Loren Bouchard, Bernard Derriman and Nora Smith bring the successful animated TV series to the big screen. Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) and Linda (John Belcher) are struggling to make their business loan which is made worse when the bank won’t extend it and gives them a week to find the money. Selling lots of burgers is the answer, however that’s made tricky when a sink hole opens up in front of the restaurant. If that’s not enough a skeleton is found at the bottom of the hole, which turns out to be the remains of a “Carnie” from the fun park. With a sink hole to fill, and a murder to solve and save the restaurant all in a week, things don’t look great. But all is not lost when the three Belcher kids Louise, Tina and Gene (Kristen Schaal, Dan Mintz and Eugene Norman) set off on a Scooby-doo like adventure to solve the murder and save the restaurant.

The trick with any type of cartoon series transition to the big screen is to ensure you can stretch a 20 minute show into a 100 minute movie, without it out staying its welcome. Bob’s Burgers manages to pull that off pretty successfully.

The story is a crazy ride, a Scooby-Doo type mystery including its own theme park and twists and turns, that keeps you engaged. Underneath the craziness are some nice explorations of the strength of family, supporting one another and characters finding inner strengths they didn’t know they had. None of which is layed on too thick.

The other trick with something like this is to get the extended cast right which it does with the Fischoeders, Grover, Felix and Carlton (David Wain, Zach Galifianakis, Kevin Kline) who are at the heart of the mystery. There is also the use of some fun musical numbers that work well.

Taking 20 minute cartoons to the big screen is hard, but with Bob’s Burgers they’ve done a pretty good job, managing to maintain its rather off beat style in this bigger story. If you’re wondering, I’m not a particular watcher of the show, but it still worked pretty well for me.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski is the sequel to 1986’s Top Gun. Tom Cruise’s “Maverick” is still being a maverick, but now as a test pilot, pushing the limits of new aircraft and the patience of senior officers. When Admiral Cain (Ed Harris) arrives rather than closing down the test, he is there to return Maverick to Top Gun at the request of his old wingman “Iceman” (Val Kilmer). To train an elite team of recruits for an almost impossible mission. It is there he comes face to face with his memories and regrets, including the son of “Goose”, “Rooster” (Miles Teller), lost love Penny (Jennifer Connelly) and a determination to do right in the face of bureaucracy, especially Jon Hamm’s Admiral Simpson. Can Maverick pull the team of talented Top Gun pilots into shape and get them set for this toughest of missions in three weeks?

I have to admit I was never a particular fan of Top Gun. A film of its time, like Rocky with fighter jets. To be honest 36 years later not much has changed.

That’s not to say this is a bad film, there is a lot it gets right. A wonderful first 5 minutes brilliantly invokes the original. The air action is breathtaking as you feel all of the tension of the cockpit. And of course, Cruise delivers his signature character pushing back at authority, with a quick wit and engaging smile. There is also a touching scene with Kilmer, mirroring the actors’ real-life health challenges.

However, as with the original, it has its problems. The story is paper-thin and predictable and while the fantastic flight sequences keep you engaged, It’s pedestrian at times and develops little of interest beyond Maverick’s tale and not all of that held my attention. As someone ambivalent toward the original I didn’t have the nostalgic fondness toward it to make up for the lack of story.

For fans of Top Gun, Maverick brilliantly invokes the original and fans will enjoy that. But for those less invested in it, apart from some thrilling airborne action, it offers little else.

Written and directed by Dan Kwan and
Daniel Scheinert is this latest entrance into the world of multiverse storytelling. Michelle Yeoh is Evelyn, a hard working business owner running a laundrette with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan). She has a difficult relationship with her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) and still desperate to please her father (James Hong). Her life changes when attending an IRS audit with their auditor Dierdre (Jamie Lee Curtis). There she discovers that rather than an overwhelmed, underachiever, she is the central hope for saving not only one universe but the billions of other universe’s that are under threat.

I think it’s fair to say this isn’t quite the film that you expect, it is absolutely chaotic, but at the same time beautiful. While the premise may suggest sci-fi adventure, it really isn’t. Instead it uses that to explore the madness of life, whether the madness has meaning. Most touchingly it examines realtionships, between husband and wife, mother and daughter, father and daughter and the mights and maybes of everyday life.

The madness of life and it’s seamlessly endless craziness are depicted in an equally unfathomably crazy adventure story. We rapidly bounce between multiverses as Evelyn uses them to pick up new skills. Including a Universe where people have hot dogs for fingers, one where no life ever formed and a Universe ending bagel.

It’s a joyously original film and while its madness takes a little while to settle in, the pay off is very much worth it, as the story layers peel back to show a story full of depth and heart.

Performances are great and with martial arts fight scenes you get the balletic beauty that only they bring. The story also zips along and while of course there is CGI, it’s not overwhelming, with most action taking place in an IRS building and Evelyn’s laundrette.

In a world where multiverse films are becoming commonplace, this sets a high bar for others. Original, funny, crazy and beautiful in equal measure. If you could only see one multiverse film, I’d suggest this one.

