Love, Simon (2018)
Genre: Drama
Director: Greg Berlanti
Starring: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Logan Miller
Duration: 110 minutes
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd

The romantic comedy-drama by producer-turned-director Greg Berlanti,  is based on the novel Simon v the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.

The film revolves around 17-year-old Simon Spier (Nick Robinson), who has not told his family or friends that he is gay and does not know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he is fallen for online.  Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing for Simon.

The 20th Century Fox film, which is the first major studio film to focus on a gay teenage romance, has won rave reviews, with critics calling it an “instant classic”.

Joyce Slaton of Common Sense Media wrote: “Tender, sweet, and affecting, this is the mainstream romcom that gay teens might not have even known they needed. But when they watch it, they'll find themselves deeply reflected.”

Terry White  of Empire magazine compared the film to John Hughes’s popular 1980s teen romances. He said: “The high school teen romcom is reborn for 2018. Funny, sentimental and smart: John Hughes would be proud.”

And the critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: “Love, Simon hits its coming-of-age beats more deftly than many entries in this well-travelled genre – and represents an overdue, if not entirely successful, milestone of inclusion.”

Ratings
IMDB: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Empire: 4 stars

Dwayne Johnson teams up with an albino gorilla in Rampage.

Rampage (2018)
Genre: Sci-fi
Director: Brad Peyton
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello
Duration: 107 minutes
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd

Dwayne Johnson teams up with an albino gorilla in this sci-fi, monster adventure film loosely based on the video game series of the same name.

Johnson stars as primatologist Davis Okoye, who fosters an intelligent rare albino silverback gorilla which he had rescued from poachers.

A rogue genetic experiment, however, goes awry and mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size. It is soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals that are destroying everything in their path across North America. So Okoye teams with discredited geneticist Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) to secure an antidote.

The film received average reviews, with most critics lamenting about the not-so-amusing plot and some going as far as calling it “dumb”.

Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media commented: “Even the immensely likeable Johnson can’t save this video game-based adventure from its laughable premise and ridiculous dialogue.”

David Sims of The Atlantic wrote: “Rampage is a big, noisy nothing – an action extravaganza that fails at being funny just as hard as it fails at being serious.”

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: “This impressive-looking but relatively less amusing big-screen adaptation gets it backward, reverting to the shrill save-our-cities panic that fuelled such hokey 1950s classics as Them.

The $120 million film topped the US box office on its debut last weekend and earned $151.5 million worldwide.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.5
Rotten Tomatoes: 50%
Empire: 3 stars

Lucy Hale has to face her deepest fears in Truth or Dare.

Truth or Dare (2018)
Genre: Horror
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Starring: Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Sophia Ali, Nolan Gerard Funk
Duration: 100 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

The popular game is the inspiration behind this horror film by Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2).

The plot sees Olivia, Lucas and a group of their college friends travelling to Mexico for one last getaway before graduation. While there, a stranger convinces one of the students to play a seemingly harmless game of truth or dare with the others. But once the game starts, it awakens a demon which forces the friends to share dark secrets and confront their deepest fears.

Critics panned the movie, saying it’s not original, full of clichéd horror tropes and lacking humour.

Ben Travis of Empire magazine said: “The truth is, it’s not very good – and entirely without scares.”

Micheal Ordona of Common Sense Media lambasted the picture: “This horror film is unoriginal, pandering and nondescript enough to be brushed off – until the ending, which is so maddeningly foolish that it practically requires a warning to stay away.”

The $3.5 million production, which opened in the US on April 13, however fared relatively well at the box office, grossing $21.2 million worldwide.

Ratings
IMDB: 4.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 17%
Empire: 2 stars