A Simple Favour (2018)
Genre: Thriller
Director: Paul Feig
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Eric Johnson, Jean Smart
Duration: 117 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

Paul Feig (Spy, Ghostbusters) directs this mystery thriller based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Darcey Bell.

The plot revolves around Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), a mummy vlogger who seeks to uncover the truth behind her best friend Emily’s (Blake Lively) sudden disappearance from their small town. Stephanie is joined by Emily’s husband Sean (Henry Golding) in this search filled with twists and betrayals, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge.

The film has been panned by  some critics, while others loved it, with one critic even saying that a new genre has been created.

Michael Ordona of Common Sense Media wrote: “Director Paul Feig, screenwriter Jessica Sharzer and company have hit on a new genre – the cute noir – and they’ve done it with style, humour  and a spicy sprinkling of nerve.”

However, others weren’t as impressed.

Manohla Dargis of the New York Times described the film as a “domestic comedy with neo-noir ambitions”.

She adds that: “Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick pump oxygen into their caricatures, but the drawn-out payoff doesn’t deliver.”

Molly Freeman of Screen Rant wrote: “A Simple Favour is a delightfully twisty psychological thriller with compelling performances, and much of Paul Feig’s humour, but little substance.”

The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, however, is more positive:

“Twisty, twisted, and above all simply fun, A Simple Favour casts a stylish mommy noir spell strengthened by potent performances from Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively.”

The film, released in the US on September 14, has so far grossed $62.8 million worldwide.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
Empire: 2 stars

Olga Kurylenko is Rowan Atkinson’s ‘girl’ inJohnny English Strikes Again.

Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)
Genre: Comedy
Director: David Kerr
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Olga Kurylenko, Emma Thompson, Jake Lacy, Charles Dance
Duration: 88 minutes
Class: U
KRS Releasing Ltd

Rowan Atkinson returns to his beloved role as an inept secret agent for a third chapter of the spy-spoof series. On his side is French actress and model Olga Kurylenko, who played a Bond girl  in the 2008 film Quantum of Solace.

The new adventure begins when a cyberattack reveals the identities of all active undercover agents in Britain, leaving Johnny English as the secret service’s last hope.

Called out of retirement, English dives headfirst into action with the mission to find the mastermind hacker. As a man with few skills and analogue methods, Johnny English must overcome the challenges of modern technology to make this mission a success.

Early reviews for this movie, which opens in Malta on Friday, have not been so good.

Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film “feels more like a threadbare cash-in than the latest instalment of a blockbuster franchise” and that the adult audience “will simply have our time wasted by a cheap-looking romp that remains obstinately low on comic inspiration from start to finish.”

Owen Gleiberman of Variety could not help but compare Atkinson’s role with that of Mr Bean – Atkinson’s most popular role – but says that Mr Bean is much funnier.

And Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, who called the film “another under-powered Rowan Atkinson spy spoof” commented: “All the stops are certainly pulled out for that last sequence, but as amiable and boisterous as it is, there’s quite a bit of kids’ TV about the whole thing.”

Ratings
IMDB: 6.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 37%
Empire: N/A

Michael Caine leads an ensemble cast of British legends in King of Thieves.

King of Thieves (2018)
Genre: Crime
Directors: James Marsh
Starring: Charlie Cox, Michael Caine, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone
Duration: 108 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

Michael Caine, who is not new to the crime caper genre, here leads 

a cast of British veteran actors to recount one of the biggest burglaries in English legal history, known as the 2015 Hatton Garden jewel heist.

The plot follows a crew of retired crooks as they pull off this major heist in London’s jewellery district. All goes well at the beginning but it all eventually turns into a brutal nightmare when greed overtakes them.

Directed by James Marsh (Man on Wire, The Theory of Everything), the film was harshly criticised. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that the all-star cast “forfeit their dignity in a caper beset by creaking parts, bad jokes and tedious storytelling”.

Guy Lodge of Variety called it “a low-carat affair” and said: “This proficiently polished thriller seems to feel a creak in its own joints: torn between jaunty genre hijinks and a bleaker streak of realism, it’s a strangely stiff, lethargic account of a cracking tale.”

Ratings
IMDB: 6.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 31%
Empire: 3 stars