STACK #141 Jul 2016

CINEMA REVIEWS

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ALSO SCREENING IN JULY

STAR TREK BEYOND

The new Trek movie promises to be a fast and furious affair, with F&F’s longtime director Justin Lin driving this third installment in the rebooted franchise, after J.J. Abrams defected to a galaxy far, far away. Resembling a cross between Guardians of the Galaxy and Galaxy Quest , this looks to be a more fun-filled installment in the spirit of the original series, unlike Into Darkness . Beam us up on July 21 .

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Roland Emmerich CAST: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman RATING: M

A sequel that doesn’t disappoint, because it delivers exactly what you expect.

A Roland Emmerich film is like a super- sized serving of your favourite junk food, with ample lashings of corn and cheese. It goes down a treat and you feel guilty about how much you enjoyed it. This follow-up to his 1996 alien invasion epic doesn’t disappoint, because it delivers exactly what you expect. It also satisfies the criteria for a good sequel – repurposing what was great about the first film to serve a new story, and setting up a franchise in the process. And yes, there is a gag involving the White House. In the decades since the “war of ‘96”, global peace has prevailed and the aliens’ technology used to strengthen Earth's defences. But all that counts for nought when a 3,000- mile wide mothership answers the original invaders' distress call and proceeds to suck up entire cities with its own gravity field, dropping them on top of other cities. It's going to take more than Jeff Goldblum uploading malware to defeat them this time – could a mysterious alien orb be the key to saving the planet? Most of the first film's surviving characters are back, sans Will Smith (which is perhaps a good thing). Liam Hemsworth fills the role of hotshot flyboy nicely, while Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner (who somehow survived being choked by a tentacle) pick up where they left off. The now grown-up kids of the Smith and Pullman characters – Jesse T. Usher and Maika Monroe, respectively – also join the fight, but they ultimately fail to register amongst the original gang. Independence Day was essentially a

disaster movie, but Resurgence is Emmerich's Aliens – an action-heavy sci-fi sequel with bigger FX and even more characters and creatures, including a giant pissed-off alien queen. Sci-fi fans are obliged to check out this huge, ridiculous, and ridiculously entertaining popcorn blockbuster. And everyone else should, too. Go on, you know you want to. Scott Hocking

CINEMA

Who you gonna call? This time it's Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones who ain't afraid of no ghost. Will Paul Feig's girl power redux of the '80s classic be a hit or a bust? We'll find out on July 14 . GHOSTBUSTERS

FURTHER VIEWING: The Day After Tomorrow

Looking less boring than 1984's Greystoke , this lavish reimagination also has an eye-candy cast in its favour, with Alexander Skarsgård as the buff Lord of the Jungle, and Margot Robbie as Jane. July 7 . THE LEGEND OF TARZAN

JASON BOURNE

Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass return to the spying game for this sequel/reboot , after the average Jeremy Renner-led spin-off failed to leave much of a legacy. And it has Alicia Vikander, too. Re-Bourne on July 28 .

JULY 2016

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