TheRetroCritic

I talk a bit about new Stephen King movie adaptation The Dark Tower .

Based on Stephen King's series of novels, The Dark Tower is the first attempt at bringing the writer's inter-dimensional adventure to life after a long line of start-and-stop attempts. With the reviews so far being mediocre at best, it's not looking promising for this franchise starter. The fact that there are 8 books to work from should have guaranteed a packed first instalment setting up King's universe and its main players. The cool trailers promised lots of action, creative visuals, a massive scale and even a bit of humour so this really seemed like a safe bet despite fans of the novels already having their reservations. The reviews have been cruel and, although this movie isn't the complete train-wreck it's been painted as, it's hard to deny it deserves a bit of a spanking. Setting aside the fact that Stephen King fans have expressed how much it butchers the source novels, as a film it fails on several accounts. We're introduced to this big co

I talk about the new reboot sequel Star Trek Beyond . Live long and prosper.

Star Trek is back with yet another big-screen reboot sequel and, since the darker Star Trek Into Darkness  promised a return to the brighter tone of the old TV series in the next instalment, Star Trek Beyond had its work cut out, especially following its much-criticised first teaser trailer. The good news is that this is very easily the "Trekkiest" of all the reboot movies and, like a few of the old Star Trek movies, it feels like an extended episode of The Original Series... in a good way. Packed with lots of loving references from Spock's trademark eyebrow raise to Kirk always ripping his shirt and McCoy being thrown into situations he's not too keen on, this manages to be a fun homage without feeling like fan-fiction. With Justin Lin replacing J.J. Abrams as director, you can certainly expect more action, a LOT more action in fact, as this movie makes Into Darkness look like a business meeting. You've got the Enterprise being torn to shreds by space bees,

Disney continues its merciless rampage of adapting every single one of its classic animated films into live-action remakes and, this time, it's The Jungle Book 's turn. Jon Favreau directs an all-star cast of voice actors and a young newcomer in what promises to be a CGI visual treat. Indeed, pretty much everything in this movie is CGI from the talking animals to the jungle itself so if it's "realism" you're looking for, you might want to go for the 1994 live-action retelling instead. The film follows certain key plot points from the original 1967 animation but it definitely takes a lot of liberties with both the story and its characters. Mowgli (Neel Sethi) willingly walks away from his wolf pack before wondering why he has to leave and later comes back to fight Shere Khan which leads to a very different ending. Speaking of which, the unnerving build-up to Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba) is now gone and we see the villainous tiger pretty much straight-