In 2006’s ‘Happy Feet’, we meet a newly-hatched Emperor penguin named Mumble (Elijah Wood); cute and cuddly, but does not know how to sing. No matter, Mumble can tap-dance and he tap-dances well. Now Mumble in ‘Happy Feet 2’ is a grownup, married to his lady-love Gloria (singer Pink), and they have their very own child, Erik (Ava Acres) to look after. Trouble is, Erik is neither a singing nor tap-dancing penguin, and the last thing he wants to do is join the flock othat do the same!

Instead, Erik decides to go on an adventure with Ramon (Robin Williams), the former love guru now in pursuit of his own true love in Gloria (Sofia Vergara). But where there is Mumble’s mini-me lies drama, and as Erik and company get separated from his parents, ice glaciers melt between them, and the divide just keeps getting wider. Can Mumble ever find Erik and bring him back home?

A surprisingly hilarious additions are not penguins, though – they’re krills Bill (Brad Pitt) and Will (Matt Damon) – a couple of microscopic shrimp-like sea creatures that are at the bottom of the food chain. Krills are snacked upon by whales and penguins alike, and yet with Bill, he is adamant to rise above his station. Bill wants to be a predator and his best friend Will wants to make sure he achieves that – before they get eaten.

Rendered in already lush CGI animation, ‘Happy Feet 2’ now can be viewed in 3-D, making it nice eye candy for its audience. You will exclaim, ‘They’re so cute and fluffy’ from start to finish, especially the baby Emperor penguins. But the movie isn’t all about being cuddly; it espouses the problem of global warming like its prequel, although it is not as heavy-handed here. Of course, the musical aspect remains; penguins burst into song-and-dance numbers aplenty, and you will be delighted by it. Sometimes you may feel that the novelty of bursting into song may have worn off, especially since we’ve consumed many episodes of TV’s ‘Glee’ by now. Still, don’t say those penguins didn’t entertain you.

Reviewed by Melissa Orcine, Cinema Paradiso

Robert Downey Jr. is the hyper-intelligent sleuth in ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’, with his bromantic co-star Jude Law as Dr. John Watson and directed by Guy Ritchie (‘Snatch’, ‘Rocknrolla’). The trio band together again for turn-of-the-century England mysteries and adventures, only much more complex this time with the menace provided by Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), who is considered by Holmes as ‘the Napoleon of crime’.

In 2009, Downey, Law, and Ritchie made a hit out of their first foray into revitalizing ‘Sherlock Holmes’. As it is, Holmes is a compelling enough character to make adaptations with, but with Ritchie at the helm, it is given a modern-day action swag usually unseen in period films. For the sequel ‘A Game of Shadows’, there are more explosions, more locations, more conundrums to decipher, and more bromance between Holmes and Watson. Film is more than what’s expected – it is also what makes it too much for the audience.

There is less sparring between Holmes and Moriarty; they play chess mind games from a distance, and the tension that builds between them is not subpar.

Jared Harris as Moriarty does a great job portraying him as a not-so stereotypical villain, no ego-maniacal laughter and sneers here. There are more scenes with Holmes and Watson bickering like an old married couple – a fun dynamic that’s exploited here – and now an introduction of an empowered female, a gypsy in Noomi Rapace (the original Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) – and yet, ‘A Game of Shadows’ looks just like a sequel to me, begging for Part Three.

Nothing much has improved – lest you consider Downey’s incoherent English accent from ‘Sherlock Holmes’ as at least understandable this time around – but Ritchie’s bag of tricks of Holmes’ articulating his moves in slow motion before it’s shown in regular speed and slow motions for running and firing guns are just that, the same.

Their take on Holmes is interesting enough but the steampunk quality can get grating and cartoonish. They should have called it ‘Holmes & Watson: Odd Couple’ instead.

