adventure

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE: How Warner Bros. Learned To Make Fun Of Batman
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE: How Warner Bros. Learned To Make Fun Of Batman

While Lego Batman is essentially a spoof movie, it’s especially impressive that this film was able to keep us laughing from beginning to end.

GOLD: McConaughey’s Prospects Fail To Strike Cinematic Riches
GOLD: McConaughey’s Prospects Fail To Strike Cinematic Riches

Gold features a flashy performance by Matthew McConaughey, yet the remainder of the film surrounding him fails to impress.

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY: Anything But Rogue
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY: Anything But Rogue

Despite initial scepticism, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a vividly presented and brilliantly executed standalone Star Wars film.

ASSASSIN'S CREED: It's Pretty Darn Bad, But It's The Best Video Game Film Ever Made
ASSASSIN’S CREED: It’s Pretty Darn Bad, But It’s The Best Video Game Film Ever Made

Assassin’s Creed may be the best video game adaptation, with some dynamic action, but it still has a run of seething and frustrating flaws

PASSENGERS: Never Takes Off
PASSENGERS: Never Takes Off

Passengers is a dull sci-fi that is neither saved by its star power nor by the potential of the story which it initially seems to convey.

Is There Another Bias Going On At The Oscars?
DOCTOR STRANGE: A Gentler, Smarter Superhero

The very idea of “The Batch” being in a Marvel film with Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams was an incredibly inviting prospect.

WILLOW: A Derivative Fantasy With A Charming Heart
WILLOW: A Derivative Fantasy With A Charming Heart

Willow has a special place in many film lovers’ hearts. Many of those who love the 1988 fantasy epic saw it as children, and at that young age, the film was possibly the greatest cinematic achievement they had ever seen. There were unlikely heroes, wondrous creatures and imaginative magic filling nearly every frame.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN: A Generic Remake Despite A Diverse & Talented Cast

Hollywood seems to be stuck in an age of remakes and sequels. Though original films do exist, they are never as popular or successful as the large-scale blockbusters, which are the only sure moneymakers for studios. Coming from this standpoint, it’s no surprise that Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven exists.

HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE: The Balmy Wild
HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE: The Balmy Wild

Like much of writer/director Taika Waititi’s other work, Hunt for the Wilderpeople finds humor in asking us to laugh at its characters. They all have some ridiculous traits, and we’re free to have fun at their expense. Some of them are delusional, some of them are myopic, and some of them totally lack self-consciousness.

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS: The Power Ballad Anamnesis
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS: The Power Ballad Anamnesis

Kubo and the Two Strings is a genuine masterpiece. The word “masterpiece” might be used carelessly and far too often these days when discussing contemporary movies. At the least, Kubo has fulfilled the conventional definition of “masterpiece” no matter how semantically satiated the word has become, if not entirely forging a new meaning altogether.

BEN-HUR: Or How Hollywood Forgot How To Make Epics
BEN-HUR: Or How Hollywood Forgot How To Make Epics

Ben-Hur actually opens with the horses getting ready to bolt from the gates for the chariot race. That will seem heretical to audiences familiar with the Academy Award winning 1959 version of the story. Younger moviegoers may not even realize this is a remake, and may not even realize that the phrase “chariot race” used to refer to a big movie’s big action climax.

Grab Your Backpack: Motivational Films For Wanderlust Sufferers And Adventure Junkies
Grab Your Backpack: Motivational Films For Wanderlust Sufferers And Adventure Junkies

We have all watched a globetrotter movie at some point and thought “man, I want to do that!” Regardless of if you’re an avid adventurer or a couch potato, film can ignite that urge for discovery and make audiences want to grab life by the horns. Whilst most wanderlust movies satisfy a craving for exploration, I have realised that only a select few have the power to truly motivate viewers, making them want to escape their lives of comfort and luxury and replace it with blisters and exhaustion.

X-Men Apocalypse
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE: Forgettable, In Every Way

Man is an individual only because of his intangible memory; and memory cannot be defined, but it defines mankind. — Ghost in the Shell X-Men: Apocalypse, the capper to the X-Men:

ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: The One Disney Didn’t Need

2016 has become the year where audiences are openly questioning the onslaught of mainstream movies coming out, especially when it comes to unnecessary sequels. Some of the films this year that have made us think ‘did this really need a sequel?’ include Now You See Me 2, The Hunstman, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, Independence Day 2, Zoolander 2 and even an Ice Age film set in space.

THE BOY AND THE BEAST: The Power of a Well-Told Story

Bakemono no Ko, translated as Monster’s Child, is making its English run under the name The Boy and the Beast. It is a gorgeous-looking film, but what separates it from the rest of the disposable moving images we’ve been subjected to this year is the grace with which it tells its story. I have been to the theaters a lot this year, but I have only been brought to tears a few times.