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Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Rupert Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes was unexpectedly excellent, revitalising a franchise that had been worn into the ground with a great blend of story, character and action. Matt Reeves' sequel is enjoyable but doesn't expand enough away from Rise to feel like anything more than an extended epilogue, focusing exclusively on a single group of surviving humans bumping up against the ape society. While this keeps the film tightly focused, it also doesn't tell the audience anything we couldn't have assumed for ourselves. There's some solid direction, a great score, and great performances from the ape cast, but the end result feels a little inessential. →
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Review of Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tomas Alfredson's slow-burning, balletic adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is rich in atmosphere, dripping with character and repressed emotion. →
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The Book of Eli
The Book of Eli is a decent post-apocalypse film largely devoid of the 'destroyed landmarks' porn that often affects this genre, feeling more like an Eastwood-era western set in the world of Fallout 3, with heavy overtones of Walter Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz and suggestions of Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. →
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Batman Begins
This was the one I've been waiting for. Not since the original Tim Burton/Michael Keaton outing has there been a good Batman film; the franchise style has been slowly whittled away by Joel Schumacher's love of dry ice, naked male torsos and high camp. Batman Begins was to be the one that redressed the balance. Did it? →