Released 16 May 2008 Directed by Steve Barker Runtime 90 minutes Black Camel Pictures Writer: Rae Brunton Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 'Outpost' Reviewed by Martin McGrath Outpost has almost every element necessary to make a successful low budget horror movie. It has a strong cast but it’s made up of actors whose faces you’ll recognise but whose names will mostly escape you. It has a confined and atmospheric location – an underground bunker supposedly in Eastern Europe abandoned by the SS at the end of World War II. And it has a tense, ... Read More..

My natural inclination with British made films is to want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Few enough films get made in this country and even fewer sf and fantasy films get made, get distributed and attract a reasonable amount of attention. So I really, really wanted to be able to say nice things about Mutant Chronicles – especially since they’ve managed to attract a cast with some reasonably recognisable names – including Ron Perlman and Thomas Jane.   Based on a board game, Mutant Chronicles is set in 2707 where constant war and the exploitation of natural resources have destroyed... Read More..

Christian Volckman first started work on this film in 1999 so he must have been slightly narked when Sin City (2005) was released. That film received acclaim for its transliteration of Frank Miller’s comics to the screen. Renaissance goes one step further in this respect by not just using a blue screen and post production but being totally animated, including overlaying motion captured actors. The result is a startling black and white film. Still, the debt to Miller is so clear you can’t help but feel Volckman’s thunder has been stolen. Sin City was a gratuitously offensive exerci... Read More..

Released 14 March 2008 Directed by Roland Emmerich Runtime 109 minutes Warner Bros Pictures Written by Roland Emmerich & Harald Kloser Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 Reviewed by Martin McGrath There are those for whom the name Roland Emmerich strikes a chill in their heart. There are those who regard his noisy back catalogue (including Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla , and The Day After Tomorrow ) as a blight upon science fiction. I am not one of those critics. Emmerich’s previous films might have been big and stupid and noisy and brash,... Read More..

Originally published in Matrix 188 on 17.06.2009 Released 22 May 2008 Directed by Steven Spielberg Runtime 124 mins Paramount Pictures Writers: David Koepp and George Lucas 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' reviewed by Donna Scott Any film directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay co-written by George Lucas would surely have enough Hollywood glitz about it to make it not just the blockbuster film for this summer, but arguably a contender for the decade. Factor in those two magical words ‘Indiana’ and ‘Jone... Read More..

Released 9 May 2008 Directed by Neil Marshall Runtime 113mins Rogue Pictures Writers: Neil Marshall Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 'Doomsday' Reviewed by Martin McGrath It is a mistake to think of watching a film as a passive experience. To properly enjoy cinema an audience, and the individual viewer, has to be willing to engage with the images flickering before them, they have to be willing to give something back. Any film worth watching will require the audience to work a bit to get the most from it. And some films ask more of their audienc... Read More..

Directed by Uwe Boll Release date: 11 January 2008 Runtime 127 mins Brightlight Pictures Writer: Doug Taylor (screenplay) & Jason Rappaport (story) Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 'In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale' Reviewed by Martin McGrath You can say what you like about Uwe Boll – and mostly those statements tend to include the words “talentless” and “hack” – but you can’t deny his uncanny ability to attract funding and get films made. Of course, generally speaking, the world would be a better pla... Read More..

  Synedoche, New York is the first directorial outing by Charlie Kaufman, who has previously written a string of brilliant movies that includes Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – each, in their own way, thoughtful, intelligent and complex fantasies. If you enjoyed those films then you are undoubtedly going to get something out of Synedoche, New York but whether it is pleasure or pain may depend on your state of mind. There will be plenty of people who dismiss the film as relentlessly self-indulgent and plent... Read More..

Released 4 July 2008 Directed by Mark Osborne & John Stevenson Runtime 92mins DreamWorks Animation Stars Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 'Kung Fu Panda' Reviewed by Lon S. Cohen When I heard that Jack Black was going to star in an animated Dreamworks production populated only by animal characters playing a martial arts wielding panda, my initial reaction was, “What the Fu?” But as the brilliantly rendered characters appeared all over the Inte... Read More..

Released 13 June 2008 Directed by Louis Leterrier Runtime 114mins Marvel Enterprises Writer: Zak Penn Originally published in Matrix 188 on 08.07.2008 'The Incredible Hulk' Reviewed by Martin McGrath As one of the few people who enjoyed Ang Lee’s take on The Hulk (2003), I approached this relaunch of the franchise with a quiet dread. For all its faults Lee’s film at least had the strength of obvious intelligence and a seriousness of intent, even if it did eventually subside into a low-rent pseudo-Freudian drama. Having had ... Read More..