FILM REVIEWS (CRIMINAL/EYE IN THE SKY/THE JUNGLE BOOK)

Criminal

In this sci-fi action movie, Kevin Costner stars as a psychotic prisoner, implanted with the memories of Bill Pope, a deceased agent (played by Ryan Reynolds) in order to track down the anarchist responsible for Pope's death. A film that thematically owes a pretty heavy debt to Robocop (1987), Criminal lacks that film's wit or intelligence and instead is a ham-fisted and inept lumbering beast with far more muscles than brains. The film has an unusual London setting; unusual given the entirely non-English main characters, including those clearly written as English and a sense of dialogue so tin-eared that it becomes rather funny, especially the very British responses to Costner's meathead antics (favourites include a kebab shop owner being dissuaded from hitting Costner with a hammer and causing a "kerfuffle" and another passer-by's stunned question "Who punches someone in a patisserie?")

Not quite smart enough to be aware of its own stupidity, Criminal just comes off as a hack job only occasionally lightened by its own amusing stupidity with a somewhat unengaged cast and an all-too-emotional performance from Gary Oldman. Criminal? Yes it is. Also features Gal Gadot, Tommy Lee Jones and Alice Eve.

Eye In The Sky

Tensions run high in this political war thriller where the possibility stop a potential terrorist attack bring its own ethical complications. Drone warfare has long been an intense topic for discussion and controversy, both from the damage it causes and the issues surrounding the impersonal detachment involved in using drones. As the director of the 2013 film adaptation of Ender's Game, Gavin Hood is a smart choice to direct, but rather than play his hand towards the "war being like a video game" viewpoint that is often associated with drones, here a more fraught representation is presented with a strong supporting performance by Aaron Paul, whose scenes amount to the best parts of the film, though Helen Mirren is also excellent as a determined military officer, who is arguably the film's lead.

What could be seen as a modern equivalent to the likes of Fail-Safe (1964) or even Dr. Strangelove (1964), Eye In The Sky really serves more as a conversation starter than as a full-blown exploration of the War On Terror, but it's that same spirit to engage people and have them thinking that should be encouraged and the fact that the film is as effective as it is, is just icing on the cake. Also features Bakkad Abdi, Iain Glen and the late, great Alan Rickman in his last onscreen role.

The Jungle Book

Released in 1967, Walt Disney's animated version of The Jungle Book proved to be one of Disney's most enduring animated features and whilst it had its occasional flaws (notoriously having Beatle-esque vultures singing barbershop because Walt didn't believe the Fab Four's legacy would last), the film's charm and effervescent sense of fun made it a classic. Jon Favreau's attempt at doing a "live-action" (actually more like photo-realistic CG with a live action lead) remake may seem like a folly, but it's easily the best of the recent glut of Disney remakes and may in fact surpass its animated ancestor.

Bringing the darker tone Rudyard Kipling's source material, this Jungle Book stars Neel Sethi as wolf-raised man-cub Mowgli on a quest to leave the jungle and find the man village to save himself and his adoptive family from the wrath of the tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba). Whilst being lovingly faithful to the '67 version, this film's attempt at carving out a new niche opens up the world and provides some great new dimensions to the Jungle Book world, bringing a new sense of majesty alongside a well-chosen cast. Who would make a better Baloo then Bill Murray? Or breathe new life into the sinister snake Kaa than Favreau mainstay Scarlett Johannson? And who doesn't want Christopher Walken to play a giant ape (and, yes, there was such an animal as a Gigantopithecus. Amazing, right?) and whilst Elba's authoritative take on Khan is distinctly different to the sophisticated charm of George Sanders' performance in the animated film, it's a valid interpretation.

Beautifully realised, humbly reverent to its antecedent but also brash and daring enough to go somewhere new, this live action Jungle Book might be a bit too intense for the youngest of children, but its ability to do something admirably new whilst homaging the old is exactly what these new Disney remakes should be doing. Cast also features Ben Kingsley, Lupita N'yongo and Giancarlo Esposito. (This Week's Hot Ticket)