Tom and Jerry take their cat-and-mouse game to the big screen in a hilarious story of new friendships, outlandish physical comedy, and plenty of fun moments. 

Director Tim Story (Fantastic Four, Ride Along), brings his unique talent for crafting pleasing, easy-going cinema to the big screen in Tom & Jerry: The Movie, and he directly understands what this movie about and who he’s making it for. Tom & Jerry: The Movie is first and foremost a family film, and Story builds out a film that will appeal to both children, and their parents, with a mix of live-action/cartoon fun, and a set of jokes and slapstick humour that will appeal in equal parts to younger viewers, along with their parents. He explores the continual mischief that has long existed between Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse since the 1940s in a very contemporary setting, and these two sure do make a mess in the city of New York.

Stuck in the back and forth bickering is Chloë Grace Moretz as Kayla, a young woman desperate for a chance to prove herself in the big city and who gets a job at the luxurious Royal Gate Hotel, and more importantly a job and irresponsibility she’s long craved. She also has to contend with the shenanigans of Tom and Jerry, and this is where it gets fun for audiences. Grace Moretz’s role in Tom & Jerry: The Movie is a solid break away from her recent, more serious work, and with this role, she’s just able to let her hair down and have some fun. Grace Moretz fully embraces the whimsy and hilarity of the project and it’s fun to watch her interactions with these two trouble makers on the big screen.

Story keeps to the classic slapstick absurdity of the original cartoons, and there’s plenty of outlandish fun that will get the littlies laughing with this one, Whether it’s Tom’s over-the-top attempts to capture Jerry in the Royal Gate Hotel, or Jerry’s propensity to antagonise Tom, all of it is handled with the utmost fun by Story. But it’s not all laughs, and both Tom and Jerry have to go on a journey of personal development and actually work together to make the wishes of someone else’s dreams come true in the form of blushing bride-to-be Preeta (Pallavi Sharda) and that sometimes it’s better to be there for others than to focus on your own desires. It’s messages like this that make Tom & Jerry: The Movie a really great family film, and young audiences will take a lot away from it.

Parents who are seeking something fun and lighthearted to keep their kids entertained these school holidays will be very pleased with what’s on offer in Tom & Jerry: The Movie and this is a very sweet, and adorable family film that everyone will fall in love with. Our recommendation is to expect plenty of laughs and a great narrative about what friendship really means, and just sit back and enjoy the fun of this one, because there’s plenty to be had here in Tom & Jerry: The Movie.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

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On a stormy night during World War II, a female pilot, Flight Officer Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz) with top-secret cargo talks her way on board a bomber plane about to take-off. The crass all-male crew reluctantly agrees, but their suspicions about her identity and the mysterious cargo quickly grow. Just then a shadow appears in the clouds – was it the incoming Japanese fleet? Or caused by some other sinister stowaway?

New Zealand filmmaker Roseanne Liang cranks up the action, with this, her first action feature in Shadow in the Cloud, and the result is something that is outlandishly fun. An experiment in genre and tension, Liang pulls from classic action movies, war dramas, 1980s slasher films, creature features and the best of grindhouse cinema and crafts what can be described as the ultimate in-your-face Midnight Movie. And Shadow in the Cloud is sure to cause your adrenaline to spike. From its opening frame, till its closing moments, Liang builds out a simmering tension that soon turns into a full boil assault as her protagonist, Flight Officer Garrett (Moretz), takes on a dangerous unforeseen enemy and you never know where this one is going to take you.

In terms of the cinematic experience, Shadow in the Cloud is a film that keeps you guessing the whole way through and the less you know upfront about this film’s narrative, the more engaging it is on the screen. I went into this one completely blind, and this made its grindhouse appeal all the more entertaining, as you are completely left off guard by its originality and intensity. From my reaction to Shadow in the Cloud, I can only surmise that Liang’s goal was to make a ‘kick-ass’ action movie, and in that, she succeeded with a film that cranks your adrenaline to its limits.

Stepping into the lead of Shadow in the Cloud is Chloë Grace Moretz as Flight Officer Garrett, a WWII Air Corps aviator who is carrying a top-secret package that must be transported off base. And she’ll do anything necessary to protect it. Like Liang, Grace plays with her audience’s expectations throughout the entirety of Shadow in the Cloud, and her performance keeps her audience on a razor’s edge. You never know how she’s going to react, and this ever-changing narrative truly tests the resolve of her character through and through. From the get-go, Moretz has been an action cinema veteran and in Shadow in the Cloud, she kicks this into high gear with a kick-ass assault that proves how gnarly she can get as Garrett.

The action of Shadow in the Cloud can best be described as WILD, and action junkies who are seeking their fix will be in for a treat with this one. From shoot-em up’s with Japanese Zero planes to explosively insane aerobatics to a bone-crunching confrontation with a sinister stowaway, Shadow in the Cloud cranks up the action and the intensity doesn’t let up for a moment. Both Liang and Moretz are very creative in their collaboration and their use of action as a storytelling method in Shadow in the Cloud, and the resulting set-pieces, will have you on the edge of your seat.

