Bovie Movie

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. 

Sequels are usually a case of diminishing returns, but this third instalment of the Star Wars saga is still essential viewing. Director Richard Marquand jumps straight in where the The Empire Strikes Back finished off with a stunning sequence involving the monstrous Jabba the Hutt, and the pace rarely falters from then on, even if the plot is a bit stop-start at times. Mark Hamill still looks more like an enthusiastic schoolboy than an intergalactic hero, but his climactic scenes with Darth Vader work a treat, and, while adults will probably cringe at the cutesy Ewoks, their presence makes this a particular favourite with younger viewers. 

No matter how hard George Lucas has tried to recapture the magic of the original films, that vital sense of wonder is missing from this first prequel to the original Star Wars films. Instead, Lucas provides a welter of incident, cosmic dilemmas, cryptic forebodings and idiotic dialogue. It’s absolutely phenomenal on the visual front, but completely mindless in the story department as characters are placed in position to explain what we already know. Forget the overworked plot about Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) trying to stop the Trade Federation invading her peaceful planet with help from Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Marvel instead at the state-of-the-art technical wizardry and fizzing action that’s just enough to keep nostalgic wistfulness at bay. 

This proficient remake of the old David Niven/Marlon Brando screwball comedy Bedtime Story attempts to cruise by on star power alone. Michael Caine plays the veteran conman making a comfortable living on the Riviera, who takes brash American Steve Martin under his wing. However, the pair fall out when they compete to take rich heiress Glenne Headly to the cleaners. Caine more than holds his own against the manic Martin, and, if the script holds few surprises, the south of France looks great and director Frank Oz ensures the action slips along smoothly. The result is harmless, frothy fun. 

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.