Reviews: Let's Be Cops/If I Stay

Let's Be Cops (2014, Dir. Luke Greenfield, USA) (Cert: 15/R) **

Starring: Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr., Nina Dobrev

Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. star as two best friends on the edge of thirty with unrewarding professional lives who decide to pretend to to be cops. It's a basic premise with correspondingly basic results, nothing out of the ordinary. Compared to some of the work that's passed through the Wayans family over the years this isn't the worst and has a couple of minor laughs now and then but the film often stumbles into rather unnerving amounts of sexism and racism (both hit particularly hard in the sorority house sequence shown in the trailers). It's not bottom of the barrel, but it's nearer there than the top especially when the ball,is dropped on some pretty good potential developments towards the film's conclusion.

If I Stay (2014, Dir. R.J Cutler, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) **

Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Jamie Blackley, Mireille Enos

If I Stay was a film of good potential. Chloë Grace Moretz is a gifted young actress, as best exhibited in Kick-Ass and Hugo and there are some fairly solid performances, especially from veteran Stacey Keach and even if the story of a young girl in an out-of-body experience following a car accident deciding on whether she should live or die smacks a little of mawkish sentimentality, the recent Fault In Our Stars proved that a film can still overcome that danger. No such luck here unfortunately, with the scenes addressing the hereafter (a void of bright light) coming off as disappointingly sappy and unoriginal. It also doesn't help that the central dilemma isn't very well covered. When given the choice to live or die, the options seem uninterestingly one-sided.

 When I saw this film, there was a lot of audible sniffs of sorrow from the audience, but with a few barely-contained snorts of laughter elsewhere. I suppose if you just want heart, there's something in there. Alas for the more cynical cinema-goers, it just comes off as a bit of a turkey.

Deliver Us From Evil (2013, Dir. Scott Derrickson, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ***

A film that mixes neo-noir with horror, Deliver Us From Evil is, surprisingly, not the first of its breed (check out video nasty Dead & Buried, which mixed the two in 1981) and it isn't the best. Reportedly based on true events, Eric Bana plays a specialist NYPD cop investigating a series of violent incidents which seems to have some supernatural connection. Eric Bana is always a great actor to watch and here is no exception and the film also has a great supporting character in Édgar Ramírez as a Jesuit priest but the film falls victim to some of the bad trappings of modern horror. Possessed people chanting a single phrase over and over, shuddering lightbulbs and the ever present jump scare. The film also gets too bogged down in its dreary nature and becomes dull at times.

Those expecting a revolutionary new step in horror will probably be disappointed (although this film is slightly better written than most of its contemporaries) but there's no major flaw in the film and the state of modern mainstream horror has definitely provided worse films as of late.

The Congress (2013, Dir. Ari Folman, Israel/Poland/Luxembourg/Germany/Belgium/France) (Cert: 15/TBC) ***

Starring: Robin Wright, Jon Hamm, Danny Huston

For all that can be said about Ari Folman, above all, his is a unique mind. Having made a name for himself with the animated war documentary Waltz With Bashir, Folman's latest film is The Congress. It's most definitely a work of fiction, but it flirts with truth as a satire on fame, celebrity and the Hollywood system, even if some of the jabs are a little too obvious (The fictional movie studio in the plot is called Miramount. Subtle.). Robin Wright stars as a fictionalised version of herself who opts to scan her body so that a digital replication of her can go on to appear in movies indefinitely. However, twenty years into the future she travels to The Congress where, under the influence of a drug that makes the entire world seem animated, the film studio that made the digital copy is on the verge of revolution.

And yes, it is a strange film.

However, it has merit. Robin Wright is a good acting choice because of the character she plays as an actress who almost was a superstar but never quite made it (of course there are customary nods to her work in The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump) and she does a good job and so does Harvey Keitel as her agent, who gives a particularly good monologue that demonstrates how sad it is that he's not as much on the limelight these days (unless Wes Anderson's directing).

 The animated sequences are the film's main strength though, as we tumble through a surreal world that stylistically falls between the Fleischer brothers and Richard Williams. The animated section alone would make for a great movie but somewhere around the Flash Gordon/Strangelove-esque sequence (I did mention it was strange) there's a feeling of having your fill and despite its amazing visual flair, it ultimately sags a little and feels significantly in excess of its two hours.

