Christopher Nolan’s brings to the screen the story of J.Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy plays Oppenheimer, we follow his life from theoretical physicist, to the man who leads the team that develops the atom bomb and ends up wrestling with his conscience, battling with a past and a political game that threatens to undermine his life. It’s a sprawling story that focuses on his work and those with the biggest impact on his life his wife Kitty (Emily Blunt), his lover, Jean (Florence Pugh), Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) and Lewis Strauss(Robert Downey Jr.).

Oppenheimer is a complex man, with a complicated life and bringing that to the screen in a big budget epic, while remaining intriguing and engaging is no small challenge. But if you could trust a filmmaker with it, it’s Nolan and he proves it with this compelling, sprawling 3 hour epic.

Told using three distinct timelines, we see Oppenheimer Idealistic in his science and politics to leading the team that developed the atom bomb. We see him after the war, his conscience and background haunting him and putting in danger his life’s work. We also have the story of Lewis Strauss, whose life is intertwined with post war Oppenheimer. All three separate but skillfully intertwined.

At the heart of what makes this work is Murphy’s portrait of Oppenheimer. Who takes us through the journey of a man from Idealist, to driven scientist, to one wrestling with his conscience. it’s an excellent performance that keeps fully you engaged throughout. While he’s well supported Murphy is its beating heart.

As always with Nolan the film is technically smart. It looks great, has a fabulous score and ingenious use of sound, especially when carrying out the Los Alamos tests.

This is how to bring epic stories to the screen. It weaves together its three timelines, juggling science, politics, revenge and conscience in a big budget cinema epic. While it’s long. It’s never dull and Cillian Murphy’s performance keeps you engaged throughout. It’s an impressive film about a story that changed history.

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach bring their film making skills to the world of Barbie. Margot Robbie is stereotypical Barbie. Living her best life everyday in her Barbie world while brushing off the attentions of Ryan Gosling’s Ken. But when Barbie’s world starts to change she visits “weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon), who sends her to the real world to put things right. Here she finds Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) and her mum Gloria (America Ferrara) and their strained relationship. Barbie and Ken find the real world to be very different from what they expected. But when that experience impacts Barbieland, Barbie needs a plan, the other Barbie’s, Gloria and Sasha to put it right.

Greta Gerwig is an extremely clever film maker. She shows just how clever here by taking a plastic doll and turning into a smart, humorous and emotionally engaging story about growing up and finding out how to deal with a world that wasn’t what you expected.

The real genius of the film was how it crept up on me. Halfway through I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but by the end I was completely enraptured by the pink world of Barbie, knowing it to be truly fantastic!

There’s much to enjoy. There’s long out of production Barbie’s and Ken’s, Barbieland, Barbie and Ken’s outfit choices in the real world and his discovery of the patriarchy. The comparison of the FBI and Mattel offices. All with cine literate storytelling, joyful performances and fantastic song and dance routines!

It’s all you expect, the world of Barbie is pink and pretty and the real world the opposite. But it’s also lots you don’t expect. It’s heartfelt, touching and incredibly smart. It’s about not just girl power, but a message for us all in growing up and finding our way. All wrapped in a dazzly pink bow.

Barbie is all you expect and lots you don’t. It’s Greta Gerwig at her best. A smart, funny, emotionally engaging, brilliant bit of story telling. It will have you laugh and cry and in Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling you have two pitch perfect leads. It’s not plastic but it’s certainly fantastic.

Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise are back with the latest Mission Impossible film. Hunt’s (Cruise) mission, should he choose to accept it, is to find old friend Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) and retrieve from her part of a key. A key, that when completed, will give the holder access to an out of control computer AI that can bypass any security and start to rewrite what is known as true. And that is the world we have become, where sentient AI, is the biggest risk to our safety. That means the world’s governments and powerful criminals want it. This includes the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) and Gabriel (Esai Morales), a ghost from Hunts past. This leads Hunt and team (Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames) and new addition, Grace (Hayley Atwell), chasing across the world in a trail of epic chases through iconic locations to save the world.

