Less ass kicked

Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

Directed by Jeff Wadlow this sequel based on the comic of the same name stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz and Jim Carrey. Following the events of the first film some of the characters try to adjust to a normal teen life while one becomes a super villain.

Compared to the first film in this series this is certainly a weaker effort as it is not as funny as the original and seems to get a bit lost thematically at times. There are some changes between comic and film script but this is not the worst adaptation you will ever see. I think the big miss here is the loss of director Matthew Vaughn as this film does just not have the style of the original.

3/5

Shadow cash in

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

Directed by Kenneth Branagh this film stars Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightly and it's director. After breaking his back while serving as a US Marine in Afghanistan a young man is recruited into the CIA.

Essentially this reboot is a cash in on the popular Tom Clancy character rather than an adaptation of any of the novels although it does contain the odd piece here and there. While the first third to half of the film is fairly sensible and realistic the rest of the film throws realism out of the window in favour of standard action film silliness. The film is pretty well made as you would expect from a director like Branagh but the uneven tone of the script leaves a lot to be desired.

2/5

Low stock

The Nebraskan (1953)

Directed by Fred F. Sears this film stars Philip Care, Roberta Hayes, Wallace Ford and Lee Van Cleef. Two prisoners escape from a Cavalry outpost, one of which is wanted for the murder of a local Indian chief.

This is a fairly average B-movie western that fits in most of the usual story elements leaving no real surprises. Slightly unusually the Indians are treated fairly well here, they have a legitimate motivation and get actual characters. Where the film really falls down is in the cheap use of stock footage that looks low quality and nothing like Nebraska where the story is set.

2/5

No flashes of entertainment

The Hot Flashes (2013)

Directed by Susan Seidelman this film stars Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Virginia Madsen, Wanda Sykes and Camryn Manheim. Middle aged women get together a basketball team to play the current girls State high school team for charity.

There will be few surprises in this film as it follows the basic plot of many a sports film and really has little to offer in terms of originality in any area. The writing is fairly weak, there is little character progression and the story is far too pedestrian to explore any themes at all. No doubt there is plenty to be said about the experience of middle age from a female perspective but this film is not the one to do it.

2/5

Undoing the Hitch

Last Passenger (2013)

Directed by Omid Nooshin this film stars Dougary Scott, Kara Tointon, Iddo Goldberg and David Schofield. Passengers become trapped on a late night train home from London which the driver seems intent on crashing at the end of the line.

This is a good set up for a thriller with touches of Hitchcock about it but it never really takes the story anywhere on a character level. I found the ending to a little silly considering how down to earth the rest of the film was but it was not excessively over the top. There are some decent performances from the cast but the script is rather Spartan so they do not have a lot to work with at times.

3/5

Baby like

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Directed by Howard Hawks this film based on a short story of the same name stars Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and May Robson. A mild-mannered palaeontologist crosses paths with a free-spirited, clumsy woman.

At the time of release this film was something of a failure but has gone on to be considered one of the best of all time. While the film is filled with what you might call slapstick antics I found both the humour and the plot fairly simplistic. For a film with such a big reputation this was a real let down but maybe it did just not fit my taste in comedy.

3/5  

detectives, dames and decisions

Out of the Past (1947)

Directed by Jacques Tourner this film based on the novel “Build My Gallows High” stars Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas and Rhonda Fleming. The past catches up with a man trying to start over in a small town with a new girlfriend.

The plot of this film is your classic film noir set up with private detectives, femme fatales, crime and plenty of double crossing. At times the dialogue has some serious crack to it but I do not think that the story offers anything beyond being a genre piece. I found the cinematography a little bit of a let down here, it is passable but not evocative of German expressionism like the big names of the noir genre.

3/5