TOMB RAIDER : Tuesday 20th March 2018.

I saw 'TOMB RAIDER' earlier in the week, and here we have a reboot of the 'Tomb Raider' franchise that launched into the cinematic world in 2001 from its video game origins dating back to 1993. That first outing starred Angelina Jolie as our titular action adventure heroine Lara Croft, with the film being Directed by Simon West for US$115M and grossing US$275M. On the strength of this, a second film was released in 2003 titled 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider : The Cradle of Life', with Jolie reprising her role but this time Directed by Jan de Bont for US$95M and raking in US$157M. Now fast forward fifteen years, and its reboot time for this film franchise, which as a video game has sold over 63 million copies worldwide, and has made Lara Croft one of the most recognisable and notable video game protagonists in existence. And so Norwegian Director Roar Uthaug has helmed this latest instalment based on the 2013 video game of the same name as worked up by game developer Crystal Dynamics. Costing US$90M to make, the film has so far grossed US$163M and has garnered generally mixed or average Reviews.

And so in 2018 Alicia Vikander portrays the fiercely independent, free spirited, reckless and carefree action adventure loving Lara Croft who spends her life kick boxing at her local gym and in between time running food deliveries as a bicycle courier across London. She is the only daughter of eccentric archaeologist adventurer Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West) who went missing some years previously, now believed to be dead. When she is arrested for a relatively minor infraction, involving her bicycle and a Police car, Richard's business partner Ana Miller (Kristen Scott Thomas) posts bail and advises her that if she does not claim her inheritance, her father's estate will be sold off. In flashback we see Lord Croft tearing himself away from his country estate and his young seven year old daughter Lara to go away on some purposeful adventure, and then doing so again at age fourteen . . . a journey he would not return from.

Reluctantly Lara, now in her early twenties, agrees to sign off on the inheritance papers, and in doing so uncovers a key contained in an old Japanese wooden puzzle wrapped up in a handwritten clue that gains her access to a secret office located in the bowels of the Croft estate. Rummaging around in her fathers office, she finds a camcorder with a recorded message to Lara that describes his years long search for the tomb of Himiko the mythical queen of Yumatai whom it is said was able to control the power of life over death. The parting message warns Lara to destroy all evidence of his search for Himiko - written notes, diaries, scribblings, voice and video recordings, lest they should fall into the wrong hands and unleash the power of Himiko upon an unsuspecting world with deadly consequences for all humanity.

Lara travels to Hong Kong in search of a boat owner that allegedly took her father to the island of Yumatai seven years previously aboard 'The Endurance'. After a run in with some local likely lads who steal Lara's satchel, which she retrieves successfully following a foot chase across various boats and junks on Hong Kong Harbour, she encounters Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) the drunken gambling owner of the boat. He explains that it would have been his father (also named Lu Ren) who was commissioned by Richard Croft to take him across 'The Devil's Sea' to the island of Yumatai - but Lu Ren Senior is now dead! However, the pair strike up a deal, and set sail. The ship gets caught up in a boiling sea just off the island and crashes into treacherous rocks and is smashed. Lara is tossed off the boat, and Lu Ren is presumed lost at sea. Washed ashore in the storm, Lara is knocked unconscious by a mystery figure.

The next morning Lara comes around face to face with Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins) who has been on the island for seven years searching for Himiko's tomb with no success. He claims to have killed Lara's father all those years ago, but is grateful for his detailed research notes found in Lara's satchel that will help him locate the tomb once and for all. Vogel works for a secretive organisation called 'Trinity' that wants to harness the power of Himiko, and ultimately weaponise it. Vogel takes Lara prisoner and puts her to work with a whole bunch of other fishermen and shipwrecked sailor prisoners captured over the years, and Lu Ren, who survived the storm only to be captured himself too.

With the help of Lu Ren, Lara is able to stage a distraction and make an escape, but is chased through the dense jungle undergrowth by two of Vogel's henchmen. She successfully evades them, but gets into various death defying falls and bad scrapes along the way that see her lurch from one near death experience to another in quick succession. Finally, she is hanging from the canopy of an old parachute as it roughly glides her down towards the jungle floor through the trees to come to an abrupt crashing halt. She is injured and passes out from her wound.

