Review: Snow White And The Huntsman

Forget the cartoons you watched when you were young, this version of the Snow White tale is closer to Ridley and Russell's recent re-telling of Robin Hood than anything Disney.

What counts in Snow White And The Huntsman's favour is whilst Robin Hood felt like a disappointment thanks to those involved - because this looks a little bit rubbish many will come out pleasantly surprised that it's a pretty competent and enjoyable film.

Chris Hemsworth once again proves that him talking in a slightly ridiculous accent and wielding a weapon can carry a film and Charlize Theron wisely plays it straight instead of the OTT wicked witch may would've gone with. Kristen Stewart is the weakest of the leads, not awful but doesn't show anything to suggest she's the fairest of them all with army's doing battle for her at the drop of a hat.

Things gets a bit disjointed in the middle, with a live-action Studio Ghibli style sequence breaking up the mood created - things get even more surreal when the 8 (Spoilers!) Dwarves turn up and feature the likes of Ray Winstone, Nick Frost and Lovejoy.

Not sure it'll get the sequel that the ending is clearly hoping for as its not quite good enough to go out of you're way to see - but on DVD or telly it's perfectly entertaining fare.

Review: London Boulevard

A real mis-match of a film, half the cast give performances like they're in the gangster version of Love Actually, whilst the other half seem to think they're in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 2.

Neither half is up to much to be honest, Colin Farrell looks the part, but his London accent lets him down badly. Kiera Knightley phones it in as the reclusive young actress Charlotte and you never sense any type of chemistry between the pair that's needed to carry the story off successfully. Ray Winstone is reliably great as the threatening gangster trying to drag back Mitch to a life of crime - but the rest is just the usual British Gangster traits of violence and swearing.

Writer/Director William Monahan was involved in Scorcese's The Departed, a remake of Infernal Affairs, by the time you get to the end of this film, you'll wonder why he's decided to try and remake Layer Cake this time around.

Review: Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows looks exactly like you'd expect a Tim Burton film too and Johnny Depp delivers the type of performance you'd expect from him as Barnabas Collins, a vampire from 1752 set free after 200+ years. Those aren't necessarily bad things, but where the film falls down is in its predictable plot and a running time too long that mean the jokes start to wear thin well before the end.

Burton's unique visual style means the Seventies setting doesn't really feature too much - aside from using a few records from the era as a soundtrack you'd struggle to tell the difference if Barnabas was set free in the present day - and for the first hour the film flies by as Barnabas struggles to adapt to the changes to his body and new-found blood lust, but with the changes in society after two hundred years buried below the ground.

Depp carries the film, but too many supporting characters are introduced and don't have enough chance to shine - Helena Bonham Carter is seemingly cast just because she's married to Burton, her role as character as psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman ends up taking away screen time from characters who come to the fore at the end, resulting in the end falling flat as Barnabas battles to save characters you don't really care about.

Dark Shadows isn't a bad film, the problem with it is that it's an entirely predictable one.

Review: The Dictator

Don't go in expecting anything new from Sacha Baron Cohen, as The Dictator once again features Cohen combining another outrageous foreign accent alongside many even more outrageous jokes in his tried and tested formula.

The main difference is dropping the interaction with real people that had started to wear thin in the hit & miss Brüno, this time around the film is a straight up comedy that Cohen's performance as the despot Aladeen has to carry throughout, with the rest of the cast simply there to be the butt of his latest offensive outburst.

He succeeds at this thanks to most of the jokes hitting the mark and wisely keeping the running time short, with The Dictator being a rare example of a Hollywood comedy that finishes before the 90 minute mark. One downside of the switch to the scripted form seems to be the loss of some of the satire present in his previous work, the one scene at the end feels a bit bolted on and slightly out of place in a story that gives more prominence to the relationship between Aladeen and Anna Faris' Zooey.

The Dictator won't go down as one of Sacha Baron Cohen's more memorable work, but will still makes a fun way to spend a Friday night.

Review: The Devil's Double

The Devil's Double features great performances from Dominic Cooper in the two lead roles, but the rest of the film is a case of style over substance - ending up a simple action movie, with an interesting concept lost beneath the shiny surface.

Clearly influenced by the tales of excess told Brian de Palma's legendary Coke and Cubans story in Scarface, watching Cooper switch between the OTT traits of Saddam's psychotic son Uday and the passive portrayal of his dead man walking double Latif means the film is always watchable, but by never rising beyond a one-dimensional tale of good and bad trapped in a world of death, drugs and debauchery, The Devil's Double doesn't offer anything particularly memorable after the films finishes.

Review: The Runaways

Much like the band on which the film is based, The Runaways movie looks like it has a shot at becoming something special, but fizzles out before it can reach its potential.

Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart deliver convincing performances as Cherie Currie and Joan Jett respectively, with Michael Shannon coming across like an evil Eddie Izzard as manager Kim Fowley in support. Whilst the film's fast pace helps build the sense of momentum and energy that The Runaways had behind them, it means that dramatic moments fall flat as a result, moving to the next montage before you really get a chance to let things sink in.

Whilst always entertaining and stylishly shot, It seems a shame to waste such a strong cast in what essentially becomes a 90 minute music video.

Review: Safe

It's rather fitting that this by the numbers Jason Statham action-flick is so preoccupied with them, as numbers are the loose theme that ties the film together.

The plot is all over the place as Statham goes from MMA fighter to Hobo to CIA Agent, taking on Triads, Russians, policemen and politicians at various points, protecting a young Chinese girl from the many, many villains on screen.

Thankfully the plot is never the main reason to see a Statham film and the action definitely delivers , making the film fun throughout. The central relationship between Statham's Luke Wright and human calculator Mei is reminiscent at times of Leon - and its this relationship that brings the film above average into an entertaining action film that whilst offering nothing new, knows how to play to its strengths.

Review: Marvel Avengers Assemble

Avengers Assemble is the film Michael Bay thinks Transformers is - where in Bay's head he's made a film that features a team of superheroes coming together to save the world, that is full of action, laughs and a little something for the ladies - The Avengers actually manages to deliver on all these promises in spades.

That's not to say its perfect - the final battle feels like it goes on forever, mainly to make sure all six superheroes get the chance to shine in the fight to save the Earth from the scene-stealing Loki and his anonymous army of CGI monsters. But up until that point Joss Whedon deserves a great deal of credit for splitting scree-time between all six Avengers whilst keeping the plot moving on with pace and verve.

The script is the usual Marvel mix, with the amount of one-liners almost matching the number of punches thrown, but this manages to become funniest of the films so far by using the superheroes' powers to bring some great physical comedy to the table, with bodies flying all over the place like crash test dummies bringing some of the biggest laughs.

2012 looks set to be a bumper year for superhero movies with The Dark Knight Rises and the new Spider-Man film still to come, what Avengers Assemble has done is ensure the standard has been set pretty high already.