Lucy (2014, Dir. Luc Besson, France) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Amr Whaked

Mon dieu, Besson!

Scarlett Johansson is possibly the biggest actress in the world right now and in that line she's appeared in a number of science-fiction films lately; Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Her, Beneath The Skin, for example. Lucy now appears in this chain and it's by far the weakest of this lot in that it pushes pseudo-science (admittedly, almost a sci-fi necessity) to its limit. It's all hokum and even the central concept seems to revolve around a common misinterpretation (the film points towards that there's an untapped 90% of brain function that leads to other abilities. The human brain actually uses all its functions, just some more than others at any given time).

So, why have I not trashed this movie entirely? I'm not a Luc Besson fan. but I can't deny his competence. The action scenes are well-paced and exciting and Scarlett Johannson gives a solid performance, even if much of what she says comes off as oddly hilarious ("I can feel my brain" is a personal favourite...but my sense of humour's weird anyway). It's a long way from great and still a fair distance from okay, but at least I can't say it's boring, unlike the recent and rather similar Transcendence. 

The Rover (2014, Dir. David Michôd, Australia/USA) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, Scoot McNairy

There's something about the Australian outback that brings a sense of almost animalistic energy on the screen, like a tiger ready to pounce and that sense is very much at the heart of The Rover; a science-fiction thriller about a solitary man in the wilderness played by Guy Pearce teaming up with a simple-minded young American named Rey (Pattinson) as they both, for different reasons, go on the trail of Rey's brother (McNairy). 

There have been comparisons to Mad Max (1979) given the setting and the heavy use of cars in the plot, but the film put me in mind of the brilliant but lesser known Wake In Fright (1971) which also gave rural Australia a real sense of macho menace amidst the isolation. Indeed, the sparsity is the film's main asset with some of the tensest movie sequences in recent memory but also its main fault in isolating the viewer and sometimes slipping into artsy pretence. The performances are good though, particularly Robert Pattinson, vaguely looking like a young Tom Hanks and shambling (in a good way) through a performance Rey, whilst Guy Pearce's lead is, pleasingly, as impenetrable as the film, frustratingly, sometimes is.

Reviews: Expendables 3/Hector And The Search For Happiness

The Expendables III (2014, Dir. Patrick Hughes, USA/France) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Jason Statham

The hotly-anticipated third part in the Expendables franchise delivers more of the same explosions, quips and 80's action movie references but proves something you'd think wouldn't apply to films like this. Bigger isn't always better. The huge cast may make for one of the most awesome movie posters I've ever seen, but so many people means that the battle scenes, of which there are many, are messy and some of newer Expendables are pushed out of the way (save for a promising Ronda Rousey and Antonio Banderas who is hands down the best thing in the movie) and the usually very entertaining Terry Crews takes a backseat. There's still some of the, now slightly tempered, mania to be had though and Mel Gibson shows some great skills in playing the villain and reliving his Lethal Weapon days as an arms dealer and ex-Expendable the team are tasked with taking down.

Hector And The Search For Happiness (2014, Dir. Peter Chelsom, UK/Canada/Germany/South Africa) ***

On the one hand, Hector succeeds as being a piece of satisfying fluff on a purely emotional level but is, at the end of the day, one in this line of inconsequential "journey to find self" films that pop up every once in a while (it hasn't even been that long since The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013), for example). Simon Pegg stars as an unsatisfied psychiatrist who travels the world to find out what makes someone happy. It's not really a question to be answered, the locales are at times a little too simplified (especially his trip to "Africa"...not a specific country, just "Africa") and you wonder why a man who derives some pleasure from his well-paying job and happens to be married to Rosamund Pike is so unsatisfied (not unhappy, per se, which is different) with his lot. Maybe he just needed a holiday, but it's a somewhat enjoyable trip. Emptier than it claims to be, but enjoyable. Appearances also from the likes of Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, Jean Reno and Stellan Skarsgård.

