TeamEmpireon
the month’s
essential viewing
TERMINATOR: DARK FATE
OUTNOW/ CERTMA15+/128 MINSIt’s a shame theTerminatorfranchise wasted
so many chances onSalvationandGenisys—
because whileDark Fateisn’t on par with the
first two movies (a monumentally high bar), it’s
pretty damn good. Tim Miller’s direct sequel to
Judgment Dayproves that Linda Hamilton’s
Sarah Connor was the key ingredient all along
— as was the power of her nobody-to-somebody
arc, here mirrored by Natalia Reyes’ incoming
character Dani Ramos. The star player, though,
is Mackenzie Davis, whose augmented human
soldier Grace has the steeliness of a Terminator
and the soulful eyes of a person overcoming
trauma and fighting for hope, delivering killer
blows in the action sequences — which, while
lacking surprise, are punchy and propulsive.
A rebootquel that takes in US border politics
and posits the leader of the Resistance as a
Mexican woman?Dark Fatedeserved better.
BEN TRAVISAMAZON PRIME VIDEO
AVAILABLE NOWIt’s an exciting time for Aussies to check out the
premium streaming service, which has just
announced four new Amazon Original series for
Oz in 2020, led by Back To The Rafters, a sequel
to beloved dramedy Packed To The Rafters. Also
on the horizon are LOL: Last One Laughing,
hosted by Rebel Wilson, cricket documentary
series The Test: A New Era For Australia’s Team,
plus ten stand-up specials featuring local
comedic superstars such as Tom Gleeson and
Judith Lucy. Once signed up to Amazon Prime
Video, customers can see a huge number of
hit movies and popular TV shows, including
Hunters, Star Trek: Picard, The Boys, Tom
Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Fleabag, The Marvelous Mrs.
Maisel and more. Watch where you want, when
you want on a wide range of devices or online
at PrimeVideo.com. To learn more, head to
amazon.com.au/prime and subscribe to a free
30-day trial. DLENDLESS NIGHT
OUTNOW / CERT M / 99 MINSThough as chock-full of distinguished character
actors in sinister supporting roles as most Agatha
Christie adaptations, Endless Night isn’t her usual
mystery — though it has its twists and surprises.
Chauff eur Michael (Hywel Bennett) is obsessed
with becoming rich enough to build an
architecturally innovative home in the idyllic,
perhaps haunted Gypsy’s Acre. He just happens
to come across unworldly free spirit Ellie (Hayley
Mills) dancing across the grassy spot. She’s a
fantastically wealthy heiress, so marrying her is
a step in the right direction — but a local psychic
issues dire warnings against the match and says
any trespass on the sacred site will lead to deaths.
Veteran writer-director Sidney Gilliat combines
old-fashioned it’s-all-a-plot plotting with
hippie-ish high-life (courtesy of Britt Ekland
in fabulous outfi ts) and makes disenchanted
observations on social mobility and the dream
of a house in the countryside. KIM NEWMANA SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE:
FARMAGEDDON
OUT22 APRIL/ CERTG/85 MINS
Working at Aardman must be a joy. Imagine
having a job where your entire days are
dedicated to nothing more than coming up with
gags. 11am meeting — gags. Quick break for
lunch? Don’t you mean punch? The Bristol-
based stop-frame animation kings have done
it again with the effortlessly charming sequel
to the firstShaun The Sheepmovie, which
throws in all kinds of sci-fifilm references
as our hirsute hero gets himself mixed up with
a kindly alien. As the film is almost entirely
silent, directors Will Becher and Richard
Phelan, working from a script by Mark Burton
and Richard Starzak (story), work overtime to
keep the gags flowing. One visual joke, involving
the plains of the Serengeti, is as good as it
gets. But they never overlook the film’s heart.
An absolute treat, utterly wasted on kids.
CHRIS HEWITT
MONOS
OUTNOW/ CERT MA15+ / 103 MINSMonosis tactile and surreal, a beautiful jungle
nightmare — cinematic ayahuasca. Alejandro
Landes’ Colombian fi lm follows a gang of
child soldiers who live in isolation on a misty
mountaintop above the clouds. They are
unwashed and unpredictable, kicking about
with a kidnapped hostage, butting heads,
falling in love, shooting their rifl es into the
air for shits and giggles. They can be mean
and merciless, but also naive and confused —
they’re kids. Egos explode as the group fractures,
the anarchy turning into terror and, with
most of the cast being non-actors, the frisson
of reality makes it all the more aff ecting.
It’s a deeply sensuous fi lm, lit painterly by
cinematographer Jasper Wolf, and spookily
scored by the great Mica Levi. There are bits
ofLord Of The Flies and Apocalypse Now in
here, butMonos is very much its own beast.
Startling stuff. ALEX GODFREY