Reviewed by Simon Sweetman

WOODY ALLEN’s latest movie has something of an uphill battle of expectations to climb. His last film, Match Point, was very close to being a career high point; it’s certainly the only Woody Allen effort that even the most fervent of Allen non-appreciators could list on a film favourites list. It seems slightly unfair, but then, the only fitting way to compare and rank Woody Allen films is to measure them against former glories and former flops by the same man.

Reviewed by Darren Bevan

THE FIRST FILM, 28 Days Later, was such a seminal redefinition of the Zombie genre that it seemed like real madness to tamper with the formula – although to its credit not once does this film refer to those hit by the plague as Zombies (and henceforth neither will this review). But the signs weren’t good with director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland disappearing off to take on Sunshine – in fact they even took their star Cillian Murphy with them. And yet 28 Weeks Later, with little known Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto) at the helm, is actually as gripping – and in parts sickening – as the first film.

Reviewed by Tim Wong

Part way into The Host, when a grieving Nam-il lands a dropkick on his dofus-of-a-brother Gang-du, it is clear that we are watching a Bong Joon-ho movie. As a strategically placed signpost – a rather sly directive to Bong’s serial killer subversion Memories of Murder (where said wrestling move was the retaliation of choice) – it completes a brief but remarkable series of events: the Park family, having just witnessed a giant mutant tadpole devour their beloved Hyun-seo, arrive at a makeshift shrine, mourn her apparent death, before collapsing to the floor in a hilarious seizure of blubbering tears and despair. How Bong achieves such a dramatic and invisible tonal shift – from the depths of genuine pathos, to an outbreak of well-timed comedy, and all within the space of 24 frames – is surely alchemy, and is something to behold.

Reviewed by Darren Bevan

IN ALL THE pre-publicity leading up until the launch of Spiderman 3, stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and director Sam Raimi said they felt like they were done with the franchise. While that sent worrying ripples throughout the fan world, having now seen the film, it’s understandable how – and why – the gang want to move on. It’s not that there’s anything inherently wrong with it – it’s just that it feels distinctly unsatisfactory and is lacking the rich complexity of its predecessors.

Reviewed by Darren Bevan

WHEREAS Sin City posed a fresh visual assault, 300 feels forced, shallow and vacant by comparison. Drawing from the original source material of the historically inspired comic book written by Frank Miller, it’s a retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC. Faced by a marauding takeover by the Greeks and their leader Xerxes, Sparta found itself on the brink of disaster. But given the chance to surrender and submit to the rule of the invading forces, King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) decides to take on the 200,000 forces with 300 of the best handpicked men.