STACK April 2016 Issue 138

Ron Howard's ambitious, seafaring adventure

concerns the events that inspired Herman Melville

to pen literary classic

Moby Dick

– the sinking of the

whaling ship

Essex

by an albino leviathan in 1820.

This whale of a tale is told in flashback to the author

(Ben Wishaw) by the

Essex

's now elderly cabin boy

(Brendan Gleeson), and includes the surviving crew's

subsequent ordeal aboard a lifeboat, where they resort

to cannibalism to stay alive. Howard obviously wanted

to make a spectacular, CGI-laden remake of

Moby

Dick

under the guise of an origin story, but instead delivers a low rent

version of

Master and Commander

. It's a visual feast, but you'll find

yourself rooting for the whale and caring little about the characters or

their respective fates, even if one of them is Chris Hemsworth.

Whale of a tale.

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

Release Date:

06/04/16

Format:

The 5th Wave

is another post-apocalyptic YA

adventure adapted from a best-seller (by Rick Yancey).

Independence Day

meets

The Hunger Games

when

extraterrestrials launch a devastating attack on the

Earth in, you guessed it, a series of waves – an

EMP, earthquakes, tsunamis, and an avian-borne

virus. Unlucky survivors are used as hosts for these

body-snatching "Others" who want our planet,

while children are rounded up and recruited by the

military (led by Liev Schreiber) in the fight against the

invaders. Chloë Grace Moretz is the feisty young heroine who goes

AWOL to rescue her little brother, and finds herself torn between a

hunky saviour (Alex Roe) and her high school crush (Nick Robinson).

Who said saving the world would be easy?

• See page 32

Alien games.

THE 5TH WAVE

Release Date:

21/04/16

Format:

Despite being one of the world’s most recognisable

comic strip characters, it’s been two generations since

Snoopy last hit movie screens. But he’s back, complete

with hapless owner Charlie Brown and the entire

Peanuts gang – and it’s like they’ve never been away.

This lovingly and faithfully crafted tale sees Snoopy

donning his World War I Flying Ace persona to get the

girl and kill the baddie (curse you, Red Baron!), while

Charlie Brown is on his own quest. He’s fallen (no

surprise there) for a new kid in town – simply known as

the Little Red-Haired Girl. As smitten as smitten can be, things look grim

for our young hero when he can’t even summon the courage to speak

to her. But then something happens that makes him the most popular

kid in school – could this be Charlie Brown’s coming of age?

The story of an underdog. And his dog.

SNOOPY AND CHARLIE BROWN: THE PEANUTS MOVIE

Release Date:

06/04/16

Format:

Prepare for some uptown ’munk, as Alvin, Simon and

Theodore hit the road. Their guardian Dave (Jason

Lee) has a girlfriend, Samantha. That’s not so much of

a problem, as she’s cool. But her son? That’s another

matter entirely! So when Dave announces that he’s

taking Sam with him on a job in Miami, and the boys

find a ring in his luggage, they freak and plan a road trip

with one aim – listen all of y’all, it’s a sabotage! They get

motoring, with many singing and dancing stops along

the way (you haven’t experienced anything until you’ve

encountered animated chipmunks letting loose on Sir Mix-a-Lot’s ‘Baby

Got Back’), making friends and enemies in their inimitable high-pitched

style. Packed with more puns on ‘chip’ and ’munk’ than is likely healthy,

these critters remain masters of, erm, showmanchip.

More 'munk madness.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP

Release Date:

31/03/16

Format:

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