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Angry Birds (2016)

Directed by: Clay Kaytis & Fergal Reilly

Featuring the voices of: Jason Sudeikis, Danny McBride, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage, Sean Penn, Bill Hader and many more

Yes, Angry Birds the movie is based on THAT game and this should not be a reason to avoid this film. In fact as far as video game adaptions go it is one of the better ones – made easier by its premise of birds vs. pigs – not natural nemesis’s but it worked great in the game and somehow works equally great in the movie.

This really is a movie for all ages and does what the best animated films do best that is make a movie based around some of the issues of being a child and how this can have repercussions in later life. How you can be different and try not to let that effect you by separating you from others, yet missing the involvement of people in your lie.

The film is pretty bold and deals with the complex emotion of rage as a disease along with treatment and acceptance – helped by the nefarious pigs plans to steal the bird’s greatest treasure, their eggs. Red the main character has to quickly help his village harness their rage into a useful tool to retrieve their lost treasure.

The film is extremely fast paced and of course saves the best for last with the attack on the pig city straight out of the game. I have to admit to playing the game but not for years, and it made me want to download the latest game and have a crack. It was a strange feeling recognizing certain birds and their abilities and looking forward to how the filmmakers were going to make it look on the big screen – and it doesn’t disppoint. My favorite was the bird that farted explosives – so childish and yet so funny.

The film is stolen by Josh Gads yellow bird Chuck who zips around and is obviously an ADD coffee addicted avian maniac but like his Olaf from Frozen really pushes the boundaries of good taste.

There is so much going on the film has to be experienced and I am sure your child will thank you for it.

Out Now!

Directed: The Russo Brothers

Featuring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jnr., Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany

At the end of the day all you have are friends and family. That’s it. Everything else just falls away.

That’s what is at the center of CA:CW, a film that offers as much human drama as the overblown action that appears onscreen for its almost 2 ½ hour run.

Early reviews suggest that this is the best MCU film yet; whilst I agree it is fantastic  I still put others slightly ahead, but that is no slight to this monumental effort.

Gone are the overblown villains, instead, comes a story with multiple arcs that come to fruition by the very end – and leave’s you wanting more.

This is the second film directed by the Russo Brothers, the first being the excellent Captain America: Winter Soldier, which set the stage for this epic tale of friendship and betrayal. Not forgetting the international intrigue that sets the stage for what could have been Avengers 2.5 but pulls back to give center stage to the man out of time, Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America.

I don’t review storylines just the overall film and this is one not to miss. There have really been no misfires from the MCU just different levels of good to great and this one succeeds by doing what those great ones do, concentrate on story and introduce new characters and getting rid of others, or at least altering some of their trajectories.

The addition of Chadwick Boseman as the Black Panther from the African nation of Wakanda is a long time coming to the MCU, but he is one of the strengths in the film, falling folly to revenge as many of the characters do, but being the one that makes a true stand for forgiveness. The other addition is the new Spider-man, Tom Holland, who plays the character as written in the comics, young, and eager to prove himself, with great comic timing.

Robert Downey Jnr gives his best and most nuanced interpretation as Tony Stark, a.k.a Iron Man, seeing him out of the iron suit more than in. He has demons to battle that don’t seem to be gone yet.

This film sets up the rest of the movies to come – and whether you are Team Cap or Team Iron Man you will walk out of this film with a smile and understanding both sides of the same story.

As always remember to stick around for the stings at the end of the movie.

Director: Dexter Fletcher

Featuring: Hugh Jackman, Taron Egerton, Christopher Walken and Jim Broadbent

Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman are both excellent in this inspired by a true story “Eddie the Eagle”, the English ski jumper who made it to the 1988 Winter Olympics and made a huge impression there and at home.

Its great seeing these two actors fresh from box office success in their respective comic book films and make a smallish charming drama in the vein of, yes, “Cool Runnings” (1993), directed by the actor turned accomplished director Dexter Fletcher.

The film itself takes Michael “Eddie” Edwards played by Taron Egerton who as a young boy had an injury that left him immobile and once he overcame this dreamed of becoming an Olympian of any sort. Chasing his dream leads him to attempt to became the second ski jumper to represent he UK in the Winter Olympics.

Hugh Jackman plays a fictionalised washed up American ex jumper who left his own coach (played by an excellent Christopher Walken) because of his huge ego. What’s interesting is the way both Eddie and his coach come together to compete while not really agreeing on the way Eddie should compete at the upcoming Olympics.

This story itself is highly fictionalised but reflects the small industry that exists in the UK, almost every year there are similar stories that are turned into semi-real films such as “The Full Monty” (1997), “Calendar Girls (2003), Quartet (2012) and many more that become hits in their homeland and travel extremely well. Eddie probably wont travel that well but with the addition of Jackman does give it wider appeal.

Dexter Fletcher who came to prominence as an actor has great pedigree as a director and counts Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn as mates; this is his first film using any real kind of special effects and bona fide superstars. He takes the story and moulds it into a great feel good film that I highly recommend to all.

Well its now official Disney has won movies.

With all the franchises and studios they own – Pixar, Marvel, Lucas – there does not seem to be a month that goes by when they release a thoroughly excellent movie, whether its Zootopia, this months Jungle Book or next months Civil War Disney are churning out big budget extravaganzas which not only make money but are critically lauded.

Onto this week and the release of The Jungle Book, directed By Jon Favreau and featuring the voices of Sir Ben Kingsley, Giancarlo Esposito, Indris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Christopher Walken, Lupita Nyong’o and Bill Murray. The only “real” person in the film is the newcomer Neel Sethi as the jungle boy Mowgli.

Firstly the movie is fantastic and whilst the story does deviate from the animated version this one has a life of its own. The personal stories along with the wider narrative connect with each easily, and everyone has their day in the sun.

The strength of this film is its look and the 3D animation is incredible. Favreau and his team have done an amazing job and this has to be seen in 3D to be believed.

This adaptation is darker than the previous one and at one point it is in danger of getting to down and too dark but once Bill Murrays Baloo enters the scene, the story picks up right until the end and the climax will have your heart racing.

This is highly recommended and take the entire family it is a real treat.

One of the most popular genres for debut film makers to dip their toes into is the Horror genre. That means that every year there are hundreds of new horror films being released on to DVD, BR, streaming and at the movies. Most often they are cheap knock offs of familiar sub-genres, werewolves, vampires and zombies as well as found footage movies that cross genres.

They are mostly easily watched and easily forgotten.

That is not the case with writer/director Robert Eggers’ debut feature, which premiered to great acclaim at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. And after watching this you can see why.

Set in New England in 1630 the story opens on a family being banished into the wilderness, they take up on the edge of a very spooky forest.

Strange and unsettling things begin to happen almost immediately — animals turn malevolent, crops fail, and one child disappears as another becomes seemingly possessed by an evil spirit.

It is not a spoiler to say that the witch of the title is real and black magic does indeed exist. The image of an old witch flying on a broomstick is eerie, haunting and shocking.

The story is told through the eyes of the adolescent daughter as she uncovers what is happening to the rest of her family.

The film is beautifully directed with lingering looks at the entire landscape through the use of close ups and wide shots. The music tells the story on another level entirely.

This film is highly recommended – watch with a friend!