Blood Father (2016)
Genre: Action
Certification: 15
Duration: 88 minutes
Directed by: Jean-François Richet
Starring: Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty, Diego Luna, Michael Parks, William H. Macy, Miguel Sandoval
KRS Releasing Ltd

Mel Gibson returns to his origins with this French action film based on a novel by Peter Craig.

Mel Gibson goes all out in a bid to save his daughter in Blood Father.

The actor plays a former bad man, named John, who dons a wild beard, lives in a trailer and does tattoos for a living.

One day, his estranged daughter Lydia (Erin Moriarty) calls him  after she accidentally shoots her boyfriend Jonah (Diego Luna), a well-connected member of a Mexican  drug cartel, during a break-in at a family’s house. John cannot but help her.

He tries to ask for a favour from his former mentor and friend, Preacher (Michael Parks), who at first agrees to help but then changes his mind after learning of a reward for turning in Lydia.

So John and Lydia escape, with two of Preacher’s men behind them. Things become more complicated when Diego, who recovers from his wound, manages to abduct Lydia and John has no choice but to offer his life for his daughter.

The film, directed by Jean-François Richet (Assault on Precinct 13) has been described as  mix between an action film, Western (due to its desert location – it was shot in New Mexico) and a road movie. It has received overall positive reviews.

The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads:   “Blood Father meets every expectation a film fan could have for a latter-day Mel Gibson action thriller with its title – and even, in some respects, handily exceeds them.”

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian says that Gibson has “rediscovered his inner badass” and goes on to describe the film as a “muscular yet disciplined movie”. And Manohla Dragis of The New York Times says the film “is a tight, blunt 88 minutes of hard talk, fired bullets and spit-shined genre conventions”.

The film, which had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, had a limited release in the US and was also released on DVD and Blu-ray in some countries.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Empire Magazine: 3 stars

Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016)
Genre: Comedy
Certification: 12A
Duration: 105 minutes
Directed by: Greg Mottola
Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher, Jon Hamm, Gal Gadot, Maribeth Monroe, Matt Walsh
KRS Releasing Ltd

The action comedy film revolves around Jeff and Karen Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher) whose serene life is interrupted by the arrival of new neighbours Tim and Natalie Jones.

Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher get some unexpected thrills in Keeping Up with the Joneses.

Both are very attractive and have a successful career: Tim (Jon Hamm of Madmen fame) is an accomplished travel writer whose hobbies include blowing glass while Natalie (model and new Wonder Woman Gal Gadot) is a social media consultant, cooking blogger and does charity work in Sri Lanka.

The Gaffneys soon find themselves in the centre of a storm of international espionage.

The film received generally negative reviews, saying it is mildly entertaining and not much funny.

Katie Rife of A.V. Club referred to the film as “a perfectly average Hollywood comedy designed to play to perfectly average audiences with a perfectly average fantasy of living a double life in the exciting world of international espionage”.

Chris Agar of Screen Rant wrote: “Despite a fun premise, Keeping Up with the Joneses is a mildly entertaining comedy that's very generic.

While Chris Hewitt of Empire Magazine sums it all up by saying: “An unfortunate misfire that has the odd moment of charm and the odder chuckle, but otherwise isn’t worth keeping up with.”

The film, released in the US on October 21, has earned about $7 million in box office receipts.

Ratings
IMDB: 5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 19%
Empire Magazine: 2 stars

Trolls (2016)
Genre: Animation
Certification: U
Duration: 102 minutes
Directed by: Mike Mitchell, Walt Dohrn
Voices of: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, James Corden, Russell Brand, Zooey Deschanel
KRS Releasing Ltd

Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake voice the main protagonists of the musical comedy Trolls.

Dreamworks Animations’ 3D musical comedy is based on dolls of the same name,  with a voicing cast  by some big names in Hollywood and the international music industry like Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani.

These creatures live in constant fear of being eaten by Bergens, a race of much larger beasts who want to gobble them up to absorb their cheerful essence.  When a number of trolls are kidnapped, their optimistic leader Poppy and Branch, who is her polar opposite, embark on an adventure to rescue them.

The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising the vibrant-looking picture but not the “recognisable” plot or the musical numbers, which have been described as “forgettable”.

Perhaps the least forgettable one is Can’t Stop the Feeling, the chart-topping hit by Justin Timberlake, who was the executive producer for the film’s music and voices the character of Branch.

The film has garnered $20.5 million worldwide since its launch at the BFI film festival in London on October 8. But it still has not opened in the US (November 4).

Ratings
IMDB: 6.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Empire Magazine: 3 stars