Odeon Blackpool

• 2017
• US
• 123 min
• 15

• Directed by: Ridley Scott
• Written by: Michael Green
• Cast: Michael Fassbender, Demián Bichir, Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo, Callie Hernandez

The spaceship Covenant ends up on an unknown planet littered with little egg things, which can’t be good. The latest in the franchise is basically an excuse for Scott’s fantastic visuals and a series of more or less ingenious variations on grisly death, although some will enjoy the spectacle of Fassbender kissing himself.

• 71%
• 64%

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• 2017
• UK
• 103 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Christopher Menaul
• Cast: Jenny Seagrove, Julian Kostov, Ronan Keating, John Hannah, Amanda Abbington

Louisa Gold (Seagrove) is a widowed Jersey shopkeeper with two sons fighting in WW2 when the Channel Islands are occupied by the Germans; she takes in an escaped Russian POW (Kostov). The look and atmosphere of 40s Jersey is well caught, but the story is predictable and it feels like a tame TV drama.

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• 2017
• UK/US
• 113 min
• 15

• Directed by: Edgar Wright
• Written by: Edgar Wright
• Cast: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx

• 87%
• 81%

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• 2017
• US
• 116 min
• 15

• Directed by: Seth Gordon
• Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, Kelly Rohrbach, Ilfenesh Hadera

Mitch (Johnson) is a devoted life-saver who reluctantly recruits Matt (Efron), a disgraced champion who’s only doing it as a kind of community service. Plenty of good jokes, but minor characters almost drowning doesn’t make for good cinema, and the relentless formulaism makes it long outstay its welcome.

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• 2017
• US
• 129 min
• PG

• Directed by: Bill Condon
• Cast: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Emma Thompson, Luke Evans, Ewan McGregor, Josh Gad

Belle (Watson) is forced to live with a Beast (Stevens) in this live-action retelling of the 1991 blockbuster. Watson is winsome but feisty, Evans as Gaston is splendid of voice and hilariously odious, McGregor brings much joie de vivre to ‘Be Our Guest’, and it’s an enchantingly realised delight.

• 77%
• 65%

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• 2017
• USA
• 97 min
• U

• Directed by: Tom McGrath
• Written by: Marla Frazee/Michael McCullers
• Cast: Miles Christopher Bakshi, Alec Baldwin, Tobey Maguire, Steve Buscemi

The Boss Baby (Baldwin) is a tot with the mannerisms of a ruthless corporate tycoon, who upsets seven year old Tim (Bakshi). The frantic visual style and crude slapstick overwrite the charm of the original story by Marla Frazee, and there’s not much for audiences to take to their hearts.

• 65%
• 50%

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• 2017
• US
• 91 min
• U

• Directed by: David Bowers
• Cast: Alicia Silverstone, Tom Everett Scott, Alexa Blair Robertson, Jason Drucker, Charlie Wright

Greg (Drucker) and Rodrick (Wright) go on a two-day road trip with their family in order to attend a birthday party. The fourth film in the sequence completely recasts the main characters (the previous ones having become too old) and despite likeable performances it’s only moderately amusing.

• 36%
• 41%

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• 2017
• USA
• 101 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Marc Webb
• Cast: Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan

Frank (Evans) has been looking after his mathematically gifted niece Mary (Grace) ever since his sister committed suicide, but then his mother stakes a claim on the girl. Movie-of-the-week stuff about one man’s journey for personal redemption, emotionally overwrought and schmaltzy.

• 78%
• 60%

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• 2017
• US
• 137 min
• 12A

• Directed by: James Gunn
• Written by: James Gunn
• Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Glenn Close, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Kurt Russell

The gang are back, with a rollicking plot involving stolen batteries and Ego (Russell) who may or may not be the long-lost dad of Peter Quill (Pratt). It’s very CGI-heavy, sometimes tiringly so, but the humour still charms and the finale picks it up after a sluggish second act.

• 82%
• 67%

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• 2016
• US
• 139 min
• 15

• Directed by: Mel Gibson
• Cast: Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Vince Vaughn

Desmond Doss (Garfield) is a Seventh Day Adventist who enrols in the US Army in WWII and then refuses even to pick up a rifle, let alone shoot one. Doss’s real-life bravery and Garfield’s awkward-everyman persona make this rise above Gibson’s rather clichéd reverence, and the battle sequences are superbly realised.

