Odeon Guildford

• 2019
• UK / US / Germany
• 1h 48min
• 15

• Directed by: James Kent
• Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Keira Knightley, Jason Clarke

In post-WWII Hamburg, Rachael (Knightley) and her officer husband Lewis (Clarke) are living in a house with the German owner Stefan (Skarsgård) confined to the attic, and soon Rachael is drawn to Stefan. Rhidian Brook’s original novel may work, but on screen, the stiff upper lips and war-is-hell clichés are ridiculously shop-worn and clumsy.

• 63%
• 43%

• read review
• more info

• 2019
• US
• 2h 8min
• PG

• Directed by: Guy Ritchie
• Cast: Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, Numan Acar, Billy Magnussen, Alan Tudyk, Frank Welker

Disney’s live-action version of 1992’s Aladdin features a fun, fast-talking and scene-stealing Smith and terrific work from Massoud and Scott as Aladdin and Jasmine, but against that there’s some weird VFX, odd directorial choices and a well-intentioned but clunky female empowerment number. Enjoyable and entertaining nevertheless.

• 74%
• 53%

• read review
• more info & trailer

• 2019
• US
• 1h 45min

• Directed by: Olivia Wilde
• Cast: Skyler Gisondo, Kaitlyn Dever, Lisa Kudrow

Molly (Feldstein) and Amy (Dever) are proud to be brainiacs, but on their last day of high school they resolve to fit as much fun as they can into a single night. Wilde’s debut feature is zesty and confident with box-fresh writing, well-drawn characters and a swaggering hip-hop soundtrack; Feldstein, in particular, steps up to leading lady status.

• 75%
• 84%

• read review
• more info

• 2019
• US

• Directed by: David Yarovesky
• Cast: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A Dunn

Brandon (Dunn) is a small boy born in a small Texas town who develops superhuman powers; unfortunately, he then uses them to terrorise the locals. Despite some eye-catching effects, it’s a tired and middling effort. Banks, who brings real intensity as Brandon’s mother, is wasted.

• 65%
• 44%

• read review
• more info

• 2019
• UK / US
• 1h 48min
• 12A

• Directed by: Stephen Merchant
• Cast: Florence Pugh, Lena Headey, Nick Frost, Jack Lowden, Vince Vaughn, Dwayne Johnson

Based on the true story of WWE champion Saraya-Jade Bevis, aka Paige (Pugh), following her journey from dismal Norwich via Florida boot camp to the stadium. Pugh and Lowden as her brother are good, but the innuendo is crude, the characterisation shallow and the attempt to depict Saraya’s rise as some kind of feminist revolution is unconvincing.

• 72%
• 68%

• read review
• more info & trailer

• 2019
• US
• 2h 11min
• 12A

• Directed by: Michael Dougherty
• Cast: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Ken Watanabe, Zhang Ziyi

Long-awaited sequel to 2014's Godzilla reboot.

• 66%
• 48%

• read review
• more info & trailer

• 2019
• US
• 1h 58min
• 12A

• Directed by: Sean Anders
• Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Rose Byrne, Isabela Moner

Pete (Wahlberg) and Elie (Byrne) are a couple who decide to try fostering children, and they take in teenage Lizzy (Moner) and her siblings. A good vehicle for Wahlberg’s blue-collar charm, with humour that feels earned and details that have the smack of real experience. Manipulative but likable.

• 74%
• 57%

• read review
• more info

• 2019
• US
• 2h 10min
• 15

• Directed by: Chad Stahelski
• Cast: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Saïd Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Jason Mantzoukas, Tobias Segal, Boban Marjanović, Anjelica Huston, Ian McShane

John Wick (Reeves) is a global exile with a $14m bounty on his head, and is forced to ask snarly assassin Sofia (Berry) for the help she owes him. The third instalment of this action franchise is the best, with spectacular fight sequences, numerous genius details and excellent performances. Violent, hilarious, surprising and cool.

