Articles Posted in the " Film Reviews " Category

  • Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

    I don’t know much about Terrence Malick. But then again, I don’t know much about Alfred Hitchcock either, and it doesn’t stop me knowing that Disturbia is a rip-off of Rear Window. As literally every other critic on earth has noted, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints appears to be a homage to Malick’s love of trackless…


  • You’re Next

    It doesn’t start brilliantly, but that’s kind of the point. For the first act, You’re Next sticks to genre staples and conventions; if reviews and trailers have prepared you for a wry horror comedy, you might follow the cold opening dispatch of a post-coital couple, complete with “eugh, really?” pointless nudity, with a “…ha?” It…


  • We’re the Millers

    There are any numbers of reasons to ignore We’re the Millers, and many more to dismiss it as yet another platform for the world to check in on how Jennifer Aniston’s arse is holding together (very nicely, as it turns out). Like most comedies, we’re inclined to sneer outright unless it fulfils a number of…



  • Elysium

    Beautifully shot, brilliantly conceptualised, Elysium is a thoughtful and exciting film… right up to the half way mark, where it discards its social commentary for stale action sequences that feel torn from the mid-90s. Elysium could have been an iconic moment in sci-fi movie history, but limps weakly across the finishing line in a confetti…


  • 2 Guns

    Robert Trench (Denzel Washington), an undercover DEA agent, and Michael Stigman (Mark Wahlberg), an undercover Naval Intelligence Officer, rob a bank on behalf of their respective organisations, completely unaware of the other’s affiliations. In the vault they expect to find $3 million of money laundered by Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos), but instead end up…


  • Pain & Gain

    We (royal) are, for some reason, SO willing to see Michael Bay redeemed. I was so convinced of Transformers’ potential greatness that I didn’t realise it sucked until about an hour after I’d seen its SEQUEL. And then I saw the big snake robot eat a building and thought “F*CK, Transformers 3 might actually be…


  • Lovelace

    Since the apparent collapse of Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story, the task of introducing a new audience to the world’s most famously capacious throat and the woman who came with it has fallen entirely to Rob Epstein’s Lovelace. Unfortunately, a gorgeous performance from Amanda Seyfried can’t eclipse ninety minutes of hopeless bias and wilful whitewashing.…


  • Kick-Ass 2

    Thirteen years ago, Bryan Singer brought superheroes back to the Hollywood mainstream with X-Men. Ten years later, Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman reinvented the genre with swearily subversive thrillride Kick-Ass. Can Jeff ‘Cry_Wolf’ Wadlow’s sequel maintain the sheer joy of the original? Alas, Kick-Ass 2 is demoted to, at best, prodding buttock. A predictable disappointment.…


  • Red 2

    Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is retired…again, and is finally enjoying the quiet life with Sarah Ross (Mary Louise-Parker). She’s having a tougher time getting over the excitement of international espionage, however, and is relieved when Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) shows up with the news that their lives are once again in danger. The CIA have…