Shadow in the Cloud is a piece of pure grindhouse cinema which is dialled all the way up to 100. It delivers a unique genre re-mix, and it hits with the force of a Webley Revolver! If you’re seeking some midnight movie madness, Shadow in the Cloud is a pure winner.

Image: Roadshow Films

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A sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) doesn’t think twice about returning the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to widowed Greta. The two become fast friends — but Greta’s maternal charms begin to dissolve and grow increasingly disturbing as Frances discovers that nothing in Greta’s life is what it seems.

Director Neil Jordan is no stranger to the idea of horror and his vast filmography features an assortment of horror classics such as Interview with the Vampire and The Company of Wolves, but here the director takes a real sharp turn with Greta and constructs a dark and sinister thriller filled with plenty of psychological trauma. With its Hitchcockian styling, Greta has a frightening pace and presents some very intense moments as our lead character Francis (Chloë Grace Moretz) falls under the spell of the lonely Greta (Isabelle Huppert). As things get rolling and Greta’s alarming obsessions boil to the surface, Jordan really ramps up the tension and you begin to start recoiling in your seat with the scares that the director throws your way.

Jordan builds Greta as a character piece based around the perspective of three protagonists and frames his story from the perspective of Chloë Grace Moretz….and it’s a character and a narrative unlike anything the young actress has ever played before. Seemingly normal and average in every way Moretz’s Francis is essentially a good person who has been through a tragedy and is trying to do good in the world. She soon befriends Greta, and while the relationship is amiable at first things soon take a twisted turn and Francis is suddenly introduced to Greta’s disturbing true character with great viciousness. As a protagonist, Moretz really reveals herself in the role and her emotions really sink into the audience. As the minutes tick by the terror tightens around our central protagonist and Moretz gives a thoroughly believable performance of entrapment and panic as the horrors fall in around her.

Joining Moretz in the film is celebrated French actress Isabelle Huppert as the titular character, a painfully lonely woman who slowly draws Francis into her life before revealing her all to darker intentions. Regarded as one of the world’s leading actresses, Huppert brings a phenomenal presence to the role that changes in a heartbeat. While she first reveals herself as sweet and charming, in the next beat of a scene a sinister icy glare appears across her face and this expressionless madness is staring back at you. Unstable and extremely unnerving, there’s almost this otherworldly evil quality to Huppert’s Greta and when she ‘adopts’ Francis as her own ‘child’, her maniacal world is on full display. The tension never stops mounting with Huppert’s performance and Greta’s insanity is sure to provide you with plenty of nightmares.

Finally Maika Monroe completes Greta’s trinity as Francis’ party girl roommate and best friend Erica and she provides a sort of outside overview to the film’s narrative. While not a crucial part of the Greta/Francis relationship, Monroe’s Erica provides a different perspective to this film’s twisting relationship and she’s the one who is constantly checking Francis on her naivety. She’s the character who is saying ‘stay away from this mad woman’, and her sensible assertiveness really sends a jolt to the audience about the growing dangers that Greta gives to our heroine. Along with her stance as the film’s most proactive character, Monroe also brings a great sense of energy to her role and provides some lighthearted relief from the thrills with plenty of great comedic quips.

As a viewing experience, Greta absolutely keeps you on the edge of your seat and this is one thriller that doesn’t hold back the horrors. When Greta’s frightening nature does finally reach the surface, the film’s experience becomes one of intense dread as you never know what’s going to happen next, and Jordan absolutely plays all of it up here. Good thrillers rely on a balance of tension, and the director gives the film a snappish quality as each of our characters actions become more extreme in their delivery….and there are certainly moments that will make you squirm. It’s been a while since I can remember a film that made such an impact on its audience that you can hear those around you in the audience jump and scream next to you as they recoil at the horrors that are presented up on screen and Greta definitely creates that reaction within its audience in the gnarliest way possible.

Wound tight and coiled with explosive energy, Greta is one film that seriously gets under your skin and stays there. With it’s twisted narrative and solid performances from its lead characters it is sure to keep you on edge the whole time and will fill you with fear as only the best horrors can.

Image: Universal Pictures

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If laughter is what you want then you’ve come to the right place, with Bad Neighbours 2 throwing out all the rules when it comes to physical comedy. It’s fast, kinetic, and unstoppable, and there are no limits as to how far stars Seth Rogen, Zac Efron (reprising his role as former sorority head Teddy) and Chloe Grace Moretz will go. The infamous ‘air bags’ are also back for one seriously painful stunt that will leave audiences in fits of laughter.

