film by Keiron Self
THE HANGOVER PART III ***
Dir: Todd Phillips( 15, 128 mins) The Wolfpack return in this possible flogging-a-dead-horse sequel. After the massive disappointment that was the Hangover II, our motley crew return to Vegas because that’ s where they were all funnier in the first film. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis all return as the trio, with other friend Justin Bartha still on the sidelines. There’ s the welcome return of Heather Graham as the initial object of Ed Helms’ affections, Ken Jeong as a parachuting Mr Chow and John Goodman on tough baddie duties. There’ s also a giraffe. Let’ s hope that now all three main players are stars of considerable clout, especially Cooper, more attention will be paid to the script and this won’ t be a simple lazy rehash of schtick like part II was. The signs are good, as apparently the template has been changed by director / writers Todd Phillips and Craig Mazin and there’ s an emphasis on this being the final milking of a surprise cash cow for all involved. The Vegas setting, Galifianakis on surreal form, Bridesmaids’ Melissa McCarthy cameoing: this hopefully will be an entertaining send off for the Wolfpack and not an exercise in greed. Opens May 24
THE GREAT GATSBY ****
Dir: Baz Luhrmann( 12A, 128 mins)
Director Baz Luhrmann turns his subtle( not camp at all) eye to one of the great books of 20th century literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald’ s The Great Gatsby. It’ s 1922, Tobey Maguire plays Nick Carraway, a man drawn into the sphere of Long Island socialite and enigma Jay Gatsby, Leonardo Di Caprio. Initially smitten with this lavish world, Carraway soon sees that all that glitters is not gold and Gatsby’ s riches cannot bring him everything he desires. Carey Mulligan plays Daisy, Gatsby’ s cousin and the object of his affection, who is unfortunately married to abusive husband Tom Buchanan – played by Joel Edgerton. Their tragic love story unfolds in front of Carraway with devastating results. As this is a Baz Luhrmann film, expect some anachronistic pop music, too. Visually splendid, as you’ d expect from the Australian director, this Gatsby is eye-poppingly beautiful and luckily it has some strong actors anchoring the visual excesses with DiCaprio, Maguire and Edgerton. Mulligan also has the acting chops to pull off her troubled heroine, amidst the hyper-stylised sunsets and fireworks. Like most Luhrmann films this is bound to polarise, but he is a director of undoubted visual daring, hopefully, unlike the longwinded Australia, this will chime with the subject matter and not be too distracting. Opens May 10
BYZANTIUM ***
Dir: Neil Jordan( 15, 118 mins) An atmospheric, if not entirely enthralling vampire thriller, from Neil Jordan who previously helmed Interview With A Vampire which has great performances from mother and daughter bloodsuckers Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan. Fleeing from the city to a run-down coastal town after being chased by a mysterious man, Arterton and Ronan try to fit into their new locale. Arterton sets herself up as a brothel madam in the hotel Byzantium, whilst Ronan enrols in a writing class and falls for Caleb Landry Jones’ teenage leukaemia sufferer. It turns out that this is the town where they were both turned into vampires, although they are fangless and can walk about in daylight in this incarnation; they just have sharp retractable fingernails for vein gouging. A classy, haunting tale with some startling imagery, Byzantium never quite catches fire but is still a welcome alternative to the anaemic Twilight saga. Opens May 31
EPIC ***
Dir: Chris Wedge( PG, 90 mins) The team behind the Ice Age films return with another CGI blend of action, humour and star-wattage. Pity the story isn’ t that engaging. Teenage girl Mary Katherine( voiced by Amanda Seyfreid) finds herself shrunk down to fairy size in the forest near her father’ s house. She then becomes embroiled in a battle between good and evil over the protection of the natural world between heroes like Colin Farrell’ s elvish Ronin, Josh Hutcherson’ s Nod, and Christoph Waltz’ s dastardly Mandrake. Naturally there are also comedy slugs, bird chases, Beyonce and gloriously rendered backdrops. Visually fantastic, the story is unfortunately a little bland, surrendering to well-worn teen character arcs and plotting amidst the splendour. It has little of the edge and charm of the first Ice Age, and although it may raise the odd chuckle, this Epic doesn’ t satisfy. Opens May 22
I’ M SO EXCITED ***
Dir: Pedro Almodovar( 15, 90 mins) Spanish auteur film-maker Almodovar goes back to wacky comedy in this thin, wildly over the top but enjoyable souffle that has a political message within its campery. A flight experiences technical difficulties on its way to Mexico leading its neurotic band of passengers into idiosyncratic self-examination and an exploration of their sexuality. Amongst them are a hitman, a dominatrix, a death-obsessed psychic, a soap star and a corrupt businessman. Three flight attendants attempt to keep everyone’ s spirits up with quickfire dialogue, doses of mescaline and a performance of the Pointer Sisters’ I’ m So Excited. With sly digs at the state of Spain’ s finances, all those in economy class are asleep, Almodovar peppers his flamboyant film with actors from all parts of his cinematic career – even Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz cameo. Not to everyone’ s taste and certainly not a patch on Volver or The Skin I Live In. Opens Apr 5
ALSO RELEASED: CHIMPANZEE( U) Chimpy documentary. Quite nice. THE EYE OF THE STORM( 15) Charlotte Rampling stars in this family drama as a wealthy matriarch confronts her own mortality. Geoffrey Rush also stars. DEADFALL( 15) Botched heist thriller starring Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde and Charlie Hunnam. Solid stuff. VEHICLE 19( 12A) Paul Walker does more wooden acting with cars as he becomes embroiled in corrupt police activity in South Africa. There may be stunts, on a lower budget than Fast And Furious... but stunts. HUMMINGBIRD( 15) Jason Statham movie of the month is yet another avenging angel scenario