Wednesday 27 April 2016

Captain America: Civil War ... Battle stations

THE third Captain America instalment is uneven. It starts off with a big bang, similar to Avengers: Age
of Ultron, loses a lot of energy after that with a chatty part about following United Nations restrictions (always a sore point with Americans), explodes with a full-scale superhero battle pitting two sides against each other, and then ends with a more personal, intimate battle.
  The Civil War part refers to the American superheroes fighting each other at the risk of flouting UN rules. One faction wants to adhere to the rules that constrain them, and the other, represented by Captain America, who represents American views, wants to do as it wishes, free from the shackles of the global body.

Thursday 21 April 2016

Eye In The Sky ... 'Hood' winked

TRAILERS are supposed to be taken with a pinch of salt as they present just the best bits of films to
entice people, but at least you know what you're getting.
  The same can't be said for South African director Gavin Hood's Eye In The Sky, which purports to be a thriller about using a drone to flush out or destroy a terrorist cell in Nairobi, Kenya, but instead turns out to be a long-winded debate about the collateral damage of killing one girl.

Saturday 16 April 2016

Pandemic ... Zombie bash fest

PANDEMIC gives zombies a bad name. Director John Suits derives great
pleasure in showing humans beating the crap out of zombies, including using a rifle and baseball bat to bash the skulls of zombies. 
   Scenes of zombie attacks are nicely spread out to give viewers ample opportunities to enjoy blood splatters. 

Thursday 14 April 2016

The Huntsman: Winter's War ... Frozen solid

LOVE, or the lack of it, permeates French director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan's The Huntsman: Winter's
War, the sequel to Snow White and The Huntsman (2012), which became known for Kristen Stewart's affair with director Rupert Sanders. Nicolas-Troyan was the visual effects supervisor in the 2012 film, so viewers are assured of a deluge of special effects in the latest film.
   I found the special effects remarkably nondescript. The sight of someone creating a wall of ice or freezing someone has long lost its charm. And so's the sight of someone lashing out at people with tentacles.

Tuesday 12 April 2016

10 Cloverfield Lane ... Tension below

BEAR McCreary's music is one reason to watch horror drama 10 Cloverfield Lane,
directed by Dan Trachtenberg. His stirring violin music hightens the tension in the bunker between Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Emmett (John Gallagher Jr) and paranoid farmhouse owner-cum-former Navy satellite operator Howard (John Goodman).

Thursday 7 April 2016

The Jungle Book ... Survival of the fittest

DISNEY gets rid of the racist overtones of The Jungle Book in this live-action film, which has a host
of top names and a newcomer that will make you cheer for the underdog.
   Neel Sethi, as shaggy-haired and dishevelled Mowgli, a human who grows up with a pack of wolves in the wild, shows strength, sensitivity and determination to show what his character can do.
    He also learns to accept his differences from his "family" and bands together weaker animals against a violent tiger named Shere Khan, voiced appropriately menacingly by Idris Elba.