Later that evening Lara is stirred by the sounds of someone or something lurking close by. She gets into a fight with one of Vogel's henchmen sent to track her down and retrieve her. She gains the upper hand and drowns him in the river. Her first kill, which distresses her. But this is short-lived when she spies a hooded figure looking on through the nighttime undergrowth. She gives chase but the figure disappears up the side of a cliff with the aid of a rope which is quickly hauled up. Lara climbs up without the aid of the rope into a cave, where the mystery figure is poking around at an open fire. The mystery figure is a heavily bearded Richard Croft. At first Ricard does not recognise his daughter, but she jogs his memory and they embrace. Richard treats Lara's wound, which she sleeps off until the next morning.

Despite Richard's protests Lara sets off to recover his research notes and a satellite phone from Vogel's camp. She and Lu Ren create a distraction so allowing him and the fishermen prisoners to escape amidst the chaos of gunfire and explosions in and around the camp site.

Meanwhile, Richard has ventured up to the uncovered entry to the tomb site, found by Vogel with the aid of his extensive research notes which were clearly not destroyed by Lara despite her father's very specific instructions to do so. He is joined by Lara and then Vogel. With Richard caught in the middle, with his daughter aiming a bow at Vogel and Vogel pointing a gun at Richard's head, something in this Mexican stand-off has to give. And it is Lara who buckles under the pressure, and agrees to open the tomb in lieu of saving her father, much to Richard's disdain. And so faced with various cogs and wheels built into the wall which must be unlocked in sequence in order to gain access to the tomb, Lara sets about her task . . . with relative ease it seems!

With access gained to the tomb, Vogel orders Lara to venture down first, then Richard and then several henchmen bringing up the rear. Needless to say the group is greeted by a number of booby traps and challenges through a labyrinth of tunnels and corridors that open out in to huge expanses of underground space. One of the henchmen perishes at the end of a giant spike, and there are several close calls along the way, but ultimately the group reach Himiko's sarcophagus.

Opening up the casket, two of Vogel's henchmen attempt to lift Himiko's corpse but are almost instantly infected by her power. Lara deduces that she was the carrier of a disease that was so powerful that physical contact alone triggers an immediate reaction whereby the body starts to progressively die and disintegrate. From the markings around the walls, she further deduces that Himiko voluntarily sealed herself in her tomb because she wanted to avoid spreading it, even though she had an immunity to the disease which she was carrying. Vogel shoots one of his infected henchmen, and from this decides that he cannot move the corpse as planned. Instead, he cuts off a finger tip and seals it in a plastic ziplock bag and drops it into his shirt breast pocket. One of the henchmen believed to be dead, rises up and attacks Richard, allowing Lara to make a getaway. In the ensuing gun fight between Richard and Vogel, Vogel is shot in the leg but manages to escape, while Richard fends off the henchmen killing him, but is himself infected by the henchman's touch.

Lara returns to the sarcophagus where Richard sits, the infection taking hold. He tells Lara to keep her distance, and explains that he proposes detonating several bombs to seal the tomb shut forever, prevent the worldwide spread of the disease and killing himself in the process. Lara backs away tearfully and gives chase to Vogel who is fleeing the cave as quickly as he can. The two meet and fight, with Lara ultimately force feeding Vogel the severed finger which he swallows inadvertently biting down on the bag. He stumbles backwards as the disease takes a rapid hold and falls down a deep ravine in the cave on to a bed of human skeletons. The explosion rips through the cave system, the blast destroying everything in its path and sealing the cave tightly shut under mounds of dust, debris and rubble. Lara escapes just in the nick of time, and is pulled out of the rubble at the mouth of the cave by Lu Ren. The two then commandeer an arriving Trinity helicopter to take them and the remaining fishermen prisoners back to the mainland.

Back in London at the headquarters of Croft Holdings, Lara signs her agreement to accept her fathers inheritance looked on by Ana Miller and Mr. Yaffe (Derek Jacobi) legal counsel for Croft Holdings. Once completed Yaffe hands Lara a portfolio of all the companies owned by Croft Holdings. Scrolling through the huge volume of individual business details, she notices a company name that she had seen before on Yumatai Island and deduces that this is a front company for Trinity. Investigating further, she begins to suspect that Ana Miller is not all she seems and that she manipulated Lara to signing over the day to day business operations of Croft Holdings. Knowing how ruthless Trinity is, Lara arms herself with two assault pistols procured from her local pawn shop owned and operated by Max (Nick Frost), ready for her next adventure.

