Eoin Colfer is best known as the author of the highly successful children’s fantasy series Artemis Fowl. This series, pitched squarely at the older child market, features a ten-year-old super rich, hyper-intelligent, criminal mastermind who finds and takes on a technologically advanced fairy world. But the first Artemis Fowl book came out in 2001, putting…
Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn makes the most of her starring role in Birds of Prey. She’s undoubtedly the bright star in a fantasy that has much going for it until it loses its way. Birds of Prey is, indeed, a twisted tale, as told by Harley herself. Harleen Quinzel is a former psychiatrist who…
It is suspected that viewers of The Witcher will fall into two camps – fantasy readers/gamers, and Henry Cavill fans. You’re in for a sizeable treat if you happen to be both of these things. Sure, last Friday night you may have been one of those people who trudged off to see the latest Star…
The latest installment in the Disney Villains spin-offs is a reprise of Maleficent – a twisted view of the Sleeping Beauty fable. Picking up where the original left off, Aurora (Elle Fanning) has been crowned Queen of the Moors and is living in the idyllic woods with her godmother Maleficent (Angelina Jolie), sidekick Diaval (Sam…
The X-Men aren’t my favourite superhero franchise; but I’ve been happy to check in with them over the years. The original “tranche” (X-Men [2000] through X-Men: The Last Stand [2006]) and their spin-offs were pretty good, though Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was always the best thing about them. In 2011, the “throwback” series kicked off…
The original animated version of Dumbo (Disney’s fourth feature film) came out in 1941. It’s now it has been re-imagined in live action form. Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) enlists former circus star Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) and his children, Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins), to care for a very different newborn…
In the growing genre of family-friendly musical theatre, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a deliciously addictive treat. Combining good old-fashioned storytelling from the masterful Roald Dahl, with modern theatrical technology, toe-tapping songs and a script bursting with witticisms, this show is a recipe for fun. The story stays faithful to the renowned novel, which…
In Glass, filmmaker M Night Shyamalan brings together the central characters from 1999’s Unbreakable and 2016’s Split for a climactic showdown that brings this unofficial trilogy to a close. At the end of Split, Shyamalan did include a post-credits sting hinting that the film was a part of the Unbreakable universe. But he had to…
Although a story about Vikings making friends with dragons seems very “high concept”, the How to Train Your Dragon franchise has been a big success. I mean, not MCU-style success, but it’s more than held its own in the world of animated movie franchises. The films have raked in more than $1 billion – nothing…
Corny but endearing, Bumblebee gives a young audience exactly what it’s after in a continuation of the Transformers’ series. With Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen) in the lead, it could actually be the best of the breed (which now extends to six films dating back to 2007). The year is 1987. The Autobots, led…