What you want from these films, is a ridiculous plot, incredible action scenes and death defying stunts with ever increasing stakes. And here McQuarrie and Cruise not only deliver that, but deliver it spectacularly.

The plot is nonsense, chasing a random object around the world to stop a sentient AI falling into the wrong hands giving them infinite power. But that doesn’t matter, from the first bars of the famous score to the, literal cliffhanger ending, it’s one wild ride.

What really makes it is the high tension practical effects. From car chase to train chase, there’s a refreshing lack of (obvious) CGI. And while you know that Hunt is unlikely to die, it doesn’t stop each set piece ratcheting up the tension further everytime.

While it’s a little long it looks fabulous, with the cast giving it their all to keep up with the high paced action. Providing an entertaining high octane adventure.

Mission: Impossible is exactly the film that you expect. From ridiculous storyline to incredible action set pieces and fantastic theme tune, you get the high watermark of action adventures. While it is a touch long, it manages via its creative high stakes action scenes to keep you hooked. Roll on part two.

Peter Sohn directs Pixar’s first original cinema release since the beginning of the pandemic. Ember (Leah Lewis) works in her family shop, daughter of Bernie (Ronnie Del Carmen) and Cinder (Shila Ommi), fire elements who were amongst the first to settle in what is now Fire Town on the edge of Element City. A city which is the home to a mix of elements, including water, air and land. Life is simple until Ember meets Wade (Mamoudou Athie) a water element. A meeting that takes Ember into new territory in Element City, new relationships and new and challenging feelings.

Elemental does the thing that Pixar does well in taking a grown up topic and turning into a warm and charming story. It is a story about immigration, integration, history and balancing respecting heritage with making the way in a new world.

It’s not trying to be subtle in covering it, from arriving to the new world on boats and turned away from lodgings with “No fire” signs on doors and building a community in a ghetto. But that it never veers into overly dark, while making its point. Alongside thesd struggles is a heartwarming story about family and new love.

The voice cast is at the high level you expect. Of course the animation looks fantastic and is accompanied by a fine score. The story moves along at a nice pace and their is plenty of humour along the way. At 101 minutes it never drags. But it never quite reaches the emotionally engaging heights that the best Pixar films do. This is illustrated by the Carl’s Date short before it, which reminds you just how good Pixar are at their best.

Elemental is a solid rather than spectacular Pixar film. It looks incredible and has plenty of warmth and charm. The voice cast are great and the story zips along. But it never quite reaches peak Pixar. But solid and original Pixar is still better than most which makes this enjoyable enough.

Available on Netflix.

Adam Devine stars and Tyler Spindel directs this action comedy. Owen (Devine) is manager of a small regional bank about to marry his love Parker (Nina Dobrev). What seems like initially welcome news, that Parker’s parents (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin) can make it to the wedding, soon turns into an unexpected problem! The problem comes when Owen’s bank is robbed by the “Ghost Bandits” who Owen quickly believes to be Parker’s parents. This leads to kidnappings, police chases, further heists, shoot outs and more as Owen tries to fix the problems the robbery at his bank created.

This is a very predictable, sometimes misjudged, sometimes funny, straight to streaming action comedy. I often don’t hold out too much hope for straight to Netflix comedies so expectations tend to be low and this just about met them

Devine does the thing he’s known for, that awkward yet strangely over confident character. But he’s overshadowed by Barkin, who shows a flair for action and Brosnan, who flexes his comedy muscles well, if you look past his oddly uneven Irish accent. There are a couple of good supporting roles too from Poorna Jagannathan as mobster Rehan and Lauren Lapkus’s overly cocky bank manager.

But the film is very uneven, and only funny in patches. It’s very predictable, there is some misjudged stuff (a particularly destructive scene in a cemetery) and even at just 95 minutes it does occasionally drag. On the plus side, there are some entertaining action set pieces and there also some solid laugh out loud moments. But ultimately it’s all just a bit meh.

The Out-Laws is the definition of a straight to Netflix comedy. It has its moments, but not enough. It does have some solid action set pieces and is probably worth it for Brosnan and Ellen Barkin. Although at only 95 minutes long it doesn’t overly outstay its welcome. I came in with low expectations and this just about met them.

