Reviews by Angus Wolfe Murray

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Daredevil (2002)

  Review preview for Daredevil

  Comicbooks are not about credibility, but what's going on here is far harder to accept than Clark Kent wearing funny underpants.

  Ben Affleck is a blind superhero, known as "the man without fear", who leaps off buildings.
• 
  Darkness (2002)

  An American family move into a haunted house in Spain.
• 
  Darkness Falls (2003)

  Ghost of The Tooth Fairy causes terror and death to the good people of Darkness Falls.
• 
  Dark Days (2000)

  Review preview for Dark Days

  Singer's documentary is more a tribute to his friends.

  Documentary following the people who survive in the New York underground.
• 
  The Dark Horse (2014)

  Review preview for The Dark Horse

  To be a winner you must believe

  A biopic about Genesis 'Gen' Potini, a chess champion who struggled with severe bipolar disorder.
• 
  Dark Places (2015)

  Review preview for Dark Places

  Charlize Theron is electrifying

  A woman revisits the crime that killed her family.
• 
  Dark Water (2002)

  Review preview for Dark Water

  Nakata's technique is to imply terror by suggestion, rather than the overuse of special effects.

  Obvious but effective Japanese horror from the director and writer of Ring.
• 
  Dark Water (2005)

  Review preview for Dark Water

  For those who have seen the originals, stay away.

  So-so adaptation of Hideo Nakata's Japanese horror movie.
• 
  Das Experiment (2001)

  Based on a true experiment where volunteers act out the roles of guards and prisoners with disturbing results. Out to own as part of the European Mavericks Heart Of Darkness box set.
• 
  David Copperfield (1999)

  Review preview for David Copperfield

  The quality of this production is seamless, and if there is a criticism you could say it lacks originality, remaining faithful to the novel, which, for purists, is a form of flattery.

  Faithful adaptation of Dickens' novel about a boy growing up through troubled times.
• 
  The Days Between (2001)

  Review preview for The Days Between

  As a first feature, Maria Speth's film is astonishingly accomplished.

  The frustrated sex life of a German canteen worker.
• 
  The Daytrippers (1996)

  Review preview for The Daytrippers

  Made wondrous by an inventive script.

  Discovery of a 'love letter' sparks razor-sharp road trip.
• 
  The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)

  Review preview for The Day The Earth Stood Still

  As an action picture and travesty of a remake, The Day The Earth Stood Still does what it says on the billboard; it stays still.

  Klaatu barada nikto, anyone? Remake of the seminal 50s sci-fi thriller.
• 
  Daddy's Home 2 (2017)

  Review preview for Daddy's Home 2

  Screen humour has dropped below the level of funny-ha-ha into an abyss where mechanical failure and humiliation are the stuff of legend.

  Christmas holiday mayhem with all the families, including grandads.
• 
  The Dam Busters (1955)

  Review preview for The Dam Busters

  As a reconstruction of one of the great moments of a long and bloody war, this could hardly be bettered.

  The daring raid on the Ruhr dams by a squadron of Lancaster bombers in 1943
• 
  Dancer In The Dark (2000)

  Review preview for Dancer In The Dark

  Bjork demonstrates an intuitive talent for acting that breaks your heart.

  A Czech migrant saves for an eye op for her son while dreaming of Hollywood song and dance numbers.
• 
  Dances With Wolves (1990)

  Review preview for Dances With Wolves

  The Western exhausted its cliches and died in parody. Costner works the vein, as if ignorant of its history.

  A Union soldier goes native in the wide open plains of Sioux country.
• 
  Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)

  Review preview for Dancing at Lughnasa

  When a film is made with this much love, its goodness shines.

  Faithful adaptation of Brian Friel's childhood memories of Ireland.
• 
  Dans Paris (2006)

  Review preview for Dans Paris

  Dans Paris is about love – between brothers, father, girlfriends – and suicide... adding dollops of languor and a good deal of sex.

  Love, sex, suicide and depression filmed Truffaut style.
• 
  The Darkest Minds (2018)

  Review preview for The Darkest Minds

  What you suspect will happen almost certainly will

  After a disease killed 98% of young people in the US, the 2% who managed to survive have developed superpowers, but have been locked in internment camps. One teenager escapes.
• 
  Dark Blue (2002)

  Review preview for Dark Blue

  Feels like the real thing.

  Corruption amongst the LAPD during the period of street violence after the Rodney King trial.
• 
  Dark City (1998)

  Review preview for Dark City

  What [director Proyas] does here is juggle genres and lop the dead cells from the brains of old cliches.

  Film noir plotting meets a fiendish science fiction underworld in an extravagant fantasy.
• 
  The Day Shall Come (2019)

  Review preview for The Day Shall Come

  When satire bites it draws blood. This one leaks fizzy water that’s gone flat.

  An African-American preacher is targeted by the FBI.
• 
  The Da Vinci Code (2006)

  Review preview for The Da Vinci Code

  Ron Howard directs without flair, but with respect for the source material.

  Big screen adaptation of the bestselling thriller concerning one cult's obssession with the story of Christ.
• 
  Dead Calm (1989)

  Review preview for Dead Calm

  Phillip Noyce directs a tense thriller from the skeleton of old ideas.

  A couple find themselves in trouble after stopping their yacht to take a stranger onboard.
• 
  Deathwatch (2002)

  Review preview for Deathwatch

  Bassett's taut script takes risks with credibility.

