RAISED ON THE STREETS. BORN TO BE KING. Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) is transported from Londinium to the sword Excalibur along with other young men as part of King Vortigern’s (Jude Law) attempt to find and kill the rightful heir to the throne. Another fanciful attempt, this time in 3D, to give the King Arthur tale … Continue reading King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
A BOY WHO NEEDS A FRIEND FINDS A WORLD THAT NEEDS A HERO IN A LAND BEYOND IMAGINATION! A bullied 12-year-old boy (Barret Oliver) starts reading a mysterious book and finds a connection between himself and the magical land of Fantasia that’s threatened by a dark force. Wolfgang Petersen’s first English-language project is an adventure … Continue reading The NeverEnding Story
FROM J.K. ROWLING’S WIZARDING WORLD. In 1920s New York City, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arrives from Britain carrying a peculiar suitcase that turns out to be bursting with magical creatures… In her screenwriting debut, J.K. Rowling returned to the world of Harry Potter, which had been explored in eight previous movies; this is a separate … Continue reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
STORIES ARE WILD CREATURES. Conor O’Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is dealing with his mother’s terminal illness and a bully at school when late one night he has an encounter with a ”monster”, a giant yew tree that has three stories to tell him. Patrick Ness brings his children’s book (and Jim Kay’s illustrations) vividly to life … Continue reading A Monster Calls
THERE MAY NEVER BE ANOTHER DAWN. The Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry) orders goblins to kill two unicorns and steal their horns; he will use them to free himself from his isolation. Ridley Scott’s attempt to make a fairy tale in the dark, fantastical style of the Brothers Grimm has the same problem as his … Continue reading Legend
TWO WORLDS. ONE HOME. As the world of Draenor is dying, orc warriors travel through a gateway to the human world where they immediately clash with humans. Director Duncan Jones is an admirer of the original video game series and novels, and his treatment is bound to satisfy fans. However, those unfamiliar with the story … Continue reading Warcraft
This continuation of Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) is both a prequel and a sequel, as we get to see how Eric (Chris Hemsworth) was raised into a fighter by Queen Ravenna’s (Charlize Theron) icy sister (Emily Blunt), only to fall out of favor. Later, after Ravenna’s demise, Eric becomes involved in a search … Continue reading The Huntsman: Winter’s War
ENTER AN AGE UNDREAMED OF. When his father is killed by a warlord (Stephen Lang) who’s looking for pieces of a mask that will bring him unfathomable power, the barbarian Conan (Jason Momoa) goes after the warlord. A 3D reboot of Robert E. Howard’s stories that has nothing to do with the 1980s movies. Marcus … Continue reading Conan the Barbarian
WHEN DARKNESS FALLS, THE SON WILL RISE. Aging knight Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) finds a new apprentice (Ben Barnes) whom he will train to fight Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), an evil witch who can take on the shape of a dragon. This adaptation of a fantasy novel will look very familiar to fans of the … Continue reading Seventh Son
SLAVE. BARBARIAN. WARRIOR. THIEF. Sometime during the Hyborian Age, a slave boy grows up to become a man with a burning desire to avenge the brutal deaths of his parents at the hands of a wizard (James Earl Jones). Robert E. Howard’s pulp character gets a decent but uninvolving screen treatment, even if the film … Continue reading Conan the Barbarian
THE DEFINING CHAPTER. The dragon Smaug flies to Esgaroth to destroy the town, but greater challenges await in the shape of a coming battle for Lonely Mountain. The final part of this trilogy is the shortest film Peter Jackson ever made about the Middle-Earth, but maybe that’s because it is so completely dominated by that … Continue reading The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Athenian general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) kills the Persian king with a single arrow from afar during the Battle of Marathon, but the second Persian invasion is led by the ruthless and vengeful commander Artemisia (Eva Green). The sequel to 300 (2007), depicting events before, during and after the first film’s Battle of Thermopylae, but from … Continue reading 300: Rise of an Empire
BEYOND DARKNESS… BEYOND DESOLATION… LIES THE GREATEST DANGER OF ALL. On their journey to the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and the dwarves enter a mysterious forest… and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) confronts a dark power. The second chapter in the Hobbit franchise is an improvement on the first, darker in tone, with several engaging adventures … Continue reading The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