'Tomb Raider' is a bit of a misnomer for this film really, considering that Lara Croft doesn't actually raid a tomb here, but is rather a reluctant bystander dragged along while someone else does the raiding. She's just the 'Joanna on the spot' left to clean up someone else's mess, pay the price and get the hell outta there before it all comes crashing down around her ears. And in casting the diminutive Alica Vikander in the role of our titular heroine she is far cry from the tall statuesque curvaceous arse kicking gun wielding Angelina Jolie that most resembles the video game character that the world has come to know and love. That doesn't make Vikander's performance any less, and she is reasonably convincing in the role but she does get beaten up and picked on aplenty by her male antagonists who are all worthless dispensable bad dudes anyway that we don't care about and ultimately get their comeuppance. In between the well choreographed action sequences the film plods a little, and really there is very little here that we haven't seen many times over in similar genre specific offerings - 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', 'The Mummy', 'National Treasure' and the earlier 'Tomb Raider' franchises most notably. Clearly set up for further instalments, Lara Croft will need to lift her tomb raiding, gun toting, tough as nails approach if she is to succeed in this action adventure world.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 22nd March 2018.

In February, the world bid a fond farewell to number of stars of the silver screen and the small screen. In brief, shown below, is my passing tribute to those stars who leave an indelible mark on the entertainment industry, and in particular the world of film and television. May you all Rest In Peace, and thanks for the memories.

* John Mahoney : Born 20th June 1940, died 4th February 2018, aged 77. Born in England, and moved to the US at the age of eighteen in 1959 gaining US Citizenship in 1971. He began a stage acting career in 1977 having become dissatisfied with his jobs as an English Teacher and then an Editor on a medical journal. Mahoney gained his film debut on the biographical drama 'Hudson Taylor' in 1981 and his television debut on the single series of thirteen episodes on crime drama 'Chicago Story' in 1982 and from that point on never looked back. His notable film appearances over the years included 'Tin Men' in 1987, 'Suspect' and 'Moonstruck' both in 1987, 'Frantic' and 'Eight Men Out' both in 1988, 'Say Anything' in 1989, 'The Russia House' in 1990, 'Barton Fink' in 1991, 'The Hudsucker Proxy' and 'Reality Bites' both in 1994, 'The American President' in 1995, and 'Primal Fear' and 'She's The One' both in 1996. There were also numerous television roles over the years too, but his most notable turn was as Martin Crane, father to Frasier and Niles Crane on 264 episodes across eleven seasons of the hit SitCom 'Frasier' from 1993 through until 2004. He also has one off appearances on the likes of 'Cheers', '3rd Rock from the Sun', 'Becker', 'ER', 'Burn Notice', Hot in Cleveland' and 'Foyle's War', and he lent his voice talents to several animated feature films. With 75 Acting credits to his name, Mahoney picked up three award wins and 23 nominations, the majority of which were for his work in 'Frasier' including two Golden Globe, two Primetime Emmy and nine SAG nods.

* Reg E. Cathey : Born 18th August 1958, died 9th February 2018, aged 59. An American Actor of film, television and stage who gained his first television appearance in 1984 in made for TV movie 'A Doctor's Story' going onto 24 episodes of the children's education programme 'Square One TV', and then 'Star Trek : The Next Generation', 'ER', 'The Blacklist', 'The Good Wife', '30 Rock', eight episodes on 'Oz', 23 episodes on 'The Wire', twelve episodes on 'Light's Out', fifteen episodes on the highly acclaimed 'House of Cards', and most recently on twenty episodes on 'Outcast'. His movie appearances included 'Born on the Fourth of July' in 1989, 'The Mask', 'Clear and Present Danger' and 'Airheads' all in 1994, 'Tank Girl' and 'Se7en' both in 1995, 'American Psycho' in 2000, 'S.W.A.T.' in 2003, 'The Machinist' in 2004, 'Arbitrage' in 2012, 'St. Vincent' in 2014, and 'Fantastic Four' in 2015. Cathey had 84 Acting credits to his name and was the recipient of one Primetime Emmy Award win for 'House of Cards' and another nine nominations of which six were also for 'House of Cards'.

* Johann Johannsson : Born 19th September 1969, died 9th February 2018, aged 48. Icelandic born  Composer and Songwriter whose work is trademarked by combining traditional orchestration with contemporary electronic elements. He scored his first feature films and television work in his native Iceland in 2000 and for the successive years, landing his first mainstream film, The David Hollander Directed 'Personal Effects' in 2008. From here, he wrote the score for the likes of 'McCanick' in 2013, 'Prisoners' that same year, the critically acclaimed 'The Theory of Everything' in 2014, the equally acclaimed 'Sicario' in 2015, 'Arrival' in 2016, 'The Mercy' released  just last week, and 'Mary Magdalene' released this week and Previewed below. He was working on Marc Foster's big screen adaptation of 'Christopher Robin' due later this year at the time of his death. All up Johannsson has 45 Composer credits, sixteen Soundtrack credits and was nominated for two Academy Awards, won one Golden Globe and was nominated for another, and three BAFTA nods amongst a total haul of twelve award wins and a further 57 nominations.

