Empire UK

SuperBob
★★★★
OUT OCTOBER 16 / CERT. 15 / 80 MINS.
DIRECTOR Jon Drever CAST Brett Goldstein Catherine Tate
Natalia Tena

➞ A low-budget British comedy about a superhero is the sort
of premise that would normally have people scuttling for the
hills in expectation of a cringeworthy load of superbobbins.
But by keeping the lid on effects that would be laughed out of
Marvel and focusing instead on a low-key story of the world’s
most powerful man on his day off Jon Drever and Brett
Goldstein’s movie taps into the same reserves of warmth and
heart that made Shaun Of The Dead soar. Goldstein who like
Simon Pegg did in that movie stars and writes is enormously
endearing while Drever milks the mundanity for laughs and
unexpected sweetness. One scene set in a nursing home may
be the most romantic in a superhero fl ick since Superman took
Lois Lane for a night-time fl ight around Metropolis. CH

Hitman: Agent 47

★★

OUT NOW / CERT. 15 / 96 MINS.

DIRECTOR Aleksander Bach CAST Rupert Friend Hannah Ware

Zachary Quinto Ciáran Hinds

➞ That it begins with a big red button saying “upload virus”

and ends with someone being tortured for information on

“adaptive mutation bacteriophages” by a man with metal skin

should tell you all you need to know about Hitman: Agent 47.

Eye-wateringly daft this second stab at adapting the homicidal

video games doesn’t require suspension of disbelief so much as

getting it drunk and stuffi ng it in a trunk. A buzzcut bar-coded

Friend squirms through exposition but delivers on destruction

— Homeland’s Peter Quinn on a pissed-off rampage. Delve into

the story at your own risk (sub-dermal titanium armour!) but

embrace the unrepentant stupidity of Agent 47’s mission to track

down his creator (Hinds) and there’s a zen-like joy to be found in

this screen-vomit of adolescent violence. JD

3 ½ Minutes Ten Bullets
★★★★
OUT OCTOBER 2 / CERT. 15 / 99 MINS.
DIRECTOR Marc Silver CAST Ron Davis Carolina Davis
Leland Brunson

➞ More ammo for the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2012
Florida teenager Jordan Davis was shot over a loud-music
dispute. His killer Michael Dunn fl ed the scene then claimed
self-defence. Was Davis armed? Or was Dunn in self-denial?
With no CCTV footage available the case came down to divisive
eye-witness accounts. Granted exclusive courtroom access
Marc Silver’s documentary places US justice in the dock as
the trial is systematically whitewashed by a defence wilfully
blind to Dunn’s racial prejudice. Silver however remains
exceptionally clear-eyed: his cool reserved style gathers into
cold anger at what is in effect a 21st-century lynching. The
result is a powerful gripping and deeply shocking fi lm and a
contemptuous critique of Florida’s stand-your-ground law. SC

Arcade Fire: The Refl ektor Tapes

★★★

OUT SEPTEMBER 25 / CERT. PG / 88 MINS.

DIRECTOR Kahlil Joseph CAST Arcade Fire

➞ Travelogue visual poem and album ‘making of’ with some

world-tour footage thrown in for good measure this restless

Arcade Fire doc doesn’t know if it wants to rattle or hum. The

enigmatic band gives virtuoso music-video director Kahlil

Joseph access to its Haitian infl uences but keep the audience

rather more at arm’s length from their creative process. The fi nal

effect adds a distancing glaze to a band already deep in the

myth-making business and a somewhat half-hearted welcome

to its world. But among the arty ocean cutaways black-and-

white interludes and skittish montages — think Band With A

Movie Camera — is more than enough of the band’s ever-more

confi dent music and dazzling live performances to keep fans

happy. Sadly Andrew Garfi eld the cross-dressing star of the

band’s We Exist video doesn’t pop up for a cameo. PDS

DID

YOU

KNOW?

Paul

Walker was

originally in

line to play

the title role

before his

tragic death

in November

2013.

DID

YOU

KNOW?

Director

Kahlil

Joseph has

directed

videos for

Kendrick

Lamar and

FKA Twigs.