Reviews by Luke Shaw

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Zoology (2016)

  Review preview for Zoology

  This modern fairytale has its dark side, but it’s not as grim as something the Brothers Grimm would have concocted.

  A quiet, middle-aged zoo employee wakes up to discover that she has grown a tail.
• 
  Mad To Be Normal (2017)

  Review preview for Mad To Be Normal

  Sadly, like many biopics, the film blends so many elements of the life of its subject that it starts to lose focus, and falls back on a relationship conflict to lend some backbone.

  The story of psychiatrist RD Laing and his unique community at Kingsley Hall, East London, during the Sixties.
• 
  Trespass Against Us (2016)

  Review preview for Trespass Against Us

  The West Country slang in use is at times impenetrable, but it’s clear that writer Alex Simmonds has spent a long time learning its intricacies, and the actors are doing their best to capture the spirit and tone of this community.

  A man looks to find a way to escape the criminal ways of his outlaw family.
• 
  Kuso (2017)

  Review preview for Kuso

  It’s absolutely a little squalid, but focusing on these elements ignores the often sublime visuals that permeate the film.

  Broadcasting through a makeshift network of discarded televisions, this story is tangled up in the aftermath of Los Angeles's worst earthquake nightmare.
• 
  Headshot (2016)

  Review preview for Headshot

  The insane amount of violence is in danger of becoming totally monotonous, but is rescued by Iko Uwais' dynamic and hitherto unrevealed comic sense of motion and timing.

  Washed ashore on a small Indonesian island, a man wakes up in hospital with no memory of who he is or how he got there - but a gang boss is on his trail.
• 
  Rules Don't Apply (2016)

  Review preview for Rules Don't Apply

  Every time we are afforded a glimpse of the outrageous figure, the film crackles with energy.

  An unconventional love story of an aspiring actress, her determined driver, and the eccentric billionaire whom they work for.
• 
  Werewolf (2016)

  Review preview for Werewolf

  An arresting debut.

  Two methadone users struggle to escape from their desperate day-to-day situation.
• 
  The Age Of Shadows (2016)

  Review preview for The Age Of Shadows

  A sumptuous period epic littered with over the top direction and action scenes that wouldn’t feel out of place in a gritty Hong Kong police flick.

  Resistance fighters try to dodge the attention of Japanese agents while smuggling explosives through 1920s Korea.
• 
  Liberation Day (2016)

  Review preview for Liberation Day

  There’s a strange voyeurism to the film, especially given the isolated nature of North Korea.

  The story of Laibach's visit to North Korea.
• 
  Salt And Fire (2016)

  Review preview for Salt And Fire

  The posturing and overly theatrical nature of the delivery is going to make or break the experience for many.

  A scientist blames the head of a large company for an ecological disaster in South America. But when a volcano begins to show signs of erupting, they must unite to avoid a disaster.
• 
  Cream (2016)

  Review preview for Cream

  A welcome piece of righteous fury with a distinctly Firthian twist.

  Life's problems are resolved with the aid of a miraculous goo.
• 
  Umbilical World (2016)

  Review preview for Umbilical World

  For long time fans of Firth, this is a wonderful collection of some of his best material.

  A surrealist exploration of depression and mental illness.
• 
  Handsome Devil (2016)

  Review preview for Handsome Devil

  A stylish and heartwarming tale of triumph against adversity that is somewhat undermined by its predictable story and lack of guts in its final third.

  A loner and the star athlete at a rugby-mad school form an intense friendship, but it will be tested.
• 
  Arrival (2016)

  Review preview for Arrival

  Arrival is a stunning, vital film that exemplifies the greatest tenets of sci-fi as a whole.

  A linguist is given the task of helping to communicate with extra-terrestrial beings when they touch down around the globe.
• 
  The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years (2016)

  Review preview for The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years

  Howard’s documentary is candid and enlightening.

  A compilation of found footage.
• 
  Blair Witch (2016)

  Review preview for Blair Witch

  For some, it may well be the breakneck thrillride of the year, but there’s just something lacking in all its bombast and supernatural goings on.

  Another group of innocent hikers return to the woods where a previous party disappeared 17 years ago
• 
  One More Time With Feeling (2016)

  Review preview for One More Time With Feeling

  A harrowing voyage into one man’s personal tragedy.

