HiFi’s Film Reviews

353 Films have been rated or reviewed by HiFi.

2012 (2009): Emmerich remaking 'The Day After Tomorrow', which I prefer, with more and biggerer explosions, once again reuniting the family and destroying the world. Highlights: Platt chewing the scenery, Billingsley's gloomy professor.; DVD ~~$10~~ $7.50
Larry Crowne (2011): Larry – affable and resourceful throughout – has no character arc (Joss Whedon calls it 'Airforce 1 Syndrome'). The rest (apart from Takei) is at best inept, at worst plain embarrassing. Glimpses of what it could have been, but only occasional ones.
Whiteout (2009): Not the epic tale of typing correction one might expect from the title. I'm flailing for an Arctic simile to sum it up. This'll do: being served 'dairy dessert' instead of real icecream. It's close enough, but there's a nasty chemical aftertaste.
Out of Time (2003): The Aroview's got it right – I'd just like to mention the cherishable Billingsley, whose odd rhythms enhance anything he's in...
Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989): Part Dali, Melies and a kind of PG Jodorowsky, a tale of the triumph of the imagination over homicidal bureaucracy. Thank goodness for John Neville – nowadays we would have had to endure Johnny Depp...
Lincoln (2012): Like a filmed play, but none the worse for that. I expected to be beaten around the head with the big issues, but this seemed subtle and – dare I say it – mature. Convincingly performed and staged, a living history lesson that's well worth seeing.
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970): Star–studded cast, spectacular reconstruction of the attack, plodding but even–handed depiction of the events leading up to it. Old–fashioned even for 1970, but not without its rewards, among them an interesting portrait of Yamamoto.
Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013): Seems to take forever to get going, but overall a satisfying instalment in one of the more thoughtful franchises.
Ex Machina (2015): Stylish, suspenseful and well–performed, but did rather grind along. I don't think the intriguing premise was satisfyingly explored. Maybe excising some shots of hot naked chicks and Wallpaper–mag interiors would have given more time for that...
Rewrite, The (2015): A canny cast, and the director lets scenes breathe and find their own rhythm. Not great, but, when it finally gets going, actually rather charming.

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HiFi’s Film Reviews