Wakolda (The German Doctor) (2013, Dir. Lucía Puenzo, Argentina, France, Spain, Norway) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

Starring: Florencia Bado, Àlex Brendemühl, Diego Peretti

Out in Patagonia in 1960, an Argentinian family travel to their new home, opening a hotel amidst the picturesque mountains. Following them to this new destination is a German immigrant doctor (Brendemühl) who has a particular fascination with the family's young girl, Lilithii (Bado). The doctor is Josef Mengele, a man who tortured and experimented on concentration camp inmates for the Nazis, now on the run in Argentina. When Mengele discovers the family is expecting twins (another fascination for him) the situation becomes extremely dangerous.

One of the most regularly visited topics of the aftermath of Nazism to pop up in pop culture is the fates of several prominent Nazis hiding out in South America and it's informed works from Ira Levin's novel, The Boys From Brazil (adapted into a movie in 1978) and The Marathon Man (1976) so in Wakolda, we get a film that deals with the reality of the situation. Some Nazis did indeed go into hiding in South America, including Josef Mengele whose experiments on living (and fully conscious) human beings were horrific. Wakolda spares its audience the full horror of telling too much of Mengele's past, which perhaps to those unfamiliar with him may lessen the impact, but the film imbues such a pervading atmosphere of creepiness that it's still effective.

Some of this creepiness, whilst it works on a purely emotive level comes off as too generalised and unrealistic. The film, naturally, focuses on the not-insignificant population of German-Argentinians and German immigrants in Argentina only fifteen years after World War II ended and you get the sense that the film is just a few details away from a fictional tale of some Nazi colony. Conspiratorial groups of ex-Nazis planning various acts, hushed whispers of an earlier time and institutionalised bigotry and bullying. In one particular scene, a group of schoolboys judge the bodies of the swimming schoolgirls that pass by them. It's uncouth but not something normal teenage boys wouldn't do. Yet in this context, there are Nazi undertones of judging physical prowess and, in a term used to criticise modern media and the fashion industry, "body fascism". It's clever but comes off as maybe an exaggeration of what went on. Still, I'm no expert on these things.

As Josef Mengele, Àlex Brandemühl is a strangely magnetic presence. His performance is understated, possibly because when we see Nazis on screen they're either hammy sadists (Ronald Lacey's Toht in Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)....which is excellent) or going maniacs going through some sort of breakdown (Bruno Ganz's Hitler in Downfall (2004)...also excellent). He's quiet and doesn't emote much but just his odd, off-kilter perspective and the vaguely paedophilic undertones of his character (though his fascination with young Lilith seems more scientific than sexual) play on some tensions and unease.

The film is gorgeous to look at. The locations are serene and cinematographer Nicolás Puenzo uses them to the fullest advantage. There's a lot going on visually in the film, especially symbolically (check out the doll factory for starters) but again this almost pushes the film to its detriment. With such an interesting story, you walk,away remembering the film more as a sequence of images without much cohesion. Beautiful to look at, but not making much of an impact. Wakolda's a surprisingly brief film given the subject matter and covers the story fairly well, even if the visuals distract and you probably need a little understanding of the fates of the surviving Nazis and South America's role in such to come to appreciate it. Still, if this sort of thing interest you, I encourage further exploration.

SNEAK PREVIEW: Into The Storm (2014, Dir. Steven Quale, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

It's graduation day at a high school in the town of Silverton and students have been given the assignment of documenting their lives for use in a time capsule. The day is going ahead but with a little concern for bad weather in the area. Meanwhile, a documentary film crew are desperately looking for some good hurricane footage which brings them to Silverton just before a massive series of tornados strike the town.

Tornados are in right now however, much of this has to do with Syfy's cult success with the Sharknado films which, to be fair, nobody's taking very seriously. I mean, look at the title. In general, Into The Storm seems to be more straight-laced and serious than its shark-spewing associate in genre and throwing in elements of the recent obsession the horror genre currently has with "found footage" films.

On looking at the trailers and the premise for the movie, there's also a string vibe of Roland Emmerich about the whole thing. A big and bloated disaster movie that dispenses with subtlety and a lot of logic in favour of just indulging in the crashing spectacle of it all. Well...this is sort of the case. It's still an effects driven film that places far more emphasis on things being thrown through the air and less on scientific plausibility but lacks some of Emmerich's gleefully dim-witted sense of showmanship. 

