Bovie Movie

Under the assumption that everyone has seen The Fellowship of the Ring, director Peter Jackson here jumps straight back into the action, with only a revealing flashback to Gandalf’s plunge into the void from the first film. With the fellowship fractured, the story diverges into three separate strands: Frodo and Sam’s trek to Mordor, on which they are joined by the deranged Gollum; Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn’s attempted allegiance with the imperilled kingdom of Rohan; and Merry and Pippin’s affiliation with the sentient trees of Fangorn Forest. It’s darker and more urgent than the opening segment, and Jackson again displays an unparalleled grasp of storytelling on a grand scale — the siege of Helm’s Deep is as heroic and spectacular as any battle scene committed to film. The performances are uniformly excellent, with the original cast reinforced by strong characterisations from Brad Dourif and Bernard Hill. The most impressive contribution, however, comes from Andy Serkis, who provides the creepy tones and fluid physical movements of the CGI-created Gollum. 

This supernatural gothic whodunnit is another beautifully crafted offering from eccentric maestro Tim Burton. With a perfect cast milking every sinister nuance, Burton’s clever take on Washington Irving’s timeless tale of terror uses the classic look of Hammer’s golden horror era to stunning effect. Johnny Depp, sporting a clipped English accent, is brilliant as maverick policeman Ichabod Crane, sent to the small New England community of Sleepy Hollow to investigate three mysterious beheadings, which the locals are blaming on the ghost of the legendary Headless Horseman. Cruel shocks and subversive thrills combine with sly humour in a stunning movie that’s steeped in Burton’s Grimm fairy-tale sensibilities and unrestrained love of the fantasy genre. 

Scaramanga is a hit-man who charges a million dollars per job. He becomes linked to the death of a scientist working on a powerful solar cell, and James Bond is called in to investigate. As he tracks down Scaramanga, he realises that he is highly respected by the killer, but will this prove to be an advantage in the final showdown?

The Russians need help in dealing with the Mafia and so they seek help with the veterans of the Police Academy. They head off to Moscow, in order to find evidence against Konstantin Konali, who marketed a computer game that everyone in the world is playing. With a sequel to the game he wants to put backdoors in all computer systems on which it gets installed, thus providing access to the police and other government systems.

Made around the same time as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this wonderful fantasy appeared in what was a vintage year for fans of the director. This exquisitely crafted example of stop-motion animation puts a hip spin on a Russian folk tale, with shy Victor Van Dort (voiced by Johnny Depp) wandering into the woods to practise his marriage vows and ending up spliced to a corpse (Helena Bonham Carter) — a passionate, blue-hued beauty with a maggot living in her eye. She whisks him off to a curiously vibrant subterranean land, but this enchanting world and his new bride’s increasingly apparent charms are little comfort to Victor when he’d rather be hitched to his living, breathing fiancée Victoria (Emily Watson) above ground. There’s a strong resemblance here to Burton’s previous foray into feature animation, The Nightmare before Christmas, but this time the gothic morbidity is tinged with more sweetness, and the consistently funny and often lyrical script is far better. 

The Star Wars saga finally concludes 28 years after the original instalment first hit cinemas and created a phenomenon. With the story’s outcome predetermined, this crucial and much anticipated segment details how and why dedicated Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) turned away from good to become the evil Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. Given that this involves fairly serious issues — love, loyalty, jealousy, betrayal — you’d expect an emotionally intense film. However, writer/director George Lucas’s ridiculous dialogue and unconvincing plot developments play like second-rate soap opera, almost robbing this epic of pathos and tension. As a consequence, the actors struggle to animate their underwritten characters, especially Christensen, who lacks the charisma to inhabit such a vital role. Fortunately, the superb visuals and many exciting lightsaber duels save the day, easily surpassing the previous two episodes in terms of breathtaking spectacle. It might not be quite the mind-blowing finale that die-hard fans were hoping for, but at least there is enough here to make the spine tingle. 

On points, this beats the underwhelming Episode I: more action, less politics and better gags. Though the old truisms about saga creator George Lucas still apply — as a director he’s uncomfortable with actors (apart from those created in post-production) and as a writer he excels at stage directions — fans of the original Star Wars will find much to enjoy here, particularly the cleverly planted story seeds for what we all know is to come. Ewan McGregor relaxes into the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, playing master rather than pupil now, and combines withering humour with credible superheroics. Samuel L Jackson finally gets to wield a lightsaber in the climactic gladiatorial showdown — an improvement on all the sitting and talking he did in The Phantom Menace. By cutting between three major plot strands — Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Amidala (Natalie Portman) fall in love; Obi-Wan confronts bounty hunter Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison); the Jedi prepare for war — Lucas never loses our attention, and the computer-generated imagery is impeccable, not least when Yoda duels with Jedi gone bad, Christopher Lee. If only the outcome — still one long episode away — wasn’t set in stone. But then, this isn’t a film — it’s part of a cinematic institution. 

In the first chapter of director Peter Jackson’s $300-million adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s classic trilogy, Middle-earth is the fictional setting, but it’s no backdrop; it’s a living, breathing universe, in which mild-mannered hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) is forced to turn hero when he inherits the ring of absolute power. Assisted by powerful wizard Gandalf (a perfectly cast Ian McKellen) and a ragtag group of warriors and friends, he must journey across mountain, forest and plain to return the talisman to its source. The computer-generated images transform the New Zealand locations into views that will take your breath away and only someone with a pathological aversion to fantasy could fail to be absorbed and transported by this stunning, sincere and frequently terrifying adaptation. 

Charlie Bucket comes from a poor family, and spends most of his time dreaming about the chocolate that he loves but usually can’t afford. Things change when Willy Wonka, head of the very popular Wonka Chocolate empire, announces a contest in which five gold tickets have been hidden in chocolate bars and sent throughout the country. The kids who find the tickets will be taken on a tour of Wonka’s chocolate factory and get a special glimpse of the wonders within. Charlie miraculously finds a ticket, along with four other children much naughtier than him. The tour of the factory will hold more than a few surprises for this bunch…