THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING

Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Joe Cornish Stars: Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Dean Chaumoo, Tom Taylor, Rhianna Davies, Angus Imrie, Rebecca Ferguson, Patrick Stewart, Denise Gough, Noma Dumezweni. The mythology of King Arthur has provided the spark for many films, ranging from the musical Camelot through to the animated Disney film The Sword In The Stone to John Boorman’s Excalibur through to (shudder) Guy Ritchie’s awful recent King Arthur. Now the mythology gets a contemporary makeover with this family friendly fantasy from writer/director Joe Cornish (Attack The Continue reading

AQUAMAN

Reviewed by GREG KING Director: James Wan Stars: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Temuera Morrison, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Michael Beach, Randall Park, Graham McTavish, Leigh Whannell, Otis Dhanji, voices of Julie Andrews, John Rhys-Davies, Djimon Hounsou. For a long time, DC comics attempts to rival Marvel and its successful Avengers franchise through the creation of its DC Extended Universe with the Justice League have fallen a little flat, and their movies have tended to be dark and dour affairs. The Continue reading

SPIDERMAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

Reviewed by GREG KING Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman Stars: voices of: Shamiek Moore, Brian Tyree Henry, Mahershala Ali, Hailee Steinfeld, Nicolas Cage, Chris Pine, Jake Johnson, Kimiko Glenn, John Mulaney, Liev Schreiber, Lily Tomlin, Kathryn Hahn, Stan Lee, Zoe Kravitz, Luna Lauren Velez, Natalie Morales, Oscar Isaac, Lake Bell. From Marvel Studios in association with Sony Animation Studios this subversive take on the whole superhero genre gives us one of the more sophisticated examples of animation to hit our screens in recent years. Continue reading

THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS

Reviewed by GREG KING Directors: Lasse Hallstrom, Joe Johnston Stars: Mackenzie Foy, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Matthew MacFadyen, Richard E Grant, Eugenio Derbez, Morgan Freeman, Jayden Fowora-Knight, Ellie Bamber, Misty Copeland, Sergei Polunin. Originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and premiering in 1892, The Nutcracker is one of the most popular ballets of all time. The libretto for the ballet was adapted from E T A Hoffmann’s story The Nutcracker And The Mouse King. Now Disney has brought The Continue reading

ROBIN HOOD

Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Otto Bathurst Stars: Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn, Eve Hewson, Jamie Dornan, Paul Anderson, Tim Minchin, F Murray Abraham, Ian Peck, Cornelius Booth. The legend of Robin Hood, the roguish outlaw with a strong sense of justice who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, takes a bit of a battering in this largely unnecessary and messy cinematic outing. There have been many versions of the colourful, iconic character, with Errol Flynn probably best capturing his swashbuckling nature and heroic swagger. Then there was the Continue reading