The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Time of the Wolf, American Outlaws

A classic, a cult, and something close to my heart this week.

#1 - THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO

Stars - Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner

Director - Henry King

Memorable Quote - 'I'll tell you the only right approach to real writing: it's like a hunt in which a man pits his brains against the forces of ignorance and evil. It's a lifelong, lonely safari, and the prey he seeks is a truth worth telling; faith worth living by; something worth spilling his guts about that he's tracked down himself.'

Review - I'll open right away by saying that I thoroughly enjoy this film. I watched it once when I was much younger and could barely remember it, but it was even better than I recalled. Even though the quality of the film is poor, even though the special effects are laughable considered to what we can achieve today, I love every moment of it. The camera leads the eye so skillfully, and it has just the right mixture of reality and insanity - that half-baked feeling that is so recognisably Hemingway. I loved particularly the wit of Street's character, and the way Peck delivered the lines - what a charmer! 'How would you like it if you and I would just... 'piety' on out of here?' and 'with tassles of them!' have to be two of my favourite Street moments. I love the tragedy of the story too; the inevitability of the way that he finds Cynthia just as she is dying, and the final injury of the fact that he is kept from her as the stretcher bearers carry her away. When he becomes feverish in Africa and starts calling for the stretcher bearers again the comparison is perfect, and chilling. I love also the inherent moralising that comes with a Hemingway story: 'The fact that the airplane is quicker than the horse does not necessarily mean that the world is getting any better.' I highly recommend it! I almost wish it could be redone with the same actors and the same exact scenes, only adjusted so that the effects are all believable and the quality is what we expect nowadays; but then, that's part of its charm. 5/5

#2 - LE TEMPS DU LOUP

Stars - Isabelle Huppert, Béatrice Dalle, Lucas Biscombe, Anaïs Demoustier, Hakim Taleb

Director - Michael Haneke

Memorable Quote - 'You were ready to do it, that's the important thing.'

Review - The beady-eyed will have spotted the name Haneke above, and will be expecting me to use words like "amazing", "intense", and "strange". I will use those, yes, because Haneke is consistent in his ability to bring something new to cinema, and to show us something different from the pack. In this story of a world plagued with what seem to be post-apocalyptic issues, nothing is given to you for free: you must work it out. We learn that Anne and her family have left the city, but not why. Indeed, for a large part of the film Anne seems to be almost as in the dark as we are, as people constantly ask her if she has not heard this or that. But nothing is ever explained or added to the backstory, so we must make our own conclusions. Whatever the reason, food and water and even shelter are now valuable commodities, and the rivers are polluted, causing the livestock of the area to drop like flies. Fitting in with the Haneke vision of an alternate hero, Anne's husband dies very early on and has little to do with the survival of his family, as you would have seen in other films, such as 'The Road' or 'I Am Legend'. Though the entire film deals with the ruthlessness of humanity, the way that we pull apart rather than together, featuring scenes of theft, murder, rape, fighting, and a large amount of arguing, the message of the film is surprisingly optimistic. Though 'the boy' ruins everything, as Eva points out to him, at the very end she reaches out to him, a gesture of forgiveness; though the guards often turn violent and attack others, finally one of them saves Ben's life; and though he is only a boy, Ben intends to sacrifice himself to make the world a better place. Finally the ending sequence, following the train, gives us hope that the worst is over, and their struggle will be over soon. There were some Haneke trademarks of course - the sudden appearance of the strange in their house was the shock moment, as well as the long scenes that seem to end after they should have, and also the tension-builder as Ben approaches the fire. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much as Cache or The White Ribbon, but it was certainly a compelling story and very interesting. The point here, as always, is not the events but the way they shape the people involved. The reason for this nightmarish new world is not important any more; what is important is how the people that are still alive deal with it, and how they deal with each other. Worth a watch if you are a fan of Haneke, or of post-apocalyptic scenarios. 4/5

#3 - AMERICAN OUTLAWS

Stars - Colin Farrell, Scott Caan, Ali Larter, Gregory Smith, Timothy Dalton

Director - Les Mayfield

Memorable Quote - "I swear to god I will shoot you in your sleep."

