The Guilty directed by Antoine Fuqua; starring Jake Gyllenhaal; adapted by Nic Pizzolatto

Relegated to answering 911 calls after an incident in the line of duty, a policeman receives a call from a kidnapped woman.

Being an almost exact remake of a Danish thriller, the film likewise relies on strong backstories and a clever setup.
Obviously, with its single location, minimal cast and relying entirely on dialogue, this is the perfect film to make during a pandemic.
If you haven't seen the original, then you might give this simple and efficient little thriller a go. And if you have, you might still want to see this one too, if only for Jake Gyllenhaal's intense performance.

Netflix / Rating: C+

Chaos Walking directed by Doug Liman; starring Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen, Demián Bichir and David Oyelowo; written by Christopher Ford and Patrick Ness

On an alien planet where men's thoughts can be seen and heard, a teenage boy tries to help a stranded astronaut from the next colony ship to contact her people

The core sci-fi idea of thoughts becoming visible is intriguing and has its moments. Too often however, it only comes across as an annoying voice-over gimmick.
The rest of the world-building is messy and rarely makes sense, be it a colony that in only a few decades has devolved into a primitive redneck village, a mad preacher with little backstory or payoff, or native aliens that are reduced to a pointless cameo.
The production overall is quite good with strong acting from the film's leads, decent direction and quality design and effects. But overall, the film isn't much more than yet another botched adaptation of a literary IP.

Amazon Prime / Rating: D

The Green Knight written and directed by David Lowery; starring Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan and Erin Kellyman

A young knight, nephew to King Arthur, must set out on a deadly quest to prove his worth.

Benefiting from a lavish production, the film creates some stunning and highly cinematic visuals, often blending the awe-inspiring imagery of John Boorman's "Excalibur" with the more disturbing style of Guillermo del Toro.
The plot however is paper-thin and feels like a succession of episodes which are not only poorly connected but also don't individually resolve in any satisfactory manner.
Likewise, the main character's purpose and goals remain elusive throughout the film. That's no fault of lead Dev Patel who gives an earnest and convincing performance but rather a problem with the writing which is too austere, rife with clunky dialogue and relying too much on obscure subtext for emotion to ever arise.
Completing the fiasco is David Lowery's overly ponderous direction which tries to give the film gravitas but only succeeds in conveying weighty dullness.

Amazon Prime / Rating: E+

Artemis Fowl directed by Kenneth Branagh; starring Ferdia Shaw, Lara McDonnell, Josh Gad, Nonso Anozie, Collin Farrell, Judi Dench, Nikesh Patel and Joshua McGuire; adapted by Eoin Colfer and Hamish McColl

When his father is kidnapped, a boy-genius must tackle the dangers of a secret magical world to rescue him.

After over a decade in development hell, this popular book series finally finds the backing of a major studio who brings together an experienced crew for its adaptation. The result however is a masterclass in failure.
Of course, most of this can be blamed on an abysmal script rife with heavy-handed exposition, cringeworthy dialogue, clunky plotting and artificial characters arcs. But the writing's two stand-out unredeemable flaws are a protagonist so obnoxiously un-relatable that the best scenes of a movie named after him are the ones he's not in (no offense to young actor Ferdia Shaw who had to, unfortunately, work with such dismal material); and a story that promises the discovery of an unseen magical world and yet decides to spend almost all its running time in the protagonist's house. Did J.K. Rowling set all of the first Harry Potter novel at the Dursley's? Nope.
At the helm, veteran Kenneth Branagh does a run-of-the-mill job, though why a director with such experience could even entertain the possibility of interrupting his story with an extraneous narrator every ten minutes is anyone's guess.
The movie's one redeeming quality is an energetic performance from young Lara McDonnell who brings charm and levity to an otherwise dreary enterprise.

Disney+ / Rating: E

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