James Mangold directs the fifth and final Indiana Jones installment. It’s 1969 and Jones (Harrison Ford) is about to retire, teaching history to kids more interested in Moon landings and music than history. But things don’t go to plan when the daughter of an old friend, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), arrives back in his life. She wants Indy to help her find a priceless artifact that her father spent his life hunting. While Indy doesn’t agree, it doesn’t stop him being pulled into a chase across the world, which includes Nazi’s (of course!) adventures under water, on land, in tombs, in the air and through time. All in one last outing for the Fedora and whip.

Dial of Destiny is a satisfying if underwhelming goodbye to one of cinemas most enduring adventure heroes. Mangold attempts to bring the look and feel of 80’s Jones and to a great extent he succeeds. But doesn’t quite pull it off completely with an adventure set over 2 1/2 hours which feels ready to get started but never quite does.

The action is impressive and relentless. Beyond some mixed CGI in the early scenes. The majority of the action is physical, with races through streets, scrambling through caves and battles through bars that all give a feel of an Indy adventure.

But the action sequences sometimes feel a little laboured and often lack the energy and humour the series is known for. A bit like with the returning Han Solo, Ford plays a more weary and melancholic version of Jones which works well. Ultimately it’s Waller-Bridge’s Helena that the energy and witt.

Alongside the leads Mads Mikkelssen goes full Jones Nazi. With Ethan Isidore’s Teddy taking on the adventurous kid roll. John Williams score carries the film along occasionally breaking into its globally famous theme.

The Dial of Destiny is a competent rather than memorable send off to a beloved character. It makes an attempt at creating a sprawling 80’s adventure, but never quite makes it. It just about manages to not jump the shark at the end and its touching final scene feels like a suitable goodbye.

Asteroid City is the latest from Wes Anderson, this time co-written with Roman Coppola. Bryan Cranston introduces us to Asteroid City a play by renowned playwright Conrad Earp (Ed Norton). In the play Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), his son Woodrow (Jake Ryan) and his three young daughters have headed to Asteroid City for a junior science competition in which Woodrow is entered. Their worlds are changed during the competition when they are visited by an unexpected guest leads to the city been quarantined. We follow their lives stuck in the city alongside the real world challenges of bringing the show to the stage.

Wes Anderson’s films are likely to either work for you or not. He style is distinct and Asteroid City is very Wes Anderson. It looks incredible, shot in 4:3 and a mix of black and white for the “real life” play. Asteroid City itself is a vivid use of a 1950’s technicolour palette used in beautifully composed scenes.

2/3rds of the way through the film Adrien Brody’s Schubert Green explains to an actor in the play “don’t try to understand it just tell the story”. And that is probably the best way to watch this. It’s a play within a play, a typically quirky Anderson story. It’s made up of wonderfully performed vignettes loosely tied together with its two stories. Stories filled with the usual list of acting stars Tom Hanks. Steve Carell, Tilda Swinton, Jeffrey Wright, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe and Jeff Goldblum amongst many others.

But its quirkiness could also be its downfall. Ultimately it’s a story without a big narrative arc, it meanders through its two stories to its gentle end. But if you’re not familiar with Anderson this maybe a bit of a leap and if you don’t like his work this won’t change your mind.

Asteroid City is very Wes Anderson. It’s a quirky tale told through wonderfully shot and performed vignettes with its A-Z of the best in acting talent. But it’s also a slow meandering story that won’t work for everyone. If you like Anderson this won’t disappoint, if you don’t it probably won’t change your mind.

Written and Directed by Gene Stupnitsky (written alongside John Phillips) is this coming of age comedy. Jennifer Lawrence is Maddie. In her early 30’s she’s drifting. She’s an Uber driver and bar tender, struggling to keep her houseband when she has her car repossessed she’s about to lose her Uber job. A new opportunity comes her way when she sees an ad looking for someone to date Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) son of wealthy parents Alison (Laura Benanti) and Laird (Matthew Broderick). They’re worried about him and want an “experienced” girl to bring him out of his shell and for her troubles she gets a car! But the relationship doesn’t quite play out as anyone expects as Maddie and Percy find they have more in common than they bargained for.

