Max (12A)
Directed by Boaz Yakin
3/5

If you have heartstrings, prepare to have them tugged hard by a boy and his dog drama with enough sugary warmth to melt a city of igloos.

When we first meet precision-trained military dog Max, he and his US marine handler Kyle (Robbie Amell) are sniffing out weapons and worse in Afghanistan.

Then Kyle is killed.

Back in Texas his grieving family adopts the angry combat-traumatised dog who slowly and sweetly bonds with the dead marine’s younger brother Justin (Josh Wiggins).

It’s Lassie re-invented for today’s more worldwise youngsters seeking action and thrills as well as four-legged fables.

Co-writer and director Boaz Yakin blends familiar small-town characters — Justin’s parents (Thomas Haden Church and Lauren Graham) are living cliches — with unanticipated subplots involving young Justin in a tentative romance with a local Latina girl and an exciting climactic chase with bad guys out to dispose of the lad and his dog. Competent family fare.

Review by Alan Frank

Marshland (15)
Directed by Alberto Rodriguez
4/5

This slow-burning and claustrophobic crime thriller set in post-Franco Spain deservedly swept the board at this year’s Goyas — Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars — winning 10 coveted awards.

With its moody and brooding tone along with mismatched cops you could be mistaken in believing you were watching the Spanish version of True Detective.

Set in 1980 in Andalusia’s wetlands it centres on the disappearance of two young sisters from a remote town. Troubled murder detectives Juan (Javier Gutierrez) and Pedro (Raul Arevalo) are brought in from Madrid to investigate the case, which leads to them uncovering a prolific serial killer.

Full of exquisitely shot panoramic landscapes this delicious film noir is inspired by the photography of Atin Aya, capturing the last vestiges of life in the marshlands of the Guadalquivir river.

It also explores the remnants of Francoism after Spain transitioned from a fascist dictatorship to a fledgling democracy.

Director and co-writer Alberto Rodriguez delivers a fascinating, taut and complex political crime thriller in which everything is not how it appears. It is masterfully crafted and punctuated by its gritty and gripping leads.

It is a gem of a thriller.

Review by Maria Duarte

Fantastic Four (12A)
Directed by Josh Trank
2/5

They may be Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team but could the Fantastic Four be the poison chalice of reboots?

Ten years after its previous dismal attempt, Fox tries again to win cinema audiences but this time it is a much darker and sinister affair.

All the previous humour and witty banter are gone and instead we have four quite young and deeply earnest science boffins looking intently at computer screens and spouting scientific theories. They teleport to an alternate and more dangerous world which alters them physically with shocking results.

Miles Teller as the older Reed, Jamie Bell as Ben, Kate Mara as Sue Storm and Michael B Jordan as her adopted brother Johnny give gravitas and grounding to their characters as they struggle to control their horrifying powers.  Teller’s body-morphing was creepy and rather disturbing, while Toby Kebbell is wonderfully off-kilter as the troubled Victor Von Doom who transforms into the evil Dr Doom.

Josh Trank directs as if laying the groundwork for the sequel and the result is a laboured, heavy handed and surprisingly violent Fantastic Four which leaves fans high and dry and yearning for Ioan Gruffudd and co.

Review by Maria Duarte

The Gift (15)
Directed by Joel Edgerton
4/5

A white bread, all-American married couple are increasingly menaced by an outsider with a terrible score to settle.
Sounds familiar?

It’s not!

Australian actor-turned-screenwriter Joel Edgerton, directing his first feature film, delivers a suspense shocker that shreds your nerves while neatly avoiding genre tropes.

Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) move to Los Angeles, find their perfect modern home — and find a new “friend” when Gordo (Egerton) meets Simon and tells him, “I think I know you.”

“He’s odd,” is Hall’s opinion.

Then they receive a welcoming gift of wine and find themselves unwillingly bonding with someone who, as the sinister plot develops, was known as “Gordo the Weird” when he and Simon were at school together.

Egerton racks up triple tension as actor, writer and director. His victims are ideally cast and there are more shocking twists than you would find in a century of smartly twisted big business annual reports.

Review by Alan Frank

Manglehorn (12A)
Directed by David Gordon Green
2/5

Al Pacino delivers his most understated and nuanced performance to date as a bitter and grumpy old man whose only successful relationship is with his cat (Fanny).

He plays AJ Manglehorn, a small Texas town locksmith fixated with the love of his life Clara — who left him 40 years previously — to such an extent that he writes to her regularly in the hope she will write back.

His only real interaction is with cheery bank teller Dawn (Holly Hunter) who has a crush on him. The encounters between the two are frankly the highlight of this rather weird and creepy indie drama overloaded with symbolism.

In fact it could have done with more of the sublime Hunter, who gives a heart-breaking portrayal as this lonely middle-aged woman.

Maestro Pacino skilfully avoids turning the obnoxious Manglehorn into a pathetic lonely cat loving singleton.

Review by Maria Duarte