Tomorrowland

(PG) ★★½

Director: Brad Bird.

Cast: George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Hugh Laurie, Tim McGraw.

"You've got red on you."

AMID the crazy rides, the places to spend your Disney dollars, and the repetitive brainworm song It's A Small World, there is a place at Disneyland called Tomorrowland.

Originally it was intended by Walt Disney to offer visitors "a world of wondrous ideas ... a step into the future ... and the hope for a peaceful, unified world".

These days it's more about rides and Pixar tie-ins, but Mr Disney's primary ethos is the backbone of this family friendly sci-fi adventure, which follows in Pirates Of The Caribbean's footsteps of Disney attractions turned into movies.

Sadly Tomorrowland's wondrous ideas, of which there are many, are left in search of a strong narrative to hang on to and are hamstrung by a dodgy structure that seems to be trying to hide the lack of story.

It opens with young inventor Frank Walker (Thomas Robinson) visiting the 1964 World's Fair and meeting Athena (Cassidy) - a strange young girl who introduces him to the futuristic utopian parallel universe that is Tomorrowland.

In the present, we meet the equally inventive Casey (Robertson), who is shown a glimpse of Tomorrowland but must find Frank (played by Clooney in his older incarnation) in order to get there and potentially save the world.

These two set-ups are part of the structural problems that hamper the film. We get a first act with young Frank, followed by another "first act" to introduce Casey, so by the time we meet old Frank (which should be around the start of act two or the 20-30 minute mark) we're an hour into a film that seems blissfully content to wander along aimlessly.

The upshot of it all is we have a two-hour-plus movie that only gets to the point about 100 minutes in, leaving all the juicy bits to be condensed into an unnecessarily wordy and rushed finale.

Admittedly some of those first 100 minutes are intriguing - Casey's vision of Tomorrowland is shown via one brilliant tracking shot, Frank's initial meeting with Casey is a highlight, Athena proves to be an increasingly fascinating character, and a sequence in Paris is impressive (if perhaps redundant).

All this makes Tomorrowland interesting as opposed to being entertaining or, better yet, both. The deeper themes are ones Mr Disney would have approved of - it deals with optimism for the future, the power of ideas, the importance of dreamers, the beauty of ingenuity, the downfalls of negativity, the flaws of humanity, and ultimately our in-built drive towards self-destruction.

It's powerful stuff and impressive fodder for a PG-rated film but so many of these big ideas are slabbed together at the end of the film in the aforementioned rushed finale, and as a result, they come off as one sustained burst of soap-boxing rather than enduring themes that really resonate.

It's all a shame - the mis-shapen screenplay detracts from the fascinating ideas, impressive visuals, some clever sequences, and another reliable performance from the evergreen Clooney.

Given that the film deals with optimism for the future, perhaps the nicest way to talk about Tomorrowland is in terms of what may lie ahead - at best, Tomorrowland is as a cult classic in waiting.

In the present, though, it's kind of like an Apple Watch - a new invention that's flashy but isn't as practical or as impressive as it should be.

Woman In Gold

(M) ★★★½

Director: Simon Curtis.

Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Bruhl, Tatiana Maslany, Katie Holmes, Antje Traue.

The preview screenings for Deadpool were a hit.

FILMMAKERS will never stop making films about World War II and this is a good thing.

Firstly, lest we forget, and secondly, that dark hour of human history has a near-endless number of surprising and fascinating stories that should be told.

Case in point is Woman In Gold, another unexpected tale looking at an oft-forgotten ramification of the war.

It's based on the true story of Maria Altmann (Mirren), a Jewish woman keen to regain ownership of a portrait of her aunt, which was stolen from her family by the Nazis during WWII. Unfortunately for Maria, that painting happens to be an iconic Austrian artwork and one of the most valuable paintings in the world - Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I aka Woman In Gold.

With the help of down-on-his-luck lawyer Randy Schoenberg (Reynolds) - also of Austrian descent - the pair embark on a typically David-vs-Goliath struggle against the Austrian government.

While this story has probably been better and more accurately told in at least three documentaries (Stealing Klimt, Adele's Wish, and The Rape Of Europa), none of those retellings had the marvellous Mirren.

Whether she's playing Elizabeth II in The Queen or toting machine guns in RED, Mirren is rarely short of perfection, and her turn in Woman In Gold is no exception.

She imbues Altmann with the necessary mix of resilience and regret, of strength and sadness that comes with living through tragedy, but adds a welcome touch of humour and a deep sense of honour. It's not a flashy performance, nor is it the kind that turns award-givers' heads - it's just good solid craft from an actor who's still at the top of her game.

Reynolds, who seems to be maligned more for his bad choices than his performances (see The Green Lantern, RIPD, and The Change-Up), is a great foil for Mirren here, dialing down the smarm and putting in the charm as Schoenberg. It's more than that though - he brings the requisite amount of emotion and reminds us again how underrated he is (see Buried, Adventureland, and The Voices).

It's these performances, as well as a thankless turn from Bruhl as an Austrian reporter, and a neat cameo from Jonathan Pryce as a chief justice, that elevate Woman In Gold.

The story clunks a bit, either as a result of some unnecessary over-scripting or slightly-off editing, and although the film generally juggles its two time periods reasonably well, occasionally the transition is jarring.

