Movies based on video games are pretty common – Angry Birds, Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokemon: Detective Pikachu to name a few. But movies based on board games seems counter-intuitive. I mean, the board doesn’t move, and much of the play is inside the players’ heads. So the arrival of Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among…
Keanu Reeves returns as the taciturn, virtually indestructible lone-wolf assassin John Wick. This is the fourth installment in the successful franchise that has continually raised the bar in terms of staging kinetic action sequences. The 2014 original boasted some of the best stunt choreography and kinetic action sequences from a Hollywood movie. And John Wick:…
Has the art of movie titling been lost? Following on from the recent Women Talking comes another film that does exactly what it says on the box with Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear. Cocaine Bear is (very) loosely based on real events. Drug smugglers did indeed dump a load of cocaine over northern Georgia and southern…
The fifth cycle of Marvel Cinematic Universe films kicks off with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. In the hands of director Peyton Reed (who directed the previous two Ant-Man films), this feels like something of a throwback. While nodding to the MCU’s current multiverse mania, Reed delivers an action film steeped in nostalgia. The only…
Filmmaker Guy Ritchie gathers together most of his usual band of players for Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. And this action-packed but cliched globe-trotting spy movie ticks all the right boxes for the genre. When a mysterious device (the film’s MacGuffin) is stolen from a secret laboratory MI6 needs to act quickly to recover it…
The magnificent journey that is Avatar continues with awe-inspiring distinction in The Way of Water. The franchise has maintained its ability to mesmerise and excite. Seeing it in 3D on the biggest screen possible, with the most advanced sound, served to heighten an already captivating experience. Maestro James Cameron doesn’t do anything by halves and…
In Violent Night, the wealthy Lightstone family gather at their secure remote family compound to celebrate Christmas. But this is a dysfunctional family as everyone tries to suck up to Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo), the family matriarch to curry favour and remain in her good graces. Jason (Alex Hassell) is separated from his wife Linda (Alex…
The Marvel Cinematic Universe returns to one of its most successful characters with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. With director Ryan Coogler (Creed) back in charge, the signs were good for this sequel. But the film never really comes together, despite a lengthy runtime and some excellent performances. As the film opens, King T’Challa is dead….
Inspired by events that took place in a powerful African state in the 19th century, The Woman King is the story of a battalion of female warriors. Known as the Agojie, their job was to protect the Kingdom of Dahomey, and its ruler King Ghezo (John Boyega). The narrative focuses primarily on two figures –…
A film for fanboys, Black Adam is mired in mythology, which will be far more meaningful if you’ve read the DC comics. The film tells the story of Teth Adam, the slave who became champion, who becomes Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson). The action starts in the ancient city of Kahndaq, where Adam is enslaved before…