While Rogen is his usual funny self, it is the younger cast who really steal the show here. Efron makes the biggest transformation of all the characters from the first film, with Teddy having now become lost and disillusioned with life as a result of his all party philosophy. While he is looking to get back at the girls of Kappa Nu, he’s really trying to find a family and a place for himself in this world, and his search for personal growth yields hilarious results.

Matching Teddy is Moretz’s Shelby, a former lonely teenager who is determined to break the rules and have as much fun as she wants during her college years. While Shelby is determined to break all the stereotypes of what it means to be an American college girl, as well as destroying the rampant sexism that she sees within the Greek system, she has a genuine level of care for her ‘sisters’, and even this rubs off on Kelly and Mac.

While Bad Neighbours 2 has plenty of gross-out humour, and will have audiences in hysterics from beginning to end, it’s primarily the themes of acceptance and family that really make it work. I encourage you to give this one a go…you’ll be thoroughly amused.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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The film stars Washington as Robert McCall, a former black ops commando who faked his death to live a quiet life in Boston. When he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to rescue a young girl called Teri, he finds himself face-to-face with ultra-violent Russian gangsters. As he serves justice out those who brutalise the helpless, McCalls’s desire for justice is reawakened. If some had a problem, the odds stacked against them, and they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

Director Antoine Fuqua has crafted a terrific action-thriller which starts off as a slow boil before exploding into full on war. Working from the standpoint of story and character first, Fuqua takes the time to develop his lead character Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), and the world he inhabits. The Equalizer never wastes a beat though. with every frame powering the story forward. Style is also placed next to pacing, and The Equalizer has the feel of the sort of action thriller that harkens back to the film works of the 1970s such as ‘Bullet’, ‘The French Connection’ and ‘Get Carter’. Fuqua builds an intimacy for his audience with McCall’s larger than life heroics, and they’ll find themselves cheering for him when he takes down the bad guys.

As always, Denzel Washington completely commands the screen as the former super spy assassin. A modern day ronin, McCall has left behind his world of violence and death for peace and obscurity, valuing nothing except the right to be left alone, dedicating his life to an almost monastic ritual of simplicity and rhythm. Washington easily portrays McCall’s dual identity as forgettable everyman, and modern day samurai, as well as having a handle on the sadness that permeates his character. Washington’s patience also informs the character of McCall, especially when it comes to the horrible things he’s forced to witness, and his inability at first not to act. This eats away at him, and when the violence does come he delivers it back ten-fold with absolute assertiveness and brutality. In control of the situation at all times, McCall will give you the opportunity to do good, but if you choose otherwise, well…prepare for very quick and violent consequences.

Chloe Grace Moretz’s Teri is the innocent who calls out to McCall’s hero for help. A victim of human traffickers and who was forced into prostitution, Teri is the young ingénue who desperately wants a chance at a different life. Filled with teenage angst, she is slightly standoffish at first to McCall, but is curious about this mysterious loner whom she meets at the late night diner that they both frequent. She slowly gets to know him, and forms a friendship with a man who is non-judgmental, and encourages her to change her life for the better. Moretz gives another fantastic performance, and holds her own during the scenes she shares with Washington, which gradually grow more heartfelt as she learns of the reasons behind his sadness. The brutality that is leveled against her will enrage audience members, and they’ll really be gunning for McCall to avenge her.

Every hero needs a monster, and Marton Csokas is perfect as brutal Russian mob fixer Teddy. Teddy is described as ‘a sociopath with a business card’ whose job it is to use extreme terror and sadism to protect his criminal organisation’s interests. A former Spetznaz operative, Teddy is McCall’s dark shadow come to life, and the two play an increasingly dangerous game of cat and mouse. Csokas is terrifying as Teddy, switching in an instant from refined and dapper to an unrelenting psychotic who’ll tear anyone apart. Devoid of all emotion, he has no qualms about the violence he employs everyday to get the job done. One of the best scenes of the film comes in a certain ‘meeting of the minds’ between these two adversaries, and it’s absolutely chilling to watch.

The Equalizers’ supporting cast are also great, both heroic and villainous. On the heroic side you have Melissa Leo as McCall’s former handler Susan Plummer, whom he turns to for information, as well as Bill Pullman as her husband Brian. The bad guys also have a great supporting cast including David Harbour as Masters, a corrupt police detective, David Meunier as vicious pimp Slavi, Johnny Messner as a hired hitman, and Dan Bilzerian as a member of Teddy’s Serbian mercenary team who are brought in to deal with McCall.

While The Equalizer focuses its attention on story and character when the action does come, it’s unflinching in its brutality. McCall is an expert, and he wastes no time going to work on the bad guys, tearing them apart in quick, calculated succession. The film’s most memorable battle takes place in a hardware store that McCall transforms into a death chamber. It’s definitely not for the squeamish, and will make you look twice at power drills and garden shears.

The Equalizer is an absolute must-see for film fans, thanks to a director and cast at the top of their game, not to mention a story filled with action, drama and honour.

Image source: Roadshow Films.

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