KICK ASS 2 ***
Dir : Jeff Wadlow ( 15 , 113 mins ) Following in the gory , sweary wake of the anarchic superhero action comedy Kick Ass comes the Mark Millar scripted sequel , now with added Jim Carrey and a slightly less disturbing expletive spouting Hit Girl . Kick Ass , played again by Aaron Taylor Johnson , has inspired a generation of normal people to become superheroes with mixed results . Now he and Hit Girl ( Chloe Grace Moretz ) are trying to behave like normal teenagers – he ’ s about to graduate and she has to pretend to be a ninja to do a show and tell and fit in with high school mega bitches . They decide to form their own superhero group , a low-fi Avengers and find themselves in league with fellow masked do-gooders like the insane Colonel Stars and Stripes , a prosthetically-enhanced , born-again mobster played with relish by Jim Carrey – who has subsequently balked at the film ’ s violence . A superhero needs a supervillain however , and that comes in the shape of Christopher Mintz- Plasse ’ s Red Mist , now renamed the Mother Fucker , who ’ s out to avenge the death of his father , leading to violent face offs , uncomfortable comedy and CGI gore . Whether this will be as in your face as its predecessor remains to be seen ; its take on superheroes being not quite as anarchic post Dark Knight . Opens Aug 16
ALAN PARTRIDGE : ALPHA PAPA ***
Dir : Declan Lowney ( 15 , 100 mins ) Aha ! On the big screen . Steve Coogan ’ s enduring comedy creation Alan Partridge makes it to the multiplexes after 22 years of refinement from radio through to TV , internet and back to TV again . It ’ s been a rollercoaster ride for the North Norfolk Digital DJ , and it ’ s only going to get more intense when he is taken hostage by a disgruntled employee ( Colm Meaney ) at the radio station when they are taken over by a corporation . Alan goes from hostage to hostage negotiator and it ’ s up to him to defuse the tense situation encountering many of his former sidekicks in the process . From Tim Key ’ s Sidekick Simon , Felicity Montagu ’ s PA Lynn , Simon Greenall ’ s incomprehensible Geordie Michael and many more . It ’ s Partridge as usual in a believably silly scenario that caters to fans . Coogan is as precise as ever as the Daily Mail reading Little Englander caught up in an action film not of his own making . Fast and funny with cringeworthy attention to detail , and finishing with an inept chase on the pier at Cromer , this is a very British comedy directed and acted with aplomb . No real insights into Partridge ’ s character , it ’ s more of the same on a slightly broader canvas , and it ’ s still funny . Aha indeed . Opens Aug 7
ONLY GOD FORGIVES **
Dir : Nicholas Winding Refn ( 18 , 90 mins ) After the hyper-stylised , cool as a cucumber Drive , expectations for another Ryan Gosling team up with director Winding Refn were high . Unfortunately Only God Forgives disappoints . Detached to the point of irritation , this is a cold exercise in style and hyper violence , only lifted by Kristin Scott Thomas ’ s vengeful matriarch . A nigh-on wordless Gosling plays a drug dealer forced by his nasty crimelord Mum ( Scott Thomas ) to avenge the death of his brother by maverick copper Vithaya Pansringram . What follows is a lot of red , both in lighting terms and bloodshed . The violence is brutal , bonecrunching fights and swordplay feature in wince inducing scenes that only serve to alienate further . Although this could have been Shakespearean in scope with its themes of family and honour , it feels empty and grubby , laced with an unpalatable sexism and bristling with machismo . The style over content is unforgiveable . Opens Aug 2
LOVELACE ***
Dir : Rob Epstein , Jeffrey Friedman ( 15 , 92 mins ) The life of the infamous pornstar Linda Lovelace , who by starring in Deep Throat was part of porn ’ s foray into mainstream culture , is given the bio-pic treatment complete with full 70s kitsch . Initially unfolding as a fantasy , full of bright flashbacks , Amanda Seyfried ’ s Lovelace leaves her controlling mother and falls in with Peter Sarsgaard ’ s Chuck Traynor , the man who would make her a porn star . This soon contrasts with the grimmer realities of Lovelace ’ s life , the abusive relationship with Traynor , her private hell and exploitation within the industry and her ultimate escape . Lovelace eventually denounced her past and started again ; losing her need for attention and gaining a family that didn ’ t abuse her . Lovelace is a competent if unspectacular bio-pic that shies away from anything too racy . There are great performances from Sarsgaard and Seyfried and a superbly ugly turn from Sharon Stone as Lovelace ’ s abusive mother . Opens Aug 23
PAIN AND GAIN **
Dir : Michael Bay ( 15 , 129 mins ) Michael Bay , the director of bombastic blockbusters Transformers , Armageddon and Pearl Harbour makes his smallest budgeted film since Bad Boys and attempts to do black comedy and drama with so so results . A pumped up Mark Wahlberg and even more pumped up Dwayne ‘ The Rock ’ Johnson play bodybuilders who decide to make a quick buck by kidnapping a fellow businessman , torture him , make him sign away his assets and then attempt to kill him . All this is based on a true story , one of greed and nonsensical crime , but Bay is more interested in making everything look like a sexy advert rather than plumbing the depths of the soul . Thus the torture of Tony Shalhoub ’ s businessman is glossed over and the real life participants ’ subsequent trail of murder ignored . Wahlberg ’ s abs look good , there are a couple of chases amidst the sundrenched glamour porn visuals , but the film isn ’ t funny and painting a murderer as a Robin Hood figure rankles . Opens Aug 30
Rebel Wilson , but not as funny . MORTAL DEVIL ’ S PASS ( 15 ) Five film-makers follow the path of a group of hikers who mysteriously disappeared with inevitable jumpy results . Based on like a true story and everything . WE ’ RE THE MILLERS ( 15 ) Jennifer Aniston swears and smokes weed in this road comedy movie about a pot dealer who creates a fake family in a bid to smuggle marijuana across the border from Mexico . Some amusement . UPSTREAM COLOUR ( 15 ) Head scratching sci-fi mind trip / romance from the director of Primer which will either annoy or entrance .