Sherlock- Season 4

I’ve always been a big Sherlock fan. I grew up with the stories by Arthur Conan-Doyle, and I’ve watched the film and TV adaptations. I don’t think it’s just the genre I enjoyed – I’ve tried other mysteries (and liked them, mostly) but I’ve always gone back to Sherlock Holmes because it’s Holmes himself that I’m fascinated by.

So far I’ve been really impressed by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s modern-day spin on the original Conan-Doyle tales. Series one started off all about the cases, but as we’ve gone on it’s got deeper and more complex. Now we’re onto series four which is probably the most mind-bending of them all, and it’s all headed towards the answer we’ve been waiting for – has Moriarty returned?

If you’ve read any reviews of the most recent series then you’ll notice that a lot of people feel it’s got too action-oriented, and involves too many guns and explosions. Yes, series four may contain a scene that involves possibly the worst CGI explosion that I’ve ever seen, but I disagree with these statements. If you’re focusing on these elements then you’re doing it wrong – what you should be looking at is the incredible development of characters and relationships since the last series. 

Most of these relationships include Sherlock in some ways – how Sherlock and Watson’s friendship starts to fall apart; the complicated past between Sherlock and Mycroft that finally gets revealed; the subtle yet important relationship between Sherlock and Molly, which has only been touched on. Most important of all is Sherlock’s relationship with himself and his drugs of choice, which of course is a vital part of his character. We also witness Watson and Mary’s relationship start to fray at the seams after the birth of Rosie, and see a wide of Watson we rather wish we hadn’t.

Each episode presents something powerful, whether it be an event or just a concept. The first episode brings us a death we weren’t expecting that dramatically changes the dynamics of the whole series. The second eerily echoes recent events with Culverton Smith (Toby Jones), the entrepreneur and much-loved TV personality who Sherlock just can’t seem to prove as the serial killer. The third… well I’ll leave it up to you to watch, but it will certainly get you thinking.

As with all the other series everything is as excellent as before, with compelling plots, brilliant acting, and beautiful visuals. Benedict Cumberbatch excels yet again as Sherlock (a role he was born to play), but it’s Amanda Abbington who really stands out this time as the seemingly divisive Mary. Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs) brings a lot of humour, and keeps the whole set of characters together as it all starts to go downhill. More involvement from Mycroft (Gatiss) is welcomed as we learn more about the mysterious man, and there’s also a new character (I’m not saying who as spoilers!) who gives a truly captivating performance.

The programme’s trademark use of text on screen has also been upgraded, with Sherlock cleverly arranging his own mental concepts around in the physical environment. When we see it from another character’s perspective he’s just waving his arms around like a fool, as of course there’s nothing there. Some of the scenes may feel a bit farfetched at times, such as an intricate trick Sherlock plays on Mycroft to get him to cooperate which involves blood pouring out of the eyes of painted figures. God knows how he did it but that’s beside the point – what we’re really supposed to see is a reinforcement of the bizarre relationship between Mycroft and Holmes. 

I can honestly say that I’ve never felt so much emotion from a Sherlock series as I have with this one. Many of the concepts involved are difficult to process mentally, and so it’s more of a journey than just something to watch when you’re bored on a Sunday evening. The important thing is not to take it at face value – there’s a lot to gain from it all but, like Sherlock himself, you have to partake in some serious deductions. 

★★★★★

Hannah Read

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The Girl On The Train

If you’ve read the book ‘The Girl on the Train’ by Paula Hawkins, then it’s likely that you’re aware that the movie adaptation has finally come out, and you’re pretty excited about it. I read the book when it first came out and it gripped me from the very beginning – although it’s similar to ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn in style and content, I always felt it was the more powerful of the two. Now both books have been made into films, and it’s interesting to see how ‘The Girl on the Train’ has changed by gracing our screens.

Rachel (Emily Blunt) lives a life that is a bit of a mess, but she has other priorities. On her train journey between work and home each day she spends time watching the residents of the houses on a street where she used to live, admiring one particular couple for their apparent perfection. When she discovers that the wife of the couple, Megan (Haley Bennett), is actually having an affair, she finds herself more involved than she should be when Megan goes missing and the blame is directed to Rachel herself by Anna (Rebecca Ferguson), the wife of her ex-husband, Tom (Justin Theroux). Being an alcoholic, Rachel can’t remember anything that has happened, and soon enough things start to get sinister.

