Available on Apple TV+

John S. Baird and writer Noah Pink, bring us this movie adaptation of the true story of the battle to own the rights of one of the most successful games of all time, Tetris. Taron Egerton is Henk Rogers who finds Tetris at a Las Vegas technology show. Initially he believes he has bought the rights to distribute the game in Japan. But when he finds that Robert Stein’s (Toby Jones) software company alongside Robert and Kevin Maxwell’s (Roger Allam & Anthony Boyle) Mirrorsoft all claim to own rights he finds himself heading to Moscow and gambling everything to try and secure rights. Here he finds a country unraveling and a race to secure the rights so his gamble pays off.

It’s a bit of an odd film in reality, the story itself seems crazy but is set at a time of great upheaval as the Soviet Union heads towards collapse. But the film struggles to fully capture the anarchy and energy of the time.

But it is fun, occasionally tense and often intriguing. It looks great, recreating 80’s Moscow and is accompanied by a soundtrack packed with 80’s classics. There is a good mix of heroes to cheer along and some slimey bad guys who get their comeuppance.

Taron Egerton is as watchable as ever. It is the stories of the Soviets, expecially that of the games writer Alexy Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) and his boss Nikolai Belikov (Oleg Shtefanko), that steal the film. Taking incredible risks for Rogers after been won over by his risk taking and desire.

The story is hugely uneven and is never quite sure whether it wants to be a dramatic retelling of a complex story or an action adventure set in late 80’s Moscow and it’s never quite either.

Tetris is by no means a classic but it’s a fun telling of the incredible story of one of the most successful games of all time. It has fun with its 80’s look and soundtrack, but it’s also very uneven and unsure of what it’s trying to do. Not as entertaining or memorable as the game but fun enough.

Chad Stahelski and Shay Hatten return with the fourth installment of the John Wick franchise. Wick (Keanu Reeves) is still looking for a way out of his life and his debt to “The Table”. But they are not done with him as a new powerful Marquis (Bill Skarsgard) has risen to prominence on a promise to kill Wick. Not only do they come for Wick but also those close to him. Including Winston (Ian McShane), Charon (Lance Reddick), Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his daughter Akira (Rina Sawayama). The Marquis is not Wick’s only problem as he finds he is a “name” for old friend Caine (Donnie Yen) and a bounty hunter (Shamier Anderson). But if Wick can avoid them and the endless line of hunters wanting to cash in on the ever increasing price on his head, then there is finally a way for him to get what he wants.

The thing about the John Wick is it knows exactly what it is about. They are unashamed action films and If John Wick 4 is to be the last, then it has gone out all guns blazing. It’s a 149 minute full throttle adventure from start to finish, that rarely pauses to take a breath and doesn’t drag, even if a couple of fight scenes felt repetitive. Although even at its unrelenting pace it still has time to build in humour and nods to the Wick cannon.

The visual splendour and incredible physicality of the, often long, fight scenes is turned up to 11, highlighed in one fabulous battle that is shot from overhead. It looks fantastic with the mix of neon and traditional gardens in Japan, the decadence of the Berlin night scene to the sweeping use of Paris, ticking off famous sights as it goes.

Performances are what you want and amongst all the action Reeves and Yen bring a world weariness to characters living lives they don’t want. Which balances well against the action.

John Wick: Chapter 4, if it is to be the last installment, has gone out in style. It’s a visual treat that uses to great effect its inspirations from samurai to Westerns. It’s long but doesn’t drag and its action is relentless. For fans of the series, this should be a satisfying conclusion.

David F. Sandberg is back in the Directors seat with writer Henry Gayden joined by Chris Morgan to deliver a second installment of Shazam. Zachary Levi returns in the main role as the teenager given superhero powers. His teenage self Billie (Asher Angel) and his foster brothers and sisters are working hard to balance their double lives as teenagers and super heroes. All is going well, mainly, until a series of events changes things. First the mysterious theft of an ancient staff by the “daughters of Zeus” (Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu). Then foster brother Freddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) bumps into the new girl at school,Anthea (Rachel Zegler), and they quickly hit it off. However these things are not unrelated and the daughters of Zeus have returned to take revenge on Earth and retake the powers that the wizard (Djimon Honour) had bestowed on Bille and his family.