In reality whilst there's nothing particularly bad about the plots involving the suburban family or the documentary crew that are the main points of focus for the plot, the film is at its most entertaining when seen from the perspective of a couple of drunken rednecks looking to become Youtube celebs (and yes, the product placement is laid on so thick it could almost be peeled off the screen).

Personally, I'm getting tired of found footage becoming a go-to convention for horror movies. I understand its popularity at the moment (there are usually lower production costs that come with the low-tech idea and can easily be used to obscure otherwise expensive effects sequences. Simply put, they're cheap to make) and its never certain what the purpose is. The film does seem glossier and more expensive than most found footage films and the film darts between using found footage and the traditional fourth wall approach to the point of confusion. I've seen worse films with the found footage trick, but its superfluous nature in this film comes as an annoyance.

In some ways, Into The Storm represents a pretty dark future for disaster movies. A slide not only further to its cousin, the horror genre, but towards some of the corniest and hackneyed parts of that genre. Surely, if Into The Storm is a hit, there'll be a sequel (Within The Storm? Beyond The Storm?) which will probably do to its own prospective series what the winds in this did to the town of Silverton. The filmmakers came away with something somewhat pleasingly noisy and watchable but lets hope they don't repeat themselves.

Into The Storm has already opened in the US, with a UK release scheduled for August the 22nd.

Planes (2):Fire & Rescue (3D) (2014, Dir. Roberts Gannaway, USA) (Cert: U/PG) ***

Starring: Dane Cook, Ed Harris, Julie Bowen

The world-famous plane, Dusty Crophopper (Cook) is one of the great air-racers. However, he has a problem. Getting older, Dusty's mechanics are starting to fail him and his gearbox breaks. Unable to get a replacement, Dusty instead begins to go down another path, joining a team of fire and rescue vehicles.

A frustrating mystery for  movie viewers these days must be what's the fascination with the Cars franchise? When the original Cars film came out in 2006, it received fairly good reviews but was seen as the worst film in Pixar's then faultless track record. Cars 2 (2011) just dug the hole even deeper. Then Disney Toons (not Pixar as is often assumed) made Cars spin-off, Planes last year and the criticism towards this little franchise keeps on growing. To be fair, none of the films are on a par with Pixar's best. They aren't in the league occupied by Toy Story (1995), Monsters Inc (2001) or Finding Nemo (2003) but the series has done well financially and it's not that it's all terrible. A lot of it is disappointing because the people who made these films are so extraordinary at their best. After all, the worst Hitchcock, Kubrick or Spielberg movies are still better than the best films of countless filmmakers. If I'm honest, I didn't think the first Planes was that bad, just disappointing. Planes 2...well...

Early on the film really doesn't do itself any favours. At every turn you're bombarded by puns (BAD puns) centred around planes and cars. The film, much like its relatives. seems geared to a younger demographic and that's perfectly fine but in going for a very young audience, the filmmakers seem to have made less effort. This isn't always the case and there are some amusing moments and a few good gags, but just as many bad ones. The plot at the start very quickly switches gears. In fact, generally that's a problem with this film. With such a short running time, the film runs at such a pace as it leaps between plot points and doesn't take the time to establish an emotional relationship with the audience. 

The performances are fine and there's a well-assembled cast of talent. Dane Cook does a good job as does Ed Harris even if they're playing characters that are little more than stock retreads of other characters from many films (Cook the determined but damaged hero, Harris the jaded mentor) whilst Julie Bowen acts as a sort-of love interest (she's has a crush on Dusty but this idea is never built on) and performs as if high on speed and helium. That being said, it's an entertaining performance.

Animation wise, there's no surprises in that given that this is Disney, it looks quite good but given the simple designs, Disney haven't quite brought their a-game and it's best not to waste any additional money on seeing this in 3D because there's no reason for it. Planes 2 is at its absolute best when it focuses on he actual fire and rescue. There is drama and there is peril and there's enough to make a decent animated film. However, you just end up thinking that given the Ingredients, Disney Toons should have tried harder.