* Emma Chambers : Born 11th March 1964, died 21st February 2018, aged 53. English Actress with fifteen screen credits to her name, most notably on British television series. Her first appearance came on television mini-series 'The Rainbow' in 1988 after which she picked up regular work on 'The Bill', 'Martin Chuzzlewit', 'Drop The Dead Donkey', 'How Do You Want Me', 'Take A Girl Like You', 'Little Robots' and her most noted recurring role opposite Dawn French in 'The Vicar of Dibley' as Alice Tinker. In between time there were also big screen appearances in the likes of 'Notting Hill' opposite Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, and 'The Clandestine Marriage' opposite  Joan Collins and Timothy Spall.

* Lewis Gilbert : Born 6th March 1920, died 23rd February 2018, aged 97. British Director, Producer and Screenwriter who had 42 Directing credits to his name, seventeen as Writer and twelve as Producer. His career spanned seven decades with his first Directorial credits coming in the early 1940's on a series of short documentary films. His most notable Directed films include 'Reach for the Sky' in 1956 with Kenneth Moore; 'Alfie' in 1966 with Michael Caine which was nominated for five Academy Awards; three Bond outings being 'You Only Live Twice' with Sean Connery in 1967, 'The Spy Who Loved Me' in 1977 with Roger Moore, and 'Moonraker' in 1979 with Roger Moore again. He also helmed 'Educating Rita' in 1983 with Michael Caine and Julie Walters, 'Shirley Valentine' in 1989 with Pauline Collins, 'Stepping Out' in 1991 with Liza Minelli, 'Haunted' in 1995 with Aiden Quinn and Kate Beckinsale, and his last film 'Before You Go' in 2002 with Julie Walters and John Hannah. Throughout his career he was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, three BAFTA nods and two wins, and a total of six other award wins and five other nominations. He was bestowed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours List, and in 2001 was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute.

This week there are four new movies coming to an Odeon near you, that launch with a sequel to a Sci-fi monster action film that could be mistaken for 'Transformers vs. Godzilla' as cities get trashed and the end of the world as we know it looms close and it comes down to giant human piloted robots to save the day. We then have a change of pace and a change of genre that couldn't be more opposite, recounting the story of a female biblical character and a devout follower of Jesus Christ that has been referenced as the thirteenth Apostle. Then for another change we turn to a low budget horror film about a mysterious UFO death cult, two brothers who escaped and decide to return ten years later only to discover that the more things have remained the same the more they have changed. We then wrap up with a modern updated live action animated telling of a famed children's story featuring a cunning rabbit, his family, his friends, his nemesis and a vegetable patch.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are here cordially invited to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'PACIFIC RIM : UPRISING' (Rated M) - in 2013 the initial Sci-Fi monster action film in this apparent franchise 'Pacific Rim' as Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by Guillermo del Toro grossed US$411M off its US$190M budget. That film was set in the very near future when huge alien sea monsters called 'Kaiju' emerged from an interdimensional portal called 'The Breach' at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Over the following three years, the Kaiju wreak havoc upon coastal cities along the 'Ring of Fire', such as San Francisco, Sydney, Manila, and Hong Kong. Humanity responds by constructing massive robotic machines called 'Jaegers' to combat the Kaiju threat that are piloted by two or more individuals via a neural bridge. That first instalment received generally positive press and picked up six award wins and a further 47 nominations mostly for Production Design and Visual FX.

Now on the strength of that success we have the second instalment, 'Pacific Rim : Uprising', Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written this time by Steven S. DeKnight with Gulliermo del Toro taking a Co-Producer credit. Made for US$150M this film is set ten years after the events of the first film, and where the oceans of the world have become restless once again. However, during the ensuing years the technology and the investment into the Jaeger programme has advanced further into the next generation. When a mystery outfit reopens The Breach so allowing the Kaiju to escape once more and a rogue Jaeger running amok, Jake Pentecost (John Boyega, who also Co-Produces) rises to the fight to help thwart the Kaiju and the rogue Jaeger from wiping out all of humankind while preserving his fathers legacy (Stacker Pentecost from the first film as played by Idris Elba). Filmed in Australia and China, and starring Scott Eastwood and Charlie Day, this is said to be a springboard for a future cinematic universe with discussions already occurring about the third offering, and then future spin-offs and stand alone films . . . if this film gets enough bums on seats!