The first Shazam! Was quite a refreshing change, with a light touch often missing from DCs normally overly earnest storytelling. While some of that light touch remains in this second installment, ultimately much of the freshness has gone and while not terrible, it is pretty standard super hero fair.

It’s bangy and crashy, with a silly and predictable storyline. There are things to enjoy, Zachary Levi continues to get the teenager in a superhero body schtick just right. Grazer’s Freddie is perhaps the heart of the film, spending most of the time without his alter ego, as he navigates the events around him and a new relationship with Zegler’s Antheas. Helen Mirren brings some gravitas and humour and Lucy Liu camps it up as a power crazed God.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods, is not a terrible film, but it is predictably average and that is a genre problem more than a Shazam specific one. How superhero films do something interesting in future is a question. It’s not one Shazam solves, it’s fun enough, but nothing you’ve not seen before.

Written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods is this nuts and bolts sci-fi action adventure. Set 65 million years ago, Mills (Adam Driver) is a pilot who flies long distance space missions. His latest mission is a two year flight into deep space. During the mission his ship flies into an asteroid field forcing him to make a crash landing on an unmapped planet. As he comes around he believes all of his passengers are dead and finds himself alone on, as we’ve discovered, Earth. An Earth on which dinosaurs still rule. His situation his hopeless, until he finds one of his passengers has survived in the shape of a young girl, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt). She gives him the inspiration to treck across dangerous terrain to reach the remainder of their craft and a rescue ship, which can get them off the planet and home, before time for them and the planet runs out.

Before heading off to see 65 my wife asked “what’s it about?” My answer was “Adam Driver, Dinosaurs and a gun” and that’s all you need to know about this nuts and bolts 90 minute action adventure.

It is very predictable, Mills and Koa, start at point A and must successfully navigate their way across a hostile environment full of creatures who want to kill them to point B. If is as formulaic as that, with no real surprises. Even the catastrophic event they find themselves having to outrun is telegraphed very early on.

All that said, I got exactly what I’d expected. Disposable, dumb nonsense and has no intention of providing anything else. There is a bit of tragedy in Mills’s background and in Koa’s present, but that’s the only attempt to add some depth.

It’s a long way from been a classic but I had an enjoyable enough time. Adam Driver is always good value as is his young co-star Ariana Greenblatt. Both giving committed and enjoyable performances.

65 will not be troubling any awards judges and to be honest you’ll forget it pretty quickly. But it is what it sets out to be, a pretty basic action adventure. It’s not great, but I enjoyed it anyway and at 91 minutes it knows it limits!

Now showing on Sky Cinema and available on a range of streaming services.

Jim Archer directs as David Earl and Chris Hayward bring their comic creations to a feature length film. Brian (Earl) is a quiet and isolated man living in a farmhouse in the Welsh hills. He’s alone and while having a happy outward appearance, he’s clearly lonely and does not easily get close to people. He fills his day inventing, quirky and relatively useless things from random pieces of scrap. Until he builds himself a robot, Charles (Hayward). Charles opens up a new world of friendships and relationships especially with village local Hazel (Louise Brealey) , but it also catches the eye of less pleasant members of the community, namely Eddie (Jamie Michie) and his less than friendly family. Can Brian keep Charles safe and allow them both to flourish into a new world.

If you looked up the definition of quirky comedy, I’d be pretty sure you’d find a picture of Brian and Charles. This is quirky,l in the best if ways. It is also funny throughout and importantly touching and good hearted.

It is a lovely study of loneliness, and about making friends when it’s hard to do and taking yourself out of your comfort zone for those you care for.

Performances are strong with Earl portraying the loner who finds life difficult, but never strays into the pathetic. He is always someone you feel for not feel sorry for. His relationships with Louise Brealey’s Hazel, always feels believable and while sweet, never overly so.

Hayward’s large lumebring robot is at the centre of the comedy. Especially as we see him develop into “sulky” teenager with his “unfair” life and how he hates everyone. We’ve all been that character! But seeing it portrayed by a talking walking washing machine is an extra treat.