Hercules (2014, Dir. Brett Ratner, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, John Hurt, Ian McShane

Said to be born half-God and half-human, Hercules (Johnson, Aden G. Wright) is fabled for his amazing strength and heroic bravery in facing the many trials thrown in his wake by the goddess, Hera. The fame of Hercules and his cohorts bring him before the Thracian king, Cotys (Hurt) to fend off the enemies of Thrace.

As of late, there's been a sword and sandal revival in mainstream cinema. Tales steeped in ancient myth and legend, given a...not exactly faithful interpretation and then sold to a mass audience. 300 (2005) was mostly the instigator for this and mostly, I've not been impressed. I've never cared for 300 for a start.  More recently, there's been an evolution of this wave of films. Pompeii (2014) in particular seems to be bearing this flag. This new wave doesn't really consist of good films, in fact they're pretty poor, but there's a shameless and knowing glee to how poor they are. Hercules is the latest slab of lumbering camp to come out of this mess and whilst you get a sense that it's not as in on the joke as Pompeii was, and it's still pretty lame, it's also enjoyably daft regardless.

Those looking for a serious account of Hercules and Greek mythology need not watch this. It's really more suited to people who just wanted to watch endless bloody battles and an ample amount of nudity (as in, there's a woman's breast that is displayed, for no real reason, within the first minute or so of the plot) and just missing a higher rating than a permissive 12a certificate. whilst the cast, especially leading man Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson engage in dialogue that could at times just be summed up as "I'M SHOUTING LOUDER THAN YOU!".

Whilst the film does feature thespian talent in John Hurt and Ian McShane, they do little make the film seem more refined. McShane looks as if he's having a great time and Hurt seems to be making films in this style his bread and butter now. Meanwhile, for all of the notable plot and dialogue deficiencies, of which there are many, the film does sound very good and the sets are well-designed even if the CG is sometimes a little too obvious and the film was clearly engineering some of its effects towards 3D (I saw the 2D version). 

So if you want to see a "good" movie then don't go and see Hercules. But if you want to see an "entertaining" film, which is not necessarily the same thing, then check it out. Yes, it has some annoying secondary characters, ham-fisted dialogue and has all the depth of a puddle in a drought, but it seems to have fun with what it's got; and when a film's got The Rock picking up and slamming a horse, you do ultimately get what you pay for.

The Inbetweeners 2 (2014, Dirs. Damon Beesley, Iain Morris, UK) (Cert: 15/TBC) ***

Starring: Simon Bird, James Buckley, Joe Thomas

Now living as university students, Will (Bird), Neil (Blake Harrison) and Simon (Thomas) receive word from their friend, Jay (Buckley) that he's spending some time with an uncle in Australia and has become a top DJ with beautiful women at his beck and call. Skeptical, the others go off to Australia and find that Jay lives in a tent and on a mission to win back his ex-girlfriend (Lydia Rose Bewley) and they tag along.

The old saying goes that you can't argue with success. Well, you can but to a certain extent it will always be a futile exercise. I must confess that I've never been a fan of The Inbetweeners, the student sit-com that spawned this movie, and its 2011 predecessor and maybe it's the low-brow humour that it uses, maybe I just have an odd aversion to this type of sit-com (sacrilegious as it sounds, I've never quite "got" The Young Ones, whilst I bow to its obvious popularity and legacy) but, as with The Young Ones, I admit that objectively the show is not bad. In particular I've always seen Simon Bird and particularly James Buckley as talented actors but the first Inbetweeners film didn't win me over for the reasons stated above. Part two has failed to make me a convert, but it was an improvement on past experience.

That isn't to say that Inbetweeners 2 wholly revamps the formula in the previous film, much is the same. There's no major character progression and the humour is of a similar style, even if the quality of the gags is significantly higher whilst the whole "lads abroad" idea from the first film has been transferred from Greece to Australia. The object of ire has shifted a little. The first film made much of its humour from low-budget and rather shoddy holiday resorts, here the object seems to be backpacking and the humour is more verbal in nature than physical.