• 80%
• 73%

• read review
• more info

• 2019
• US
• 1h 42min
• 15

• Directed by: Nisha Ganatra
• Cast: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow

Katherine (Thompson) is a seasoned talk show host who, when forced to hire new writing staff, takes on former chemical plant employee Molly (Kaling). Kaling’s script is peppy, good-natured and has a good grasp of the issues, and Thompson has her best role in years. Piquant and winning.

• 63%
• 71%

• read review
• more info

Shakespeare's English comedy performed live from the Globe.

• more info

• 2019
• US

• Directed by: F. Gary Gray
• Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Rebecca Ferguson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rafe Spall, Les Twins, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson

Molly (T. Thompson) is a wannabe MIB agent who’s given a chance by Agent O (E. Thompson) and teamed up with golden boy Agent H (Hemsworth). It’s not so much that it’s bad, more that the franchise wasn’t much to begin with: here, a CGI-heavy story relies far too much on Hemsworth’s insouciant charm. A high-budget non-event.

• 56%
• 38%

• read review
• more info & trailer

Live screening of Northern Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada's dance interpretation of Queen Victoria's diaries.

• more info

• 2019
• UK / US
• 2h 1min

• Directed by: Dexter Fletcher
• Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard

This Elton John biopic, exec-produced by its subject, could have been a vanity project, but it’s a fun and cute fantasy musical; Egerton as John as exuberant and sympathetic, and the framing device is sensible. Hardly revelatory, but Fletcher does a good job and sprinkles some inventiveness. Classic songbook helps.

• 77%
• 69%

• read review
• more info & trailer

• 2018

A live screening of The Merry Wives of Windsor from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon.

• more info

• 2019
• USA / Japan / France

• Directed by: Chris Renaud, Jonathan del Val
• Cast: Patton Oswalt, Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart

Max (Oswalt) lives with owner Katie (Kemper) in apartment with other pets Gidget (Slate), Chloe (Bell) and Snowball (Hart); then Max becomes worried about Katie’s new baby Max. There’s not enough humour, charm or sense to win over parents, but kids will enjoy the vivid animation and animal antics.

• 66%
• 55%

• read review
• more info

• 2018
• UK
• 1h 31min

• Directed by: Carl Hunter
• Cast: Bill Nighy, Jenny Agutter, Alice Lowe

Alan (Nighy) is a fastidious widower who joins his son Peter (Riley) at the seaside on family business. Fine performances, including an ever-excellent one from Nighy, can’t quite breathe life into Hunter’s Wes Anderson-ish mannerisms, in this gently melancholic but too studied comedy drama.

• 71%

• read review
• more info

• 2019
• US
• 1h 40min
• U

• Directed by: Josh Cooley
• Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Joan Cusack, Blake Clark, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Jodi Benson, Michael Keaton, Jeff Pidgeon, Kristen Schaal, Bonnie Hunt, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin, Laurie Metcalf, Lori Alan

Woody (Hanks) joins new owner Bonnie at kindergarten where he finds a new purpose in protecting her improvised toy Forky (Hale). Pixar manages to further the story with fine new characters and a satisfyingly teary conclusion, for a fine last chapter in the saga.

• 90%
• 84%

• read review
• more info & trailer

• 2019
• Spain / US
• PG

• Cast: Brianna Denski, Jennifer Garner, Ken Hudson Campbell

June (Mali and Denski) is faced with being shipped off to math camp while her mother (Garner) seeks medical assistance; then she finds herself in a parallel universe where she has to save a theme park. An animated film with big ideas and some notable omissions, ultimately a slight but rewardingly bittersweet experience.

• 57%
• 45%

• read review
• more info

• 2019
• US
• 1h 53min
• 12A

• Directed by: Simon Kinberg
• Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, Jessica Chastain

When Jean Grey (Turner) is involved in a space rescue that goes awry, her malevolent alter ego Dark Phoenix is let out of the box. There’s real heft to the plot and characterisation, and Turner lives up to her growing maturity, but then it’s like it runs out of time and ideas, relapsing into routine, effects-drive action.

• 61%
• 43%

• read review
• more info & trailer