STACK #140 Jun 2016

CINEMA REVIEWS

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ALSO SCREENING IN JUNE

Last time it was all about Nemo. Now the focus is on forgetful fish Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who sets off to find her family in this hotly anticipated sequel to the 2003 Disney/Pixar favourite. Can Dory dethrone Frozen as the new queen of animated features at the box office? One thing is certain: every kid will now want a Blue Tang for their fishtank. June 16 . FINDING DORY

RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Bryan Singer CAST: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence RATING: M

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

X-cessive.

O pening with a short prologue that's better than all two hours of Gods of Egypt , the biggest X-Men movie to date introduces the first mutant, whose seemingly unlimited powers include the ability to transfer his mind into a new body. Then things grind to an abrupt halt as the film spends far too much time introducing younger, 1980s incarnations of existing X-Men – although Kodi Smit McPhee's Nightcrawler is a welcome addition – and revisiting the Stryker/Wolverine subplot. The most interesting of these reintroductions is Magneto's new life as a family man in Poland, before a personal tragedy sees him reverting to his wicked ways and predictably siding with the enemy. Watching Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) continually switching sides in every film is getting as boring as Prof X (James McAvoy) declaring he sees the "good" in them. But what about the bad guy? Apocalypse is at its best whenever the godlike, eponymous mutant (Oscar Isaac, under loads of latex) is on screen, even if his motivation to destroy the world isn't exactly clear. The X-Men films have always stood apart from their Marvel siblings by taking a less is more approach. However, in its haste to cram as many characters as possible into a narrative that doesn't really need them (like Rose Byrne's CIA agent), Apocalypse succumbs to the kitchen sink brand of filmmaking that's now de rigueur for superhero epics, burying them and any nuances under all the CGI rubble. It also seriously undermines the mutants'

ongoing battle for tolerance and acceptance that has always been at the heart of the franchise. Given the scale of destruction unleashed (it's not called Apocalypse for nothing), it won't be long before the UN are regulating the X-Men like their Avengers counterparts. Moreover, after three consecutive adventures, it's time for the First Class (and Bryan Singer) to take a school holiday so that Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, et al, can return for a more focused and satisfying film. And maybe bring Deadpool along. Scott Hocking

CINEMA

Jodie Foster in the director's chair, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and a standing ovation at Cannes. Do you really need another reason to check out this cheeky hostage thriller on June 2 ? MONEY MONSTER

FURTHER VIEWING: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Video game phenomenon WoW comes to the screen under the direction of Duncan Jones ( Moon ), with Vikings ' star Travis Fimmel kicking Orc butt. Will it live up to its acronym? Find out on June 16 . WARCRAFT

The aliens return, but this time we're ready. Or are we? No Will Smith, so it's up to Liam Hemsworth to "kick E.T.'s ass" this time. Master of disaster Roland Emmerich delivers CGI global destruction on a massive scale on June 23 . INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

JUNE 2016

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