Final Destination: Bloodlines ★★★½ BRAVO to the creatives behind the Final Destination horror franchise. After five films, the last one released 14 years ago, you would be excused for approaching a new instalment with trepidation. But Final Destination: Bloodlines succeeds in ways that most so-called reboots do not. This film […]

Destination worth the trip

Clown in a Cornfield ★★½ IN 2010 a horror/comedy called Tucker and Dale vs Evil was released. It had a nice little inventive angle with two hillbillies being mistaken for serial killers, through a series of unfortunate coincidences. It was written and directed by a guy named Eli Craig who […]

Clowns could have been funnier

Thunderbolts ★★★½ THE 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the best offering for a while. Like all its predecessors, Thunderbolts is loud, brash and full of big computer-driven action sequences. But, unlike recent MCU output, Thunderbolts has characters with heart and an emotional weight to its themes and […]

Thunderbolts lift the franchise

Dog Man ★★½ EVEN at just 90 minutes DreamWorks latest animated feature Dog Man is a little long. And loud too. Why do so many of the characters in these animated films have just the one volume? I guess it’s to keep holding a young audience’s attention by constantly yelling ‘HEY, […]

Dog Man pumps up the volume

Counter-attack ★★ FILM streaming services are chock-full of action thrillers from all corners of the globe. If you’re looking for a good one, search www.mickschoice.com Otherwise, let me quickly tell you that the 2025 Mexican film Counter-attack (Contraataque) is an average one. The set-up sees five, all-male, friends heading across the […]

Mexican actioner is dead average

The Accountant 2 ★★½ IN 2016 Ben Affleck, Gavin O’Connor and Bill Dubuque did the impossible – they managed to make accountants look bad ass. Action/thriller The Accountant saw Affleck playing the wonderfully named Christian Wolff who used his autistic skills to achieve spectacular results for both his financial clients […]

Accountant 2 falls on both sides of ledger

Thesis ★★★ ONE of the most heralded first features by a current writer/director was the 1996 horror/thriller Thesis. The film won seven Spanish Goya Awards, including Best Film, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. Alejandro Amenábar would go on to make four better, even exceptional, films – Open Your Eyes […]

Spanish director’s impressive debut

Extreme Prejudice ★★★½ DIRECTOR Walter Hill’s heyday was back in the 1970s and ‘80s. While not all his films were as commercially successful as his biggest hit 48 Hours, released in 1978, he consistently gave us quality output in The Streetfighter, The Warriors, The Driver, The Long Riders and Southern […]

Hill’s tribute to cinema of Peckinpah

Havoc ★★★★ FANS of Gareth Evans don’t need to be told he has a new film out. The Welsh director redefined Hollywood action cinema with 2011’s The Raid, filmed in Indonesia, and its 2014 sequel. The seemingly chaotic, ultra-violent stunt choreography created for these two films has been replicated many […]

Raid director creates Havoc

The Last Showgirl ★★★½ YET another member of the Coppola film dynasty looks like becoming a director to watch out for. After a couple of previous promising features, Gia, grand-daughter of Francis and niece of Sofia, has made another strong claim for critical attention with the beautifully under-stated drama The […]

Anderson shows her best side

The Package ★★★ AMERICAN action thriller The Package is an entertaining watch but suffers in comparison to other films it references. Released in 1989 it stars Tommy Lee Jones and the late Gene Hackman in the leading roles. Whenever you put Hackman behind the wheel of a car involved in a […]

No surprises in The Package

Platoon  ★★★★ WHEN Platoon was released in 1986 it copped plenty of criticism. Not for its quality, but more for the content which presented aspects of the Vietnam War experience that some people either didn’t believe occurred, didn’t want to believe occurred or didn’t think needed to be shown. Things like […]

Stone’s Platoon still a relevant message