Review - American Outlaws is a film that I could review with both eyes shut, one arm tied behind my back, and no access to IMDB. This was a favourite of my teen years, and the only reason I haven't watched it for a while is the fact that I don't need to - I can recreate half the movie in my head alone. Thanks to this I fell in love with Colin Farrell - who can resist his sweet, awkward portrayal of Jesse James? - and Gregory Smith, whose shy but plucky Jim Younger makes the most tragic scene of the movie. If you're looking for historical accuracy than you're probably better off with Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, since this relies mostly on creating an aura of romanticism and good times around the James-Younger gang that was more than likely absent in real life. But hey, everyone loves an underdog story, which is why it is important for Jesse to be a lovable rogue robbing from the rich to give to the poor, rather than a murderous rogue who was neither as pretty nor as witty as this film makes out. That doesn't mean it's not a great feel-good adventure movie, because it is. The banter between the gang members (the memorable quote above has long been a part of my own vocabulary), the humour of scenes such as the Shakespeare quotations or the opening battle, and the drama of the barn burning or Jim's death, and finally the optimistic ending as Jesse and Zee ride into the sunset all add up to something I could watch again and again. Hell, I have. Who needs historical accuracy? Jesse actually married his first cousin and was a supporter of slavery, and no one wants to hear about that when they're trying to watch a movie. 4.9/5

Rudo y Cursi, Wall.E, The Spy Next Door

This week's post is what you might call a mixed bag.

#1 - RUDO Y CURSI

Stars - Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna

Director - Carlos Cuaron

Memorable Quote - Goddamnit I cannot find any good quotes online and can't remember any either :/

Review - I had high expectations for this movie, being a fan of Y Tu Mama Tambien, and having high opinions of just about everyone involved in the making of the movie. With such an all-star production group it did not disappoint: much like Invictus, this is not really a sports movie, though there is more than one football scene in it. The point here is the lives and actions of Rudo and Cursi themselves, and the mistakes they make that could have been avoided. The entire plot hinges on a simple, not-very-funny joke: the idea of my right being different from your right, and the chaos that ensues from misunderstood directions. This mistake occurs at the two most important points of the brothers' careers, and marks a transitional period for both of them - first from rags to riches, and then from riches to rags. Although it is a funny film and most of it feels quite light-hearted, the outcome of the story is a stark reminder of the fact that everything, including fame and fortune, is only transitory. But the final scene brings it round full circle, showing that you don't need those things to enjoy your life or the people in it, and that the show will always go on with or without you. This works particularly well because of the existing relationship between Bernal and Luna, which really shines through, as well as the influence of the Cuaron brothers as real-life inspiration for their acting. Also, trivia fact - I own one of those Eiffel Tower snow globes. An entertaining film with a message as well, and the camerawork in the final tense penalty scene is beautiful. Well worth a watch. 4.5/5

#2 - WALL.E

Stars - Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Sigourney Weaver

Director - Andrew Stanton

Memorable Quote - n/a

Review - There has been a lot of hype surrounding this movie, and it manages to do quite well considering that most of the dialogue is just noises and repeated words. The plot is quite interesting in that it follows the robots rather than the humans, and that the robots are the ones who help the humans get back to earth - makes a nice change from the usual 'robots will destroy us all' thing. I'm not sure I would exactly call it the best film ever made, and it is lacking in some areas; much as it is cute to see Eve and Wall-E together, there was not much of a human connection with an of the characters, and most of the ideas behind it were just silly. First of all, if they've been on board the ship for so many generations all sat in the chairs and not touching each other, how do they get babies? Storks? Anyhow, this is a children's movie and as such should not really be rated too harshly on such plot holes. The graphics were alright but there were no real moments of beauty; the best character for me was probably M-O, but the cynic in me tells me that all I'm seeing is a robotic version of the squirrel from Ice Age. A good effort, then, but not as spectacular as I had expected. 4/5

#3 - THE SPY NEXT DOOR

Stars - Jackie Chan, Amber Lavetta, Billy Ray Cyrus

Director - Brian Levant

Memorable Quote - 'I've brought down dictators. How bad can three kids be?'

