2020

THE ROADS NOT TAKEN

Cert 15 Stars 3

An excellent cast fails to inject energy into this studiously low-key drama crafted with painful sincerity and respect for sufferers and carers of mental illness.

One time Bond villain Javier Bardem stars as a near catatonic patient who’s experiencing visions of alternative lives he could have lived, with Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek and Laura Linney offering degrees of compassion as the women in his life.

It’s written and directed by Brit Sally Potter who includes some far from subtle political commentary and explores ideas of identity, memory and history previously touched upon in her 1992 arthouse hit, Orlando.

BATMAN: DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Cert 15 Stars 3

The latest of the Warner Bros. animated superhero adventures brings one of Batman’s most notorious stories to dynamic life as the replacement Robin the Boy Wonder, an orphan called Jason Todd, is kidnapped by arch villain The Joker.

The comic book series on which it’s based used a telephone readers’ vote to decide whether Todd lived or died, and in it’s honour this has various alternate versions of the story to entertain.

Also includes four short stories featuring Sgt. Rock, Adam Strange and more. Fun but not for the little ones.

LEGACY OF LIES

Cert 15 Stars 3

Brummie born action star Scott Adkins busts some ferocious action moves in this hard-as-nails global spy-thriller as an ex-MI6 agent making money in illegal bouts.

Honor Kneafsey is fun as his streetwise gun-toting 12-year-old daughter Lisa, who’s unfazed by his ferocious cage-fighting skills, but whose life is at stake when her dad is dragged back into the espionage game and given 24 hours to find some secret files.

The strong location work and glossy menace is anchored by Adkins, an unsung hard working professional and likeable screen presence deserving of a more high profile gig.

I AM GRETA

Cert 12A Stars 4

Hot on the heels of David Attenborough’s big screen rallying cry to save our planet comes this intimate documentary Swedish environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, who at only 15-year-old and having Asperger’s syndrome inspired a generation across the globe to go on school strike to demand immediate action on climate change.

We’re given Greta’s eye view of events as this otherwise very ordinary, shy and lonely schoolgirl is thrust into a media and political whirlwind.

Footage of her terrifying wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic Ocean shows it clearly not an empty gesture or a mere showboating of her credentials, and by the time she delivers an impassioned speech at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York I was fully onboard with her message.

Greta is understandably and deservedly cynical about the posturing of politicians, her modesty about her achievements in raising awareness is remarkable and her composure, resilience and humour in the face of appalling abuse from politicians will make you furious.

And if such a small figure can inspire such ire in powerful old men such as President Trump then she’s doing something right.

WOLFWALKERS

Cert PG Stars 5

Be enchanted by this fabulous family fable which is a joyously magical affair, rich in character, astonishingly imaginative, vividly beautiful, wonderfully funny, terrifically exciting, and easily the best animated movie I’ve seen this year.

Set in Kilkenny in 1650, Robyn is a young girl newly arrived from England with her father, and her pet owl called Merlin. While secretly exploring the nearby forest Robyn encounters another motherless and mischievous young girl called Mebh, who is a Wolfwalker, someone who possess the ability to change between human and wolf form.

Giving voice to the pair, Honor Kneafsey and Eva Whittaker have a wonderful rapport full of teasing humour and excitable, conspiratorial exchanges. While Sean Bean brings a weary sadness nobility as Robyn’s father.

But the girls’ blossoming friendship puts Robyn at odds with her father who’s a wolf hunter by trade, and brings them all into conflict with the puritanical and tyrannical Lord Protector, an Englishman intent on ‘taming’ Ireland by force.

Produced by the Irish studio, Cartoon Saloon who’re justly famous for their with their uniquely luscious illustrative style rooted in traditional Irish art, their previous films The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and The Breadwinner, were all Oscar nominated for Best Animated Film, and each is on a par with the best of Disney or Pixar. And this is no exception.

Although first and foremost a wonderful children’s action adventure, it’s also undeniably political and ripe with history, but always framed in such a way your kids will understand.

It’s most damning of politicians and rulers who invoke god to support their wars and use fear mongering rhetoric to justify persecuting those who are different. And there’s also a timely environmental message about how forests are destroyed in the pursuit of profit.