Reviewed by Melissa Orcine, Cinema Paradiso

‘The Howling: Reborn’ is inspired by the 80s camp classic ‘The Howling’ directed by Joe Dante. This time, however, the responsibility to direct a werewolf is on writer-director Joe Nimziki, and even with a supposedly a ‘fresh’ twist on the werewolf coming-of-age story, film fails miserably.

‘The Howling: Reborn’ focuses on a new werewolf named Will Kidman (Landon Liboiron), a high school student with raging teen hormones and angst that can literally transform him into a werewolf. He doesn’t know it, though. We are given bits and pieces of his origins; apparently his mother was attacked by an unknown creature whilst pregnant with him (Yes, it’s very ‘Blade’ werewolf-style). While Will manages a life of bullying and an infatuation with Eliana Wynter (Lindsey Shaw), he is unaware of what he has to become and the dangers lurking about. See, Will is wanted by a pack of werewolves; they want him to join them in their fight against humans. Whether it’s because the werewolves are ostracized or starving is unclear, but they’re decided – they need to attack.

The werewolf transformation involving a teen has been done – hello Michael J. Fox in ‘Teen Wolf’ and even Taylor Lautner as Jacob in the ‘Twilight’ movies. But this film tries desperately to be more ‘Twilight’ than anything and it’s too contrived for its own good. Will narrating the entire movie doesn’t help its cause of wanting to be moody – it only becomes really grating. So you’re turning into a werewolf – big deal! Oz (Seth Green) from TV’s ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ handled it well. Get a grip.

As a werewolf movie, you’d expect werewolf transformations and werewolves themselves, right? No chance here. ‘The Howling: Reborn’ has a budget of a teaspoon and there is only a few werewolves in sight, and a haphazard and blurry sequence of them supposedly ‘fighting’. The actors are no better, even unconvincing to pretend as high school teens. The setting is confusing – are we supposed to believe this is set in America?

Trust me you’re better off watching ‘Teen Wolf’.

Reviewed by Melissa Orcine, Cinema Paradiso

For the X-Men fans who hated X-Men: the Last Stand (2006) or Jackie Chan fans who loved Rush Hour (1998) comes Tower Heist, a high concept action movie about a group of employees who realize they have been stiffed by their boss and want revenge.

Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovacs a building manager for an elite business apartment building called “The Tower” (the Trump Tower of the Hollywood-pretend-world) who has been loyal and dedicated service provider for years, making sacrifices of his own for the sake of his building; particularly a financial expert and billionaire Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). Things begin to unravel for Kovacs however when, shortly after enlisting Shaw to invest the entire company’s pension, Shaw is busted by the FBI for investment fraud.

Things get even worse for Kovacs as the FBI inform him that it is unlikely that his pension money will ever be recovered. Heartbroken and furious Kovacs and his fellow Tower employee’s decide to raid Shaw’s apartment and steal the millions of dollars he has hidden in there as compensation for the loss of their pensions. To do this they enlist the help of an ex-con, played by Eddie Murphy.

Although it takes a surprisingly long time before Murphy is properly introduced to the plot the film concentrates largely on him and his patented brand of humor. Unfortunately this doesn’t really offer anything new; even those who normally find the same old recycled jokes hilarious will find Tower Heist a fairly run-of-the-mill comedy, which does not deviate from your expectations for a single second.

Reviewed by Alyse Garner, Cinema Paradiso

When humans discover the existence of the vampire and werewolf races Selene must lead the battle against mankind as they attempt to eradicate both creatures. In the fourth instalment of the Underworld franchise Kate Beckinsale returns as Selene a vampire warrior who has previously helped end the war between the werewolf race known as the Lycans and her own vampire tribe. Now the two races must come together to fight a common enemy.

Underworld Awakening has a lot of promise, just as the first three movies did, the concept is interesting and fairly strong, yet Underworld and Underworld Evolutions both failed miserably at achieving their potential by falling into the traps of genre stereotypes and essentially believing themselves to be better than they in fact were. Awakening unfortunately stumbles on the same points.