Directed by Joachim Trier and starring Renate Reinsve is this thoughtful and smart story set in contemporary Oslo (yes it is in Norwegian, with subtitles). Reinsve is Julie, who we follow over a four year period as she tries to make sense of her life, her career and relationships. She is smart and talented and has the ability to chase whatever she wants and there’s the problem. She is also directionless, we see her at university change her studies at a whim, surgeon to psychiatrist to photographer. This is reflected in her realtionships as she shys away from long term commitment. And as she reaches 30 she seems as unsure as ever or is she just pursuing a version of life that doesn’t exist.

I really enjoy a cinematic portrait of life, a film which potrays characters you believe in, empathise and sympathise with. You get all of that here, in this smart well told story. It feels very much like Richard Linkletters outstanding “Before” series of films, as we spent time following a character who is chasing a version of life and while chasing it perhaps it is passing her by.

Built around three excellent performances alongside Reinsve’s outstanding performance as Julie, we also have Anders Danielson Lie as Aksel and Herbert Nordrum’s Eivind. While this is very much Julie’s story, we get enough time with all of the main characters to care for them. There is no good or bad guys, no rollercoaster of a plot, what we get is a depiction of life, its mundanity at times, and its personal difficulties at others. We see Julie’s difficult relationship with her father, beautifully and painfully shown when she visits him after her birthday. We also see how life changes, as people mature and their asperations change with them. All of this done in a gentle and wonderfully engaging way.

This is a really well done look at life with all its complexity and nuance. Carried by three excellent performances, we get a thoroughly engaging story with a set of characters you care for. You don’t believe any of them are the worst of us, more they are just us. Well worth seeking out.

Sam Raimi enters the Marvel Universe, with Micheal Waldron’s penned latest outing for Doctor Strange. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is still wrestling with the problems of the multiverse and while at the wedding of Christine (Rachel McAdams) he finds himself saving the life of a girl, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez). But she isn’t any girl, she is one he has dreamt about. When he discovers she has moved through the multiverse, he knows he needs specialist help and seeks it in the form of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). But that visit opens a battle Strange did not expect.

The film certainly delivers on its titular madness as it romps through the multiverse, meeting a range of characters, some familiar, some crowd pleasing cameos. The potential for this to have been a disjointed mess would seem pretty high. But Marvel’s masterstroke was to put it in the hands of Sam Rami.

What he does is take a relatively predictable script and have real fun, pulling from his back catalogue and no doubt favourite films to bring something fresh to the MCU. Being Rami he of course uses plenty of horror inflections, especially as Strange and Chavez are chased though the different universe’s. Importantly though he also has that light comedic touch. That levity is something that Marvel judges well and is right up Raimi’s street.

It is these things that makes this an entertaining adventure and one that delivers something a little different from the usual MCU fair.

There are a couple of issues. Firstly it does lean on some of Marvel’s non cinema properties, Wandavision particularly, which, while not essential helps apply context. Secondly is Wanda herself, a complex character, who while at the centre of this story, remains rather one dimensional.

Multiverse of Madness, while having a relatively basic story, in the hands of Sam Rami is something fresh and fun. His horror-humour background shines through and brings a great mix of dark tension and light madness. Making it an enjoyable multiverse adventure.

Robert Eggers writes and directs this epic, viking legend inspired adventure. Alexander Skaarsgard is Amleth who as a boy sees his father King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke), betrayed and murdered and his mother (Nicole Kidman) kidnapped and swears to avenge them. When he sees a chance to get to his uncle Fyjölnir (Claes Bang) who believes responsible for his father’s death, he takes it. Here he plans his violent and bloody revenge nightmare, but his plans change when he meets Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy) who inspires and guides him to more than he thought.

This is a fabulous journey through Viking legend and mythology that provides a visceral and engrossing cinematic experience. For some it maybe a little much, as it’s based on myth and legend it heads off on some wierd and wonderful diversions as we enter Amlets visions and imagination. Its language could also be challenging for some with its Shakespearean type use (no surprise that this story is loosely based on the same one that supposedly inspired Hamlet). But for me that is all part of what makes this such a fabulous treat of a film.

Performances are excellent, Skaarsgard’s Amleth broods through his bloody and violent revenge. Claes Bang and Nicole Kidman are great but the show stealer is Anya Taylor-Joy whose presence and performance light up the screen.

It looks incredible and is full of stunning cinematography and a brilliant use of its scandi-noir feel and Bergman inspired quick cut style and moodily lit close ups of faces add to the beautifully cinematic experience.

There is also an originality to this, so often epics are sand and sandals inspired, but the use of viking legend is refreshing and the way it’s shot and Shakespearean language and scale are things we often don’t see from a big studio

The Northman may he a bit much for some. But for me, Its wild and crazy, looks beautiful and is full of engrossing performances. It’s a fabulous and wonderful romp through a viking inspired legend and a brilliant and absorbing cinematic experience.