It's also a very moving film, but occasionally pushily so. Curtis, who mined historical gold previously with My Week With Marilyn, throws in a few slow zooms straight out of an afternoon soapie and turns up the sombre strings when he really should just let the story and the performances speak for themselves. Because, after all, it's the fascinating real-life underdog story (as predictable as it is) and the pairing of Mirren and Reynolds that are the focus here.

Woman In Gold is not exactly a work of art, but it's worth the price of admission.

Mad Max: Fury Road

(MA15+) ★★★★

Director: George Miller.

Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne.

Bathurst was off the hook this year.

WHEN Tina Turner sang We Don't Need Another Hero in Beyond Thunderdome it sounded like an effective sign-off for the Mad Max series. And despite the fact we didn't need another Max Max movie, we have one.

Thankfully it's awesome, combining the best elements of all three previous films - the ominous atmosphere of the first movie, the exhilarating and intense action of the second one, and the larger world-building and end-of-days ramifications of Beyond Thunderdome.

At its core, Fury Road is basically a two-hour-long stunt-heavy chase sequence, with small amounts of plot and a bare minimum of character development eked out along the way.

We're reintroduced to Max (with Tom Hardy more than adequately filling Mel Gibson's dust-covered boots) in the post-apocalyptic desert, haunted by his past and those he couldn't save.

Captured by the despotic warlord Immortan Joe (Keays-Byrne), Max is forced into servitude as a "blood bag" for one of his warriors (Hoult) and sent off into battle to hunt Furiosa (Theron), who has fled with five of Joe's wives.

What follows is the very definition of an action movie. It's white-knuckle, edge-of-your-seat, strap-in-and-feel-the-Gs film-making that whirs by refreshingly quick in a blur of dirt, flame, and flying car parts.

There's a fear that such an endeavour could become repetitive, given that it's chase after chase after chase, but somehow it doesn't. The strange relationship (which is largely unspoken) between Furiosa and Max helps build some effective quiet moments, without ever letting the intensity slide.

In these lulls we also get a greater understanding of the dead future Miller has been hinting at since Max first fired up the Pursuit Special in 1979 - it's an apocalypse that makes the one in The Road look like a holiday park.

Miller reportedly didn't bother with a script first and instead just made a bunch of storyboards, which shows. The film is not big on dialogue but manages to say a lot without saying much, which is refreshing (although some will complain that we don't get enough of an idea about the characters).

Fury Road is largely about the visuals - of stunningly designed Franken-vehicles, of mind-blowing practical stunts, of blown-out colours and slowed-down frame rates that accentuate the incredibly staged set-pieces.

There are some strange moments, such as the way the truck noises disappear during some conversations or how the accents are all over the shop (isn't this set in Australia?), and admittedly this is not going to be to all tastes, nor is it terribly cerebral film-making.

But this will surely please action aficionados and fans of the previous films, and it could be the best non-superhero action movie of the past decade.

Pitch Perfect 2

(M) ★★★

Director: Elizabeth Banks.

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam DeVine, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins.

The Bellas embraced their new roles as sneaker salespeople.

IF you needed to study the formula for sequel-making, look no further than Pitch Perfect 2.

All the rules are adhered to - the characters have been brought down to a new low after the high of the previous film's climax, the stakes have been upped, the villains are tougher to defeat, and there's the requisite new character on board.

On top of this you have to ensure the vibe and tone of the film is the same, while striving to be bigger and hopefully better.

Pitch Perfect 2 certainly hits all those notes without being better than the charmingly funny and enjoyable original, but it gets a pass by being reasonably amusing and bursting with great musical performances.

This time around all-girl collegiate a cappella group The Bella Bardens find themselves in danger of being permanently shut down after a wardrobe malfunction at a Presidential event that would have even Janet Jackson blushing.

Their only hope of earning re-instatement is winning an international a capella contest, which would mean defeating the hot favourites from Germany, Das Sound Machine. To do that, The Bellas need to re-discover their sound, overcome their fears, and realise that college can't last forever.

So much of the first film's success hinged on its humour and its harmonies, and while not as fresh second time around, those ingredients are still present. Kendrick's charm and Wilson's comedic skills are once again a plus, as are the snarky commentary duo of Banks (making her directorial debut too) and Higgins, who get all the best (and most inappropriate) lines.

There's enough goodwill from the first film to roll over and carry along this so-so sequel and help overcome its bum notes, largest of which is the way the middle section drags. In the second act we follow the Bellas through an underground a cappella competition (which benefits from a David Cross cameo and some great tunes), a team-building retreat, plus subplots for Kendrick's Beca and Wilson's Fat Amy thrown in for good measure too, and it's all a bit much as it slows the film and makes it longer than it needs to be.

A more streamlined script might have helped, but at least the pay-off is worthwhile - as in the previous film, the crescendo is a real showstopper. On top of the closing number, the aforementioned underground a cappella battle is a highlight, as is Das Sound Machine's impressive cover of Muse' Uprising.

Inevitably, a third film is in the works and it almost feels like Steinfeld's character was introduced merely so there was someone to carry the torch into another sequel after all The Bellas graduate.


But for all its flaws, Pitch Perfect 2 does all it needs to do to entertain those who enjoyed the original.