Review - Yet another kid's movie! How does this keep happening? Anyway, Jackie Chan is always pretty damn cool, that's taken as read. Here we have your stereotypical working single mother, with one cute young daughter who can't speak properly, one nerdy son who wants to be cool, and one teenage daughter with an attitude problem. The nerdy son, by the way, is far too young to be saying those things about girls, surely? Well, this is a nice, safe, predictable movie, though Chan of course makes it so much better than it had the potential to be. The glasses suit him, too. Some of the fight scenes were hilarious, particularly in the kitchen. Other than that there's not much to say about this; the villains were ridiculous, the storyline silly, and the characters mostly just stereotypes with a dash of personality here and there that was not fully developed. Watch it if you have kids or like Jackie Chan; otherwise, don't bother. 3/5

Iron Man, Precious, Let's Dance

#1 - Iron Man

Stars - Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Bridges, Gwenyth Paltrow, Paul Bettany

Director - Jon Favreau

Memorable Quote - ' Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing.'

Review - I quite like the idea of trapping Paul Bettany inside a computer room and making him run my house and pretend not to exist. That's clearly what they did here, because otherwise the AI would be so ludicrously advanced that it is able to make sarcastic retorts, which is just ludicrous. Nope, definitely kidnap. Anyway, this is a fun little thing despite the overtones of capture, torture, and imminent death it begins with. There are a lot of humourous little lines, mostly delivered by Downey Jr ('I'm sorry, this is the fun-vee. The hum-drum-vee is back there'), and all the quirks we expect from a superhero delivered in a more modern setting - the cute assistant almost kisses him but doesn't, the wingman thinks he's crazy for a while, the bad guy is working in a war zone that is relevant to the real situation of the world. Tony Stark is possibly a bit cooler than most superheroes; more like James Bond than Spiderman, and a lot better with the ladies. He also has a flawed past - far from being a saint, he has spent his life developing deadly missiles, and now wishes to reverse that by creating... a massive suit that can kill people? I don't see how that could ever possibly go wrong. This has a little something even for the people who don't generally like superhero movies, and though I felt that there was a male bias I don't think it was overpowering. As part of a series, though, its real worth will be weighed against the movies that follow it, and as a fragment of a whole rather than as a stand-alone piece. 4/5

#2 - Precious

Stars - Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz

Director - Lee Daniels

Memorable Quote - 'Love ain't done nothing for me... but beat me... rape me... call me an animal! Make me feel worthless! Make me sick!'

Review - Oh, Lord. First of all, I do not recommend watching this movie if you are already depressed, as you will probably kill yourself around halfway through if you do. I'm not sure why Lee Daniels went about this in the way he did, but I think the only reasons that this has received any critical praise at all are the following:
1. No one wants to look cold and heartless
2. Some people cry in it
The main, major problem with this film was the fact that it was all far too detached. You can't get involved with Precious' situation because she refuses to: every time anything bad happens to her we are thrown into her dream-world where she is a slightly strange star, and so we can't sympathise properly. I'm not saying we need to see everything, but it certainly takes away a layer of realism. Another thing getting in the way is the casting, which is truly, truly bizarre. In a film about real life and the real world, what on earth convinced the director to cast Mariah Carey, Mo'Nique, and Lenny Kravitz, three RATHER FAMOUS people?! I can't concentrate in the scenes with 'Mrs Weiss' because I'm too busy thinking about how Mariah should go back to a lighter hair colour! I can't take the mother character seriously at all because she's flipping Mo'Nique! I also read on the cast list that the random, unexplained man in Precious' dream-sequences was meant to resemble Tom Cruise, which is odd considering that he looked like a toned-down version of Kravitz or something. What were they thinking? This is a horrible, horrible story, and the way it has been dealt with just makes me annoyed. By the way, also, the uplifting ending? What the hell? She's still unemployed and living in a halfway house, with HIV and two inbred children, and she hasn't even passed that test yet. How is that meant to be uplifting? She still has literally no future ahead of her, despite all the interference of the (unnecessary) lesbians and unruly gang of girls. None of them dropped out in spite of Ms Rain's warning, and the lame attempt to prove that the class really was a revolving door was to have a random kid pop up suddenly halfway through, which again makes little to no sense. The way that the opening credits were written in order to fake illiteracy was worse than condescending, and I'm not a fan at all of using poor grammar to signify poverty (I had to study 'The Colour Purple' a couple of years back, and was not impressed by the technique then either). I have only read a synopsis of 'Push', but from what I can see many things were left out, and I would have considered the father more of a threat if he was actually a character instead of a two-second cameo and some heavy breathing. The entire point of the journals is lost, as it seems that only Precious' story counts for anything in this adaptation, and her classmates are all but ignored as simple outlines of stereotypes and left at that. I felt bored by the end. Sure, I felt guilty about being bored, but I was bored anyway. It seems to me that this whole thing is just a parody of an Alice Walker book, rather than a story in its own right, and for that I can't respect it. 2/5