Initially I was worried about the adaptation, as just a few minutes in I realised that there had been a dramatic change – the location had changed from London to Manhattan. I didn’t feel this added anything to the story (if anything, it took away), but thankfully there weren't too many other large changes that affected the storyline. Looking at it from the perspective of the plot it was actually quite true to the book, and so I’m glad that director Tate Taylor at least stuck with that.

Those of you that have read the book will know that the story is both gripping and disturbing, and the movie adaptation still conveys this well. We realise that Rachel is unreliable quite early on and so we don’t know who to trust, but constant reveals happen throughout to change our perspectives towards the characters. It’s a film you need to pay a lot of attention to, but also one that makes turning away quite difficult anyway due to the curiosity that it creates.

Blunt’s performance as Rachel is accurate and mesmerising, despite her not being someone I would initially choose to play her. She’s not a nice character, but for some reason you still care. Ferguson and Bennett also give good performances as Anna and Megan, although I felt they were both a little too Hollywood for the roles (again another reason why the film should have been set in England and not America).

What really made the film was the beautiful cinematography from Charlotte Bruus Christensen. Already disturbing, perfectly thought-out shots add tension and uneasiness that channels strongly through the viewer. It’s hard not to feel part of it all, and you’ll watch it with a constant sense of foreboding for what might happen next.

The film is also very graphic in a few places with both violence and sex, and so you might find yourself wincing more than once. Strangely though it still wasn’t as graphic as the book – there was a particularly harrowing flashback scene I was dreading from the start (readers will know which one I’m talking about) yet it seemed somewhat understated in the film version. In a way I’m glad as it is such a sensitive topic.

I watched the film with someone who hadn’t previously read the book and they had worked out what was really going on before the big reveal, meaning that the film is a little more obvious than the book was. It’s a great film on its own and well done when you take the original into account, but I’d strongly recommend reading the book first if you want to get the most out of the story. 

★★★★☆

Hannah Read

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Yakuza 0

The Yakuza series has always struggled to find much of a following with western gamers. Despite its massive success in Japan, the complicated backstory – which has spanned more than a decade, six core series entries and four spin-off titles – coupled with its very Japanese outlook, doesn’t encourage gamers to give the series a chance. What we get with the new prequel title Yakuza 0 however, is a more accessible jumping-on point for potential new fans, free of any preconceptions.

The story is standard crime-story fare. A standard debt collection goes horribly awry when the man you were simply meant to be intimidating turns up dead. Playing as Kazuma Kiryu – the long-time series protagonist – you must prove your innocence and in turn help protect the head of your Yakuza family. Kazuma is somewhat of a blank slate, and not terribly emotional or full of beans, but it is good to find out more about the events that shaped his life.

The more exciting parts of the game see you playing as Goro Majima – a recurring antagonist from the Yakuza franchise – known as the Mad Dog. What is interesting about Goro is that his story of redemption and his quest to rejoin his Yakuza family lets us see just what made him into the unhinged maniac that we have come to love/hate. Running a Hostess bar as a punishment, there are lots more laughs, but a new club management game mode which is available when playing as Goro. The two different story threads of course cross-over and intertwine as you work your way through the game, and this is certainly a hefty title. With seventeen lengthy chapters to play through, with lots of collectable items and upgradeable skill trees to complete, this won’t be an experience that you blitz your way through.

By the same token however, you can choose to quickly dip in and out of Yakuza 0. There are so many interesting side quests and mini-games to divert your attention from the main missions, but these act as nice short experiences for when you want a quick burst of play. A lot of character and humour is added to proceedings by the random encounter missions. Not only can you find other fighters willing to teach you skills, but school children need Girlfriend advice, nervous Policemen need your reassurance, and you can help return stolen goods to an infant. There are some very strange quests to take part in, but most will raise a chuckle, or at least a wry smile.

There are a huge number of other pursuits that can occupy your time, including restoring your health levels by visiting the local restaurants, getting drunk at a bar, and playing an ill-advised game of darts, or betting in illegal Mah-Jong parlours. The addition of a new Disco-Dancing mini-game helps lend to the eighties atmosphere, and is a lot of fun to boot. You won’t soon run out of things to do, but despite these activities, the most famous aspect of the Yakuza series is the over-the-top, brutal fighting style.