  A documentary following Nick Cave as he struggles to do creative work in the aftermath of the death of his son.
• 
  Sausage Party (2016)

  Review preview for Sausage Party

  If you’ve ever wanted to see a bagel and a lavash engaging in homosexual activity used as an argument for why Israel and Palestine should just y’know, smoke some weed and get on with each other, here’s your chance!

  A sausage tries to find meaning in the world as well as carnal knowledge.
• 
  The Shallows (2016)

  Review preview for The Shallows

  This is as much a film about femininity as Jaws was about masculinity.

  Can a woman escape a shark?
• 
  Suicide Squad (2016)

  Review preview for Suicide Squad

  Just as these characters all sound like they are named by pre-teen kids playing with action figures (apologies to the storied history of DC) the plotting follows suit by treating them just like poseable toys.

  A secret government agency recruits jailed supervillains to take on a dangerous mission.
• 
  Men And Chicken (2015)

  Review preview for Men And Chicken

  Its disgusting surface is supported by a framework that’s more intelligent than in plenty of prettier films.

  Black comedy about a pair of brothers who discover a dark family secret.
• 
  Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

  Review preview for Independence Day: Resurgence

  The new blood get to run around saving the world in a largely unremarkable fashion.

  Two decades after Independence Day, the aliens return to have another go. Humans have prepared for this event, but so have they.
• 
  Demolition (2015)

  Review preview for Demolition

  Gyllenhaal puts in such a brilliant performance that it’s hard not to get swept away.

  A man unravelling after the death of his wife forms an unexpected bond with a customer service representative.
• 
  The Brand New Testament (2015)

  Review preview for The Brand New Testament

  The levels of twee are fairly high, and contrasted with the bizarre and often regressive gendered comedy it’s likely to divide audiences right down the middle.

  The new adventures of God, who lives in Brussels with his teenage daughter and falls foul of her hacking skills.
• 
  April And The Extraordinary World (2015)

  Review preview for April And The Extraordinary World

  Another sumptuously realised and animated film that will be creeping onto lists of “films you probably haven’t seen” in a decade or so.

  A teenager and her talking cat go in search of her missing scientist parents.
• 
  Miles Ahead (2015)

  Review preview for Miles Ahead

  Cheadle attempts to give us the feel of the man rather than the real essence.

  A biopic of legendary musician Miles Davis.
• 
  Chevalier (2015)

  Review preview for Chevalier

  Takes a bawdy idea and turns it into something far more complex.

  Six men on a boat try to judge who is best.
• 
  Zootropolis (2016)

  Review preview for Zootropolis

  Although the narrative beats don’t sear with originality, it is clever and has enough nuance and ambiguity to keep folks guessing right up until the finale, with a cast of characters throughout that are a genuine treat.

  A little rabbit works hard to prove she can be just as good a police officer as the bigger, fiercer animals on her team.
• 
  Goodnight Mommy (2014)

  Review preview for Goodnight Mommy

  Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s film is one entirely about small details.

  Twin boys suspect that their mum, who has just undergone reconstructive facial surgery, is an imposter and set out to discover the truth.
• 
  Labyrinth Of Lies (2014)

  Review preview for Labyrinth Of Lies

  Labyrinth Of Lies is an interesting document of a very important piece of national history, but it fails to make it engaging.

  An idealistic attorney in post-war Germany faces public hostility as he tries to prosecute former members of the SS.
• 
  The Finest Hours (2016)

  Review preview for The Finest Hours

  A functional disaster-cum-rescue film with a glut of special effects.

  In 1952 coastguards makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard.
• 
  Deadpool (2016)

  Review preview for Deadpool

  For fans of the various franchises given nods and winks, and elbow nudges, and telegraphed air quotes by the Meta Merc, there’s a lot to like here.

  After being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, Wade Wilson adopts the alter ego Deadpool and goes looking for revenge.
• 
  Pride And Prejudice And Zombies (2016)

  Review preview for Pride And Prejudice And Zombies

  Lily James bares her wit and her teeth as Elizabeth Bennet, and she does about as well as she could do with a script that can’t decide whether it wants to repackage or repurpose Austen’s original work, instead falling down the crevice in between.

  A group of young women whose lives are already complicated by social expectations have to deal with a rampaging horde of undead.
• 
  Point Break (2015)

  Review preview for Point Break

  The fun has been replaced by contemporary posturing, the carefree by right-on slacktivism, and the nostalgia by a desire to be an action film that revels in shocks and thrills, despite its inherent redundancy.