After six years of the same characters, there's a level of confidence that the main cast have with their performances that helps sell the humour and whilst the film does cover sex and toilet humour (often seen as "easy" laughs), there's a level of originality to them that means that a smile or a mild laugh may just occur even to non-fans (read: me). It would've perhaps have been nice to build on the some of the smaller supporting cast, particularly those from the show itself and fill in a little more of the gap of what's happened between the last movie and this one but fans of the film will probably like this a great deal. Those not so taken with the show?...They might not find it so bad.

L'écume Des Jours (Mood Indigo) (2013, Dir. Michel Gondry, France/Belgium) (Cert: 15/NR) ***

Starring: Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Omar Sy

Wealthy and carefree, Colin (Duris) leads a life of leisure amidst his adventures with his politically-aware friend Chick (Gad Elmahleh) and his chef Nicolas (Sy) as well as spending time inventing the Pianocktail (a piano that mixes different drinks together to make a cocktail depending on what's being played). At a party he makes the acquaintance of the cheery Chloé (Tautou) and they begin a romance that is derailed when Chloé contracts a strange illness.

In contemporary French cinema, few directors raise more interest than Michel Gondry. Having made his name with his strange but immaculately-detailed music videos and parlaying that into success with feature films like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) Gondry's style lies amongst the quirkiest of modern filmmakers alongside the likes of Wes Anderson and Terry Gilliam. In adapting Boris Vian's L'écume Des Jours, Gondry's work makes for imaginative viewing but perhaps a few eccentricities too many.

With Mood Indigo, Gondry achieves a rather precarious balancing act. From the start, we're treated to an array of stop-motion effects akin to Henry Selick, whilst also odd little parts of this fictionalised Paris that kind of bring to mind a chocolate-box sweet take on Alphaville (1965). The parts of Romain Duris and Audrey Tautou (who have previously worked together in a series of films by Cédric Klapisch) work well against the backdrop. Duris looks the carefree playboy, Tautou has always had a way of being extremely sweet and endearing.

The problem is that for all its warmth and humanity that it could (and does) convey, the stylised craziness of it all serves largely as a bizarre distraction. A man in a mouse costume scampers around at a mouse's size amidst much of the action and a dance move that involves inhumanly elongated legs is given quite a lot of precedence. There are some ideas that are amusing in their surreality like a DJ for a skating rink that wears a crow mask, moving beak and all or a TV chef that inspects the viewer's cooking and hands them ingredients, but the film seems more of an exercise in eccentricity than in storytelling and it gets old.

Mood Indigo is a fairly brief film, 94 minutes end-to-end, and spends its time hammering in exactly what needed to be done. Gondry wants to give an unusual but romantic film and indeed he gives us a romantic and definitely unusual film. The problem is that even being concise, it wears out its kooky charm a little too much with the film ultimately surviving on the under-played performances and the best of the over-played aesthetics, 

SNEAK PREVIEW: What If (2013, Dir. Michael Dowse, Ireland/Canada) (Cert: 15/PG-13) ***

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver

Having gone through a particularly rough breakup, former medical student Wallace (Radcliffe) has taken a very cynical view on love. This begins to change after meeting Chantry (Kazan), the cousin if his best friend (Driver) at a party. Wallace and Chantry hit it off, but Chantry has a boyfriend (Rafe Spall). Can Wallace keep his feelings in check and maintain a platonic relationship?

Coming to British cinemas soon, What If was made for the intention of a direct to video release. The film's not a product of Hollywood, instead being an Irish/Canadian co-production. But whilst not being part of the big studios of LA, What If has a starrier cast than films you would associate with home-media-only releases and whilst those also come with, let's be fair, a stigma of being seen as inferior, What If is a pretty decent film, even if that's all it is.

What If, whilst not afraid to go to controversial places, is a rather cuddly and cozy little rom-com that's disposable but still endearing and rather sweet in its earnest simplicity. A film that obviously owes a debt to When Harry Met Sally (1988), whilst understandably not in that league. 

The film does have a little bit of magic when it comes to its dialogue. There are some memorable and quotable lines and as far as humour goes, there are moments guaranteed to raise a little bit of laughter from pretty much anyone so it does its job as a comedy and as a crowd-pleaser fairly well. Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan also put in good performances with Kazan (after her self-penned Ruby Sparks (2012)) seems to be forging a new path as the quirky girl archetype for romantic films. The film also has a certain level of cine-literacy and embraces the movie interests of the characters with nods to The Thing (1982) and The Princess Bride (1987). It's superfluous and quickly dropped from the plot early on, but it gives the film a certain charm.