'MARY MAGDALENE' (Rated M) - here Australian film maker Garth Davis (whose previous film credit was his debut internationally acclaimed 'Lion' in 2016) turns his attention to a dramatic biblical retelling of the story of Mary Magdalene, a Jewish woman who travelled with Jesus as one of his followers and is also said to have witnessed Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, and is often referred to as the thirteenth Apostle. According to the four Gospels she is mentioned more times than most of the other Apostles, and is said to have been the first person to see Jesus following his resurrection, and the first to testify to that fact. This is her story. Starring Rooney Mara as Mary Magdalene, Joaquin Phoenix at Jesus, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter, Tahir Rahim as Judas, and Ryan Corr as Joseph the film has so far garnered mixed or average Reviews at best. The film has so far taken just over US$2M since its UK and some European countries release last week.

'THE ENDLESS' (Rated M) - this American low budget horror film had its Premier screening at the Tribeca Film Festival back in April last year where the film created quite a stir (for all the right reasons) and subsequently has picked up four award wins and another five nominations from around the festival circuit. The film is Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, is Co-Produced by them, is Written and Co-Edited by Benson, with Moorhead acting as Cinematographer, and to cap it all, then both take on the lead roles in the film as brothers Justin and Aaron Smith (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead respectively). The films premise here is that the brothers were raised in a remote Southern Californian campsite as part of a mysterious UFO death cult, but they were able to successfully escape - the only ones to do so. Having lived an obscure dead end life for the last ten years, their interest is sparked once again by the arrival of a video tape from a young lady within the group. Justin wants to leave well alone, but Aaron is more intrigued and so convinces his brother to venture back to the campsite for just one more day and one night to say G'day! The brothers find the cult pretty much as they remember it. But, no one appears to have aged, and the woman who sent them the tape, Anna (Callie Hernandez) claims to have no idea what they’re talking about, and the cult leader, Hal (Tate Ellington) seems far less menacing than they remember him. And yet, something is definitely out of kilter.

'PETER RABBIT' (Rated PG) - over the years there have been numerous renditions of the famed Beatrix Potter childrens stories dating back to 1902 surrounding the adventures of one Peter Rabbit and his family and friends. And so now in 2018 we have this updated live action computer generated animated comedy offering Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by Will Gluck whose previous credits include 'Annie', 'Friends with Benefits' and 'Easy A'. So here we have Peter Rabbit (voiced by James Cordon) and his three sisters - Flopsy (Margot Robbie), Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki) and Cotton-Tail (Daisy Ridley) all enjoying their days picking on Mr. McGregor (Sam Neill) and stealing his vegetables that he has lovingly planted in his garden. When Mr. McGregor suddenly dies of a heart attack, Peter and his woodland creature friends take over the house. Mr. McGregor's nephew Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson) inherits the home, and realising that it has some value moves in with plans to upgrade and sell for a tidy profit to help fund a business venture he has in mind. However, he's less than thrilled to discover a family of rabbits and various others have taken up residence in his new home. A battle of wits soon erupts as McGregor hatches scheme after scheme to get rid of Peter - a resourceful rabbit who proves to be a worthy and cunning opponent. Also starring the voices of Rose Byrne, Ewen Leslie, Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown, David Wenham and Sia, the film was released in the US in early February, cost US$50M to make, has so far grossed US$147M and has received mixed or average Reviews so far.

With four new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online, and meanwhile, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

ANNIHILATION : Friday 16th March 2018.

I saw Alex Garland's latest Directorial and Screenwriting offering 'ANNIHILATION' from the comfort of my own sofa at home on Netflix late last week having been released on this streaming service only earlier that same week. Based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer this Sci-Fi horror film cost US$50M to make and has so far grossed US$30M in the US, Canada, UK and China where it had a theatrical release - in all other territories the film is released to subscribers of Netflix. Alex Garland is the writer of that acclaimed 1996 novel 'The Beach' made into a movie by Danny Boyle and starring Leonardo DiCaprio in 2000. He has since gone onto write the Screenplays for '28 Days Later', 'Sunshine', 'Never Let Me Go', 'Dredd' and 'Ex Machina' which was also his first Directing gig in 2015 and which received much Critical praise.