The 3D visuals is fantastic, as the CGI in all the Underworld movies has been really high class and impressive, adding 3D has only added to the film’s advantage. This is not enough to turn everything around for the movie however; the novelty of 3D has long worn off now and using it to improve a movie with a significantly unimaginative narrative has already been proven ineffective. The absence of the prolific Bill Nighy makes this movie even worse than its predecessors, his performances were easily the height of the previous three movies and with no one quite as impressive or distinguished in the new cast to replace him one can’t help but think the studio has missed a trick there.

In conclusion, I think fans of the previous movies will enjoy Underworld Awakening, perhaps not as much as the original which I am told is regarded as the best released thus far.

Reviewed by Alyse Garner, Cinema Paradiso

An ex-police man turned criminal threatens to kill himself by jumping from the roof of a Manhattan sky scraper but things are not as straight forward as they seem however, as the eyes of most of New York’s police and emergency services are distracted a massive robbery is taking place.

Starring Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Edward Burns and Jamie Bell Man on a Ledge is a crime thriller that fits the genre bill perfectly: Nick (Worthington) is an escaped convict threatening to commit suicide all in an attempt to prove his innocence. Clearly the narrative is fairly simple and even a little flimsy at times, yet Man on a Ledge is a surprisingly entertaining movie for all its faults and simplicity.

Nick has enlisted his brother Joey (Jamie Bell), who in turn has roped in his girlfriend Angie, to breaking into a high security vault to steal some diamonds. Whilst the rest of the narrative is devoted to discovering who framed Nick for the original diamond robbery, which can be worked out fairly quickly by any reasonably intelligent viewer.

The movie isn’t terrible, just lacks any intellectual challenge whatsoever; there is a healthy amount of tension from the on-the-ledge bits and a smattering of comedy from Bell, his girlfriend and Kyra Sedgwick’s reporter role. The comedy elements of the film are probably the most surprising aspect of Man on a Ledge, whilst the chemistry between Joey Cassidy and girlfriend Angie while they attempt their amateur heist is unexpectedly sparky and fun, but there isn’t anything particularly new and refreshing about the piece as a whole.

Reviewed by Alyse Garner, Cinema Paradiso

Devon born Luke Treadaway was pretty busy last year, covering as much of the UK indie film scene as he could trying to kill both aliens and rock stars; whilst You Instead is the story of two feuding rock stars who find themselves inexplicably handcuffed together at a music festival where they are both due to perform.

Filmed at the real live music event T in the Park in Scotland You Instead is as close a visual demonstration of music festivals as I have ever seen; yet the mud, the drunks and the heightened emotions of the festival are not quite enough to save You Instead from the traditional and average monotony of the romantic comedy genre.

In the film Adam (Killing Bono and Attack the Block’s Treadaway) and Morello (Natalia Tena, who you might just recognize as the face changing Nymphadora Tonks from Harry Potter) are handcuffed together by a security guard after he becomes sick of the rather childish bickering. From here it is a fairly straightforward plot in which the two find that in fact, despite all their previous hatred and apparent differences, they are perfect for each other and fall widely in love.

This aspect of the story is interspersed with a few high emotion music interludes, including snippets from actual T in the Park performances from bands such as Biffy Clyro and Joe Mango. These, unfortunately, are the only truly interesting parts of the movie.

Reviewed by Alyse Garner, Cinema Paradiso

Ralph Finnes stars and directs in this modern envisioning of William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, the story of a battle worn solider who is raised to the position of Partisan after his successful defeat of Rome’s neighbouring enemies the Volscian’s. Yet the autocratic Coriolanus quickly shows his distain for his people, turning them against him and banishing him from the city.