Brian and Charles is the definition of quirky. But it’s a quirkiness that works. It’s sweet, tender and kind hearted, but most importantly it’s funny. You’ve never realised how much you’ve wanted a 7ft talking washing machine until now. We could all use some Charles Petrescu in our lives.

Micheal B. Jordan makes his directorial debut In the latest installment from the Rocky/Creed franchise. Now retired, Adonis Creed (Micheal B. Jordan) is managing his gym and other boxers including his star, current undisputed world champion Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez). Creeds life is good, but then an important part of his past returns when his closest childhood friend Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors) returns to the neighbourhood after serving 18 years in prison. As a young man he was a great boxing hope, something that was taken away by prison. Now he’s back and he wants a shot and needs Creed to help. But in helping him Adonis reopens a part of his life that he’d never dealt with and now it’s there it needs to be resolved.

If you’ve seen the trailer for Creed, then you’ll know what this latest installment is going to deliver. It is exactly the film you expect it to be, hitting every beat whem it should. But if you didn’t know what to expect don’t worry every turn of the film is signposted from start to finish.

This isn’t really a negative as this is the ninth Rocky/Creed film. So if you’re heading into one, you’re going to get the thing you signed up for.

The story arc digs into Creed and Damian’s background and covers some dark moments, but ultimately these lead up to the training montage and wonderfully choreographed showdown. Which to Jordan’s credit he does bring some creative ways to show the intensity and focus demanded in the ring.

The film is blessed with impressive leads. But It is Majors who brings the real interest with an excellent performance. His dark brooding and physical presence is balanced by a want to redeem himself and claim what he feels was denied him, making him a more complex and interesting opponent.

Creed III is exactly the film you expect. But that’s okay as there is plenty to enjoy, especially with Majors who brings one of the most interesting opponents of the franchise. It’s maybe not the most memorable of the Rocky/Creed films but still solid and enjoyable.

Directed by Shekhar Kanpur, written by Jemima Khan is this romcom about assisted marriage and cultural difference. Lily James is Zoe, a young documentary film maker who discovers her childhood friend Kazim (Shazad Latif) is going to have an assisted marriage. When she needs a new documentary project she pitches the idea of “Love Contractually” following her friend through the process of finding a bride, to their marriage. When Kaz meets Maymouna (Sajal Ali) the relationship blossoms and he, Zoe and the extended family, including Zoe’s mum (Emma Thompson) head off to Pakistan for a wedding. However not everything goes to plan and the ending may not be as happy as everyone hopes.

After seeing the trailer for this film I had pretty low expectations, but they were not low enough for this tedious mess of a film.

It’s story line is all over the place with no idea what it’s trying to say which is strange when you consider how predictable and formulaic it is. There is nothing new here, it’s a film you’ve seen many times before, normally done better.

While lacking both rom and com it also lacks something to hook you or characters to care about. Instead it grated on me from the start, especially Zoe’s predictable “but what about love?” lines and her mother’s constant excitement at the exotic culture in front of her. I’m sure white saviour wasn’t the aim, but that’s how it felt.

It did have some redeeming qualities, the talking head clips from Zoe’s documentary particularly offered heart and charm. But Its attempts at a strong emotional climax fell flat as none of the characters had earned the right for me to care.

Performances are fine although I never need to see Emma Thompson’s quirky mum again. But sadly there was little for the cast to work with.

I never had high hopes for What’s Love got to do with It, but it failed to even meet those. Derivative, predictable and tedious. Narratively a mess and lacking the charm and humour films like this need. It didn’t work on any level for me.

Directed by Edward Berger with a screenplay by Lesley Paterson is this latest adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel about the harsh reality of the Western Front in the First World War. We meet four young German friends Paul, Albert, Franz and Ludwig (Felix Kammerer, Aaron Hilmer, Moritz Klaus, Adrian Grünewald) emboldened by the Kaiser’s nationalistic fervour they are desperate to fight the threats to the Fatherland. However, they quickly discover that “marching into Paris” is a long way from the romantic ideal that’s sold to them. We follow the harsh realities of the final period of the war as well as the armistice negotiations and the foreboding warnings of where that will lead.

The novel is an anti-war story and the German language adaptation does not underplay the horror of very young men sent to fight in conditions that we can’t comprehend. What it tries to paint is a grim picture of trench warfare and it does an outstanding job. It looks and sounds incredible providing an immersive visceral experience, the cinematograpy often putting you in the heart of the action or conversation.

