The Green Knight (2021)

 

I read The Quest of the Holy Grail once, and this adaptation of a related tale about the nephew of King Arthur, Sir Gawain, journeying to see a Green Knight to pay a due, brought that book back to mind, perfectly evoking the dreaminess and painterliness of the book's chapters, with some, like the episodes in the movie, ending without obvious point while others thrill with chivalrous exploits, all taking place against a beautifully realised medieval time steeped in magic and religion, albeit in a movie with two or three scenes, clanging attempts at modernity, which jolt the viewer out of the otherwise mesmerising fantasy.

★★★★☆

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Tomb Raider (2018)

"Why is this not as good as Indy's first outing?" is a question you'll ask yourself as you watch Alicia Vikander's Lara Croft embark on her very first tomb raiding adventure, heading to a Japanese island, Yamatai, with the dual purpose of locating her long-lost father and unlocking secrets of the mythological Queen Himiko — certainly, she behaves like the archeologist Dr Jones with her combined athleticism and university smarts; there is a spectacular and thrilling waterfall sequence and even a dinghy; Croft's father recalls Sean Connery's bumbling academic; there is the hint of the supernatural as booby-trapped crypts are traversed and ancient cursed boxes are unsealed....but probably the answer lies in Lara's and the movie's persistent low affect — both simply refuse to indulge in any Indiana Jones fun.

★★★☆☆

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Ex Machina (2014)

In this effective psychological thriller, IT company CEO Nathan Bateman summons employee Caleb to a remote hi-tech facility to conduct a Turing test with Ava (a robot he's fashioned after a young woman) that he thinks might finally be an example of true artificial intelligence, so over seven days, Caleb interacts with Ava and is pitted against his exceedingly annoying alcoholic boss in discussions about A.I., philosophy, logic and morality.

★★★★☆

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Jason Bourne (2016)

The camera never stays still for more than a second so imagine watching an episode of The Amazing Race on The Zipper: the "contestants" are the most technologically-enabled but most bungling CIA team ever assembled for the franchise (and only them - there are zero outsiders in this world) and the "prize" they are vying for you might think is a personality because there isn't one between them nor one to be found at any of the "roadblocks" in Berlin, Greece, London or Las Vegas - now that Jason Bourne remembers everything, has his identity back and we all know his name, a personality seems to be the last missing thing.

★★☆☆☆

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The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

The Man From U.N.C.L.E., based on the 60s tv show, looks terrific, like a photo shoot of mod fashions from a 60s Vogue magazine, but with one-note characters and key scenes presented as comic book panels, the spy action hunt for nuclear weapons across glamorous European locations is about as involving as flipping through a glossy.

★★★☆☆

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