Directed and written by Tom Gormican, is this rather nuts version of Nicholas Cage’s life. Starring Cage, playing a crazy version of himself, well who else would play him, who is questioning his career choices and realtionships. When his agent (Neil Patrick Harris) finds him a good paying “gig” attending the party of a wealthy businessman, he reluctantly takes the money and heads to Mallorca to meet Javi (Pedro Pascal). He’s charmed by Javi, until he is approached by US CIA agents (Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz) and finds out not everything is as it seems. It sets Cage on a crazy mission that is part spying, part creating a screenplay!

This film is absolutely bonkers, but there is plenty of fun to be had. While it’s not wholly original, there is enough originality to make it worthwhile and it has plenty of humour based on Cage, other films and the film making process to keep you entertained. Although for all its madness it does end up down a rather predictable route.

Cage is self aware enough to have fun at his own expense and actually he feels the perfect actor to pull off this kind of self parody. Pedro Pascal’s Javi is also a big part of what works, sharing a great and believable onscreen chemistry. The cast is solid and give enjoyable performances with Sharon Horgan and Lily Mo Sheen as Cage’s wife and daughter and Haddish and Barinholtz particularly.

The script zips a long as it winds through its increasingly bizarre plot but manages the balance between engaging madness and switch off weirdness.

This is a 107 minutes of madness but with plenty to enjoy and a story that has originality, humour and fun, carried along by a nice on screen chemistry between its two stars. Nick Cage is cranking out plenty of odd and interesting stuff at present and this is a nice addition to his catalogue.

Directed by brothers Aaron and Adam Nee, The Lost City is an old school romantic adventure, harking back to films like Romancing the Stone. Sandra Bullock is Loretta a novelist who writes “schlocky” romantic novels based on the adventures of her hero Dash, embodied in real life by model Alan (Channing Tatum). But Loretta has had enough of writing and is heading out on one last book tour. However, rather than a tour she finds herself kidnapped by Daniel Radcliffe’s Abigail Fairfax, a wealthy eccentric who has realised that in the pages of her books are clues to a real treasure and she is going to help him find them. He then flies them off to a remote island which holds the fabulous treasure. This is the chance for Alan to prove he’s a real life hero and with the help of Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) he heads off on his own adventure to rescue the girl and find the treasure.

The Lost City is very much what it says on the tin. It’s a light hearted, thinly plotted romantic adventure, that survives purely on the excellent casting of its two leads, who are helped by Daniel Radcliffe, who delivers that quirky performance he does better than pretty much anyone.

The film plays perfectly to the strength of those leads. Bullock at her best playing the smart, slightly neurotic woman who lacks confidence and struggles to find happiness. Tatum doing what he does, the charming good-looking guy, who is so much more than his shiny veener, he is sensitive, self aware and good hearted.

It is the their charm and engaging personality that allows The Lost City to get away with its paper thin plot and rather dull and predictable story. But that doesn’t matter thanks to the humour in the script and charm in the performances. The supporting cast all add to the whole, Pitt, Oscar Nunez and Da’vine Joy Randolph particularly.

The Lost City won’t rock anyone’s world, but it is a charming and fun diversion, carried by its two leads. Proving that there is still life in the star powered vehicle after all. A treasure worth risking your life for? Maybe not, but if you stumble across it, you’ll enjoy its shiny fun.

John Madden directs a screen adaptation of Ben MacIntyre’s book based on the true story of Operation Mincemeat, a fascinating story of the most successful deception of the second world war. Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) are intelligence officers, who devise a plan to deceive Hitler and get him to move troops from Sicily, a target for an Allied invasion, to Greece. To do this they take an idea from a young Ian Fleming (Johnny Flynn), yes that Ian Fleming, to have a dead body washed ashore in Spain, carrying official papers that contain fake Allied plans to invade Greece. The trick is then to get those papers into the hands of German spies, to Berlin and ultimately to the Fuhrer himself. The plan is so ridiculous, that it is almost doomed to fail, but if they can make it work, it will speed up the Allied advance into Europe and save thousands of lives.

It is a bit of a mixed bag of a film, the true story is fascinating and the complexities and madness of the idea are absorbing. However, what is not as successful are those bits of “artistic licence” like the out of place love story between Montagu, Cholmondeley and Jean Leslie (Kelly Macdonald).

Performances are of the quality you’d expect from such a fine cast, Firth and Macdadyen share a well-balanced sense of tension, bond and humour. Jason Isaacs brings an unpleasant edge to Admiral John Godfrey and Penelope Wilton, Mark Gatiss and Simon Russell Beale all offer good support.

The script is neat and tidy, developing the film’s eccentric plot at a nice pace and with well-judged humour, especially as you watch Fleming building a cast of characters that would become world-famous. Really the story could have done with more of this and the focus on the remarkably complex mission rather than spending time on its fabricated love interest.

Operation Mincemeat is a fascinating story and while the film is not the unqualified success of the wartime operation. It is good enough to be a worthwhile way to find out about this remarkable and little known piece of the allied war effort.