STACK Issue 151 May 2017

20 / 92

ALSO SCREENING
IN MAY
The wait is almost over. Will Ridley Scott's
second return to the Alien universe make amends
for the disappointing Prometheus? The signs
are good – Fassbender playing dual droids,
Katherine Waterson as a Ripley substitute, and
most importantly, the familiar projectile-jawed
xenomorphs are back! No one will hear you
scream on May 11.
ALIEN: COVENANT
Since when did the Arthur legend feature giant
elephants and a streetwise geezer as the king
of Camelot? When it's directed by Guy Ritchie.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels meets
Excalibur on May 18.
KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD
Jack's back! Captain Sparrow must get his
hands on Poseidon's legendary trident in order
to defeat old nemesis Armando Salazar, in
the fifth instalment in Disney's buccaneering
blockbuster franchise. Setting sail on May 25.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:
DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES
Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer are nicely cast as
mismatched mother and daughter in this action-
comedy that sees them abducted while vacationing
in South America. Hit the holiday road on May 11.
SNATCHED
F8 opens with Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty
(Michelle Rodriguez) on their honeymoon in Cuba,
and things quickly spiral out of control when Dom
meets Charlize Theron's Cipher – the world's
most powerful hacker. She's got a motive that
will force Dom to join her team and leave behind
the one thing that matters most to him – his
family. Naturally, Dom's clan don't take kindly
to his betrayal, and when he steals an EMP the
team worked together to retrieve, they set about
hunting him down. Newcomers to the series are
buddy cops Kurt Russell and Scott Eastwood;
the main players in an agency working to help
Letty and her team reunite with Dom, find out
what went wrong, and quash Cipher's plan for
worldwide fear-mongering. Longtime fans of
the franchise raised their eyebrows at this film's
trailers – Dom would never betray his family,
surely? – but in true F&F fashion there's one
hell of a reason behind it, and it's gonna take
plenty of beautiful cars and absolutely ridiculous
stunts to get to the bottom of it. Yeah, we're
talking more insane than the runway scene in
Fast 6. Expect a few appearances from extended
family members past and present, too. For
the first film without Paul Walker as beloved
buster Brian O'Conner, F8 does a wonderful
job of maintaining the established family
dynamic, and doesn't completely write him
out of the plot, which is a nice touch. Throw
in a henchman role for Game of Thrones'
Kristofer Hivju, an amusing cameo by the one
and only Helen Mirren, and some impossibly
unbelievable action, and this winds up a full-
fledged Fast and Furious film that rates among
the best of the lot. Alesha Kolbe
Can the FF franchise maintain speed without Paul Walker?
THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS
RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: F. Gary Gray CAST: Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Dwayne Johnson RATING: M
Who would have thunk that one of the
best horror thrillers of the year would come
from the mind of Jordan Peele, one half of
sketch comedy duo Key and Peele. Adding a
nightmarish twist to Guess Who's Coming to
Dinner? , Peele's first feature as writer-director
is both a biting satire on race relations in the
US and an unpredictable ride into Stepford
Wives territory. When white girl Rose (Allison
Williams) takes her new African-American
boyfriend, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), to meet
the parents over a weekend at their country
estate, he's a little nervous. "Do they know
I'm black?" he asks. "Should they?" she replies.
Questions that shouldn't need to be asked,
but from the moment Chris meets Allison's
eager-to-please wealthy liberal folks (Bradley
Whitford and Catherine Keener), her creepy
brother, and their seemingly zombified hired
help, his anxiety is justified. During an annual
party the following day, where the guests
appear to hail from Twin Peaks and behave
awkwardly in the presence of a black person,
Chris receives the titular warning from a
fellow "brother" and the scene is set for a
chilling and thrilling third act full of big reveals
and bouts of cathartic violence. Combining
cringe-comedy and creepiness, Get Out
showcases the most demented family
gathering since You're Next, as well as that
film's mischievous mix of humour and horror.
Daniel Kaluuya is great as the perpetually
paranoid protagonist, and LilRel Howery,
as his TSA officer buddy, provides some
hilarious – and frequently welcome – comic
relief. Horror films have a long history of
reflecting cultural anxieties amidst the scares
and Peele's smart, racially-charged satire
couldn't be more timely. To say more would
spoil the fun – just get out and see this bold
and brilliant little gem. Scott Hocking
Race relations go to hell in Jordan Peele's satirical scary movie.
GET OUT
RELEASED: May 4 DIRECTOR: Jordan Peele CAST: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener RATING: MA15+
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20 MAY 2017