STA R
RATINGS
HHHHHFantastic
HHHH Very good
HHH Good
HH Average
This week’s films rated and reviewed H Poor
With Film Editor Nigel Pizey
CHIEF FILM REVIEWER: JASON BEST
SATURDAY27 July
Shaun the Sheep Movie
BBC2 9.10am - 10.30am HHHH
ANIMATION⊲ A scene-stealing
sidekick in Nick Park’s Oscar-winning
Wallace and Gromit adventure A
Close Shave, Aardman Animation’s
wonderful Shaun the Sheep earned
a TV series and now gets his own
feature-film outing, too. Cue a riot of
slapstick silent-movie-style gags as
Shaun’s antics at Soggy Bottom Farm
trigger a chain of farcical events.
Dirs: Mark Burton, Richard Starzack 2015, U, 80min
SEX ) VIOLENCE ) LANGUAGE )
Madagascar:
Escape 2 Africa
BBC1 5.15pm - 6.35pm HHH
ANIMATION⊲ In this jolly
sequel, the lovable zoo animals are
stranded in Africa when their plane
crashlands. But once there, lion Alex
(voiced by Ben Stiller) is reunited
with his dad (Bernie Mac) and nasty
villain Makunga (Alec Baldwin). It’s a
sweet cartoon with a good voice cast
and plenty of humorous situations.
Dirs: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath 2008, PG, 80min
SEX ) VIOLENCE ) LANGUAGE )
Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles:
Out of the Shadows
C4 8.00pm - 10.10pm HHH
PREMIERE AC T I O N
FANTASY⊲ This sequel
to 2014’s live-action reboot sees
the band of sewer-dwelling,
pizza-loving giant turtles again
teaming up with their journalist
friend April O’Neil (Megan Fox)
and again tangling with their evil
ninja foe Shredder. It’s empty-
headed nonsense, of course, but
the action has a rowdy vigour.
Dir: Dave Green 2016, 12, 130min
SEX ) VIOLENCE! LANGUAGE )
Die Another Day
ITV 10.05pm - 12.35am HHH
ACTION ADVENTURE⊲ If
you can forgive the invisible car and
some laughable CGI effects, this
fourth and final Bond adventure for
Pierce Brosnan isn’t that bad. It
boasts a good villain in Toby
Stephens, and the story – about
a deadly new satellite weapon that
can harness the power of the sun –
is full of thrills and action aplenty.
Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike
are the women in 007’s way.
Dir: Lee Tamahori 2002, 12, 150min
SEX! VIOLENCE @ LANGUAGE )
Pitch Perfect 2
C4 10.10pm - 12.20am HHH
MUSIC COMEDY⊲ In this
sequel to the 2012 college comedy,
Rebel Wilson’s brash Fat Amy
and her all-female singing group
the Barden Bellas are once again
the underdogs as they aim to win
the World Championships. Some
of the cruder slapstick episodes
misfire, but the girls’ unruly
camaraderie is infectious and the
musical numbers are full of pep.
Dir: Elizabeth Banks 2015, 12, 130min
SEX! VIOLENCE ) LANGUAGE!
Avengers: Age of Ultron
BBC1 10.20pm - 12.30am HHH
SUPERHERO⊲ This second
joint adventure for the Marvel
Comics Avengers will probably leave
all but dedicated comic-book nerds
feeling befuddled rather than
dazzled. You certainly need your wits
about you to cope with the plot,
which finds Robert Downey Jr’s
wisecracking Iron Man inadvertently
creating a rogue peacekeeping robot
(voiced by James Spader) whose aim
is to destroy not preserve humanity.
Dir: Joss Whedon 2015, 12, 130min
SEX ) VIOLENCE! LANGUAGE )
Midnight Special
BBC2 11.00pm - 12.45am HHHH
● See Our Picks of the Week, left
The Visit
C4 12.20am - 1.55am HHH
● See Our Picks of the Week, left
Now Is Good
BBC1 12.30am - 2.10am HHH
DRAMA⊲ Based on Jenny
Downham’s Brighton-set novel
Before I Die, this teen drama is
funny, romantic and extremely sad.
An excellent Dakota Fanning plays
a 17-year-old who’s been living with
leukaemia for
four years. However, she’s determined
to live what life she has left to the full
- be it drugs, shoplifting or losing her
virginity... Dir: Ol Parker 2012, 12, 100min
SEX! VIOLENCE ) LANGUAGE!
BEST OF THE REST
6 Below:
Miracle on the Mountain
AMC 12noon - 1.55pm HHH
SatelliteADVENTURE⊲Josh
Hartnett plays former professional
ice hockey player-turned-drug addict
Eric LeMarque, who heads into the
Sierra Nevada mountains for a spot
of snowboarding and ends up
stranded in the wild for eight days
after getting caught in a snowstorm.
Despite some cheesy flashbacks, this
is a gripping true tale of doughty
endurance, with Hartnett digging
deep as the resilient, odds-defying
hero. Dir: Scott Waugh 2016, 12, 115min
SEX ) VIOLENCE! LANGUAGE )
Smallfoot
Sky Cinema Premiere
6.15pm - 8.00pm HHH
● See Our Picks of the Week, left
Jurassic Park III
ITV2 7.15pm - 9.00pm HHH
ADVENTURE⊲An exciting
third trip to see the dinos, in which
Sam Neill, back from the first film,
is taken to his island of nightmares
by divorced couple Téa Leoni and
William H Macy, whose son has
vanished on a hang-glider trip
there. Gripping scenes are
undermined by clunky dialogue,
but the prehistoric beasties –
especially the pteranodons and the
spinosaurus – are as thrilling as ever,
as realised in the excellent special
effects. Dir: Joe Johnston 2001, PG, 105min
SEX ) VIOLENCE! LANG )
Dakota Fanning
in Now Is Good
Iron Man buffs up in
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Just chillin’ in Shaun
the Sheep Movie
● See listings pages for full details of regional films
The gang’s all here
for Madagascar:
Escape 2 Africa
TV TIMES 29