Eleanor Reviews

***/**** (3.5 stars) Having escaped the maze, Thomas and the other remaining Gladers find temporary respite and sanctuary with Janson, who provides them with dreams of a promised land. Upon finding that all is not as it first appeared to be, the team escape into the Scorch, where many obstacles await them. It seemed ironic that the trailer for the latest Hunger Games should air directly before this film began, as it only seemed to highlight the similarities between the two, and how much Maze Runner wishes it were as good as its predecessor. That’s not to say that The Scorch Trials isn’t an enjoyable, if slightly overly long, it’s just the same old, same old regurgitated with different characters. This time, we are introduced to the Cranks (zombies to you or I), humans who have been changed by the sun’s radiation, and now live in the Scorch. If you’ve seen I Am Legend or 28 Days Later , these super-athletic creatures will come as no surprise, although could well be scary fo

***/**** (3.5 stars) Sacked from his job and estranged from his son, submariner Robinson is suddenly offered the chance of a lifetime: to uncover the legendary Russian gold lost on the floor of the Black Sea during the Second World War. This is undoubtedly your typical submarine thriller, which ticks off all the boxes as it goes and adds nothing new to the genre. You can even work out which characters are going to make it to the end, because, (spoiler alert!) not all of them do. Still, for all of its unoriginality and plot points that you can see coming from a mile away, this isn’t a bad film. In fact, it’s pretty enjoyable. Yes, it is silly – Jude Law’s accent wanders all over the place, and ludicrous decisions are made throughout, but in places it is rather tense and there is a definite sense of claustrophobia throughout. As the rickety submarine (I would’ve taken one look at the outside and run away) descends and tragedy ensues, the duplicitous crew members begin to

**** An amateur film-maker and perpetual outsider, Greg reluctantly agrees to visit the home of his neighbour, Rachel, after she is diagnosed with leukaemia. Over the course of their meetings, Greg, Rachel and Greg’s co-worker Earl form a friendship that will leave none of them unchanged.   With a title such as that, it is likely that many potential viewers will dismiss this as an over-sentimental, teenage-angst piece: I can assure you that it is not. Grounded firmly in reality by an instantly likeable central character, Greg (Thomas Mann), this film is excellently well-observed in terms of teenage interaction, leading to moments of hilarity alongside heart-wrenching scenes which cannot fail to bring tear to your eye. Quirk and amusing in places, this is nevertheless an intensely heartfelt study of teenage friendship in the midst of sickness and college applications. It is to director’s Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and screenwriter Jesse Andrew’s (who also wrote the novel) credit t

*** Finding himself abandoned in a glade with his memory erased, Thomas becomes one of the many other teenager boys locked within an enormous, ever-changing maze. Whilst the other boys seem content with staying put, Thomas is determined to escape the maze and learn the truth.   The Maze Runner isn't a bad film, it's just a painfully average film that lacks any sort of originality, even though the initial set up of young men being trapped within a maze seems promising. The simple fact is, we've seen it all before, and done better, with The Hunger Games . The similarities are simply endless, essentially boiling down to young people being placed at odds against tyrannical grown ups. There's everything you would expect from a group being thrown together, from the good-hearted, fat kid to the over-bearing antagonist, and a philosophical leader figure - you can pick out who will live to the end credits from the moment you set foot within the Glade.   The cast d