Movie reviews

KUSUNDA VR

Watchable. Witnessing how a nearly extinct language is used is fascinating. Yet it could do with more real life footage rather than animation and, whatever documentary there is, is partly blurred, especially at the back, though not all the film is 360 degrees round you. .

WILDING

Recommended. Based on the book by and consulted by Isabella Tree, this documentary uses actors and dramatisations to tell the story of decades of rewilding a depleted land. You have to listen to it all carefully as they explain all the links in nature that make it possible. The staggering amount of work they put into it, the happiness of released farm animals like horses or pigs, the knowledge of numerous species of what's there and why it's worth going - their communication spans continents - all impress. "A pair of beavers would have done it at no cost and better" sums up how humans destroy nature.and how costly it is and what skill - animal gifts - it takes to rebuild it.

Reviewed from the distributor's screener, cinematic reception might differ.

DORA MAGIC MERMAID ADVENTURES

Watchable. Delightful pastel colours, silly tales, but teaching children English words. It's all about "glowing parties" and looking for stuff in the ocean among magical mermaids and other fantastical creatures. Nice songs, just like dialogues, in Polish with thrown in English words. What mars the vision is an odd monkey whose tail turns into a seahorse tail in water. Still, the whole thing is pleasant, light and fun.

SUNNY SANSKARI KI TULSI KUMARI

Recommended. A superb Bollywood romantic comedy with fantastic music and great dancing. Varun Dhawan shows off his acting chops as spunky Sunny Sanskari, so does Janhvi Kapoor as Tulsi Kumari  - she's also breathtakingly beautiful. Producer Karan Johar makes a cameo. The plot is funny, especially the final act with the second wedding disruption attempt. Rhythmic songs make you wanna dance.

TRON: ARES AT IMAX 3D

Watchable. Disney's logo digitised into red stripes Tron-style opens and closes the picture which successfully bridges the 80s original with the present visually, musically, character-wise. There's an Easter egg for Moebius fans - look closely at the bus destination in the first road chase. Jeff Bridges' return will satisfy the fans of the original "Tron". The story's simple and silly but it was meant for teenagers back then and it is now. 3D, at Imax at least, enhances the movie, some scenes without the 3D glasses were so flat it changed the context. An early mid-credit heralds a potential sequel.

TRIUMPH OF THE HEART

Watchable. Well, the story of St. Maksymilian Kolbe as I remember it from a school trip in my childhood in Poland is told differently in this American movie. While, as a child, I wasn't given the details of the atrocities and may have forgotten some of the story, I'm positive I heard of him making a rosary from bread instead of eating it, which is not in the film - now I doubt which story is truer. The final notes on the screen state most of the characters are fictitious, being rather representatives of major groups in the concentration camp, which muddles the truth further. What remains is the truth of faith. Yet, it's a biopic rather than a religious drama. We learn a lot about his path before the imprisonment. Still, frequent flashbacks from the priest's past as well as reminiscences from others' lives, mixed with hallucinations from starvation hinder following the plot, even if they lighten the mood. Well, at times, because some nightmares horrify. Symbolic snakes in the prisoners' final days make no sense though - their sins have been absolved, they're even physically incapable of committing any more, none of them mention seeing them so they're not hallucinations either. The movie is heavy, sombre, often gruesome, not for the faint-hearted - that's certainly realistic, presented without beating round the bush. The otherworldly joyful finale is the only truly uplifting part.

Reviewed from the distributor's screener, cinematic reception might differ.