And so the film opens up with former US Army soldier Lena (Natalie Portman) and now a biologist specialising 'in the genetically programmed life cycle of a cell', being interviewed in a quarantined room surrounded by numerous hazmat suited wearing onlookers. She has recently returned from an expedition in to a constantly moving rainbow like atmospheric anomaly known as 'The Shimmer' from which she and her husband are the only survivors.

In flashback, we see Lena's Army Special Forces husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) return home without notice having been reported missing, presumed dead, on a top secret mission for a year now. He has no memory of that time during or since, and suddenly becomes very ill coughing up blood. In an ambulance together en route to hospital, government security agents intercept the ambulance and take them forcibly to 'Area X'. When Lena comes round she starts asking questions of Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) a psychologist, who explains that they are in a facility bordering 'The Shimmer' an electromagnetic field that has encompassed a swamp area on the southern US coast that has been steadily growing since its emergence three years previously. The area in question has been evacuated completely.

Ventress recruits Lena onto the next expedition project into The Shimmer and explains that several military missions have ventured into it and all have been fraught with disappearances, suicides, aggressive cancers, and mental trauma, including her husbands mission. Together with Ventress and Lena, the next mission set off into The Shimmer. Accompanying the two are Anya Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez) a paramedic, Josie Radek (Tessa Thompson) a physicist, and Cass Sheppard (Tuva Novotny) a geologist and surveyor.

Once inside, their guidance systems and all telecommunications fail. Furthermore time seems to have no meaning as the team seem to forget extensive lapses in time. They reach an abandoned house partially submerged into a swamp. Josie ventures inside and is dragged below the water by an unseen force. Thrashing around in the water she is rescued by Lena. An alligator like creature emerges and confronts them all as Lena riddles it with automatic gun fire. A quick investigation by Lena seems to reveal that the alligator has been impossibly hybridised with a shark!

Moving onward with their journey deeper into The Shimmer, the Team come across an abandoned military base. In the mess hall they discover military style bedding, assault rifles and a rough map of the base with a makeshift guard duty roster. They also come across a memory card laid out on a table for those that come after. The memory card reveals evidence of Kane's expedition.

Later that night as Ventress stands guard with Lena who couldn't sleep, the perimeter fence is breached. The others wake with the commotion and venture outside to investigate. A mutated bear like creature grabs Cass in its jaws and drags her away screaming into the night. The next day the remaining four leave, and Lena breaks away to go in search of Cass. She returns later having found her dead body with her throat torn out.

The Team of four continue their journey toward the lighthouse, which was the location of where The Shimmer first manifested itself following a meteor hit. Josie and Anya want to turn back, but are reluctantly persuaded by Lena to keep going given how far they've come, the unexplained lapses in time they have experienced, and following the coastline back to Area X is their best and safest option. They come across an abandoned overgrown town filled with human shaped plants. Josie has a theory that The Shimmer is acting on all organisms like a prism refracts light. Each of the Team realise that they are changing both physically and mentally too, causing them to fear and mistrust one another.

Later that night, Anya attacks the other three and binds them all to chairs. She has discovered that Kane is Lena's husband and accuses them of conspiring to kill Cass. At that Anya hears Cass's screams for help outside the house and goes to investigate. The creature that killed Cass enters the house having mimicked Cass's final screams,  attacks and kills Anya, before turning attention on Lena still bound to a chair. Josie breaks free and fires several shots at close range into the creatures head.

Ventress leaves for the lighthouse alone having revealed that she is dying of cancer and has nothing to lose, leaving Josie and Lena to ponder turning back. Out in the gardens Josie goes walkabout out of sight of Lena. As Lena rounds a corner there is no sign of Josie - seemingly mutated into a human shaped plant. Lena continues the onward journey to the coast and the lighthouse hoping to find some answers to The Shimmer there.

Lena finds the lighthouse and enters. Inside she finds an incinerated corpse, a camcorder, and hole in the side wall of the lighthouse going below ground. She switches on the camcorder pointing at the burned out husk of a human being, to reveal footage of Kane raving on about the effects that The Shimmer has had on him and urging the viewer to find his wife before he blows himself up in ball of white flame with a phosphorus grenade. At that point a duplicate of Kane walks into view on the small screen.