#3 - Let's Dance


Stars - Fred Astaire, Betty Hutton, Ruth Warrick, Lucille Watson

Director - Norman Z. McLeod

Memorable Quote - ??

Review - A highlight of this film was the costuming. For some reason I couldn't find any good stills at all, but Hutton's dresses throughout were beautiful, particularly her mourning dress near the beginning and the outfit she wore in Astaire's dream sequence. I have to say I wasn't much of a fan of Hutton's character in general - she was far too melodramatic, and I hated all the facial expressions and strange noises she made in the musical numbers, it was like watching a freak show rather than a dance. Astaire is predictably smooth, and of course this follows a very familiar routine common to many movies of the era, particularly musicals - rogue guy, usually played by Sinatra or Astaire, reunites with old flame and has to help her out of some difficulty, during which she falls for him all over again... yes, quite predictable, though it was fun to see how they would work their way out of all the little problems they got into, and some of the musical numbers were entertaining. It was amusing to see Hutton dressed as a cowboy for their saloon scene - I wonder if it looked strange back then? It showed off the fact that she was much curvier than leading ladies these days generally are, and raised some interesting points in my mind to do with the way film and media perceptions of women have changed over the years. Astaire is dominated by Hutton, and his solo number ("Jack and the Beanstalk") is the only time that he really stands out as anything more than a foil, so it may be a disappointing watch for Astaire fans. Either way, a nice afternoon in but nothing that blew my mind particularly. 3/5

The Magnificent Seven Ride, Primal Fear, Starsky and Hutch

Two first timers and a rewatch here, though ironically the rewatch is the most recently made movie. Still, not a bad bunch. Happy Sunday!

#1 - THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN RIDE

Stars - Lee Van Cleef, Stefanie Powers

Director - George McCowan

Memorable Quote - 'Seven's always been my lucky number.'

Review - Yes, I've finally got around to watching the final installation of the Magnificent Seven series! This time Lee Van Cleef plays an aging Chris in what must be his last adventure, defending a whole town of women from evil Mexican rapists. This is quite a bit darker than the other movies - the emergence of the women from the church in their first meeting sends shivers down the spine at the implied violence, and this only increases when Laurie describes the ratio of men to women in the attack. The women have clearly been through a terrible ordeal, which is why it is a) unrealistic and b) kinda creepy when they all immediately fall in love with members of the Seven, particularly in Laurie's case and in the case of the Mormon wives. This film was clearly written and directed by men, no two ways about it - a female perspective would have been very different. The rape and murder of Chris' wife at the start of the film is also conveniently forgotten - should he not still be in mourning? A lot of plot holes with this then, as well as the obligatory Deaths of People You Like. It's the same as last time - woman falls in love with man, offers him chance of redemption, man dies unnecessarily. I guess it's for the feeling of realism, but in that case they might as well have not bothered, considering the other unrealisms presented here. Not bad overall, but you can't ignore the glaring obviousness of these plot issues. 3.5/5

#2 - PRIMAL FEAR

Stars - Richard Gere, Edward Norton, Laura Linney, Terry O'Quinn, Joe Spano, Tony Plana

Director - Gregory Hoblit

Memorable Quote - 'Sooner or later a man who wears two faces forgets which one is real.'

