Kung Fu Panda 3
Out: Now screening (PG, 95 minutes)
Directors: Jennifer Yuh Nelson & Alessandro Carloni
Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Bryan Cranston, Dustin Hoffman
Outline: The third instalment of the animated franchise about the dumpling-mad panda who also happens to be a jolly martial arts master finds the adopted Po (Black) dealing with two new figures: his long absent father (Breaking Bad star Cranston) and a messianic Yak with designs on his spirit (J.K. Simmons). The balancing of responsibility and heritage ensure, with only a minor vocal presence along the way from Jolie’s hard-kicking Tigress.
Adult Irritation Potential: Depends on how you feel about Jack Black’s enthusiasm – Po tends to exclaim “awesome!” a lot.
Zootopia
Out: Now screening (PG, 108 minutes)
Directors: Byron Howard & Rich Moore
Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba
Outline: Further proof that Disney’s animation division is getting back to past glories, Zootopia puts a fresh spin on the anthropomorphic animal story, with a dedicated young rabbit police officer, Judy Hopps (Goodwin), starting work in the four-legged metropolis where predators and prey now work, live and play. She finds a mystery to solve and an ethically challenged fox as her unlikely partner (Bateman) amidst a delight of visual detail and storytelling gags
Adult Irritation Potential: Rather low, unless you’re a complete grump. Zootopia puts some life into its lessons and the sloth bureaucrat sequence is a classic.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Out: Now screening (M, 151 minutes)
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg
Outline: Where do we start? The story is about a brooding vigilante billionaire (Affleck’s Batman) who wants to destroy an extra-terrestrial being whose powers pose an unconscionable risk (Cavill’s Superman), but it’s also a foundation stone for almost a dozen further DC Comics-related superhero movies – the plot is a mess, there’s too many masked cameos (although Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is a welcome presence) and the hardened brown digital colour palette favoured by director Snyder (Watchmen, 300) can grate.
Adult Irritation Potential: If you don’t have a tolerance for superhero movies, this behemoth of a blockbuster could send you mad.
The Huntsman: Winter's War
Out: April 7 (M, 114 minutes)
Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain
Outline: Dumping Kristen Stewart’s Snow White, this prequel to the 2012 fantasy hit focuses on Hemsworth’s titular Huntsman (a.k.a. Eric), revealing his origins as a soldier in the service of the ice queen Freya (Blunt), sister of Ravenna (Theron), the villain from the original film. Jessica Chastain adds to the emphatic female cast as a fellow warrior whose love for the Huntsman cannot be, and it’s up to French director Nicolas-Troyan, who handled second unit on the first instalment, to make sense of a possibly unwieldy amount of creative elements.
Adult Irritation Potential: Is there more to this than the clash of swords? And be prepared, the dwarf sidekicks, with actors’ faces digitally pasted on, are back.
Allegiant: Part One
Out: April 14 (M, 120 minutes)
Director: Robert Schwentke
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Naomi Watts, Ansel Elgort
Outline: The number one dystopic young adult novel franchise now that The Hunger Games has been satiated, the Divergent series keeps offering up new post-apocalyptic mysteries for its stern but awfully good-looking young cast to solve as the focus of the defectors from the emotion-based tribes of post-apocalyptic Chicago venture further afield to find answers. Jeff Daniels and Naomi Watts are in the supporting cast, backing up Woodley’s Tris and James’ Four, as they set up the concluding 2017 film in the series.
Adult Irritation Potential: If you haven’t seen the first two instalments you may be baffled, and resorting to sudden, casual violence remains a common story element.
The Jungle Book
Out: April 14 (PG, 105 minutes)
Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba
Outline: Iron Man and Elf director Favreau gives the 19th century stories of Rudyard Kipling a 21st century spin in this mostly pleasing adventure about an orphaned young boy lovingly raised by wolves, Mowgli (Sethi), who has to go into exile when a vengeful tiger (Elba) stalks him. Technology brought the jungle, and the animal characters, to life on Los Angeles soundstages, and thankfully the film’s momentum – not to mention Bill Murray voicing an indolent bear with a thing for honey – wins out over mawkishness. Several signature songs from Disney’s 1967 animated adaptation also feature.
Adult Irritation Potential: Reasonably low. It’s an entertaining remake, and thankfully there’s no visual representation of Scarlett Johansson’s suggestive turn as a serpent to explain.
Wide Open Sky
Out: April 14 (G, 87 minutes)
Director: Lisa Nicol
Cast: Michelle Leonard, many genuine Australian children
Outline: This worthy Australian documentary chronicles the year of Michelle Leonard, the impassioned conductor of the Moorambilla Voices choir, a singing group assembled from children living in disadvantaged and remote New South Wales outback communities. By singing together, the children learn, literally and metaphorically, how to find their own voice.
Adult Irritation Potential: Low, it’s a fascinating, feel good feature, although some children may struggle with the detail and pacing.
Eddie the Eagle
Out: April 21 (PG, 106 minutes)
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Taron Egerton
Outline: Sometimes they make films about the athlete who finished last: Kingsman star Egerton plays Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards, the unlikely, and only, British ski jumper who pursued qualification for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics and participated even though success was impossible and injury likely. Everyone’s favourite movie star, Hugh Jackman, plays his initially unimpressed trainer, in a story that is very clearly about following your dreams, even if it involves flying off a sizable ski jump.
Adult Irritation Potential: Both Jackman and Egerton are very likable screen presences, and there’s a little Christopher Walken performance to add some flavour. British pomp is also deflated.
