The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)

The Huntsman: Winter’s War traffics pretty well exclusively in clichés. Oh, you can point to Frozen – Emily Blunt’s ice queen, the ‘power of love’ – or Lord of the Rings – there’s a golden circle emblazoned with Elvish runes that drives people to murder and dwarven comic relief (Nick Frost, Sheridan Smith, Rob Brydon)…

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

I really wanted to like this film. Alas, Ron Howard (usually ‘Mr Dependable’ in the director’s chair) has guided this big-budget seafaring adventure straight onto the reef. In the Heart of the Sea is ambitious but fails to develop its own identity, instead playing out like a highlight reel from better movies. The film is based on…

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron is, for better or worse, the culmination of Marvel Studios’ approach to commercial cinema. By this stage, their much-discussed directorial departures – Patty Jenkins from Thor: The Dark World, Edgar Wright from Ant-Man – and the homogeneity of their output make it clear that this is about as far from auteurist…