Review - Whew, isn't Edward Norton fantastic? This portrayal of a young, psychologically disturbed altar boy is exceedingly well done, from the stuttering, nervous Aaron to the psychopathic Roy. TV fans will no doubt be pleased to spot Locke from Lost appearing with Ignacio from Ugly Betty, along with a plethora of other faces we will recognise in small parts. The plot is layered in several stages, as first we see the crime and chase, then the initial denial of guilt, the revelation of the existence of Roy, the courtroom battle in which Roy finally emerges, and then at last that chilling final scene. It is all well acted and well presented, particularly in Norton's case of course, and the sense of tension is raised throughout. What makes this movie really stand out from the crowd is that final twist: for a large percentage of the film we think we are only watching a lovely story about a lawyer with a conscience, making sure that his client is not wrongfully punished for something that was not his fault. However, with the dark ending we realised a whole new level to the film, something we could perhaps not have anticipated. The length of Gere's walk away from the cell is important, because it gives the audience time to take in what the hell just happened. Well-directed and just right. 5/5


#3 - STARSKY AND HUTCH

Stars - Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Snoop Dogg, Vince Vaughn, many more

Director - Todd Phillips

Memorable Quote - 'Do it.'

Review - I'll say first of all that my knowledge of the original S&H is almost nonexistent, so this can by no means be a comparison. Instead I'm taking the film just as a thing in its own right. It is of course highly amusing - with the combination of Hollywood heavyweights Stiller and Wilson there was never going to be any doubt of that. Snoop Dogg adds his own wonderful dose of self-aware charm and humour, while the cameo of the original S&H at the end is a nice nod to the heritage of the film. All in all a good night's entertainment, and many a scene that will make you laugh time and time again - I can't count how many times I or someone I'm talking to has said 'do it' and caused an impromptu rendition of Stiller's undercover character. There's much fun to be had with this, but not much more I can say without ruining the jokes which, after all, don't work on paper as well as they do on screen. 4/5

Edward Scissorhands, Alexander, Miss Potter

Three rewatches! Well, it is a bonus post, after all.

#1 - EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

Stars - Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Vincent Price

Director - Tim Burton

Memorable Quote - 'I know a doctor who might be able to help you.'

Review - Well now, I doubt that anyone could argue that this isn't a classic. Though it is for the most part strange and dark, and the ending is kind of depressing for poor Edward, it bears all the marks of the style we have come to expect from Burton. The characters are all immensely likeable or disagreeable, and are highly characterized to the point that we are more inclined to remember their attributes or appearance rather than their names. The idea of forbidden love is strong here, especially of unrequited or unrealised love. There are many humorous elements, of course, such as Edward accidentally puncturing the waterbed right at the start, and elements of the surreal or cartoonish, such as the hairdressing and hedgecutting sequences. It is a genuinely good film, and worth watching, but every time I see it I can't help but be unsatisfied with the ending and how sad it is that Edward has to spend his life alone. Mind you, if it was all happy-happy, it wouldn't be Burton. 4/5

#2 - ALEXANDER

Stars - Colin Farrel, Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto, Johnathon Rhys Meyers, Anthony Hopkins

Director - Oliver Stone

Memorable Quote - 'Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.'

Review - I can't quite count how many times I have randomly turned onto a BBC channel or Sky or something similar and this has been on. I've probably seen it more times than it deserves! In terms of historical accuracy I'm not what you might call an expert on Alexander the Great and so I have no knowledge to draw on to compare it too, but I'm sure some things must have been changed. For a start, I'm pretty sure Alexander wasn't Irish. Anyway, there is pretty much a triumvirate of chiseled faces and chests to enjoy here (Farrell, Leto, Rhys Meyers) as well as something for the lads (Jolie), although her character is kind of creepy. It must be something of an alright film judging by the fact that I haven't bothered to switch it off each time, but it's not going to go down as a classic - the acting is the usual Farrell woodenness mixed with occasional melodrama, which is disappointing when compared to certain other movies in which he shows his true potential. I'm not sure what they were thinking with the weird blond mullet, either. The relationship between Hephaistion and Alexander is well done, though, and is actually kind of convincing. There's no attempt to hide the fact that they were probably lovers, which is good, and there are many scenes that are quite touching, particularly death scenes. The battle scenes are quite good as far as battle scenes go, even if I did glaze over a bit up until the point where he actually got stabbed. Don't bother buying the DVD, though, it's on often enough. 3/5

#3 - MISS POTTER

Stars - Renee Zelwegger, Ewan McGregor, Lloyd Owen, Emily Watson, Bill Paterson

Director - Chris Noonan

Memorable Quote - 'Stories don't always end where their authors intended. But there is joy in following them, wherever they take us.'

