Frozen II movie review: the thaw sets in
There’s magic here, and elemental spirits, but no magic and nothing elemental, metaphorically speaking. Rote and smaller than its predecessor. Even the songs are bland and forgettable.
IMAX
Le Mans ’66 (aka Ford v Ferrari) movie review: when “circle back” meant something else in corporatespeak
A winning (if overearnest) depiction of manly friendship, with some pretty thrilling (if only technically so) racing stuff. But it doesn’t see its potential to be actually culturally significant.
Gemini Man movie review: the last hurrah of the movie star
No movie has ever been higher-concept than this: Today-aged Will Smith versus CGI-young Will Smith! It’s the future of film in an anemic, tedious, ironically dated spy-action shell. Bafflingly awful.
movie-related flash-fiction freebie: “Disney Dystopia”
“Hey, so you wanna go to the disneys tonight?”
Apollo 11 documentary review: you are there, on the Moon (Sundance London 2019)
This astonishing assemblage of vintage footage, some never before seen, may be unspoilable (we know how it ends) but it’s still hugely suspenseful, and beautifully immersive visually and emotionally.
Aladdin (2019) movie review: cave of blunders
The romance lacks chemistry, and the villain lacks bite. It seems embarrassed to be a musical, failing to embrace the necessary ineffable daydreaminess. Somehow even more cartoonish as live-action.
Amazon Adventure 3D documentary review: historical jungle expedition, for science
Stunning photography — perhaps the last time anyone will haul IMAX cameras into the Amazon — a bit of adventure, and a solid, simple, inspirational science lesson. Everything an IMAX doc should be.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World movie review: dragon its feet to a blah finale
The gorgeous and once glorious fantasy series comes to a flat conclusion, one in which the stakes feel way lower than they should and the spark that once animated and elevated the story is missing.
Mortal Engines movie review: it’s got no rev
Like the book it’s based on, the worldbuilding is intriguing, but the characters and story are strictly cliché. A lazy, confused, and derivative disaster, with plot points and visual and thematic motifs shamelessly stolen from far better movies.
Overlord movie review: underwhelmed
This Nazis-with-supernatural-weapons horror schlock drags its feet getting to its fantastical elements and then does absolutely nothing interesting with them, just wallows in dull, rote gore and grue.