Lena goes down the rabbit hole which opens up into a dark cavernous space. Inside is Ventress who looks at her blankly and exclaims that extraterrestrial forces are at work that will eventually engulf the world. At that Ventress disintegrates into a glowing orb of cosmic light that absorbs a droplet of blood from a cut on Lena's face. The entity that was Ventress forms into a humanoid being that begins to mimic every movement by Lena. She quickly scrambles back up the narrow corridor and out into the lighthouse interior to be greeted by the humanoid. It will not let her leave reproducing exactly every movement, every motion. Lena however, has an ace up her sleeve, and retrieving a phosphorus grenade from Kane's satchel places the grenade in the humanoids hands before fleeing. The creature explodes in a ball of white flame which quickly ignites the lighthouse setting it and the other alien constructs in the vicinity ablaze. At this point The Shimmer fades away.

As Lena's questioning comes to an end, she is reunited with her husband who has made a miraculous recovery since The Shimmer disappeared. They embrace and Lena whispers in his ear if he is the real Kane, to which he responds with an 'I don't think so'. He in turn asks her is she is the real Lena, to which she does not respond.

'Annihilation' has received generally positive Reviews so far, but has also been described as too complex and too intellectual for your typical movie going audience to really grasp. Sure the film is well paced, looks good, is intelligent, thought provoking, and has all the elements of a modern horror film - body horror, monsters, unexplained phenomenon, mimicking aliens, technological disruption, societal breakdown, mistrust and of course death most foul. And the strong and convincing principle cast of five intelligent and accomplished female protagonists in this era of 'Time'sUp' and '#MeToo' should have Hollywood chomping at the bit for its stance on female equality in the mainstream movies. But, despite all of this I was a little underwhelmed by the film, and perhaps a second viewing would make me think differently. The plot is fairly predictable, the two monsters that get screen time are not that far removed from the giant croc as seen in 1999's 'Lake Placid' and the giant boar terrorising the Australian outback in 1984's 'Razorback', and the final big reveal (if you can call it that!) is open ended and ambiguous, leaving the viewer to draw their own conclusions and debate after the credits have rolled. And, I certainly didn't find this as graphic, scary and trippy as some Reviewers seem to have. Garland wrote the Screenplay for this film long before VanderMeer had completed his two follow up novels in the series known as 'The Southern Reach trilogy' where each instalment provides a varying account of a different person's journey into 'Area X' and 'The Shimmer'. Certainly worth a look and keep an open mind.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

12 STRONG : Tuesday 13th March 2018.

'12 STRONG' aka '12 Strong : The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers' which I caught earlier this week, is an American war drama film from Danish first time Director Nicolai Fuglsig and is based on Doug Stanton's New York Times Bestsellers non-fiction book 'Horse Soldiers' published in 2009. The film was released in the US in mid-January, cost US$35M to make and has so far grossed US$58M and has received mixed or average Reviews thus far. The film tells the story of CIA paramilitary officers, US Special Forces and USAF Combat Controllers, sent to Afghanistan immediately following the September 11 attacks.

The film open up with Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth) moving into a new family home with his wife Jean (Elsa Pataky) and young cute as a button daughter Maddy. It is early morning and the family are busying themselves unpacking their worldly possessions, before packing Maddy off to school for the day. The television is switched on playing the early morning cartoons. It is September 11th 2001. The cartoon broadcast is interrupted by live footage of the plane attacks on the World Trade Centre twin towers, and the Pentagon. The family look on in stunned disbelief.

Next we see Nelson marching briskly into some Army HQ where he had previously (upon request) been assigned to staff duty following several years as a combat trainer, although never having seen active duty himself nor fired a shot in anger. He volunteers to lead Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595 into Afghanistan to do battle with the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, but his commanding officer Lt. Col. Max Bowers (Rob Riggle) has very different ideas for him. Frustrated, his colleague Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer (Michael Shannon) who is about to retire, volunteers for this additional assignment, and puts in a good word to Bowers about Nelson's leadership attributes, which has the desired effect.

Before you know it, Nelson's team is assembled and their off to Uzbekistan having farewelled their families. It is early October 2001, some four weeks following the attacks. At an Army Base Camp, Nelson and Spencer receive their orders from Special Forces Group Commander Col. John Mulholland (William Fichtner) who selects their team over five others, because Nelson saw what they were going into for what it was, was well researched, and despite not having seen active duty had a raw determination to succeed, quickly and diligently.

Those orders given to Nelson and Spencer were to locate the Northern Alliance and befriend the leader Abdul Rashid Dostum (Navid Negahban) and gain his trust in waging war against The Taliban and al-Qaida and ultimately capture the strategically placed city of Mazar-i-Sharif - the fourth largest city of Afghanistan located in the country's north.

