ALSO SHOWING
THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING (PG)
★★★★★
WRITER-DIRECTOR Joe Cornish’s family-friendly spin on the sword in the stone.
Twelve-year-old Alexander Elliot (Louis Ashbourne Serkis, pictured) clings on to memories of his father, who vanished many years ago to “battle his demons”.
The boy’s mother (Denise Gough) tries to protect her boy from spectres of the past but she is powerless to stop Alex falling victim to bullying classmate Lance (Tom Taylor) and his sidekick Kaye (Rhianna Dorris) at Dungate Academy.
Fleeing his tormentors, Alex seeks refuge in a building site where he pulls a sword from a block of stone just like Arthurian legend.
This simple act by a pure-hearted hero stirs King Arthur’s evil half-sister Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) in her subterranean lair.
She employs sorcery to reanimate fallen warriors to slay Alex and steal Excalibur.
In response, a young Merlin (Angus Imrie) materialises and inspires Alex to undertake a quest before Morgana and her army of the dead can rise in the shadow of the forthcoming solar eclipse.
HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U (15)
★★★★★ AS the convoluted plot of writerdirector Christopher Landon’s horror thriller grinds into gear, a science boffin (Phi Vu) listens intently to the film’s heroine (Jessica Rothe) describe being stuck in an alternate time loop with subtle differences from the first.
Happy Death Day 2U is overstuffed with narrative, less entertaining and relies heavily on our affection for characters from a slicker and superior original. Worst of all, Landon is so concerned with explaining his time loops through extraneous dialogue laden with multiverses and temporal ripples that he neglects to deliver edge of seat thrills and gratuitous blood spills. Oh the horror, or rather the lack of it.
THE LEGO MOVIE 2 (U)
★★★★★ UPROARIOUS and imaginative sequel. It has been five years since Finn (Jadon Sand) allowed his younger sister Bianca (Brooklynn Prince) to play with his LEGO sets. Consequently, Bricksburg has degenerated into the den of despair known as Apocalypseburg.
The relentless good cheer of mini-figure Emmet (above, voiced by Chris Pratt) is out of step with the prevailing gloom and Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) wishes he could be more manly and heroic.
Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (Tiffany Haddish), who presides over the rival Systar galaxy, dispatches her masked envoy General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) to Apocalypseburg to facilitate nuptials with Batman (Will Arnett). When the caped crusader refuses, General Mayhem kidnaps him, as well as Lucy, Unikitty (Alison Brie), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman) and Benny (Charlie Day). Emmet gives chase and encounters an ally in archaeologist adventurer Rex Dangervest (Pratt again).