Freelance is a disposable action-comedy from French filmmaker Pierre Morel, best known for putting Liam Neeson through his paces in the thriller Taken in 2008. Freelance stars former wrestler turned actor John Cena as Mason Pettits, a former special forces operative who left the military after a mission in the fictitious South American country of…
If there was any doubt The Fast and Furious franchise couldn’t up the ante, #9 eradicates that. Think outer space and mega magnetic force for starters. It’s action-packed from start to finish, with no shortage of surprises. The central concept is a feud between two brothers as a result of their father’s untimely death on…
Talk about fighting fire with fire. A small company of brave, resilient and resourceful specialist firefighters – known as smokejumpers – are no match for the three brave, resilient and resourceful orphan children they rescue. I should explain that smokejumpers are highly trained men and women who provide the initial attack on wildfires by parachuting…
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…
Is bullfighting a subject appropriate for children? I don’t think so. It’s an ancient and barbaric practice. Just why the producers of Ferdinand believed it was appropriate to turn this into a cutesy animated feature is puzzling, to say the least. I say that notwithstanding that the central character is a gentle giant. At one point he literally…
Not only do recent Christmas movies tend to be more narky and mean spirited, but they also seem to be hitting cinemas earlier. Even though it is only November we have three Christmas themed films in our multiplexes. There’s Bad Moms 2, the home invasion black comedy Better Watch Out, and now we get Daddy’s…
Two US soldiers are literally in the firing line in the unrelenting psychological thriller The Wall. The pair are Sergeant Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), an army ranger who serves as spotter; and his sniper partner, Sergeant Matthews (John Cena). They’re pinned down by an Iraqi sniper. But the fight becomes as much a battle of wills and…