  A remake of the nineties classic in which a young FBI agent pursues an athlete he suspects of leading a gang of robbers.
• 
  In The Heart Of The Sea (2015)

  Review preview for In The Heart Of The Sea

  Class and experience divisions form the bulk of the interpersonal drama and it’s as predictable as expected, with the added tedium of Hemsworth apparently defaulting back to weirdly out of place Asgardian diction, bellowing like Thor at every little thing

  Recounting of the tale that went on to inspire Moby Dick.
• 
  Psycho-Pass: The Movie (2015)

  Review preview for Psycho-Pass: The Movie

  Doesn’t really pass the bar as anything other than as an indulgence for the fan who has seen the whole of the main story.

  In a future world, a young police officer is sent to a war-torn nation in search of a former colleague turned outlaw.
• 
  American Ultra (2015)

  Review preview for American Ultra

  The lack of any real ‘pop’ to the proceedings is rooted in the fact that the whole film is played as a flashback.

  A secret agent undercover as a drug user is marked for extermination but proves too hardcore and too high to handle.
• 
  We Are Your Friends (2015)

  Review preview for We Are Your Friends

  Zac Efron portrays Cole as appealingly handsome, talented and gregarious and it’s safe to say that his performance rescues what could have been an irredeemably obnoxious film.

  An aspiring DJ is caught between forbidden romance and his friends.
• 
  Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)

  Review preview for Hitman: Agent 47

  Rupert Friend plays Agent 47, managing to imbue him with a restrained and economical ferocity, until he opens his mouth and ruins the trick.

  A genetically engineered assassin tries to help a mysterious woman find her father.
• 
  Vacation (2015)

  Review preview for Vacation

  With this cloying core, coupled with its phoned in central performances, Vacation can only rest on its vignette style stop-offs to save it, and they just aren’t strong enough.

  Hoping to bring his family closer together and to recreate his childhood vacation for his own kids, an adult Rusty Griswold takes his wife and two sons on a cross-country road trip to Walley World.
• 
  Hot Pursuit (2015)

  Review preview for Hot Pursuit

  It’s possible that the working title was Mild Pursuit, or Languid Pursuit, or maybe even So Offensive I’d Rather They Didn’t Pursuit.

  A strict, by-the-book cop is assigned to protect the widow of a drug boss, who likes to live it up.
• 
  The Gift (2015)

  Review preview for The Gift

  Instead of falling into the trap of making a thriller with easily defined characters, Edgerton has made a film that understands how devastating uncertainty is, something that comprehends the insidious nature of lies and half-truths.

  An old acquaintance bearing gifts brings suspicion and fear into the lives of a successful couple recently moved to California
• 
  Cub (2014)

  Review preview for Cub

  There is no safety net for characters here.

  A young boy heads to scout camp, certain he will encounter a monster - and he's right.
• 
  Ant-Man (2015)

  Review preview for Ant-Man

  Ant-Man’s weirdness and goofy tangents mean that it’s definitely on its way to alleviating the fatigue of the larger pictures.

  A con man with the power to decrease in size and increase in strength must pull off a daring heist in order to save the world.
• 
  Narcopolis (2014)

  Review preview for Narcopolis

  Frustratingly, the film isn’t really concerned with its setting, and the large bulk of the plot is a time travel caper that’s solvable within a few minutes of it being revealed.

  A troubled cop tackles a case in a near-future world where all recreational drugs are legal.
• 
  Battle Mountain: Graeme Obree's Story (2015)

  Review preview for Battle Mountain: Graeme Obree's Story

  As compelling as it is humourous.

  A documentary about one man and his bike.
• 
  Blood Cells (2014)

  Review preview for Blood Cells

  Wells delivers a great performance.

  A farmer's son is faced with a decison about whether to return to the home he has exiled himself from.
• 
  Black Mountain Poets (2015)

  Review preview for Black Mountain Poets

  The script sparkles, delivering plenty of great moments.

  Relationship comedy about a pair of on-the-run sisters who pose as poets on a camping retreat.
• 
  45 Years (2015)

  Review preview for 45 Years

  To call the film haunting is an understatement.

  A marriage is thrown into turmoil with news of a long dead lover.
• 
  How to Win At Checkers (Every Time) (2015)

  Review preview for How to Win At Checkers (Every Time)

  A charming, if a dark hearted, coming of age story.

  Coming-of-age film about a boy and his brother in Thailand.