sequel that’s just as entertaining and just as throwaway as first time round.
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (12A, 119 MINS)
Thomas Hardy’s novel about an independent Victorian farmer (Carey Mulligan) who must choose between three suitors (Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen and Tom Sturridge) is brought to the screen in handsome if uneven style. Mulligan’s Bathsheba is a great character, but the plot can lean towards silly and soapy.
CINDERELLA (U, 113 MINS)
Lily James and Richard Madden are well cast as Cinderella and Prince Charming in director Kenneth Branagh’s faithful live action version. It’s wonderfully designed and the sincere tone works, but a little more ambition to the storytelling might have added an extra dimension.
THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE:
With a non-stop barrage of jokes both visual and punning thrown at the screen, this animation is often quite funny and utterly insane, but that’s exactly why it works.
MAN UP (15, 88 mins)
A comedy of misunderstanding ensues when Nancy (Lake Bell) pretends she is the blind date that Jack (Simon Pegg) is supposed to be meeting in this unconvincing British rom-com that features too few laughs. Bell is fine, but Pegg doesn’t really belong as a romantic lead and there’s an air of trying too hard about the whole thing.
POLTERGEIST (15, 94 mins)
The fondly remembered slice of 80s Spielbergia gets a modern updating as a family experiences disturbances in their new, shall we say, cemetery-adjacent home. For a while it follows the original beat for beat and offers some atmospheric moments, but jettisons some of the best gags without coming up with strong enough replacements, and it’s a slow crawl to a non-existent climax.
A ROYAL NIGHT OUT (12A, 97 mins)
During the VE Day celebrations in 1945, young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret escape the confines of Buckingham Palace for a night of celebrating on the streets of London in this underwhelming comedy. The performances are fine, but the plot involves a lot of going round in circles.