I’m a fan of Jennifer Lawrence, who’s never anything other than watchable. That’s true here, and even though the film is funny at times and surprisingly touching at others, it didn’t fully work for me.

Its main issue is the realtionship at its core It never felt believable. The age gap between them was the real issue, my concern going in was that it would make the premise uncomfortable. To be fair that wasn’t the case, but the age gap did make the relationship unconvincing.

The film wasn’t a total dud by any means. Although the storyline is a well trodden and unoriginal, it had enough laughs and touching moments to keep me engaged, but the lack of believability stopped me fully buying in. Making it no more than easily forgettable fare.

No Hard Feelings isn’t terrible. Jennifer Lawrence is as watchable as always as is Feldman next to her. It’s humorous at times and touching at others. But unfortunately the central realtionship just felt unbelievable, meaning it never fully worked for me. Harmless but forgettable.

Andy Muschietti is at the helm for the first cinema version of The Flash. Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is busy doing his day job, which seems to consist of carrying out superhero duties for Batman (Ben Affleck) when he’s otherwise engaged. Barry has his own issues though with his father (Ron Livingston) in prison having been framed for the murder of his mother. When frustration gets the better of Barry, he finds himself in an alternate timeline where, with just a little nudge, he can change things and save his mother. But tweaking time has consequences, including no justice league, which is a problem when General Zod (Micheal Shannon) comes to earth looking for Superman. Barry relaises be needs to put a band together which includes the alternate timeline Batman (Micheal Keaton). Together they have to find some help and defeat Zod.

I enjoyed this. It was hardly original (if you’ve seen the recent Spider-Verse film this is basically the same story) as it treds the increasingly well worn multiverse path. But it did so with a sense of fun.

The script has plenty of humour as it playfully used the impact of its time travel narrative, especially its running gag about Back to the Future. It was also hugely enjoyable seeing Michael Keaton don the batsuit once again, alongside his iconic Batmobile. There is also a nice nostalgic touch as we dip into the DC archives to meet other iterations of some of its main characters.

Outside of the fun and pushing of the nostalgia buttons, there is a heartfelt story about grief and the acceptance of it but this is fleeting. There are also some nice cameo appearances, but I’ll not spoil them here.

The Flash was a lot of fun. While it forays into the now over warn multiverse idea it does so enjoyably. Performances are solid and it was a real joy to see Michael Keaton return as Batman. It won’t go down as a classic, but it was 144 minutes of enjoyable fun.

Written by Stefani Robinson and directed by Stephen Williams is this story based on the life of Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) Son of an affair between a plantation owner George Bologne (Jim High) and his Senegalese mother Nanon(Ronke Adekoluejo), at a young age he is taken to France, where his father hopes his gifts can be exploited. And they are, he is a skilled swordsman and even more talented composer which brings him to the attention of Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) granting him the title Chevalier. Joseph’s life changes when he has the opportunity to become head of the Paris opera, which leads to a relationship with Marie-Josephine (Samara Weaving) and makes an enemy of her husband. His attempts are thwarted by racism which puts him in a path towards uprising and revolution

Bologne’s story is virtually unknown, a great composer who, because of the colour of his skin and revolution, has been mainly erased from the records. But while clearly there is a fascinating story to be told, sadly this film never quite tells it.

Stuck somewhere between Amadeus and Bridgerton it’s never quite sure of what it wants to be. A story about talent buried under 18th century oppression? A period love story? Or the story of revolution. It touches on all three but never really settles on any. Which leads to a rather disjointed film.

It’s not without pluses, it looks fabulous and performances are decent enough, especially in the lead roles with Harrison, Weaving and Boynton. And there is certainly an interesting story in there that breaks out occasionally, which a powerfully played standoff at its end. But that makes you realise that was actually the story to tell rather than the one we got.

Joseph Bologne’s story is clearly an interesting one, but sadly this film doesn’t really do it justice. Stuck somewhere between Amadeus and Bridgerton it never feels like it quite captures the fascinating bits of his life. Which is a pity, because it seems it’s quite the life story to tell.