After a night time drop under cover of darkness and flying at an altitude that their transport Chinook Helicopter can barely withstand, the team of twelve men, led by Nelson, are dropped off forty miles or so south of Mazar-i-Sharif. They assemble with the local militia at a nearby village and hunker down for the remaining night. The next morning Dostum arrives on horseback, and after an exchange of pleasantries, the requisite goodwill gifts and getting-to-know-you which is a little hostile, the team of twelve are split in two, because Dostum only has six spare horses. Six, including Nelson depart for the mountains with Dostum and his men, leaving the other six, including Spencer to wait it out in the fortified village, known as 'The Alamo', pending further instructions.

Following several battles with The Taliban in the mountain terrain over the next few days, Nelson becomes increasingly agitated with Dostum for not divulging his plan of attack, and acting carelessly with the lives of his men. Dostum in turn accuses Nelson, and the US for not caring about the future of his country and are therefore unwilling to sacrifice for it. Later, the pair reconcile their differences when Dostum sees just how tough and determined Nelson is. Dostum in turn advises that he hates The Taliban so much for killing his family, at the hands of one of their leaders Mullah Razzan (Numan Acar).

By now Spencer and his five men have travelled on horseback into the mountains to meet up with Nelson, some faring better than others along the rocky terrain. After a number of skirmishes with The Taliban which result in victories for the Northern Alliance, Dostum is making headway towards Mazar-i-Sharif. However, the US Government sends an e-mail to Nelson demanding to know why progress is so slow when the might of Uncle Sam is providing tactical air support with on demand bombing raids.

Nelson responds laying it out exactly as it is, but not before Mulholland has mobilised a second ODA team to support Atta Muhammad, another Northern Alliance leader who is a political rival to Dostum, and for whom there is no love lost between the two men. Nelson has to explain this course of action to Dostum, who responds less than favourably to the news, and does an exit stage left with his men abandoning Nelson to his own devices. Nelson must progress with the plan regardless, and from high up in the mountains at a pinch point in the pass attacks a strategically held Taliban strong hold that they must overthrow to gain access to Mazar-i-Sharif, but encounters heavy resistance from Razzan and his well armed men.

Under attack form all sides, Spencer and his men hold off a group of Taliban fighters, who make as if to surrender. Not knowing if they are serious or not, Spencer treads very carefully and cautiously, just as a suicide bomber close by detonates his explosive vest, badly injuring Spencer and killing various others - mostly of the Taliban kind. Nelson orders a medevac for Spencer before joining the fray once more against the heavily fortified Taliban. Dostum appears with his militia men and the now strengthened combined forces repel the Taliban on horseback all guns blazing, and Dostum kills a fleeing Razzan.

Dostum and Atta Muhammad meet on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif overseen by Nelson, who is fearing the worst when the two meet. But Dostum holds out his hand and congratulates his Northern Alliance ally today (for tomorrow he may feel differently). Upon arriving back at the Army Base Camp, Nelson learns that Spencer has survived meaning that all twelve men who went out, returned safe. ODA 595 return home to the US after 23 days in country.

This is a well made based on a true story recent war film that is underpinned by great cinematography, well realised action set pieces, a strong cast and a lesser known story of heroics against the odds delivered by an unproven Captain leading a small but capable band of brothers into the very first US engagement with the Taliban following the 9/11 attacks. The film however, lacks depth - it lurches from one bloody confrontation to another with aerial shots of bombs dropping on the terrain and wiping out Taliban strongholds, and how the few horseridng soldiers and local militia so successfully manage to wipe out hordes of well armed, mountain dwelling Taliban. Uncle Sam wields his can of whoop ass in the usual predictable manner against a local enemy that boasts numbers, firepower, resilience and motivation, but fear not because truth, justice and the American way will prevail. And other than Nelson, Spencer, intelligence Sergeant Sam Diller (Michael Pena) and weapons expert Ben Milo (Trevante Rhodes) we get to know very little about the eight remaining ODA 595 Team, who all survive and come back home against seemingly overwhelming odds largely unscathed, which is surprising in itself, but clearly fact! Like 'The Magnificent 12' riding in to Dodge to right the wrongs of the local cattle rustlers, this surrogate Western film deals with the action and less of the motivation, the emotion, the consequences, or what's going on around the periphery . . . but I guess that is the point here, and for that you can't fault the film.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-