It is here where Coriolanus turns on his remnants of pride and loyalty and joins with the Volscian’s in order to bring war against the Romans. Occasionally and inaccurately Coriolanus is cited as a historical play, yet there is doubt to whether Gaius Marcius Coriolanus really existed, as such Coriolanus is labeled as a tragedy; supposed idly, according to T.S Elliot, Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, greater even than Hamlet.

I certainly would not go far as to say that, personally I found Coriolanus a rather unpleasant and unlikeable character, but it was still an interesting interpretation of the largely under-performed play.

Fiennes sets his movie in the civil war of Eastern Europe, entangling the story of Rome with that of Yugoslavia and Serbia. Visually this makes for a very interesting piece, with a painful and almost too real edge to it.

As a political allegory however it somewhat flounders, perhaps it was that the movie lacked the strength of direction that was needed, but beyond the visual change the attempts to associate Coriolanus with the tumultuous violence of the 1990’s seems to degrade both sources; muting the impact of both the symbolism and the emotion,

This is not to say that the film was not expertly performed, Gerard Butler was a particularly good casting choice, whilst Fiennes was brilliant as you would expect him to be and it made for a highly impressive and enjoyable few hours, but I couldn’t help but feel it lacked the emotion truly required for the piece.

Reviewed by Alyse Garner, Cinema Paradiso

An aging man (Timothy Spall) is on the brink of realizing his dreams to travel after his retirement, when his mother demands he brings the entire family together for Passover as she fears it will be her last.

Things are not as straightforward as they sound however, as the Rubin family are as dysfunctional and distant as you could find in the movie world.

Also staring Honor Blackman and James Callis Reuniting the Rubins is a pleasant, if what slightly stereotypical look at the Jewish family dynamic, including many of the most cringe-worthy derogatory Jewish one liners that haven’t seen light for forty years.

The film isn’t at all anti-Semitic it just plays to a far few of the stereotypes simply for the comic value of it. And it is funny in places, not laugh out loud funny, but there’s enough almost slapstick and awkward Woody Allen-esque moments to accurately class this as a comedy.

The performances are of a high quality, as you would expect from this handful of under rated British names, but even Tim Spall couldn’t really breathe life into this rather predictable and unimaginative movie.

There was very little about Reuniting the Rubins that was particularly fresh or memorable, it was perfectly enjoyable and at the same time totally bland and forgettable.

Reviewed by Alyse Garner, Cinema Paradiso

The face of American law enforcement for fifty years J, Edgar Hoover was a man to be reckoned with, whether you feared, respected or admired him, however history has shown that behind closed doors Hoover had a wealth of his own secrets, the exposure of which could have ruined his reputation and career.

Now many will already know he gossip surrounding the former head of the FBI including that he liked to dress in women’s clothing, he lived alone with his mother until her death and that he shared a close and intimate friendship with the tall and handsome bachelor Clyde Tolson, couple this with the fact that screenwriter Dustin Lance Black also wrote the fantastic Milk you would expect J Edgar to be a movie about homosexuality.

It is in fact far more than that. This is a striking investigation into the sheer control and effort required to constantly uphold a public image. It depicts Hoover, played flawlessly by Leonardo DiCaprio, as a hard and difficult man, totally focused and determined, who was quite willing to let many of the more personal and emotional sides of his life simply become an afterthought, discarded and forgotten their unimportance shockingly apparent.

While it is difficult to truly appreciate the brilliance of DiCaprio’s performance through the guise of a rather unpleasant character, he is not the only genuinely astounding aspect of the movie: never before have I seen a film that so precisely and yet so effortlessly covers seventy years, with a seamless and straight forward grace, that makes you feel as though the time is genuinely passing you by.

There is very little of the gossip or tabloid in this movie, instead it takes a rather critical but honest look at J Edgar’s ability to permanently wear the mask of power and control, even in his private life, without being completely crushed beneath it. J Edgar is an interesting and intellectual movie that should have received far more acknowledgment in this year’s Oscars Nominations.

Reviewed by Alyse Garner, Cinema Paradiso