STACK February 2017 Issue 148

in Diesel's characters just keep

coming back for more. While

we're unlikely to see

The Last

Witch Hunter

's Kaulder again, Dominic

Toretto returns in April in

The Fate of the

Furious

, there's a new Riddick movie in

development, and now, after 15 years,

extreme sports nut turned special agent

Xander Cage is back!

When a piece of tech that can turn

satellites into guided missiles is stolen by a

bunch of bad guys (led by Donnie Yen), who

ya gonna call?

"We need someone who can walk

into a tornado and come out on the

other side like it was a damn gentle

breeze," says Toni Collette's NSA

boss, while remaining admirably

stony-faced. Flash cut to the

Dominican Republic where Cage

is enjoying the quiet life, skiing

through the jungle (as

you do), putting Tony

Hawk to shame

on a skateboard,

and basking in

the attention of

gorgeous young

women.

Following

a stopover in

London to pick

up his trademark

fur coat, Cage assembles his team –

comprising our own Ruby Rose (a perfect

fit for this kind of action flick), Bollywood

star Deepika Padukone, nerdy hacker Nina

Dobrev, DJ Kris Wu, and the Hound from

Game of Thrones

(aka Rory McCann) – and

the race is on to retrieve the device, known

as Pandora's Box, before more satellites

drop out of orbit.

Set in a world where the laws of physics

don't apply, the heroes are indestructible

and motorcycles turn into jet skis to

navigate tubular swells,

xXx: Return of

Xander Cage

revels in its own shameless

stupidity and rarely pauses for breath.

It's a prime example of what the

modern action movie has become

in the wake of

The Expendables

and

The Fast and the Furious

Diesel has an uncanny knack

of making mindless movies more

enjoyable than they deserve to be

through sheer charisma alone

(yes, even

The Last Witch

Hunter

), and this is no

exception. It's "100% pure

adrenaline" for a youthful

demographic jacked up

on too much Red Bull.

Think Fast and the Furious

without the cars and a

lower IQ.

Scott Hocking

RELEASED:

Now Showing

DIRECTOR:

Garth Davis

CAST:

Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman,

Rooney Mara

RATING:

Aussie director Garth Davis's gruff and passionate

debut feature has pounced upon the awards season

like a wild beast. Garnering acclaim wherever it's

screened,

Lion

's hard-hitting beauty, earnestness

and poignancy has reduced audiences to tears. Five-

year-old Saroo Brierley (Sunny Pawar) is separated

from his brother after boarding a cross-country train

and finds himself lost on the streets of Calcutta,

India. After several years of struggling to survive,

Saroo ends up in an adoption centre and soon finds

a new home in Tasmania. Twenty years later, Saroo

(now played by Dev Patel), is haunted by the fear

of what his biological family felt when he went

missing, and begins a Google Earth search to find

out where he came from. But as the search slowly

brings him closer to his lost family, it also strains

the relationships he has built in Australia. If the film

came to a halt before its jump to the future, it would

be a roaring win for

Lion

. Newcomer Pawar hits all

the right notes and makes a huge impact that claws

your heart to shreds. Post-jump, it’s Patel’s charm

that keeps us engaged during the reduction in pace

and long glances at computer screens. There’s no

doubt that

Lion

is a tearjerker, especially for parents,

but you'll feel like more time has been spent getting

lost than found, resulting in a conclusion that feels

premature and less emotional than it could have

been. Consequently, this big cat ends with a cute

little meow instead of a roar.

Savannah Douglas

LION

A troubled boy growing up in the tough urban

projects, a crack addict mother, a kindly father figure

who tries to show him the right path… the broad

story outline suggests

Moonlight

is just another gritty

urban drama. However, Barry Jenkins’ superb Golden

Globe-winner offers a totally different experience

altogether. Unfolding over three haunting chapters,

it’s a coming-of-age drama about Ciron – played as a

boy by Alex Hibbert, a teenager by Ashton Sanders,

and as an adult Travante Rhodes – who not only has

to cope with the usual hardships of growing up in a

poor African-American neighbourhood in Miami, but

is also grappling with his own sexual identity; the

fact that the rest of the school have already decided

that he is gay makes life doubly difficult. The largely

unknown Hibbert, Sanders and Rhodes are great as

the conflicted Cirons, Mahershala Ali brings gravitas

to the role of the local drug dealer who takes the

young Ciron under his wing, while R&B singer Janelle

Monáe is a revelation as his sympathetic girlfriend.

However, the acting honours go to Naomi Harris for

her electrifying turn as the boy’s hopelessly addicted

mother, who realises too late the damage she has

inflicted on her son. Despite the gritty subject matter,

there’s a dreamy, pastoral feel to Jenkins’ imagery,

which helps bring a warmth and tenderness to the

otherwise bleak storyline. Melancholic, moving and

magical, expect

Moonlight

to feature prominently

at this year’s Oscars.

John Ferguson

MOONLIGHT

RELEASED:

Now Showing

DIRECTOR:

Barry

Jenkins

CAST:

Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali,

Janelle Monáe

RATING:

Action to the XXXtreme.

xXx:

RETURN OF XANDER CAGE

RELEASED:

Now Showing

DIRECTOR:

D.J. Caruso

CAST:

Vin Diesel, Toni

Collette, Ruby Rose

RATING:

jbhifi.com.au

FEBRUARY

2017

RATING KEY:

Wow!

Good

Not bad

Meh Woof!

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