Everest

UK Release Date: 18th September 2015

A climbing expedition on Mt. Everest is devastated by a severe snow storm (www.imdb.com).

Director: Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband, 2 Guns)

Starring: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Jake Gyllenhaal

Everest stars Jason Clarke and Jake Gyllenhaal, two tour leaders who band together on the lucky day of the year (10th May) and tackle Mt. Everest. Various A-listers are amongst them, some making the ascent (Josh Brolin, John Hawkes), others are part of the story in different ways (Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley). The two groups face peril when a storm hits. You can see where this is going. Disaster are on a middle level scale. Everest is gorgeously shot, the mountain friendly during the day, by night an active presence waiting for its next victim. The snow is blinding, and the sheer steeps and drops will put off any acrophobian. The A-listers' performances are just as grand as the mountain, but almost no emotion is sent their way because their numbers outstrip our emotional demand. In the end Clarke and co. never get the recognition they deserve.  

3/5

Testament of Youth

UK Release Date: 16th January 2015

A British woman recalls coming of age during World War I - a story of young love, the futility of war, and how to make sense of the darkest times (www.imdb.com.)

Director: James Kent

Starring: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Edgerton, Emily Watson, Hayley Atwell, Colin Morgan, Dominic West, Miranda Richardson

Testament of Youth is a worldwide best-selling autobiography by Vera Brittain, played by Alicia Vikander in this film adaption. It's her account of her life during World War I. There's a melancholy vibe floating through the air; Vera, her family and friends are on tenterhooks, knowing the inevitable war will change everyone's lives. ToY shows that all those left behind were effected as well. Vikander is phenomenal. She single-handedly expresses the terror bestowed on the world, giving up her passion to study and becoming a nurse instead. Vera sees just as much horror as the troops sent away. Her brother (Edgerton), close friend (Morgan) and new love (Kit Harington) end up on the frontline. Vikander and Harington's relationship is the weak point, never given the chance to flourish. It doesn't have the effect on the audience that it should. Once Harrington's gone he's forgotten. The moment is Vikander's, the bleak story hers alone.

3.5/5

Home

UK Release Date: 20th March 2015

An alien on the run from his own people makes friends with a girl. He tries to help her on her quest, but can be an interference (www.imdb.com).

Director: Tim Johnson (Antz, Over the Hedge)

Starring: Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez

Jim Parsons and Rihanna. A nerd and an r&b musician. An odd mix. One that's portrayed in Home. It doesn't quite fit well. Parsons voices Oh, the small, purple alien, on the run from his own kind for alerting his race's enemy of a party on earth, where they've taken sanctuary. His voice isn't like the colour of his body, which matches the emotions he's conveying at the time. Not a bad character, just not as cute as the Fox's Minions (if that's what they were going for). Rihanna is Tip, the only human left on earth after the Boov's took everyone off the planet to make it their own. Her only objective is to be reunited with her mother. Her and Oh don't get along at first, but soon become unlikely friends. Rihanna also delivers a few original scores in the soundtrack. She's a big part of this movie. She's from Barbados, just like her character. It's practically her life on screen. Putting their unlikely coupling aside, Home will undoubtedly amuse its young audience. Oh's automatically appealing because he's the bad egg. There's a cute, loveable Calico cat that acts like a dog, following Tip everywhere. The Boov are funny where Oh struggles to be, led by their Captain, Smek (Steve Martin). Home lacks originality, but proves to beat expectations.  

3/5

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

UK Release Date: 10th September 2015

After having escaped the Maze, the Gladers now face a new set of challenges on the open roads of a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles (www.imdb.com).

Director: Wes Ball (The Maze Runner)

Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Jacob Lofland, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito, Patricia Clarkson, Aidan Gillen, Barry Pepper

Note: May contain some spoilers.

The Scorch Trials: the second film of The Maze Runner trilogy. 20th Century Fox's answer to a young-adult series, similar to The Hunger Games and Divergent. The Maze Runner has a compact storyline, telling us all we need to know without revealing too many secrets. The Scorch Trials, on the other hand, loses the thread in its script. Piecing the puzzle together's the hardest part, unless the book's been read prior. Sitting back and enjoying the action's the easy part. Thomas (O'Brien) and the Gladers escape the clutches of WICKED, only to find they've walked right back into their hands. The Scorch is the Gladers' new task, set by WICKED leader Janson (Aiden Gillen). At least that happens in the book. In the film, Thomas and company seeks safety, which is inconveniently past the Scorch, in the mountains, unaware that it's a new test. They face new challenges, mainly zombie-like humans, adverse weather conditions, and the enemy constantly on their tail. It hardly feels worth it by end. The Gladers get no where, the trial opening up dilemmas, solving nothing on the way. The action at least keeps us entertained for the majority of the movie. Overall though, a disappointment after a successful start to the trilogy.

3/5

Legend

UK Release Date: 9th September 2015

The film tells the story of the identical twin gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray, two of the most notorious criminals in British history, and their organised crime empire in the East End of London during the 1960s (www.imdb.com).

Director: Brian Helgeland (Paycheck, A Knight's Tale)

Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Taron Edgerton, Christopher Eccleston, David Thewlis

Two doses of Tom Hardy. Can't get any better than that, right? He's got the looks, brings the power, exudes fear. He is the right man for this role, and proves it just so. The Kray brothers are notorious gangsters, running the underground scene of London in the 1960's. Ronnie Kray (Hardy) is unhinged, sporadic and very open with his sexuality. Reggie Kray (Hardy) is the balanced one, collective, calm, but quick to anger. Legend covers their tremendous rise to their speedy decline. Hardy manages to portray two separate personalities without effecting the other. Ronnie is funny, Reggie is serious. Both personalities are as astounding as the other, neither outdoing the other. Legend is a gangster film at heart, putting family above all else, full of honour, intimidation and violence. Gangster fans, rejoice, Legend is amongst the best of its genre.   

4/5 

Just Go With It

UK Release Date: 11th February 2011

On a weekend trip to Hawaii, a plastic surgeon convinces his loyal assistant to pose as his soon-to-be-divorced wife in order to cover up a careless lie he told to his much-younger girlfriend (www.imdb.com).

Director: Dennis Dugan (Big Daddy, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Grown Ups)

Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker, Nick Swardson, Nicole Kidman 

Just Go With It sits in the middle of the best and worst Adam Sandler films this side of the millennium. Many, considerable pitfalls exists. Sandler piles on the lies to get his girl. Firstly, pretending to have an ex-wife (Jennifer Aniston), because Sandler gets caught wearing his old wedding ring that scores him many girls (in his dreams). Secondly, having two children when he has none. Thirdly, his cousin Nick Swardson enters the fray, pretending to be Aniston's new German backpacker boyfriend. The lies are awful and flimsy. The charade's kept up for the entire movie. It'd be convincing if Sandler was only trying to get his leg over. Some laughs come from it, just not many memorable ones. Aniston is the prize winner here. She's the good in a jumble of mess. This film is aptly named, as if it's telling us just to go with it too. 

2/5