• 82%
• 71%
• 86%

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• 2017
• UK
• 102 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Joel Hopkins
• Written by: Robert Festinger
• Cast: Diane Keaton, James Norton, Brendan Gleeson

Emily (Keaton) is an American widow living in Hampstead who falls for the grumpy Donald (Gleeson), who lives in a shack on Hampstead Heath. Twee later-life rom-com with Ketaon in pure ditz mode; her and Gleeson’s chemistry is appealing, but there are no surprises.

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• 2017
• US
• 90 min
• U

• Directed by: Chris McKay
• Cast: Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes

Batman (Arnett) is such a self-absorbed loner that even the Joker (Galifianakis) is peeved that Bats won’t recognise him as his greatest enemy, so the villain constructs a dastardly plot that incorporates every villain he can find, including the Daleks. Packed with gags and inventiveness, it’s tremendous fun.

• 76%
• 75%
• 91%

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• 2017
• US
• 110 min
• 15

• Directed by: Alex Kurtzman
• Cast: Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, Marwan Kenzari, Russell Crowe

US soldier Nick Morton (Cruise) is collecting artefacts in the Middle East when he accidentally releases the murderous, mummified Ahmanet (Boutella). Boutella’s much the best thing in this first of Universal’s monster movie revamp series, Dark Universe. Based on this turgid and not at all scary effort, more like Dull Universe.

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• 2017
• UK/US
• 106 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Roger Michell
• Cast: Sam Claflin, Rachel Weisz, Holliday Grainger

A young Englishman plots revenge against his mysterious, beautiful cousin, believing that she murdered his guardian. But his feelings become complicated as he finds himself falling under the beguiling spell of her charms. Weisz is a fine choice for the eponymous enigma, while Claflin is superb as her heedless admirer Philip but the film feels desperately abbreviated.

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• 2017

This charged retelling turns the infamous biblical tale on its head, placing the girl we call Salomé at the centre of a revolution. Director Yaël Farber draws on multiple accounts to create this urgent, hypnotic production.

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• 2017
• US
• 129 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg
• Cast: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom

Captain Jack (Depp) and friends are on a mission to obtain the trident of Poseidon before ghoulish Captain Salazar (Bardem) can get his hands on it. A partial return to form for the franchise, with Bardem vigorous as Jack’s nemesis and a winning performance from Scodelario as an astronomer. It’s all too crowded but it manages to stay afloat.

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• 2016

Royal Opera Music Director Antonio Pappano conducts a striking new production, which opens the 2016/17 season.

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• 2017

World-famous tenor Jonas Kaufmann makes his role debut as Otello in Verdi's passionate retelling of Shakespeare's great tragedy of jealousy, deception and murder.

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• 2017
• USA
• 89 min
• U

• Directed by: Kelly Asbury
• Written by: Stacey Harman/Pamela Ribon
• Cast: Demi Lovato, Ariel Winter, Julia Roberts, Joe Manganiello

Smurfette (Lovato) and her friends go on a quest to help her find her place in the village, and the result is a series of chases, a few under-cooked girl-power nods and a lot of sappiness. Undemanding kids might have a good time; adults will have to grin and smurf it.

• 58%
• 40%

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• 2017
• UK
• 104 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Roger Goldby
• Written by: Roger Goldby
• Cast: Joan Collins, Pauline Collins, Franco Nero

Priscilla (P Collins) is a neglected housewife who finds herself on coach trip to France with some dotty pensioners, including forgotten film star Helen (J Collins). The Collinses make an engaging double act and it works best when it goes a little off the rails, but this amiable comedy occasionally feel unfinished.

• 61%
• 32%

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• 2017
• US
• 148 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Michael Bay
• Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Laura Haddock, Anthony Hopkins

It turns out that the Transformers shape human history, as Oxford lecturer Viviane (Haddock), butch inventor Cade (Wahlberg) and an English Earl (Hopkins) charge about from action sequence to action sequence. Wahlberg and Haddock have zero chemistry and it’s a deadening pile-up of CGI carnage, grating quips and joyless pummelling.

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• 2017
• India
• 154 min

• Directed by: Kabir Khan
• Cast: Salman Khan, Zhu Zhu, Sohail Khan

Two brothers are separated by war in Northern India.

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• 2017
• US
• 133 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Patty Jenkins
• Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright

Diana (Gadot) is a princess of the Amazons, who rescues WW1 pilot / secret agent interest Steve (Pine) and resolves to end the war. Stylish and exciting, with a top cast, touches of real humour and tragedy, and spiffing action sequences, anchored by a strong and highly likeable performance from Gadot.

• 
• 88%

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