ALSO SHOWING
HUNTER KILLER (12A)
WHEN mankind stands forlornly on the brink of annihilation, Paisley-born action hero Gerard Butler proudly steps forward to shepherd every man, woman and child back from the abyss.
In the underwater thriller Hunter Killer, a rogue Russian admiral prepares to push the button on a third world war and Butler sails to our rescue as a renegade submarine captain, who repeatedly risks a court martial to perform outlandish manoeuvres hundreds of feet beneath the waves.
Director Donovan Marsh charts a familiar course through breathless action sequences and threats of mutiny.
Butler is steadfast as chaos unfolds around him and Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist makes one of his final appearances before his death from lung cancer as a stoic Russian submarine captain.
Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss’s script torpedoes subtlety and springs a few plot holes but largely keeps its head above water for two undemanding hours.
FIRST MAN (12A)
ACADEMY Award-winning director Damien Chazelle takes one giant leap for immersive, nail-biting film-making in a thrilling dramatisation of the space race between America and the Soviet Union.
Based on James R Hansen’s official biography of Neil Armstrong, First Man shoots for the Moon and touches down beautifully by placing us alongside astronauts in their claustrophobic modules or next to nervous Nasa staff as they propel mankind into the great unknown.
Handheld camerawork, unobtrusive special effects and dazzling sound design leave us stranded thousands of miles above terra firma in a similar fashion to Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity, at the mercy of new-fangled technology and Lady Luck. The tension is almost unbearable. Chazelle masterfully encourages us to hold our breath and bite our nails down to the cuticle with bold visual flourishes and unshowy, powerhouse performances from Ryan Gosling, above, and Claire Foy as the husband and wife at the epicentre of the 1969 lunar landing.