Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Harris Dickinson, Alexandra Maria Lara, Rhys Ifans, Tom Hollander, Valerie Pachner, Daniel Brühl, Ron Cook, Joel Basman, Todd Boyce, Barbara Drennan, August Diehl, Alison Steadman, Ian Kelly, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
There is nothing quite like the epic romp, and in modern cinema nobody does it arguably finer and with more dynamic display than Director Matthew Vaughn.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Naomi Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Sian Webber, Jack Bandeira, Olumide Olorunfemi, Scroobius Pip, Reece Shearsmith.
Despite the seriousness of the storyline, the undertones of institutional abuse and the outright red flags of cruelty, neglect and violence, Andy Serkis’ Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a romp, a graphic book large screen hybrid, a mutation of fine comedy underpinned by the gravity of murderous revenge.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Ma Dong-Seok, Harish Patel, Bill Skarsgård, Haaz Sleiman, Esai Daniel Cross, Harry Styles, Alan Scott, Patton Oswalt.
The powers that be behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe should be congratulated and praised for what they have achieved by bringing more than the big hitters of their graphic novel range to the screens.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski, Djimon Hounsou, Okieriete Onaodowan, Scoot McNairy.
Step lightly upon this Earth, for in the shadows lay those waiting for our footsteps to falter and for us to cry out in pain, and they will tear us apart.
If A Quiet Place was one of the surprise, and deserving hits of the last decade, then its sequel was almost a sure gone conclusion; it just demanded the continued involvement of John Krasinski, and in A Quiet Place Part II, the same racked up tension, of delivery without dialogue in some of its more observed and focused scenes, is key and astutely pursued.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Viola Davis, Daniela Melchior, David Dastmalchian, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Rooker, Peter Capaldi, John Ostrander, Joel Kinnaman, Nathan Fillon, Jai Courtney, Flula Borg, Mayling Ng, Pete Davidson, Sean Gunn, Stephen Blackehart, Steve Agee, Tinashe Kajese, Jennifer Holland, Storm Reid, Natalia Safran, Jared Leland Gore, Rey Hernandez, Juan Diego Botto, Joaquin Cosio, Gerardo Davila, Mikaela Hoover, Lynne Ashe, Julio Cesar Ruiz, Taika Waititi.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Rami Malik, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Billy Magnussen, Christoph Waltz, David Dencik, Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, Lisa-Dorah Sonnet, Coline Defaud, Mathilde Bourbin, Hugh Dennis, Priyanga Burford.
Debates will rage on long after his replacement in the franchise is announced, a new favourite taking in the mantle as Ian Fleming’s suave, and sometimes brutal, hero, but as the final moments of No Time To Die roll, as the memories re-emerge of intricately drawn characters, of timely antagonists capturing the era with sublime fierceness, and of a screen hero facing arguably his own mortality, what we should arguably be recognising is that Daniel Craig as 007 is the greatest version of super British spy, James Bond, we might ever be treated to.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Cast: Michael Sheen, Cary Elwes, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sophie Simnett, Mia McKenna-Bruce, Robin Askwith, Anna Lundberg, John Thomson, Natalie Mitson, Laura Evelyn, Sianad Gregory, Thomas Law, Claire Cage, Anna Bolton, Edward Harrison, Samuel Logan, Harry Giubileo, George Hannigan, Dan Bothers, Danny Ashbrook, Matthew Lee, Philippa Cole, Jack Cristou, Ebony Aboagye, Charlotte-Hannah Jones, Volenté Lloyd, Coein Dalton, Lily Adair, Tom Hayes, Samuel Blake, Emily Adair.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Crocket Brown, William Sadler, Katie Aselton, Cary Elwes, Diogo Morgado, Bates Wilder, Marina Mazepa, Christine Adams, Dustin Tucker, Gisela Chipe.
Faith is an acquired taste, too much of it can either be a blessing in the eyes of the devout, not enough, and the accusations and whispers start to float through the air as if caught on the winds of scandal; whispers that can be misinterpreted, rumours that can lead to exile, gossip that can unleash Hell on Earth and guide the faithful to take a life.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eliza González, Julian Dennison, Lance Reddick, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir, Kaylee Hottle, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Ronny Chieng, John Pirruccello, Chris Chalk.
When Titans collide it is either a simple case of love or hate for the audiences who cannot but help pick a side, cheer on the winner, take cheap pot shots and boo with bravado the expected loser; this is hard enough to convey with any appropriate meaning when it is two boxers slugging it out in the ring, their signature moves keenly studied and reported, the grudges they bare against each other, but when you transfer that sense of toxic, animalistic brutality to a wider, less human shape, you can end up with a Battle Royale that you cannot keep your eyes from watching, and your heart from pumping with excitement.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Edgar Ramirez, Jesse Plemons, Paul Giamatti, Veronica Falcón, Dani Rovira, Quim Gutiérrez, Dan Dargan Carter, Andy Nyman, Raphael Alejandro, Simone Lockhart, Pedro Lopez.
The adventurous romp, the quest for something more than we can conceive in the everyday avenue of life, has always been one to draw cinema crowds in to the darkened room, but it remains, it a post-Covid world, something that the producers of such films might have to look at with a finer eye if they are to keep the thrill of the chase paramount and not relegated to that of a mere show, of whimsy without the necessary spectacle.