STACK #150 Apr 2017

CINEMA REVIEWS

visit stack.net.au

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

ALSO SCREENING IN APRIL

RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Chris McKay CAST: Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Jenny Slate RATING: PG

Following the success of The LEGO Movie (with Batman in a starring role), director Chris McKay ( Robot Chicken ) obviously decided the caped crusader deserved his very own block-buster. The LEGO Batman Movie follows the Dark Knight (voiced by Will Arnett) on a quest to find his place in a world where being a superhero is predominantly a solo endeavour. The film begins with Batman being pitched against every villain he has ever faced. The Joker (Zach Galifianakis), Harley Quinn (Jenny Slate), Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy, Another brick in the DC wall.

and even Clayface make appearances, as well as some of the lesser known baddies from the DC Universe. The Joker believes he is Batman’s greatest nemesis, and is suitably offended when Bruce Wayne disagrees, leading him to round up some big bads to support his cause. If taking on this much of a threat to Gotham sounds like a lot to handle for old Bats, he does have a bit of help. Of course, Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) is around to lift logs and lend a hand, as is Batman’s newly- adopted son, Dick Grayson (the adorable Michael Cera), and the city’s new Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson). Batman must come to terms with his responsibility to others and discover that sometimes, it’s best not to do everything alone. The LEGO Batman Movie is a fun addition to the DC Universe, with plenty of throwbacks to the old films and television series, as well as fitting in a few digs at some of the more recent entries to the DCCU. Bat-fans will find plenty to laugh at, and the kids will love the LEGO-fied animation style, not to mention the addition of more catchy tunes in lieu of Everything Is Awesome… Alesha Kolbe throats. Following a lot of zero gravity blood, panic and opening of airlocks, the ISS astronauts – including Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson – must find a way to stop this seemingly indestructible life form from reaching Earth, otherwise it's crew expendable. There's not a lot going on here that we haven't seen before in better sci-fi thrillers. Alien and Gravity are the obvious touchstones, although Corman's Forbidden World also comes to mind, sans the schlock value. The characters are a bland lot and you won't be too concerned about their ultimate fates. Jake Gyllenhaal, who's done some great work lately ( Nightcrawler, Nocturnal Animals ), looks like he's wandered onto the wrong set and decided to hang around and try on a spacesuit, while Ryan Reynolds is, well, Ryan Reynolds. A creature feature's flaws can usually be forgiven if it has a cool monster, but Life 's alien, while fast and furious, is just your average tentacled monstrosity. A B-movie with A-grade credentials, Life works best as an appetiser for the forthcoming Alien: Covenant , or if internet rumour is to be believed (and when isn't it?), a prequel to Sony's Spider- Man spin-off Venom . In fact, the latter isn't as out there a prospect as it sounds. Scott Hocking

Is there a Marvel movie more anticipated than this one? If the trailers are any indication, Vol.2 looks like it will be as much fun as the first one. Baby Groot, Mantis, Kurt Russell as Star- Lord's Dad, Sly Stallone and an all-new Mix Tape – just a few reasons to get hyped for the return of the Guardians on April 25 . GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Vol.2

LIFE

The F8 of the Furious – we saw what they did there, and we like it! Dominic appears to have betrayed the family for villainous seductress Charlize Theron... or has he? We still don't believe it! All will be revealed on April 12 . THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS

RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Daniel Espinosa CAST: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds RATING: MA15+

Invader from Mars.

Every now and then a sci-fi film appears out of nowhere to dazzle us with provocative concepts and a fresh take on familiar genre tropes; movies like Ex Machina and more recently, Arrival . Life is not one of those movies – it's an Alien rip-off of the kind Roger Corman and the Italians were making back in the 1980s, albeit with a bigger budget and a quality cast. Once again the threat to humankind comes from the red planet. The International Space Station retrieves a probe containing martian soil samples, as well as a single-celled organism which proceeds to grow at a frightening rate until it resembles a translucent jellyfish-facehugger thing with a tendency to crawl down people's

Dax Shepard and Michael Peña team up as California Highway Patrol officers in this buddy cop comedy based on the '70s TV series. Check out our interview on page 14 and the movie on April 6 . CHIPS

Two gangs face off in a Boston warehouse after an arms deal turns bad in the new thriller from British director Ben Wheatley ( Sightseers ). Already touted as a blood relative to Reservoir Dogs , expect a big bodycount on April 27 . FREE FIRE

20

APRIL 2017

jbhifi.com.au