Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later was a ground-breaking post-apocalyptic horror that helped change the face of zombie movies. With its mind-boggling opening sequence (the deserted London) and creatures that seem to be world-class sprinters, this was one of the finest horrors of modern cinema. After the stand-alone sequel, Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland are back…
Author: Stuart Wren
Jurassic World: Rebirth
Think back to 1992, when Jurassic Park first hit the screens and how awe-inspiring it was. Dinosaurs that were not stop motion but seemed real, interacting with humans and Steven Spielberg using all the muster he had from Jaws to produce an exciting, nail-biting adventure. The next two had their moments, but it was a…
Elio
When you look at the plot synopsis for Elio, you would find it hard to believe that this is an original story: a lonely boy looking for friendship finds it in an alien. Immediately, your thoughts go to E.T. Yet this is a Pixar movie, and even though the animation may be inspired by several…
Echo Valley
Thrillers are often hard to handle, whether they are too contrived to be believable or too ridiculous to be plausible. Echo Valley, from the writer of the Kate Winslet drama Mare of Easttown and the director of Beast, starts off way too contrived, but thanks to a strong script, direction and a brilliant lead performance,…
How To Train Your Dragon
I have grown so tired of the trend of reworking animated features into live-action films. Disney seems to have built their studios around it recently, to the point that I have struggled to even venture to see Lilo & Stitch. When I first became aware of DreamWorks entering the same world as the House of…
Karate Kid: Legends
Since the 80s, there has been one franchise that won’t lie down: The Karate Kid. We’ve had four original movies (including the dire The Next Karate Kid, which could have been the death knell of the series); the 2010 reboot, and, more recently, Cobra Kai (not forgetting the animated TV series). Now we have Karate…
Ballerina
The John Wick films have been a surprising success of the 21st century. Ultra-violent action movies that have improved with each episode, culminating in the fourth entry, which features a spectacular fight sequence in Montmartre, Paris, that has taken the action flick to a whole new level. It’s a world that could be expanded, and…
The Salt Path
What would you do if your life were turned completely upside-down after losing your home and everything within it? Would you hide from the world and hope that something will turn up? Or would you do what Raynor and Moth Winn did, pack the few belongings they had and walk across a coastal path to…
The Phoenician Scheme
Whatever you think of Wes Anderson as a filmmaker, you cannot deny that he is meticulous in his creations. His mathematical approach to using the camera, with the centre being the focal point, is evident in his use of the written word on the screen and the use of narration. If you saw just a…
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
I wonder if Tom Cruise wakes up in the morning with a thought of doing something dangerous, then goes and tells his production team to put it in a movie, because, once again, the 8th and, possibly, final episode in the hugely successful Mission: Impossible series, The Final Reckoning, has the Cruise doing things that…
Final Destination: Bloodlines
The Final Destination franchise has been chilling audiences since its first film back in 2000, where the killer is Death, who doesn’t like being cheated when those who should have died, don’t. The last movie came out in 2011, and when it takes so long for another film to come out, it’s usually the kiss…
Stu Loves Film 