Kingsman: The Secret Service

Actors:  Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine.

Rating: 10 out of 10, The best word to describe this flick is fun – it’s a hoot from beginning to end. Colin Firth (who can do anything) is a senior and very lethal secret agent who recruits a young ne'er do well. The movie moves relentlessly but never loses its sense of fun (there’s that word again). Samuel L Jackson is in full camp mode as a lisping super villain ably assisted by a young lady with razor sharp prosthetics (you kind of get the idea). The movie is very violent but in a cartoonish way that makes it entertaining. Seeing the usually staid Firth clean out a church full of red necks followed by the biggest head exploding panorama in cinema history will give you an idea of what awaits you. The young lead actor, Taron Egerton, took a while to grow on me but he held his own with Firth, Mark Strong and Michael Caine – no mean task. Plant you tongue firmly in cheek and go see this movie – just so much FUN!!!

MVP:  Firth, as the staid but supremely deadly Galahad

Jupiter Ascending

Actors:  Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Tuppence Middleton, Douglas, Sean Bean

Rating: 9 out of 10, This hasn’t received a lot of love from the critics but it was a true attempt at science fiction on a colossal scale. Mila Kunis plays a contemporary Chicago cleaning woman who’s unwittingly heir to one of the great family fortunes in a galaxy spanning empire. She’s unaware of this until Channing Tatum, sporting elven ears as a disgraced genetically enhanced soldier, shows up to rescue her from a series of alien assassination attempts. (I know most of the ladies are now wondering how Tatum could possibly be “enhanced” any further) Since I’m a certified sci fi nerd I really liked the movie which focused, maybe a little too much on the technology of the hidden civilization which is several million years in advance of ours. The criticisms are valid as there’s a lot of stop and go and jumping around without fully fleshing out who all the players are. It’s a little bit of a mess but it’s a gloriously beautiful and textured mess. In a huge plot twist, Sean Bean doesn’t get killed.

MVP:  Channing Tatum as Caine Wise, shoe surfing the Chicago skyline

American Sniper

Actors:  Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, Kyle Gallner, Sam Jaeger, Jake McDorman, Cory Hardrict

Rating: 9 out of 10, The movie featured Eastwood’s usual technical expertise and the story was very compelling. I think it connected with a lot of Americans because it was so unapologetic, as Hollywood is certainly wont to do. A simple Texas guy has a gift with his rifle and is motivated to protect his fellow countrymen. The left wing nutbags came out bemoaning the glorification of violence but I thought it did a great job of painting the price Kyle paid for his heroics. That’s really my only complaint about this superb movie – they didn’t really explore in any great depth how Kyle overcame his PTSD. It seemed one minute he had it and then all of a sudden he was better. Cooper richly deserves the accolades he received as the title character delivering some real nuance to the role as a supremely tough guy dealing with some demons. They also did a great job with the military aspects; spot on with American military jargon as well as the small unit tactics such as room clearing. War is a very nasty affair – the supremely violent human expression – to sugar coat it would amount to undue veneration. Eastwood eloquently demonstrates war isn’t something to be taken lightly, there’s real pain associated with the sacrifice.

MVP:  Cooper as the Legend, Chris Kyle