Bastille Day (2016)
Genre: Action
Certification: 15
Duration: 92 minutes
Directed by: James Watkins
Starring: Idris Elba, Richard, Madden, Charlotte Le Bon, Anatol Yusef, Kelly Reilly, José Garcia
KRS Releasing Ltd

Richard Madden is chased by the CIA in Bastille Day.

The action film, directed by third-time director James Watkins follows an American pickpocket named Michael Mason (Richard Madden) in Paris.

The latter finds himself hunted by the CIA when he steals a bag that contains more than just a wallet.

Sean Briar (Idris Elba), the field agent on the case, soon realises that Michael is just a pawn in a much bigger game and is also his best asset to uncover a large-scale conspiracy.

Going against orders, Briar recruits Michael to use his expert pickpocketing skills to help quickly track down the source of the corruption. As a 24-hour thrill ride ensues, the unlikely duo discover they are both targets and must rely upon each other in order to take down a common enemy.

The film received generally positive reviews.

Guy Lodge of Variety wrote: “It's Watkins’s lean, keen instinct for choreographing and cutting action set pieces that keeps Bastille Day afloat.”

John Nugent of Empire Magazine was not totally convinced about the plot but said that it keeps your attention throughout with pockets of gunplay and fight scenes.

He wrote: “It rarely makes sense – the script vastly overestimates the power of the hashtag as a weapon of mass destruction – but you’re never bored.”

Ratings
IMDB: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 61%
Empire Magazine: 3 stars

Bad Neighbours 2 (2016)
Genre: Comedy
Certification: 15
Duration: 92 minutes
Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Selena Gomez, Seth Rogen, Lisa Kudrow
KRS Releasing Ltd

Zac Efron (left) and Seth Rogen show their abs in Bad Neighbours 2.

In the sequel to the 2014 film, Mac Radner (Seth Rogen) and his pregnant wife Kelly (Rose Byrne) are leading a good life until the unruly sisters of Kappa Nu sorority move in next door.

The loud parties threaten the sale of their home, so the couple turn to ex-neighbour and one-time enemy Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron) for help. Now united with the former college student, the trio devises schemes to get the wild sorority off the block. But the rebellious young women refuse to go down without a fight.

Despite Grace Moretz’s entry, it’s Efron who steals the spotlight. Guy Lodge praises the former High School Musical star, saying: “While a subtly-clawed Chloë Grace Moretz proves a worthy new foil, it's Zac Efron's tragicomic anatomy of a dudebro [a hypermasculine man] that remains this series' sharpest asset.”

Overall, the critics said that the sequel adds nothing new to the original film. As Phil de Semlyen of Empire Magazine said: “Comedy sequels very rarely improve on the original and this one is no exception. A for intentions, C for execution.”

However, the film generates some laughs and hopefully a huge sum at the box office. The film has opened in the UK and Sweden, among other countries, but will only open in the US on May 20.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 61%
Empire Magazine: 2 stars

Despite The Falling Snow (2016)
Genre: Drama
Certification: 12A
Duration: 96 minutes
Directed by: Shamim Sarif
Starring: Rebecca Ferguson, Anthony Head, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Charles Dance
KRS Releasing Ltd

Rebecca Ferguson is torn between her mission and her love for Sam Reid in Despite the Falling Snow.

Shamim Sarif directs an adaption of his own 2004 successful novel of the same name.

The plot is set during two different periods: one part is set in 1950s Moscow, Russia during the Cold War years, while the other follows the story of 1992 Moscow and London in the period after the collapse of USSR.

In 1950s Moscow, communist Katya (Rebecca Ferguson) secretly spies for the Americans in the Cold War arms race. When she lands her biggest assignment, stealing secrets from rising government star Alexander (Sam Reid), the last thing she expects is to fall in love with him.

When Alexander unwittingly closes the net around his own wife, Katya decides to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect him... a sacrifice that is only discovered 30 years later by an older Alexander (Charles Dance).

The film did not convince critics much. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian describes the film as “a creeky film” that offers “stolidly old-fashioned, rather bafflingly preposterous spy-tale-slash-love-story.”

The acting and the screenplay were described as laborious and the revelations as uninteresing.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 7%
Empire Magazine: 2 stars

Purple Rain (1984)
Genre: Musical
Certification: 15+
Duration: 90 minutes
Directed by: Albert Magnoli
Starring: Prince, Appolonia Kotero, Morris Day
Eden Leisure Group

Prince plays a club musician struggling to get into the limelight in Purple Rain.

Eden Cinemas are showing a 1984 film to celebrate the life of the psychedelic ‘Prince of Pop’.

The rock musical drama marks the big screen debut of Prince – born Prince Rogers Nelson – as the Kid, a Minneapolis club musician as alienated as he is talented. The film follows his struggles with a tumultuous home life and his smouldering anger, while taking refuge in his music.

The film had garnered praise, mostly due to the charisma of its star and a string of classic hits.

It is showing at the Eden Cinemas from Friday to Sunday.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 67%
Empire Magazine: 2 stars