X-men: Apocalypse (2016)

The X-men franchise returns, with another solid entry that doesn't reach the heights of Days Of Future Past, but is certainly on par with First Class. One again helmed by Bryan Singer, the film is set in the 80's and deals with popular X-men villain Apocalypse.
Now Apocalpyse was one of my favourites as a kid, but the issue with using him, is that he's not the most dynamic of villains and he fits the cliche 'I want to rule the world, cause I'm powerful' archetype.
This means the film struggles to make itself stand out from other superhero films by taking a more generic approach to things. Having said that I think Oscar Issac does a good job with his portrayal and Apocalypse definitely has a very demanding and threatening presence here, that makes him more compelling and memorable than most other generic supervillains.
The film also features more younger versions of characters from the previous films like Jean Grey, Cyclops and Storm all played well by their respective actors and I thought all performances across the board were fine too, with the one stand out being Michael Fassbender who as usual has the strongest performance, managing to really bring the emotion out in certain scenes.
I think the film has a good mix of drama, humour and action, with some fairly brutal moments for a 12A and is very entertaining throughout. It is a little inconsistent and messy, has some some hokey dialogue and more should have been done with the Four Horsemen but other than that, I  once again managed to become engrossed within this universe and thoroughly enjoyed the film. A solid entry in the franchise, nothing spectacular but still damn good. ***1/2

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

The latest offering from Marvel Studios and probably their best one yet. Captain America: Civil War is a great superhero film full of great drama, action and humour. It gives us a very character driven story, that makes for a much more compelling film. We've got all the previous characters being represented better than they ever have been, as well as great new additions like Black Panther and the new incarnation of Spiderman (who seems to be the best one yet). Everyone manages to fit and isn't out of place, even the 'villain' is well drawn out and has very good motivations behind him. There's a lot of really good action sequences too, that are decently shot with lots of cool moments sprawled throughout.
The whole thing just works great, it's well balanced, paced, written, acted and is just a super entertaining film overall. I really liked it. ****

Eye In The Sky (2016)

Here's a thriller about military personnel debating about a drone strike that was a lot better than I'd thought it be. In fact it is actually really good and probably one of the best modern warfare based films I've seen. Is it heavy handed? yes, but it is also tense and very engaging especially for a film that is mainly just people debating and arguing. It has solid performances from a good cast that includes Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul and Alan Rickman in his last (live action) film role. It displays the different arguments whether political, legal or personal to do with the films proposed drone strike and ultimately creates a discussion for the audience about this serious issue, though the film does clearly have a bias at the end.Overall though this was a really solid, that I enjoyed considerably. ***1/2

Criminal (2016)

This film is a good example of someone having an intriguing concept and using it to make a safe, generic thriller that has some interesting bits, but is ultimately a little bland. It has an all star cast featuring Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones etc. So there's no real problems on the acting front and I really liked when Costner's character Jericho was an utter prick, but most of the movie feels like it's on autopilot with lots of cliche's thrown in. It's not terrible though and still somewhat enjoyable overall, just a an OK forgettable thriller. Though it does pose a great question 'Who punches someone in a patisserie?'**1/2

Midnight Special (2016)

Here's a decent bit of sc-fi from the director of Mud and Take Shelter. Featuring solid performances from a good cast, Midnight Special is a film that stays intriguing throughout but never manages to reach beyond its intrigue. It has some really good moments especially it's wonderful climax but I failed to fully connect with the movie overall, so while I enjoyed it all, it was mainly because of how intriguing it was and nothing more. Still it's not a bad film and is still really well made with some cool ideas and a somewhat worthwhile climax. So if your just looking for a small bit of enjoyable sc-fi I'd still recommend it. ***

Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)

So here it is, the much anticipated superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and I'm just gonna jump right in and say that the film is a bit of a mess, but I enjoyed the hell out of it.
First off, I really liked Ben Affleck's take on Batman and how he is much darker and grittier than before. I know a lot of people hated it when he was first cast, but I thought he'd do a good job and he certainly did, Jeremy Irons as Alfred was also a good choice too.
I also really liked Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor, being a much more energetic mad scientist version of the character, that I think is a good contrast to the much sterner heroes. Henry Cavill is also still fine as Superman and the rest of the cast is pretty good too.
The film unfolds at a good pace and is never boring despite it's 151 minute runtime and includes a few unexpected moments and interesting dream sequences. It has a lot of great visuals and really good action too though the final fight does admittedly go on a little too long. It does actually go a little over the top in it's last act which will probably put a few people off, but I was totally on board with it. Soundtrack is good too and I still love Zimmer's Superman theme.
In terms of detractors it is a little over saturated and messy, there were a few points that could have been focused on more and handled a little better and it could have used with more of an emotional core. But other than that, I really enjoyed this and thought it was an epic thrilling spectacle.****

High-Rise (2016)

The latest offering from Ben Wheatley is a strange and chaotic experience, I overheard a guy sat behind me at the cinema calling it "the weirdest movie he had ever seen". Now I wouldn't go that far but it is a film that is certain to confuse a lot of casual viewers and if you go purely because Tom Hiddleston is in it, then be warned. The film jumps around alot and seems to deliberately have a disorienting structure which I found to be a little messy and clunky(not in  a good way) and is ultimately the films biggest flaw. Despite this though, the film is still compelling and has a good performances from it's large cast of notable actors and has a lot of intriguing things going on, as well as a few funny moments. Production design is also great with it's distinct 70's mixed with postmodern look and cinematography is all in all quite nice too.
Overall  it's a rather solid and strange dark comedy, that is uneven but enjoyable.