Kingsman the Secret Service was a good film, if you’re into that sort of thing. Basically a more over-the-top version of the early Bond films, boasting stylish action, interesting and fun characters and an ever impressive cast. For me Kingsman was better than most spy films, well ever, because of how well it caught the characters and how fun and well delivered the plot was. From classy heroes to ego-maniacal villain, Kingsman was a blast. Now we have Kingsman the Golden Circle, a sequel with the same cast and from the same crew of the first film. Needless to say, that has given this film some hype from many, including me. How does it fair?

The Kingsman are destroyed – well, that was quick – by an evil drug cartel known as The Golden Circle, led by the sugar-sweet, darling and possible cannibalistic Poppy. This calls Eggsy back into action. But this time, the Kingsmen are not alone. They discover the existence of the Statesmen, their American, whiskey brewing counterparts. Together they must find Poppy and stop her from releasing a fowled drug on a global scale; which would cause, you guessed it, mass genocide. From this adventure we get new characters, the action and gadgets we loved before but on a grander scale and…absolutely nothing else.

It pains me to say this – from minute one, when we enter a spectacular action scene right out of the gate, I knew we were in for an inferior ride. It’s quite amazing how the opening moments of the film summed up the rest of it. It looked good, it was fun to watch, there were a few laughs and wow moments – but I was never engaged by it, and ultimately didn’t care about it. This is director Mathew Vaughn’s first sequel, and it really shows. Here, he appears to be giving the film an identity of its own, while at the same time trying to make it feel like the first film. Needless to say, these things do not gel. As such, we also fall into a lot of sequel traps. You know the ones I mean – the idea that the same but bigger makes it better or equal. Or that it must be darker. There are a number of surprising character deaths in Kingsman the Golden Circle, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. Most of these I found to be completely unnecessary, with two very early on feeling like Newt and Hicks in Alien 3 (I might love that film, but that is a bad moment in it). We also get a repeat of some jokes and action scenes. Which, while still fun, do start to feel like pale imitations.

While I’m on this subject, why is Colin Firth back in it? I know he was one of the best parts of the first one (and is one of the best parts of this film), but why is he actually back? He’s given a paper-thin reason for returning and they never justify his return until maybe the end. Besides, his death worked wonders for the first one, why take that away? Not to say Firth does a bad job here, he doesn’t. None of the actors are bad, in fact they’re mostly really good. Taron Egerton is perfect as Eggsy. Eggsy does break character a couple of times here, but that’s on the writing, not Egerton’s stellar performance. Also returning are Mark Strong and Hanna Alstrom – both good yet again, if a little odd on the latter’s part. New-comers to the story are Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal and Jeff Bridges as our Statesmen, as well as Julianna Moore as Villainess Poppy. All did very well with their roles. We also have a minor role from Elton John, playing himself. I mention this because it is easily the most bizarre celebrity casting I have seen since – well, Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts.

But the problem does not come from the acting. It’s the script that lets them down. The writing for this film, much like the film itself, is a mess. We get great moments of action, comedy and even drama and character. But they are just moments. On the whole, I don’t feel it works. Not helping is the sudden change of pitch between films – where the first felt like a spy-thriller parody, this one feels like a run-of-the-mill comic-book movie. As such, it loses its uniqueness for me. Much like Guy Ritchie, Mathew Vaughn has an excellent ability to bring energy to all his films. Energy that made Layer Cake, Stardust and, yes Kingsman the Secret Service so much fun to watch. Sadly though, also like Guy Ritchie, Vaughn’s style is very hit or miss. In the aforementioned his style hit home, in this and Kick-Ass I found it to be very much a miss.

I’m not saying that I didn’t have fun with Kingsman the Golden Circle, because I did. I still found it funny. The action was entertaining. It was well acted and I did enjoy Julianna Moore and Mark Strong’s scenes in particular. But a convoluted story, messy writing, poor narrative and character choices, not to mention some awful special effects and a pretty colossal runtime really bogged it down. I hesitate to say that I didn’t like it, but it was a let-down. I’m not certain I would ever see it again personally. But if the action and the comedy are all you’re there for, then you can do much worse. To me it’s just a case of I loved the first one – this one I thought was just okay.

In Between is astounding, moving and vibrant.

In 2017 the buzz word in the film industry is diversity and In Between is just that – diverse. The director Maysaloun Hamound understands what diversity truly means telling the rarely seen story of Palestinian women living in Tel Aviv from different points of view. It is provocative, moving, joyful as all great art is – it will leave  you astounded.

In Between tells the story of three Palestinian women leading three different lives in Tel Aviv. They are physically and literally between worlds as strangers in a foreign land and women fighting to lead their own version of authentic lives.

The film centres on Leila (Mouna Hawa), Noor (Shaden Kanboura) and Salma (Sana Jammelieh) who couldn’t be more different. Leila and Salma are flatmates. Leila a lawyer who parties mixing drinking with the occasional drug use. Salma is a chef in a Jewish restaurant and is wrestling with her parents desire to have her married even though she longs to tell them she is a lesbian. Their world is about to be turned upside down when Noor moves in.  Noor is the good, obedient Muslim girl who is engaged to be married. When Noor suffers a horrific act, the women come together to avenge Noor and also show their defiance. They have the right to be heard, seen and live as equals to men in 2017.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPiVZj8Mm7o

I found it an incredible film and it is rightly generating award buzz. This is not only down to the writer/director but the three lead actresses. Why the film is so startling is Muslim women have never been shown this way on film.  The idea that there are Palestinian women who drink, smoke and go to parties is refreshing to see on film. The only other film of recent time where I have seen similar to this is: As I Open My Eyes (2016) a Tunisian film that showed members of Tunisian youth battling against the oppression and wanting freedom.

