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ALSO SCREENING
IN
MARCH
The third solo outing for the Wolverine is also
(supposedly) the swan song for Hugh Jackman as
the surly superhero. While caring for the elderly
Prof X (Patrick Stewart), Logan must also play
guardian to a young female mutant with whom he
has a lot in common. After a couple of lacklustre
Wolverine films, will this be third time lucky?
We'll find out on
March 3
.
LOGAN
A tale as old as time is given a fresh live-
action makeover, but Disney's 1991 animated
classic will be hard to beat. Emma Watson is
Belle and Dan Stevens is the Beast – be their
guest on
March 23
.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
In this live-action version of the celebrated
anime series, Scarlett Johansson is at her sexy,
badass best as Major, a one of a kind cyborg
cyber-crime fighter on the trail of a nefarious
computer hacker.
March 30
.
GHOST IN THE SHELL
Alien
meets
Gravity
when the crew of the
International Space Station make first
contact in this slick looking sci-fi thriller. Jake
Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds star.
March 23
.
LIFE
The Great Wall of China was more than just a
fortification to keep out desert raiders, it was also
built to protect the world from something worse...
That's according to this hugely entertaining big
budget fantasy adventure, in which Western
mercenaries William (Matt Damon) and Tovar
(Pedro Pascal from
GoT
) side with Commander
Lin (Jing Tian) and her Eastern army to prevent an
invasion by a horde of legendary beasts known as
Taotie, which appear every 60 years to feed and
resemble the dogs from
Ghostbusters
, only with
more teeth. Having witnessed the ferocity of the
creatures first hand during an initial attack, Tovar
(understandably) wants to get the hell out of there
but William has finally found a cause worth fighting
for, and his archery skills plus a magnetic rock in
his possession could tip the balance of this war.
Essentially a castle under siege scenario (in this
case a Wall),
The Great Wall
could easily be written
off as just another generic CGI-stuffed Hollywood
blockbuster full of recycled battle scenes from
The
Lord of the Rings
and
Game of Thrones
. But this
Chinese-US co-production has got a lot more going
for it, not least its Eastern flavour. Damon (who's
a little wooden here) might be the headlining star
but this is a Zhang Yimou film, and if you've ever
seen
Hero
and/or
House of Flying Daggers
you'll
know you're in for an exciting ride executed with
artistic flair, extravagant production design and
costumes, panoramic widescreen shots, colourful
pageantry, and plenty of slow motion arrows. The
battle scenes are grand and frequent, the pacing
is brisk, the monsters are cool, and Willem Dafoe
pops up as an added bonus. And if you see this in
an IMAX theatre you'll be ducking for cover from
some terrific 3D sequences.
The Great Wall
is the
movie that
Warcraft
should have been and delivers
nothing more or less than its simple pitch: Matt
Damon fighting monsters on the Great Wall of
China. What's not to like?
Scott Hocking
The movie that
Warcraft
should have been.
THE GREAT WALL
RELEASED:
Now Showing
DIRECTOR:
Zhang Yimou
CAST:
Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Jing Tian
RATING:
M
A majority of the time, films function simply as
entertainment. However, there are times when you
walk out of the cinema feeling like a different person,
as though the movie has changed something inside
you for the better.
Hidden Figures
is one of those
films and it will blow you away. It's the incredible
true story of mathematician Katherine G. Johnson
(Taraji P. Henson), aspiring engineer Mary Jackson
(Janelle Monáe), and unofficial supervisor Dorothy
Vaughn (Octavia Spencer). These three outrageously
smart women are hidden in the segregated
department of NASA, working twice as hard as the
other women – and three times as hard as the men –
to prove their worth. As Russia continues to triumph
over the US in the space race, NASA becomes
desperate to take control and plans to conduct an
immediate response. In order to successfully send
astronaut John Glenn into space, Johnson is moved
into the Space Task Group, Jackson is encouraged
to pursue an engineering degree, and Vaughn
continues the battle to become supervisor. Through
it all they face tyrannical discrimination and one foot
forward sends them five steps back. This prejudice
towards gender and race won't just make you angry,
it will make you feel ashamed. But you'll be damn
well rooting for and applauding these girls for
the entirety of this feel-good drama. The smooth
storytelling is complemented by an outstanding
music score from Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams
and Benjamin Wakkfusch, which really makes
this affecting dramatisation soar. The headlining
stars are not hidden in our world by any means –
Henson is an Oscar nominee, Spencer an Oscar
winner, and Monáe a chart-topping musician and
emerging actress. Their committed and heartfelt
performances give the real hidden figures a new
voice in this magnificently inspiring film.
Savannah Douglas
A magnificently inspiring true story.
HIDDEN FIGURES
RELEASED:
Now Showing
DIRECTOR:
Theodore Melfi
CAST:
Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer
RATING:
PG
REVIEWS
CINEMA
23
