SciFiNow-August2018

Details 12 // 72 mins // 2018 // • • VOD // Released

6 August Directors Jake Castorena, Sam Liu Cast Jerry O’Connell,

Rebecca Romijn Distributor Warner Bros Home Entertainment

Superman

teams up once

again with the

Justice League

in arguably the

biggest superhero crossover

event since Avengers: Infi nity

War a couple of months

ago for this fun animated

take on DC Comics’ The

Death Of Superman.

When a brute known as

Doomsday emerges from an

astroid and starts terrorising

Earth, the team must band

together to put a stop to it.

However, Superman has a

lot more than just saving the

planet on his mind when

his alter ego Clark Kent’s

relationship with Lois Lane

becomes strained. Can the

couple live happily ever when

Lois only knows one side of the

man she is in love with?

After years of superhero

team-ups being far too serious,

it’s nice to have a bit of a

break from that everyone once

in a while with a low-stakes

collaboration like this.

Although the threat is

technically a big one,

Superman’s qualms about his

relationship and where he

stands with Lois brings it down

to Earth, and adds a touch of

tenderness. It’s quite satisfying

knowing the Man of Steel also

has insecurities.

Poppy-Jay Palmer

THE DEATH OF

SUPERMAN

All’s fair in love and war

★★★★★

Details 12 // 111 m i n s // 2018 // • // Released 6 August

Director Wes Anderson Cast Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton,

Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray Distributor FOX

Wes Anderson

returns to stop-

motion animation

with the beautifully

detailed and warm-

hearted Isle Of Dogs, which

follows a young Japanese boy’s

attempts to rescue his faithful

pup following the nation’s

decision to exile all canines

to a trash island following a

fl u epidemic.

The assembled voice cast

is hugely impressive (Bryan

Cranston emerges as the MVP

with his work as surly dog

Chief, although Greta Gerwig

runs him close as the spirited

foreign exchange student

determined to reveal the

government’s wicked ways),

but the most striking element is

Anderson and his team’s eye

for detail. It’s certainly more

ambitious than Fantastic Mr

Fox, and although it runs for

slightly too long, Isle Of Dogs is

an eccentric treat.

It should be noted that

the concerns over cultural

appropriation have merit, with

some moments in the movie,

such as the wasabi guns, verging

on ‘look at this kooky Japanese

thing!’ It does feel like it comes

from a place of love, but it is

worth reading the opinion pieces

surrounding the fi lm.

Jonathan Hatfull

ISLE OF DOGS

So many good boys

★★★★★

review

078 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K

a wonderful lead, and seeing

the oddities of time and space

from her eyes makes a far more

intriguing adventure than if

we were following someone

who knew what the heck was

going on.

However, it still leaves a lot

to be desired. What’s absent

is hard to pin down. It’s got a

lot of heart, but it’s ultimately

missing that piece that all great

family fi lms possess, the part

Ava DuVernay’s

A Wrinkle In Time

had a lot to live up

to, purely because

Ava DuVernay was

directing it. Expectations were

understandably high but the

family fantasy adventure falls

just short.

Based on Madeleine L’Engle’s

beloved 1962 sci-fi novel,

the fi lm follows 13-year-old

Meg Murry (Storm Reid) as

she struggles through school

after her astrophysicist father

(Chris Pine) goes missing while

on the cusp of a scientifi c

breakthrough. When Meg’s

genius younger brother Charles

Wallace (Deric McCabe)

welcomes a trio of godlike astral

travellers into their house she’s

whisked off on an adventure

through time and space to fi nd

her father and bring him home.

A WRINKLE IN TIME

Needs ironing

With such an imaginative story

to work from and DuVernay

behind the camera, many

were expecting something

spectacular. What we got instead

was something all right that

we’d probably only watch again

if someone else suggested it for

family fi lm night. But that’s not

to say it isn’t without its merits.

A Wrinkle In Time is a feast

for the eyes, whichever way you

look at it. Everything from the

settings to the costumes to the

hair and makeup design are

completely gorgeous (or if not,

very interesting). Even when

the characters aren’t astral

travelling, there’s a lot to look at.

Likewise, the fi lm takes little

to no time painting characters

that are actually likeable, which

is actually pretty unusual for

a fi lm of this nature. Brave and

intelligent but fl awed, Meg is

that makes your heart swell

and makes you want to watch it

again and again until the disc

wears out. It doesn’t leave you

feeling cold; it just leaves you

in neutral.

Poppy-Jay Palmer

T OPRAH DIDN’T AUDITION FOR HER ROLE IN A WRINKLE IN TIME. AVA DUVERNAY ASKED HER IF SHE’D WORK WITH HER, AND OPRAH SAID, ‘NO PROBLEM’.

Must

see

now!

Details PG // 109 mins // 2018 // • • VOD // Released Out now

Director Ava DuVernay Cast Storm Reid, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey,

Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine Distributor Walt Disney Home Entertainment

The NeverEnding

Story

A bullied boy escapes the real world through the

pages of a fantasy novel.

IF YOU LIKE THIS TRY...

★★★★★