Penguins of Madagascar - review

Giving the breakout supporting character of a movie their own spin off can be a bad move... Elektra, U.S. Marshals and Get Him To The Greek for example.

The jury is still out when it comes to animated features as there has been hit and miss success with the like of Planes and Puss In Boots and next year will see the Minions from Despicable Me hit the big screen.

Will a full-length feature based on the Penguins of Madagascar take flight or become a march to the bargain bin?

It turns out that there is enough action and mileage in the story of examining the group dynamic with Private desperate to become more than just the cute one whilst taking on a villainous octopus to provide for an amusing afternoon at the picture, helped by s steady stream of gags including the most random running joke of the year which involves celebrity names being worked into the dialogue e.g. "Nicolas... Cage them".

P-p-p-pick up a ticket for Penguins... Or Pengwings as Benedict Cumberbatch repeatedly calls them in the film. Oh Benedict... You had ONE job to do in this movie called Penguins!

3 stars

St. Vincent - review

Ain't them Bill Murray's Saints?

Bill Murray certainly qualifies, as he delivers one of his best performances since Lost In Translation outside of a Wes Anderson movie.

Vincent is a proper grumpy old man. Miserable, grouchy and unlikeable and Murray does of a great job of channeling the darker side of his humour to make audiences a bit standoffish with him to begin with before the cracks in his armour start to appear and we begin to understand why he is the way he is.

The trailer suggests a buddy comedy of sorts between Vincent and the young kid next door (especially due to the casting of McCarthy and O'Dowd in supporting roles) but it is a much more than that, at times sad and moving but perhaps more could have been done to embrace the darker elements of the script as it feels like some of this was watered down in the final edit.

There is laughter and tears and a Murray mint performance that was good but perhaps not good enough to qualify for sainthood.

3 stars

Black Sea - review

Fired from his job, submarine captain Jude Law gathers together a crew to head to the Black Sea to find a German U-Boat filled with Nazi gold.

The premise is rather old school, "men on a mission" stuff but director Kevin McDonald does a good job of increasing the pressure and sense of cabin fever and claustrophobia.

It's just a shame that none of the characters are really given room to breathe beyond Law's divorced skipper and (an always good value) Ben Mendelsohn's crazy diver.

However the biggest question is whether Jude Law struck gold with his "Aberdonian" accent or did he deliver a sub-par performance?

Being born and bred in Aberdeen, I can categorically state that while at times it may approach sounding like Doric, it gave me that sinking feeling as it went for a tour of the seven seas and never once settling on a final destination.

3 stars

Life Itself - review

Life Itself, the documentary of the life of Roger Ebert, does everything that a good movie should. It makes you laugh, cry, feel, emote and build a greater appreciation for cinema as a whole.

Steve James's powerful and moving doc involves interviews with Ebert in his final months as he is in and out of hospital relating to his cancer treatment. Seeing Ebert communicating through a computer after the cancer had taken his lower jaw and voice is upsetting to see and difficult to watch but what amazes is the high spirits that Roger seemed to be able to keep up.

Alongside the interviews, the film uses his memoir as the starting point for a look through the life of one of the world's all-time greatest film critics. It doesn't shy away from the darker side of history with Ebert's alcoholism, a frank look at his illness and his longtime friendship/rivalry with fellow Chicago critic Gene Siskel.

If there was one minor complaint, it would be that it didn't feature enough of his work and reviews (they did win him a Pulitzer Prize after all) but thankfully this can all be read and enjoyed on his website which catalogued his entire life's work because he was adamant that even though cancer had taken his vocal chords it wouldn't take his voice.

Just hearing a few excerpts from his reviews during the film makes you feel bad that you might never write anything as good but just the simple act of writing about film would put a smile on his face and I think Roger himself would have also given the film two thumbs up.

4 stars

Horrible Bosses 2 - review

It seems that <I>Horrible Bosses</I> was enough of a success that producers did what they do with any comedy vehicle that does well in America: commission more of it and keep running with it until it runs out of jokes and outstays its welcome.

It remains unclear who (if anyone) demanded or needed a sequel but we have one and it immediately bucks the trend of going louder, crazier, bigger and more extreme by immediately downgrading the central premise of having three employees plot to murder their bosses to plotting to kidnap a double crossing employer.

For the next 90 minutes they not only rehash a lot of the jokes and gags from the first film, along with probably improvising 90% of the dialogue, but also bring back all the characters from the first film including Jennifer Aniston's nymphomaniac dentist who they steal nitrous oxide from.

To be honest, it would have been great to have some laughing gas in the screen as this only raised the mildest of chuckles in a film that should be handed its P45 for not performing to the best of its abilities.

<b>2 stars</b>

Paddington - review

Let's be honest. At the start of 2014, who would have honestly said that the two best family films of the year would have been one based on a building block toy and one that inspired the meme #creepypaddington?

Well of course The LEGO Movie turned out to be "Awesome" and Harry Potter and Gravity producer David Heyman has worked his magic yet again to produce a film which is as charming, warm and fuzzy as the titular bear.

Not only has it remained faithful to Michael Bond's original character thanks to Ben Whishaw's marmalade-smooth vocal performance but Paul King (director of The Mighty Boosh and Bunny And The Bull) gives it a delightfully quirky and whimsical spin with some great gags and touches like the taxi ride that highlights all the cliched sights in London before having Mr Brown (Bonneville) ask the taxi driver "what kind of route was that?" And the lights on the lost and found sign at the station flickering dependent on how the conversation is going with the Brown family.

It is also surprising that Paddington overtakes The Hunger Games: Mockingjay as the most overtly political movie aimed at young people this year.

It positively promotes the benefits that immigrants can bring to London and the UK and how they should be welcomed with open arms despite what the naysayers might say, as epitomised by Peter Capaldi's Mr. Currie who is clearly a Daily Mail reader and has the conversation with Nicole Kidman's villain about how it starts with one and soon they'll be over here stealing all our marmalade.

Paddington has found a welcome home this festive season and is the bear necessity for a family trip to the cinema.

4 stars

2001 A Space Odyssey - review

It is a true landmark moment in cinematic sci-fi and it is easy to see where the inspiration for several elements of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar came from, particularly the trippy final act.

And that is what the experience of 2001 A Space Odyssey is. Whereas other sci-Fi films can take you on an adventure or a journey into outer space, Kubrick takes you on the ultimate trip.

Whilst stunning to look at and immerse yourself in on as big a screen as possible, I can't help but feel as emotionally distant and detached to the story as HAL 9000 is to his crewmates aboard the Jupiter mission.

4 stars