Wit aside, there are problems to the writing. A film with an obsession over geography, at the start we seem to be in some sort of trans-Atlantic ambiguous state between the two with both British actors and North Americans. It's only later in the story that it becomes clear that it's set in Canada and then becomes very clear. Interspersed with scenes in Ireland (Rafe Spall, playing Kazan's boyfriend, is at a conference to discuss Europe and Asia being considered one continent given it shares a land mass...that he's from the Americas of all places is never brought up in relation to counter the argument)  the film begins to lumber towards travelogue territory but ultimately evades this fate.

The film does play itself out way too long as plot contrivances pile upon each other towards the conclusion, but Radcliffe and Kazan have enough chemistry together to make it bearable as do Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davies as a secondary couple. Romantic comedies are often trite, saccharine and generic rubbish or intelligent, heartwarming and loveable in their extremes. What's remarkable about What If is that it actually falls in the middle ground between those, making it flawed but amiable and watchable.

What If will be released in the US on the 8th of August, followed by a UK release on the 20th.

Guardians Of The Galaxy (3D) (2014, Dir. James Gunn, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ****

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper

Moments after being orphaned, Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff, Pratt) was abducted by aliens. Twenty-six years later, Peter travels the universe, accompanied by a mix-tape of 70's hits, stealing treasures and trying to become known as the "Star Lord". After stealing a powerful orb, Quill os tracked down by the dangerous Gamora (Saldana) and both are imprisoned, joining up and breaking free with Rocket (Cooper) a genetically-altered, short-tempered and ammo-loving raccoon, Rocky's sentient tree bodyguard and houseplant, Groot (Vin Diesel) and Drax (Dave Bautista) an articulate alien on a quest for vengeance. Teaming up, they fight to protect the orb from the grasp of evil.

Credit where credit's due to the Marvel film franchise. In the last several years of establishing a cinematic franchise, the comic book company (and their quietly hard working friends at Disney) have done their utmost to ensure that each of the heroes they've represented has their own tone and style whilst complimenting the related films. Guardians Of The Galaxy, the latest from Marvel, is probably the most radical gear shift yet. For one thing, unlike Its cousins, its status as a "superhero" movie is really stretched. What we have is a comic space opera (that fanciful sci-fi subgenre that places less emphasis on science and more on adventure and fantasy; think Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon and Star Wars) and possibly Marvel's strongest effort to date.

Marvel have always had a way with scope and scale, but here, it's taken on a whole new level. Everything about this film's design feels massive, almost too big, and fits with the film's sense of self-aware flamboyance. This is no place for subtlety and the film works all the better for that. That being said, the designs of the film are not particularly remarkable with many of the aliens looking like Star Trek cast-offs without much in the way of originality.

The characters are the film's biggest asset. Our four "Guardians" are all very well-defined and entertaining in how they're written and performed. As Peter Quill, Chris Pratt is clearly having a great time concocting a character that is a mash-up of Han Solo and a buffed-up Jack Black. Zoe Saldana brings enough enough emotion and skill to Gamora to allow her to escape the peril of being just another sci-fi action-woman. Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel make a humorous duo as Rocket and Groot, whilst professional wrestler Dave Bautista has a surprisingly good and understated comedic sensibility of his own as a well-spoken brute with no understanding of metaphor. Karen Gillan also stands out amongst the supporting cast, constantly switching between stoic observance and other-the-top yelling making her both formidable and funny.

The 3D enhances the film on a visual level but is in no way an essential part of the viewing experience. The music is very impressive, both in the dynamic score and in an array of hits Peter's mix-tape which includes the likes of Blue Swede ("Hooked On A Feelin'"), The Runaways ("Cherry Bomb") and The Raspberries ("Go All The Way"), which will make the inevitable soundtrack album a real treat. Those looking for a superhero film or something dark and brooding might feel a little short-changed by Guardians, but for sheer fun this is a really hard film to beat.