Rob Carnevale

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Rob Carnevale

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Dragon

30 Apr 2013

Fast-moving martial arts flick with dazzling action scenes

A welcome entry to the martial arts genre, Peter Chan's Dragon is a fast-moving action thriller that has the brains to match its brawn. Set in the Yunnan province in China in 1917, the film picks up as peaceful handyman Liu Jinxi (Donnie Yen) is forced…

Iron Man 3

24 Apr 2013

Director Shane Black recovers from a lacklustre second instalment with wit and subversion

The third instalment in Marvel’s Iron Man franchise has its work cut out in both bettering its own relatively lame sequel and following the massive success of The Avengers. Thanks to director Shane Black (who also co-wrote the script with Drew Pearce)…

21 and Over

18 Apr 2013

A lazy and conformist comedy that attempts (and fails) to ape The Hangover's success

Having hit the jackpot with their script for The Hangover, Jon Lucas and Scott Moore attempt to repeat their success with 21 and Over. Sadly, the duo’s directorial debut proves to be a gamble that doesn’t pay off. The night before his big medical…

Dark Skies

28 Mar 2013

A sci-fi horror with a few decent scares is let down by derivative plotting

Having previously bombarded us with (post-)apocalyptic scenarios in Doomsday, Legion and Priest, writer-director Scott Stewart now takes on the alien visitation genre with marginally more satisfying results. While Dark Skies exercises more restraint and…

GI Joe: Retaliation (3D)

27 Mar 2013

The Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson-starring sequel is a pleasantly surprising improvement

If GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra represented the brain-dead summer blockbuster at its absolute worst, then the marked improvement of belated follow-up GI Joe: Retaliation is a pleasant surprise. Jon M Chu’s sequel abandons the effects-heavy, charisma-free…

Stolen

25 Mar 2013

Nicolas Cage's reunion with Con Air director Simon West is disappointingly lacking in tension

What with Nicolas Cage's recent output conforming rigidly to the law of diminishing returns, it was with hopeful optimism that some fans regarded the name Simon West on the poster for Stolen. West's directorial debut was a little film called Con Air…

King of the Travellers

22 Mar 2013

Underwhelming tale of torn loyalty, forbidden love, revenge and betrayal

Writer-director Mark O'Connor ambitiously attempts to draw on elements of Shakespearean drama and tragedy as well as the classic American cinema of the '70s for his latest film, King of The Travellers, with moderate success. For while his film does…

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

22 Mar 2013

Misguided combination of emotionally sensitive adult themes and Disney fairytale coating

Disney's The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a film as peculiar as its name suggests. But while certainly ambitious and well-meaning in concept, its execution feels a little too sentimental and contrived to be taken seriously. The film follows devoted…

A Good Day To Die Hard

14 Feb 2013

Disappointing addition to the Die Hard franchise starring Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney

From wretched title to poorly conceived premise, A Good Day To Die Hard is a dispiriting exercise in franchise flogging which should never have seen the light of day. Based on a script by Skip Woods and directed by John Moore (of Max Payne and The Omen…

Warm Bodies

4 Feb 2013

Hollywood's stab at the zom-rom-com starts off well, but slides into Twilight-style storytelling

Having already deprived vampires of any real bite and declawed werewolves into the bargain, Hollywood now turns its attention to zombies and attempts to tap into their sensitive side with zom-rom-com Warm Bodies. The result, while not quite dead on…

The Last Stand

25 Jan 2013

Schwarzenegger's comeback vehicle is a genuine guilty pleasure

Arnold Schwarzenegger rolls back the years and rolls off the one-liners for his return to leading man status in The Last Stand. A throwback to his own violent back catalogue as well as the classic Western style of High Noon and Rio Bravo, The Last Stand…

Gangster Squad

9 Jan 2013

The Ryan Gosling-starring LA noir has great performances but a nasty violent streak

