Joe McGovern

Un cásting competente no es suficiente para conseguir levantar un guión tan estúpido. El humor de baja estofa y unos personajes tan bidimensionales como el mostrador del Monopoly caracterizan una comedia con una premisa irresistible y un desarrollo horroroso. Los protagonistas son un grupo de amigos de mediana edad en un 'suburb' americano que se preparan para su noche de juegos semanal, cuando de repente dos hombres enmascarados derriban la puerta de entrada y se llevan al organizador de la partida. Los demás jugadores se convencen de que no ha sido más que una broma para inaugurar la velada y crear una atmósfera de misterio inmersivo. Pero lo que han visto es de verdad. La idea es atractiva. Lástima que a los directores John Francis Daley y Jonathan Goldstein solo les interesen los chistes irreverentes, y lástima que no tengan ningún sentido del ritmo narrativo.

Un càsting competent no és suficient per aconseguir aixecar un guió tan estúpid. L’humor de baixa estofa i uns personatges tan bidimensionals com el taulell del Monopoly caracteritzen una comèdia amb una premissa irresistible i un desenvolupament horrorós. Els protagonistes són un grup d’amics de mitjana edat en un 'suburb' americà que es preparen per a la seva nit de jocs setmanal, quan de sobte dos homes emmascarats esbotzen la porta d’entrada i s’enduen l’organitzador de la partida. Els altres jugadors es convencen que no ha sigut més que una broma per inaugurar la vetllada, i per crear una atmosfera de misteri immersiu. Però el que han vist és de debò. La idea és llaminera. Llàstima que als directors John Francis Daley i Jonathan Goldstein només els interessin els acudits irreverents i no tinguin cap sentit del ritme narratiu.  

El clásico ochentero de maquinitas Rampage, permitió a los jugadores habitar los avatares de animales mutantes rabiosos mientras perforaban helicópteros, comían personas y demolían ciudades. Esa premisa es un poco obvia para un largometraje de estudio, pero la estrella Dwayne Johnson y el director Brad Peyton, mejorando Terremoto: la falla de San Andrés (2015), han tomado el título del videojuego y lo convierten en un espectáculo de desastres colorido y cursi. Rampage: Devastación no es motivo de celebración desenfrenada, pero una actuación de soporte delirantemente divertida, es mejor que el debut de los directores. La película comienza con una secuencia de acción en una estación espacial que ha sido tomada por una enorme rata de laboratorio. (Para los fanáticos del videojuego, este roedor es el primero de varios huevos de Pascua). El patógeno que está suelto en la estación espacial, que convierte a los animales en máquinas gigantes de matar, hace su camino de regreso a la Tierra y es ingerido por un cocodrilo, un lobo y un gorila albino llamado George. Esta estrella proporciona un elemento emocional, a través de la amistad y el lenguaje de señas con el primatólogo Davis (Dwayne Johnson, haciendo lo suyo), y pone en marcha la historia cuando destruye un santuario de vida silvestre en su camino a una cita con sus compañeros mutantes en Chicago. Johnson se une a Naomie Harris, irradiando inteligencia como ingeniero genético, para sofocar a George y minimizar el daño. Buena sue

The ’80s arcade classic 'Rampage' allowed players to inhabit the avatars of rabid mutant animals as they punched helicopters, ate people and demolished cities. That premise is a bit obvious for a major studio feature, but star Dwayne Johnson and director Brad Peyton, improving on their 2015 lemon 'San Andreas', have taken the title and basic thrust of the video game (smash things!) and delivered a colourful-if-corny disaster spectacle. 'Rampage' isn’t cause for wild celebration, but with its bright, coherent FX – rare in this genre – and one deliriously fun supporting performance, it’s better than it has any business being. The movie opens with a knockout action sequence, set aboard a space station that’s been overtaken by a gargantuan lab rat. (For fans of the video game, this rodent is the first of several Easter eggs.) The pathogen that’s loose in the space station, which turns animals into supersized killing machines, makes its way back to Earth and is ingested by a crocodile, a wolf and an albino gorilla named George. This simian star provides an emotional element, via friendship and sign language with primatologist Davis (Dwayne Johnson, doing his thing), and sets the story in motion when he destroys a wildlife sanctuary on his way to a rendezvous with his fellow mutants in Chicago. Johnson joins with Naomie Harris, radiating smarts as a genetic engineer, to quell George and minimise the damage. Good luck with that: The annihilation of the Windy City is a thrill to watc

Navigating through a mad, fast-changing world is something Claire Foy does well; she’s shown us as much on ‘The Crown’. Now she repeats the trick in ‘Unsane’, a scrappy, shot-on-an-iPhone thriller elevated by Foy’s steely exterior. She plays a businesswoman, Sawyer, who is committed to a mental health ward after some insurance company sleight-of-hand. Following the genre template of ‘Shock Corridor’ and ‘Shutter Island’, she befriends a fellow patient (Jay Pharoah) and crosses swords with another (an intense Juno Temple). But in a canny twist, she also comes face-to-face with a kindly nurse who she swears is the dangerous man that’s been stalking her for years. Cue the gaslighting. The script is marred by faulty trip wires and too many clichés, while director Steven Soderbergh, Hollywood’s restless alchemist, is interested in the plot only as a means of experimenting with style. Filming on a smartphone drains any slickness away while giving it a nervy, disorienting kick. There’s a palpable sense of a filmmaker at play, not least when he chucks in one of his ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ stars for a surprise cameo (we won’t ruin it). Realising that some of cinema’s greatest turns are in B movies, he’s created another vehicle for Foy’s ferocious presence. She never stoops to a pat depiction of female victimhood, instead inviting us to see the rigged world through her whirlpool eyes. n Joe McGovern

Lumpy lowbrow humor and characters as thin as a Monopoly board mar 'Game Night', a comedy with an irresistible premise, but that only. Middle-aged suburbanites gather for their weekly game night when two masked men burst through the front door and violently drag the organizer (Kyle Chandler) into the darkness. The remaining players believe this is the fun opening act for a pretend abduction mystery, even though what's happening is actually real. Co-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, makers of 2015's dreadful 'Vacation' reboot and the cartoonish 'Horrible Bosses' movies, love irreverent jokes; too bad they lack any sense of pacing or brio. 'Game Night' is stocked with good actors but the casting itself lacks any surprise. Jason Bateman, so strong right now on Netflix's 'Ozark', plays another neurotic man-child; Rachel McAdams, as his wife, is a fine dramatic performer with the comic timing of a lead door. As a pathetic divorcee, Jesse Plemons echoes his loser role from a recent 'Black Mirror' episode; Billy Magnussen likewise recycles his meathead bro from last year's 'Ingrid Goes West'. Switch the parts of those two actors, just for starters, and you instantly get an edgier movie. What's most frustrating about 'Game Night' is how dependent the plot is on the stupidity of the characters. Laughing at people for being dumb is an obnoxious impulse, and you'll feel sorry for actress Kylie Bunbury, who has to pretend to mistake a random black guy for Denzel Washin