Review - Ahh, the first time I saw this I was literally traumatised. You see, I quite like Ewan McGregor, and he's just as charming as ever in this - but no one warned me that he dies halfway through. Ewan fans take note, it is very sad when he does so. For a large part of the film I feel as if Beatrix is possibly insane and imaging the whole thing, but of course she isn't. It's not quite an Austin-level tragedy since she ends up getting over Ewan and falling for Paul from Monarch of the Glen, who, luckily, has always had a bit of thing for her. There are some parts of her story that will chime with a modern audience: she is determined to achieve her dreams no matter who tells her to give up, and she fantasizes about a time when she will be successful and rich and no longer have to worry about her parents. Not that she's poor to begin with. It's maybe not the most revolutionary of films, but it does give a charming insight into one of Britain's best-loved children's authors, and into a time when many things were different. Much like 'Becoming Jane', the moment that we realise that the heroine really has lost the love of her life (even more terrible for Beatrix, probably, since she was way past her sell-by date in terms of marriageability back then), is the stand-out moment of the movie, the one that will make you cry or at least sniffle a bit, and the one that you will remember long after having seen it. 4/5

Hound of the Baskervilles, Spy Kids, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Well, it's Sunday, so here we are - the first blog post of 2011. Happy New Year everyone - let's make this one count.

#1 - THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

Stars - Richard Roxbourgh, Ian Hart, Richard E Grant, John Nettles

Director - David Attwood

Memorable Quote - JW: 'What is it?' SH: 'It's dead.'

Review - What a classic! I must have seen this ten times at least. I remember being about thirteen and writing about watching it for the first time in a diary. It's generally on every Christmas since it's a made-for-TV movie. This has to be my favourite out of the adaptations of this story that I have seen, and it is a perfectly English creation. Grant is SO very English that it is humourous, and many of the lines are delivered with a dry humour that only we Brits could have conceived of. The casting is quite exquisite, actually - each of them is well suited to their roles in appearance and mannerisms, and this Watson/Holmes pairing is as good as any I've seen. The slight homoerotic undertones are of course intact, as they should be in any Holmes story, and all the colours are gloomy with bright spots of luxury, adding to the melodrama of the plot. The visual effects aren't too bad, given both the nature of the production and it's age, and while it is clear that the hound is not real I don't believe it really detracted from the effects very much. All in all, a great effort. 4.5/5

#2 - SPY KIDS

Stars - Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Darryl Sabara, Teri Hatcher

Director - Robert Rodriguez

Memorable Quote - 'We are definitely gonna be late for school.'

Review - To quote my mother, 'this was doing well until the children arrived'. And she was right. The bits with Antonio Banderas were amusing in a silly way, but something that could engage adult attention as well as that of a child. The parts where the children are running around town, however, are not as engaging, and in fact I found myself switching off quite often from those sections. The dialogue was simply tedious, and the fact that they would be that childish and still succeed was ludicrous, quite frankly. Hmm. I'm not really sure what else to say, except that this is probably only really appropriate for those around the age of five. Ah well, there's always Antonio Banderas to look at. 2/5

#3 - THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR

Stars - Brendon Fraser, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, John Hannah

Director - Rob Cohen

Memorable Quote - 'Why am I laughing?!'

Review - This being the third in the franchise, by now we're very clear on what to expect from the Mummy movies. This of course is a rewatch. It always seems to be on in the festive period, though I don't see what's so Christmassy about Chinese mummies. Anyway, this is quite a strange film really, where an all-star cast and a renowned director come together to make... something a little bit beneath them. Much like the PotC movies, this franchise has brought Fraser a new level of popularity, but he and his co-stars all seem a little bit too good to be in the third part of a franchise, the time when all the stars should be jumping ship as the sales start to decrease. All the same, this is not as bad as it could be - in fact, the introduction of the Chinese element with Yeoh and Li makes it much more interesting. We have the old favourites of Hannah's cowardly materialism and Fraser's plucky one-liners, alongside the new elements of the grown son and the immortals. Not a classic of refined cinema, then, but still a worthwhile evening's entertainment. Really quite funny in places, too, and the effects aren't half bad. 3.5/5