Unlike certain other MI6 agents depicted on film, the spies in Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy do not double as stuntmen. Their missions seldom require them to drive Aston Martins around Monaco, bedding billionaire heiresses and thwarting villains who stroke cats. More often than not, their wits are their weapons of choice. Blood is still spilt, sure, but this is about as decorous as spy movies get. I suppose [...]

In 2008, a certain Irish film proved that the f-word can, in fact, be used almost exclusively as an adjective with achingly funny results. It also proved, much to the dismay of Ralph Fiennes, that swans are not everybody’s f***ing thing. If you hadn’t guessed, that film was Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, and it was nothing short of a masterpiece of pitch-black comedy.

I remind you of [...]

I don’t read comics. I might have flicked through The Adventures of Tintin once, but that’s about the extent of it. My ignorance, however, has never been much of a problem when it comes to reviewing comic-adapted movies, if only because a majority of them feature superheroes iconic enough that I haven’t needed to read a single issue to know who’s who or what’s what.

Then comes along Green Lantern, a [...]

It’s been over seven years between drinks for Peter Weir, the seminal Australian director who was last seen the helm of 2003’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the enthralling maritime epic that earned ten Oscar nominations and walked away with two. For his latest epic The Way Back, Weir has left behind the high seas to take on virtually every other terrain imaginable, recounting the true(ish) [...]

Peter Weir’s The Way Back may not be as intense and graphic as a film like 127 Hours, but it is another film that the masochists in the audience will enjoy. It begins in a Siberian prison camp, during the time Poland was being invaded in 1939. After a swift prison break, the journey begins – a four thousand mile trek to safety through mountains and [...]

Considering that the latest Robin Hood is an origin story, it’s ironic, I think, that leading man Russell Crowe is the oldest actor ever to portray the infamous British outlaw on film. The 46 year old certainly isn’t as robust as he used to be, especially when compared to his commanding and demanding turn in Gladiator a decade ago. But in Crowe’s defence, much of Robin Hood looks to be equally as tired. Perhaps that’s because in Ridley Scott’s take on the Hood, what was green is now grey, lively now lethargic and merry now miserable.

From Errol Flynn to Kevin Costner and Cary Elwes, we’ve seen the story of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest portrayed numerous times; a cinema favourite because of its endearing display of human nature – robbing the rich to feed the poor. The wonderful world of Disney gave us a comical and less morally correct animated version, while the recent BBC series had bounds of wit and charm. With that said, Ridley Scott definitely had a lot to live up to in successfully bringing a more dramatic side to the outlaw on screen.

Robert Downey Jr is a very busy man. He has a lot to uphold amongst his Hollywood comeback, first donning the Iron Man suit and now almost certainly entering a second franchise with one of fiction’s most beloved characters. It’s funny then that the character of Sherlock Holmes hasn’t been a favourite in cinema; the bumbling detective now has one of the most known falsely quoted lines in history. Sadly but rightly so, said line fails to actually be mentioned – but the 1800’s London setting gives Guy Ritchie the perfect opportunity to do what Guy Ritchie does best – show the gritty side of town with a bit of humour thrown in. More than a bit – this is his most family-friendly film to date. After all, it is a ‘blockbuster’.