film
by Keiron Self
GHOSTBUSTERS ****
JASON BOURNE ****
Dir: Paul Feig (12A, 120 mins) Over 30 years after Bill Murray and co. first got slimed, the Ghostbusters are back. Now our supernatural saviours are female and funny and the FX has come on somewhat, but has the story? Melissa McCarthy is always funny when paired with Paul Feig and Kristen Wiig, as Spy and Bridesmaids can attest. Now McCarthy and Wiig are essentially the Murray and Ackroyd of the new team, with Kate McKinnon the rather wild science geek and Leslie Jones bringing sass. Paranormal activity is heightened in New York and these four are the only people equipped to stop it, with the proton packs – don’t cross the streams – and secretary Chris Hemsworth, who finds himself possessed and part of the problem. A lot of favourite moments from the previous film (Ghostbusters 2 was somewhat of a blip) were referenced in the trailer, like Slimer, StayPuft Marshmallow Man, and the spooky librarian ghost, but hopefully this will bring something fresh. The leads have great comedic chemistry, but hopefully it won’t be chock-full of improv and will have a more cohesive structure, something which the original had, along with the good concept. This ‘busting should make you feel good. Opens July 11
Dir: Paul Greengrass (12A, 116 mins) Matt Damon is back as super spy Jason Bourne after somewhat of a hiatus, following 2007’s Bourne Ultimatum. It was a conclusion to a thrilling trilogy that forced a rewrite of the Bond franchise and managed to combine brains with brawn, all under the kinetic direction of Paul Greengrass. After a misfire spinoff in The Bourne Legacy with Jeremy Renner, Damon is back with Greengrass for an extension of the story going beyond Robert Ludlum’s books. The man who can beat people up with a magazine has been in hiding for some time, bare-knuckle boxing in Greece apparently, and is pulled back into the open to battle corruption within the CIA by series regular Julia Stiles. Joining the cast are Alicia Vikander as a CIA specialist embroiled in the search for Bourne, Tommy Lee Jones as the director of the CIA and Vincent Cassel as another special ops weapon to take Bourne down. Business as usual, it would seem, with Damon looking the part and action sequences around the globe. With Greengrass back at the helm and Damon fighting fit, this will be a thriller worth catching, even if it is a retread of the excellence of the past. Opens July 27
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE *** Dir: Mandie Fletcher (12A, 90 mins) Another British sitcom limps to the big screen, packed with star cameos, but does the world need more Absolutely Fabulous? Jennifer Saunders’ comedy ran for 20 years on the BBC, but its quality varied wildly, and in its last run in 2012 it seemed tired. Now, like Dad’s Army, The Inbetweeners, and Porridge, it’s been given a chance on the big screen. The fashion world is very much in its crosshairs, as Saunders’ Edina accidentally pushes Kate Moss off a balcony into the River Thames. Saunders, along with Lumley’s Patsy, head to the south of France to evade the law, the paparazzi and the haters and try to start a new life. John Hamm, Judith Chalmers and half the fashion world pop up for a quick mug, but whether this will be amusing is open to question, dahling. Opens July 1
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE ***
FINDING DORY ****
Dir: Rawson Marshall Thurber (12A, 114 mins) Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Kevin Hart team up in this buddy action comedy that coasts on the personalities of its central duo. Hart plays a mild mannered accountant who hooks up with old schoolfriend Johnson via Facebook. They meet each other at their high school reunion and time has changed them both. In school, Hart was the cool one. Now he’s a bit dull. CGI-faced Johnson was all fat, nerdy and bullied at school, and now he’s a CIA agent built like a toilet that’s outdoors. Trying to bring down some baddies via account hacking and financial wizardry embroils Hart in Johnson’s world, and much slapstick hitting ensues. Support is given by the ace Amy Ryan and Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad, but it’s the central duo that propel this rather ho-hum 80s buddy throwback with transiently entertaining results. Out now
Dir: Andrew Stanton (PG, 103 mins) The blue tang fish with the short-term memory returns, along with all the characters from Pixar’s 2003 fishy mega-hit Finding Nemo. This time out it’s Dory’s turn to find something, her parents, not easy for a fish with a second-long memory. Ellen DeGeneres returns as the adorable voice for the absent-minded swimmer, as does Albert Brooks as Marlin. On her quest, Dory is captured, taken to a marine park and meets a host of new characters, including Idris Elba’s Fluke the seal, Ed O’Neil’s Hank the octopus, and a host of other fishy friends voiced by Bill Hader, Diane Keaton, Ty Burrell and more. The heart of the tearjerking Finding Nemo seems to be present together with the knockabout slapstick, and as Dory rises to find her own identity, the nature of friendship and parenthood is explored in true Pixar fashion. Opens July 29
ALSO RELEASED JULY 2016: THE COLONY (15) Emma Watson and Daniel Bruhl star in this thriller about a woman searching for her husband finding herself inveigled into a cult that no one has ever left. Bit iffy. NOW YOU SEE ME 2 (12A) The magicians on a heist return in another unlikely but enjoyable tale, this time with added Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe as their ‘magic’ nemesis. QUEEN OF EARTH (15) Friends find out they have fallen out with each other at a lake house. Starring Elisabeth Moss and Katherine Waterston, from the man who brought you Listen Up Phillip, it’s another slow burn talky drama.MAGGIE’S PLAN (15) Winning romantic comedy with Greta Gerwig having an affair with Ethan Hawke, who then tries to get him back with a barking mad and very funny Julianne Moore. THE WAIT