As stylish as Ruben Fleischer's Gangster Squad is, it lacks the substance of similar genre films such as The Untouchables and LA Confidential and contains a nasty, even exploitative streak. Inspired by the true story of a group of cops who sought to…

Playing For Keeps

18 Dec 2012

A rigidly formulaic and shamelessly sentimental romcom starring Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler has fared pretty badly when it comes to tackling romantic comedies (if you dare recall The Ugly Truth and PS I Love You) and his latest film doesn’t improve on his record. A predictable tale of redemption, Playing for Keeps is a…

Celeste and Jesse Forever

5 Dec 2012

Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg star in an intriguing take on the well-worn romcom genre

A couple of years ago Hollywood posed the question of whether a man and a woman could be friends without the question of sex rearing its head (No Strings Attached, Friends With Benefits). In Celeste and Jesse Forever, writers Rashida Jones and Will…

The Man with the Iron Fists

4 Dec 2012

A gory kung fu action flick that quickly wears thin, from The Wu Tang Clan's RZA

RZA’s The Man With The Iron Fists boasts high curiosity value but ultimately proves much less than the sum of its parts. The feature debut of director, co-writer and star RZA (of Wu Tang Clan fame), the film is designed as an homage to the wuxia Chinese…

Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger!

19 Nov 2012

A shambolic, festive family offering that grates from start to finish, starring David Tennant

Festive cheer will be in short supply for anyone who endures Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger!, a shambolic family offering that grates from start to finish. Written and directed, like the original, by Debbie Isitt, the film sees David Tennant…

Smashed

19 Nov 2012

A solid addiction drama starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul and Octavia Spencer

Addiction dramas are a useful tool for actors to show their worth, if not garner awards attention. Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for his booze-soaked performance in Leaving Las Vegas, the benchmark for such films, while Sandra Bullock and Meg Ryan have…

Robot & Frank

16 Oct 2012

Gentle comedy about a retired burglar and his robotic friend

Jake Schreier's feature debut Robot & Frank successfully engages the head and the heart to emerge as one of the most charming independent films of the year. It's an enjoyable crime caper, an affecting meditation on old age as well as an amusing buddy…

Everything Or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007

9 Oct 2012

Hugely enjoyable documentary looking back at the Bond franchise

A curtain-raiser to the forthcoming James Bond adventure Skyfall, Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 is a hugely enjoyable, if predictably rose-tinted look at the history of the world's biggest and most enduring film…

Hotel Transylvania

9 Oct 2012

Horror-themed animation that relies too heavily on crass fart jokes and juvenile humour

Given Genndy Tartakovsky's extensive background in animation, working on TV favourites Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars, it's hardly surprising that his feature film debut Hotel Transylvania boasts such impressive visuals. Sadly, they are not…

Taken 2

25 Sep 2012

Liam Neeson returns in this pale imitation of his 2008 surprise hit

The original Taken was one of the surprise films of 2008 and successfully redefined Liam Neeson as a no-nonsense action hero (at the age of 56), as well as proving to be a decent and suitably violent thriller in its own right. The inevitable sequel…

Savages

21 Sep 2012

Patchy drugs thriller from Oliver Stone featuring Salma Hayek, Benicio Del Toro and John Travolta

Oliver Stone's latest thriller Savages highlights both the filmmaker's strengths and weaknesses. At its best, the film plays as a violent neo-Western that examines America's war on drugs, with some impressive performances; at its worst, it's a…

Twenty8k

10 Sep 2012

Stylish East London set drama let down by a weak plot

Co-written by TV stalwart Paul Abbott (State of Play, Shameless) and Jimmy Dowdall, Twenty8k attempts to weave an intricate tale of gang warfare, police and political corruption and media manipulation in East London in the run-up to the…

Premium Rush

3 Sep 2012

Slick action about a New York bike messenger, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon

There are three major factors that make David Koepp's Premium Rush worthy of recommendation: breathtaking real stunts that do justice to the film's name, a charismatic leading man in Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a formidably villain in Boardwalk Empire's…

Dredd