STACK #185 Mar 2020

FILM REVIEWS

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The only way out is through him. 21 BRIDGES

0% contained. PLAYING WITH FIRE

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Release Date: 04/03/20

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Release Date: 25/03/20

Black Panther 's Chadwick Boseman finds himself a long way from Wakanda in this slick crime-thriller produced by Marvel heavyweights Joe and Anthony Russo. Boseman plays a disgraced NYPD detective who is given a shot at redemption when he's assigned to catch a pair of cop killers that gunned down eight officers responding to a robbery. To ensure the shooters can't escape from New York, all avenues in and out of the island – namely the titular number of

John Cena headlines this family comedy as one of a crew of hardened firefighters that rescue a trio of rambunctious youngsters from an encroaching forest fire, and must subsequently babysit them at the remote station until their folks arrive. Tough guys charged with impromptu child-minding is a tried and true formula for broad comedy – see also Arnie in Kindergarten Cop and Vin Diesel in The Pacifier – and Cena, Keegan-Michael Key and John

bridges – are closed until dawn. 21 Bridges is comfort food for cop movie buffs who like a flawed hero playing cat and mouse with the bad guys, police corruption, propulsive action and lashings of ultra-violence. It's fun to see Boseman in a supercop role, and he's backed up by a quality supporting cast including J.K. Simmons and Sienna Miller. AC

Leguizamo throw themselves into the slapstick shenanigans with energy, and an appreciation of My Little Pony . Sweet and charming, with the affable Cena once again demonstrating his flair for physical comedy, Playing with Fire arrives in the aftermath of our own bushfire crisis to provide some much needed light relief. AC