Film Reviews by BS

The director ... oh dear. It looks like the guy watched a bunch of Bourne and James Bond movies, has aspirations to be (maybe he is) a music video director and has some girl power fantasies. Either way, what you get is neon, smoke, a cool chick who can single-handedly unarmed take out waves of dudes with guns, and strut about in cool coats in an 80s Berlin. Had high hopes with Blue Monday kicking off the intro, but the narrative and dialogue was painfully dull and clichéd. It's the kind of flicks where you just wish it would end, because it's just so boring. Ok, there's a few half-decent action sequences, including a brilliant piece of choreography in an apartment block stairwell. It looks good too. James McAvoy and Charlize Theron were wasted in this film. Someone has given this 5-stars, ha!

Charlie Hunnam is about the only redeeming feature of this snooze-athon. Can this really from the man who gave us Lock Stock and Snatch? Watch any episode of Vikings or Game of Thrones, or Excalibur - way better than this silliness. It's like Guy Ritchie wants to be Zack Snyder.

Is it me or are superhero movies getting worse as time goes on? The level of CGI keeps improving, and the nonsense on screen gets more tiresome. How are you supposed to care about a superhero that is invincible/immortal? No tension whatsoever when you know for a fact, nothing is going to happen to your precious protagonist. Ok Gal Gadot looks great, but not sure there's anything else to Wonder about. WW1 nonsense about Germans using chemical weapons and the Brits are going to stop them is utter propaganda, so not happy with that (was Churchill who used gas on the Kurds - look it up). I can't recommend this to anyone. Just watch a Nolan Batman or the original Superman films instead.

Yes, I know it's Marvel and everyone loves Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. This was filled with so many preposterous situations, coincidences and ridiculous action and an overly sentimental ending I nearly threw something at the screen. If you want a great movie about a hero and a little girl, watch Leon.

Cannot believe the same mind that brought us Leon: the Professional, has come up with this. Maybe it's the source material that's at fault, but even way - amazing visuals could not keep me from checking the phone most of the way through this. There are worse sci-fi films, and ok there are a few moments I looked up, but the story ... WTF ?

Ok, for some reason there is a huge audience - millions of people - who think it's hilarious that there's this character - a mini tree with a cute face - who can only say a single word. No matter the circumstance this baby tree creature has even less lines to remember than Kenny Baker's R2 D2. This fantasy story is silly fun I suppose, with a bleak yet preposterous final act, with a twist that was a big yawn. I suppose when you have characters with names like "Star God" what do you expect ..

Painful. All of it. I really hoped it was going to be fun, but man it was preposterous, tedious and terrible in every way. It gets a one-star because, as usual, the visuals are pretty decent. If it was Kong vs Godzilla, and there was no dialogue or wafer-thin, silly plot to get in the way, I might have given it another star. Oh dear.

Being marooned forever in a spaceship, with some lurking alien monstrosity, might be preferable to watching this all the way through for a second time. It starts quite well, and has the deceptive appearance that this might be a brainy sci-fi thriller. No such luck, it soon descends into tedious, predictable drivel about an alien. Two stars are for the sets and special effects and the first 15 - 20 minutes.

If you're a woman wandering the streets of Berlin on your own, and you end up sleeping with a guy after knowing them for about 24 hours, who lives in an apartment in a derelict block of flats where the windows don't open and there's a massive security bar across the door, as a viewer I found myself tutting throughout the opening act - this classic naivete is a horror trope. Before long she ends up his hostage, but if I say anymore I'm likely to give the game away. In short, the lead actress Teresa Palmer, is convincing. Direction is about as good as it can get for a story like this. There's some genuine suspense and the odd surprise.

The ending is woefully lacking in terms of story resolution, and due to a major lack of dialogue late in the movie, we're left guessing. Still, if I had a teenage daughter going backpacking, I'd definitely make her watch this.

Two stars are awarded for the cinematography and authentic backdrops, props and costumes, not to mention dialogue. Might work better as a novel (was it a based on a book?), but it's a slow and predictable tale of a certain time and place where - guess what? People used to be a bit racist. It's very slow, and might have been a great film if it was released 40 - 50 years ago.

Very funny from pretty much start to finish, and a visual feast. Would recommend for animation and comedy fans any age.