Reviews by Luke Shaw

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Misery Loves Comedy (2015)

  Review preview for Misery Loves Comedy

  A tighter focus on the misery that drives people may have made this a more indispensable glance at the industry, but for anyone with a love of comedy, it’s sure to harbour a few gems.

  Comics are asked why they do it and whether it is necessary to be miserable to be funny?
• 
  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.
• 
  North V South (2015)

  Review preview for North V South

  It’s no good having a twisting tale of gangland betrayal if every plot point is reiterated.

  A gangland Romeo and Juliet.
• 
  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.
• 
  Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

  Review preview for Only Angels Have Wings

  A brilliant exercise in plotting, drama, comedy and action with a fitting denouement.

  An Andean adventure sees a bold young woman trying to cut it as a freight pilot and falling for her boss.
• 
  Parasyte: Part 1 (2014)

  Review preview for Parasyte: Part 1

  What could have been turned into a gritty, gloomy film with a penchant for gore, instead retains the lighthearted feel of the manga.

  A Tokyo teenager has to try to live witha mutant parasite that takes control of his right arm.
• 
  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  The fun has been replaced by contemporary posturing, the carefree by right-on slacktivism, and the nostalgia by a desire to be an action film that revels in shocks and thrills, despite its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.
• 
  Poltergeist (2015)

  Review preview for Poltergeist

  Unfortunately the malicious ghouls of the title aren’t the only spirits haunting director Gil Kenan’s prefab carnival ride.

  A family's suburban idyll is shattered after they youngest daughter is taken captive by evil forces.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  Queen And Country (2014)

  Review preview for Queen And Country

  Anchoring the audience with a perennial fence-sitter allows more room for the inevitable impact of the characters' stories, without the weight of an absolute ideological argument.

  An Englishman signs up to fight in the Korean War.
• 
  The Road Within (2014)

  Review preview for The Road Within

  The clashes between characters give this film plenty of catalysts for interesting discussions, and it is refreshing that these discussions are not framed as anything other than three young adults connecting.

  A Tourette's sufferer goes ona road trip with his doctor and a couple of other troubled youngsters.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  The Salvation (2014)

  Review preview for The Salvation

  The Salvation is a slight affair compared to recent epics.

  A man who kills his family's murderer faces the wrath of a violent gang - with nobody to help him.
• 
  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?
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  Therapy For A Vampire (2014)

  Review preview for Therapy For A Vampire

  Tobias Moretti and Jeanette Hain play the Count & Countess Közsnöm with arch reverence to vampire movies of old.

  A vampire seeks assistance from Dr Freud.
• 
  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.
• 
  Turbo Kid (2015)

  Review preview for Turbo Kid

  A preposterously gory exercise in nostalgia.

  In a post-Apocalyptic wasteland, a scavenger trades scraps for food and comics, until a new friendship and a new weapon change his life.
• 
  Uncanny (2015)

  Review preview for Uncanny

  The surface detail may be uncanny, but there’s a truly different film under the skin here.

  Trouble brews when a young journalist starts to interact with a humanoid robot.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  The Violators (2015)

  Review preview for The Violators

  A respectfully written and admirably performed drama.

  Two dysfunctional girls, from different backgrounds set off on a course that will have profound implications for both of them.
• 
  Werewolf (2016)

  Review preview for Werewolf

  An arresting debut.

  Two methadone users struggle to escape from their desperate day-to-day situation.
• 
  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.
• 
  Who Am I - No System Is Safe (2014)

  Review preview for Who Am I - No System Is Safe

  Who Am I succeeds because it grounds its braggadocio in action that never feels beyond the realms of possibility.

  A young hacker joins a subversive group intent on "hacking the world".
• 
  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.
• 
  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.