As the heartbreaking story unfolded, I cried, howled with laughter and I nearly cheered at one crossbow-wielding moment. Wolfwalkers is Watership Down for a new generation – but with more bite.

THE WITCHES

Cert PG Stars 4

Roald Dahl’s prize-winning children’s book is given a Hollywood fantasy comedy make-over with Robert ‘Back To The Future’ Zemeckis transferring the story from the UK to Alabama of 1968.

Jahzir Kadeem Bruno’s young orphan teams up with on-screen grandmother Octavia Spencer to defeat a coven of evil witches, led
by Anne Hathaway who’s having an absolute blast.

Though Chris Rock’s narration is unnecessary the big budget allows for glossy SFX which brings the action to gleefully grotesque life.

It’s a lively family Halloween treat and if Dahl purists are offended, the tricks on them.

HONEST THIEF

Cert 15 Stars 3

Liam Neeson is back in action mode in this watchable action thriller which is smart enough to plays to his increasingly dour and weary strengths while never suggesting he’s going to be breaking sweat or any new ground.

The scarcely believable set up sees the big Irish actor star as ‘The In and Out Bandit’, a former marine turned bank robber, a gentleman thief who of course who never hurts anyone and is in it for the thrills not the cash.

However when he falls in love his guilty conscience insists he turn himself in and serve his time before settling down, but he’s double-crossed by two FBI agents and soon he’s on the run with his not best-pleased girlfriend, Annie.

Best known from TV’s Grey’s Anatomy, Kate Walsh is bright presence, while Jai Courtney is always been better when playing the villain and is on agreeably nasty macho form as a corrupt Federal agent.

There are car chases and shoot-outs and Neeson growls down the phone in a manner familiar from his Taken franchise, but at 68 it may be time to retire the tough guy act.

PIXIE

Cert 15 Stars 3

Following her fabulous turn as Becky Sharp in the period drama miniseries Vanity Fair, Olivia Cooke plays another mischievous smart ass schemer with a silly amount of confidence in this enjoyably raucous violent comedy thriller.

As Pixie she finds herself on the run after a heist has gone wrong with compromising photographs, a body in a car boot and a stolen bag of drugs,
Swept along in Pixie’s wake are her hapless smitten accomplices, played with agreeable self-delusion by Ben Hardy and Daryl McCormack.

A modern day Irish Western set in the err, the west of Ireland it’s a foul mouthed and loose limbed affair, which it wears on its many influences on it’s sleeve.

Barnaby Thompson previously directed 2009’s St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold, and does a decent job of aping the tone of the superior Colin Farrell 2008 thriller In Bruges.

The script lacks that film’s flair but there’s an enjoyable swagger to proceedings, some lovely production design and Alex Baldwin gives a much needed boost of energy as a pistol packing priest when the pace begins to flag.

THE SECRET GARDEN (2020)

Cert PG Stars 3

Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 children’s mystery fantasy novel has been adapted for stage and screen many times and this latest version is pleasingly old fashioned, handsome, pleasant and sadly respectful to a fault.

Broadly faithful to the source material and dealing with grief, loss and loneliness, a spoilt orphan is sent to live with her stern uncle in his grandly gothic and isolated Yorkshire manor house, where she discovers a magical garden and becomes unlikely friends with a couple of local boys.

Dixie Egerickx is a confident and capable presence as our spiky heroine, but Colin Firth and Julie Walters have limited screen time, the pace is thoughtful by modern standards and the filmmakers dress up the finale with some Hollywood-style fireworks.

Full of nostalgia for the simple childhood joys of climbing, swimming and hiding from grown ups, the book it considered was a bit dull even when I was a boy, and members of the young generation such as my video game addicted ten year old may not be familiar with it, meaning parents will probably enjoy this more than the kids will.

BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM

Cert 15 Stars 5

Gloriously offensive, eye-wateringly funny and ram your own fist down your throat outrageous, Sacha Baron Cohen returns as his Kazakhstani alter ego Borat, in this astonishing mockumentary comedy sequel.

Accompanied by his 15 year old daughter, Borat returns to the US to present a monkey to Vice President Mike Pence, a set up which allows Cohen to tackle recent scandals on an extraordinary whistle-stop tour.

No matter how offensive Borat is, the people he meets are far worse and proves Donald Trump is no aberration but a horrifyingly accurate representation of the wider state of US politics.