  First World War horror movie exposes the hell of trench life and the fear of imminent death.
• 
  Death Wish (2018)

  Review preview for Death Wish

  The film is not dedicated to the NRA although it should have been.

  Reputable surgeon turns vigilante to avenge the death of his wife.
• 
  The Debt Collector (1999)

  Review preview for The Debt Collector

  Scenes hold so long, you wonder whether the director is out to lunch.

  A debt collector turned sculptor finds himself dragged back into a life of crime.
• 
  Deconstructing Harry (1997)

  Review preview for Deconstructing Harry

  Being prolific implies over-exposure and repetition. Not with Allen. He gets better. He takes more risks.

  Comedy about a writer with permanent block.
• 
  Deep Blue Sea (1999)

  Review preview for Deep Blue Sea

  As a look-what-we-can-do-with-animatronics showcase, the movie has its cheesy moments.

  Research scientists may end up swimming with the fishes after sharks fight back.
• 
  Deep Impact (1998)

  Review preview for Deep Impact

  The writers, Michael (The Player) Tolkin and Bruce Joel (Ghost) Rubin are award winners. Why have they churned out a run-of-the-mildew script that makes Volcano read like a tight human interest item?

  We're all doomed (again).
• 
  Deja Vu (2006)

  Review preview for Deja Vu

  The incomparable Denzel Washington gives another of his thoughtful, sensitive performances that carries a surplus of the dignity gene.

  A detective in New Orleans goes back in time to solve a mystery and save lives.
• 
  Delicatessen (1990)

  Review preview for Delicatessen

  Superbly conceived, brilliantly executed, it surpasses expectation and defies description.

  In a post-holocaust world, a butcher and landlord feeds his customers on the flesh of unfortunate tenants.
• 
  The Departed (2006)

  Review preview for The Departed

  After messy, overblown mishaps like Gangs Of New York, the maestro of Mean Streets is back. With a vengeance.

  Two cops in Boston go undercover on either side of organised crime.
• 
  Destry Rides Again (1939)

  Review preview for Destry Rides Again

  The pace is fast, the fun frantic, the script as witty as a whiplash and the performances are sublime.

  Pacifist lawman in the Wild West meets feisty chanteuse in The Last Chance Saloon.
• 
  Detroit (2017)

  Review preview for Detroit

  The film is orchestrated at perfect pitch

  Amid the chaos of the Detroit Rebellion, with the city under curfew and as the Michigan National Guard patrolled the streets, three young African American men were murdered at the Algiers Motel.
• 
  The Devil's Backbone (2001)

  Review preview for The Devil's Backbone

  Guillermo del Toro has created a perfect ghost story.

  Ghosts haunt an isolated orphanage during the last year of the Spanish Civil War.
• 
  The Devil, Probably (1977)

  Review preview for The Devil, Probably

  The atmosphere of languid role playing, overlaid with a suggestion of promiscuity, seems to float in mist.

  The life of a nihilistic young man.
• 
  The Dinner Game (1998)

  Review preview for The Dinner Game

  The film makes no attempt to disguise its theatrical origins.

  A dinner party organised with guests bringing an 'idiot' goes awry.
• 
  Dirty Deeds (2002)

  Review preview for Dirty Deeds

  It is part of Aussie tradition to kick the livings out of convention, in this case gangster flicks.

  Yank mafiosi try to muscle in on Aussie gangsters' one-armed bandit biz.
• 
  Dirt Road To Lafayette (2018)

  Review preview for Dirt Road To Lafayette

  The clash of cultures is right here, the black music and the white rejection

  A teenager and his dad travel from Scotland to Alabama to visit relatives after a family death.
• 
  Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)

  Review preview for Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood

  Sugar levels are high, but so is vitriol.

  Life and troubles of ageing Southern belle, as told in flashback by her childhood friends.
• 
  Le Divorce (2003)

  Review preview for Le Divorce

  Everything about the film is ill-judged, miscast and intellectually anorexic.

  Rom-com centring two Americans in Paris.
• 
  Divorce Iranian Style (1998)

  Review preview for Divorce Iranian Style

  The directors are unbiased and make no attempt at mocking men. They mock themselves.

  Documentary charting custody cases in Iranian divorce courts.
• 
  Dobermann (1997)

  Review preview for Dobermann

  The humour bites your face. The popvid camera tricks are tempered by a storyline that demands attention.

  Violent action flick sees sadistic cop hunt a gang of dangerous nutters.
• 
  Dogma (1999)

  Review preview for Dogma

  Why should a story about two angels who have been hanging around Wisconsin for aeons, bored rigid, and wanting to go home, be understandable?

  The last known descendant of Christ has to stop a pair of errant angels from destroying humanity.
• 
  Dogville (2003)

  Review preview for Dogville

  Nicole Kidman, as the mysterious fugitive Grace, is luminous and breathtaking, capable of evoking strong emotions from the basis of an enigmatic outline.

  A beautiful fugitive hides out in a Rocky Mountain village.
• 
  Dog Soldiers (2002)

  Review preview for Dog Soldiers

  You have no idea what's going on.

  Soldiers on training exercise in Scotland meet hungry werewolves.
• 
  La Dolce Vita (1960)

  A gossip writer's view of Rome's jet set at the hedonistic dawn of the cynical Sixties.
• 
  Domestic Disturbance (2001)

  Review preview for Domestic Disturbance

  Although beautifully photographed in rich locations, the film reverts to thriller cliches.

  A divorced dad finds himself at loggerheads with his son's new stepfather.