The storytelling balance is perfect balancing the horror of war with the human reality of its impact. That human reality is where the films real power lies. This is is an intensely human story of relationships forged in the worst of circumstances. We also see the fragility of life and the casual disregard for it from those in charge.

More than a war story this is about relationships, friendships and humour and of course the impact of loss. The humanity is essential in making us care.

Full of excellent performances with the outstanding young leads brilliantly supported by Albrecht Schuch (Kat), Edin Hasanovic (Tjaden) and Daniel Bruhl.

All Quiet on the Western Front is stunning, visually impressive with an evocative score. It shows the grim reality of trench warfare and the casual disregard for life from those at the front and those in charge. But it never forgets it is a film about relationships and humanity in the most complex and difficult circumstances.

Peyton Reed Directs this third Ant-Man outing, this time written by Jeff Loveness. We find Scott (Paul Rudd) in a happy place, the world is good and he’s having a nice time. But life can come at you quickly when you’re a superhero! Firstly he has to pick up his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) from jail. Then during a family dinner with Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and her parents Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank (Michael Douglas) he also discovers that his daughter and Hank have been monitoring the quantum realm. A mishap with that monitoring sees them all catapulted into the realm discovering a whole new universe full of fascinating creatures and landscapes alongside an evil warlord in Kang (Jonathan Majors). While there they find out what Janet had really been up to in the realm, all of this makes their attempts to return home all the more difficult.

Upfront I have to say I had a good time with Quantumania it was light going and zinged along at a decent pace. It felt that it benefitted from being the first in the MCU phase 5 films (apparently!) Making it feel a lot less weighed down by the MCU than can often be the case.

Story wise it felt more Star Wars than Marvel, this feeling was added to in no small way by the world that it created with some weird and wonderful lands and fun inhabitants that included enjoyable cameos from Bill Murray, William Jackson Harper and Corey Stoll’s MODOK, who did remind me of Rick Moranis’s Space Balls character!

All the main performances are enjoyable and it’s great to see Michelle Pfeiffer on screen. Paul Rudd gets the balance of surprised super hero right as always. But all the best moments are built around Majors whose quiet menace offers promise for his future MCU appearances.

Quantumania is not one of the strongest additions to the MCU but I had a good time with it. The worlds, its characters and story are all fun. And with its relatively short run time it zips along at a decent pace. This third Ant-Man has had some sniffy reviews, but I had lots of fun and enjoyed it.

Director Steven Sodebergh and writer Reid Carolin bring Mike Lane and his dancing talents back to the screen. Mike’s (Channing Tatum) life has taken a downward turn and he finds homes Bartending at a fund raiser where he catches the eye of the wealthy host Maxandra Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault) and when she pays Mike to share his dancing talents she is won over. So won over she flies Mike to London to direct a show at the theatre she has gained control over as part of divorce negotiations with her husband Roger (Alan Cox). Staying at Maxandra’s home with her daughter Zadie (Jamelia George) and chauffeur, Victor (Ayin Kahn-Din), Mike has to work with Maxandra to find dancers and a theme to pull together a show in four weeks, while getting around attempts to close them down.

The original Magic Mike films, had some kind of narrative however, at the end of 112 minutes of this installment, I had no idea what in earth was going on. It is, sadly, a complete mess. It follows one unrealistic storyline after another leaving most of them unresolved, probably realising they were rubbish and nobody was going to care. Then we get to the final act and I had literally no idea how we’d got there from what had gone before. There was perhaps a narrative thread in there that explained it, but I’d long since stopped caring.

Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek Pinault are both really enjoyable screen presence’s. But neither of them can elevate the rubbish they had presented to them here.

My grown up daughter said to me that this feels like it exists to promote the Magic Mike Live stage show and it’s hard to see any other point in its existence. It makes sense that originally this was made for streaming because it lacks any cinematic quality.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a terrible mess of a film. The story is almost non-existent and the bits that exist are nonsense or uninteresting. It’s not a patch on its predecessors and feels like an early contender for one of the worst films I’ll see this year. Let’s hope it really is the last dance.