James King's reviews
Check out the latest reviews of the biggest films coming to a screen near you...
Saw 3 (18)
The plot: Evil killer Jigsaw is on his last legs…and kidnaps a nurse to help him get better.
The verdict: Not a patch on its predecessors but Saw 3 still delivers where it counts - in the blood and guts department. Various gruesome traps torture characters left, right and centre although it's a brain op featuring the kind of drill you'd buy down Homebase that particularly sticks out. Acting from the likes of Shawnee Smith and Dina Meyer, both Saw regulars, is still ropey but Tobin Bell as the gravelly voiced Jigsaw is still enough to scare the c*** outta you. And that's what counts.***
Step Up (12A)
The plot: A street dancer on probation works as a janitor at a school for the performing arts - learning some new moves and falling in love in the process…
The verdict: Corny as hell but this mix of Dirty Dancing and Save The Last Dance is brilliantly put together by choreographer Anne Fletcher so that the plot holes and dodgy acting (from eye candy Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan) are glossed over by the sweet moves and thumping RnB soundtrack. Stupid…but so much fun. ***
All The King's Men (12A)
The plot: The rise and fall of a Louisiana politician in 1930s America…
The verdict: A quality cast (Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet) can't make up for the fact that this heavyweight political melodrama is just a bit dull. Acting is gripping and writer/director Steve Zaillian has a point to make. But the whole heavy project is so worthy - and with a dull romantic sub-plot - that it's one to admire rather than love. **
Havoc (18)
The plot: Two rich LA girls hang out with dodgy drug dealers from the wrong side of town…
The verdict: The sight of clean-cut Anne Hathaway topless, getting it on with sleazy pushers in an East LA motel room, may have been intended to show off her range but unfortunately it's not very convincing. She's just too…nice. The pic as a whole is wonky too, not knowing whose side to take and what moral to peddle, with only supporting turns from Freddy Rodriguez (from 6 Feet Under) and Jospeh Gordon-Levitt (from 10 Things I Hate About You) as drugged-out slimeballs packing any punch. **