The fact that Maysaloun Hamound is the first Palestinian woman in 70 years to have a Fatwa issued against her by the Palestinian State because of debut feature shows the power of art and in particular film to galvanise a cause.

In Between is short and punchy with a run time of about 1h45. The director has a very strong voice. There is no mistaking the message that she wants you to understand here. The pace of the film is good and this is helped by careful editing. The pivotal scene that galvanises the three women when they are all the in bathroom is all the more visceral because it is not softened, it shows starkly the aftermath of rape and the collective strength of women. This is not to say In Between is anti-men because it is not. What it must be seen as is correcting the perceived image of Muslim women that the West has: these women are strong and proud and just like us.

In Between is a must see.  It is released across cinemas in the UK on Friday 22 September.

There has always been something alluring about films inspired or set in the backdrop of true events. And I don’t mean when the industry abuses that saying; like, yes Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a good film but it’s not the true events of Edward Gein and the like. No, I mean true events in history, no matter how ancient or recent that still hold some power to this day. It’s from this thinking that we get powerful classics like 12 Years a Slave. It is also from this mindset that In Another Life comes into being.

In Another Life is the telling of a story set in an event more recent than most. This is the story of a man from Syria, who is trapped in the Jungle, a refugee camp in Calais in 2015 and 2016. He, and a number of others, is trying to get to England, where he can reunite with his wife. Needless to say, this is an important and rather touchy subject. Not only is it a recent issue, but it is one that is far from over, even if Calais Jungle itself is gone.

What we have here is a look at what life was like for the people trapped within these camps. Sometimes unapologetically so. We get some uncomfortable scenes here, chief of which are the treatment of the refugees at the hands of traffickers, who see them as little more than profit, if they see anything more at all, and an uncomfortable moment when refugee men and women are forced to strip down for thuggish entertainment. Moments like these are hard to offend, but that is what we should feel. We should be upset by what we see and hear in this film. And when it succeeds, we do feel the outrage. But, sadly, there are one too many times when it doesn’t succeed.

I wasn’t sure why, but I knew I should be feeling more than I was throughout the film as a whole; not just in these select moments. It took me a while to put my finger on it, but I found that, to me, my disconnect mostly came down to the films execution. Personally, I saw no reason for it to be in black-and-white. There is nothing wrong with that stylistic approach, but there had to be a reason behind it. I found it made the film feel more stylish when it should have been grit and dirty. Also, save for a handful of key moments, there was nothing shown within this film that felt overly cinematic – this had me wondering, why wasn’t this a documentary. Or perhaps a mocumentary. I feel that such a style would have worked wonders for what was trying to be achieved. This is ever present with how most of what we are given is told more than it is shown. This works at times, a discussion about the shower situation at these camps made my jaw drop with how appalled I was, and a moment where the lead uses a hose to wash his only shoes caught my attention. Other times, I could have done with being shown more to help me feel the moment better. Most of what was film lent itself to the mockumentary style, so the decision to go with a black-and-white arthouse style was an odd one to me.

I do, however, admire what this film was aiming for. This film depicts the desperation of the refugee situation in such places. In doing so it reveals a form of racism that most of us don’t even consider. The feeling that they should be doing better, when really these people have been given the bare-minimum and even that gets taken from them. The writing does help these emotions find their way when it really counts. The acting, while not great and without a real stand out performance, is good and sombre. What emotions these characters needed to get out, the actors delivered. A range was needed to achieve this, so we are clearly dealing with talented people who I hope find more success in their careers. It is just the directing style that causes a disconnect between the emotions of the film and the audience. And considering that this is a film made for emotional responses, this is a major issue.

If the mockumentary style was deliberately avoided, then what we needed was something unapologetic thought its runtime, like 12 Years a Slave. This would have delivered more power to the story and message I think. But, as it is, In Another Life is a good and somewhat important film for our time. Though, I cannot say how time will treat it. This is a story that needed telling, but the direction was a little mishandled for me. I am glad I have seen it, despite the issues I find with it. I didn’t leave with nothing and it did raise my awareness for the issue – for that I shall applaud it. It is one of those times when the story to the film is a lot more interesting than the film itself. I feel like, as a film, I needed more from it. As a message, however, it is one you need to hear.

What’s that saying – Good girls go to heaven and bad girls go everywhere.

Well in this new role, Letty Raines (Michelle Dockery) is trying to be good and change her bad girl ways. From the outset, the viewer suspects that maybe Letty is a good girl gone bad. Actually, she’s not reformed so much as forced to change. Who is she and how did end up losing her son, on parole and now at the behest of an assassin? That is basically the plot outline of Good Behaviour.

Michelle Dockery will probably be for ever more linked to Downton Abbey and her role as Lady Mary. In a complete departure, in Good Behaviour she is anything but playing the complete opposite of Lady Mary – a thief, con artist, alcoholic and drug user.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaH1whf5gM0

The pilot is long and a bit too long. Yes, we need to see the different facets of the character but there are too many scenes when it is just the central character on screen. It drags and the central character feels as if it a muddle of too many cliches and not enough originality.  I have had the opportunity of seeing a few more episodes and all I can say is stick with it. If only the pilot had been ruthlessly edited this series would be on everyone’s lips. However, stick with it because from episode two onwards there is a lot more sparring between Letty Raines and her “boss” the hitman (Juan Diego Botto) who she encounters in the pilot. There is no denying there is good chemistry between the two central characters but again this is only really evident from episode two onwards.

Good Behavior debuts on Virgin TV on demand on Monday 11^th September, leading up to the much anticipated season two premiere on Monday 16^th October to coincide with the US