The fighting system is largely the same as previous series entries, however the ability to hot-switch between three different fighting styles for each character is a new and welcome change. Having a balanced, heavy, or quick fight style each, you can strategise to use the most suitable style to take down each individual enemy, based on their style – this adds a lot more variety to every fight. The long-established Heat action finishing moves remain ever-present – which are devastating and ultra-violent finishing moves, which somehow maintain a cartoon-like innocence to them.

Yakuza 0 manages to take the tried and tested formula that has been developed over the last twelve years and manages to evolve it in several new ways, whilst also smartly opening it up to newcomers. Anyone could pick the title up and quickly become absorbed in the unique atmosphere of the Yakuza series. It has many quirks, long cutscenes and no English dubbing, but these quibbles shouldn’t put you off what is a purely fun and complete package, and a title which you’ll be playing for a long time.

Final Verdict: From zero to hero 

★★★★☆

Robin Parker

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Hunt For The Wilderpeople

When Empire put together their annual best-of-the-year article at the end of 2016, all the expected titles showed up throughout the list. Oscar big-hitters Room, Spotlight, The Revenant and The Big Short made the top 25, along with sci-fi favourites 10 Cloverfield Lane and Rogue One. Powerful BAFTA-nominee Daniel Blake was there too, and of course - it’s Empire - Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War was in the top 5. But number 1? Why, it was Hunt for the Wilderpeople, of course! What else would it be?

I’m sure many of you are wondering what Hunt for the Wilderpeople is, and how it could be considered better than a Star Wars film or the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Spotlight. Directed by the great Taika Watiti (the genius behind What We Do In The Shadows), Hunt for the Wilderpeople’s quality should come as no surprise. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the finest film of the year. It’s not opinion. It’s a fact.

Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) is a rebellious kid who has run away from his life, wanting nothing more than to be a skuxx-life gangster. The cantankerous old Hec (Sam Neill) just wants to disappear into the New Zealand bush in the wake of a personal tragedy. These two mismatched souls find themselves embarking on a journey through the jungle together, when a national manhunt ensues for the pair. Along the way, they find they have more in common than they initially thought, and a charming friendship is born.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople may seem like something you’ve heard of, or seen, before – grumpy old man meets jolly young kid, and the pair become best friends. But there is something about this film that makes it feel utterly unique and truly deserving of the top spot in many of the Best of 2016 lists.

The first things you’ll notice when you sit down with the Wilderpeople is Taika Watiti’s incredible script being spoken by such amazing talent. Every line of this film is charming and hilarious, with Dennison and Neill easily the finest double act in 2016 cinema. The pair’s chemistry is a delight, with Sam Neill in particular putting in his finest performance in years. For the love of God, put him in the next Jurassic World. Sam Neill is love, Sam Neill is life. Julian Dennison too proves himself as a force to be reckoned with, with only his third cinematic performance! And the film’s story, based upon the novel Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump, is entertaining and engrossing. It’s not all jokes, though - expect moments of genuine emotion and pathos. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a surprisingly moving and poignant tale.

It is also phenomenally well shot. This isn’t just a comedy, it is a drama and an adventure – and the film’s visuals reflect that. The cinematography by Lachlan Milne is truly gorgeous, making New Zealand a character in itself – maybe even more so than Lord of the Rings did, which is humorously referenced here. An electronic soundtrack by New Zealand’s own Moniker gives the film a charmingly quirky feel which only helps to make it stand out from the pack even more.

There are many factors at play that helped turn a little New Zealand comedy into 2016’s best film, but instead of me listing them all, let me give you a piece of advice. Drop whatever you’re doing and go on the hunt. You’ll be so glad you did. It’s offbeat and quirky, but remarkably down-to-earth and poignant. It’s hilarious, and yet moving. It’s a truly charming escape from the world, and a stunning achievement from all involved. In an ideal world, Hunt for the Wilderpeople would be showered with awards. But unfortunately, it’s probably a little too quirky for award associations. Keep your Spotlights and your Big Shorts, Oscar people. We’re more than happy with the Wilderpeople.

The film had a rather quiet rise to the top here in the UK, but January brings it to home release via Blu-ray and DVD. There are no excuses not to see it now. This is one of the best films of 2016 and, come 2020, will surely be considered one of the finest films of the decade. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a masterpiece, plain and simple. 

★★★★★

Sam Love

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Equity

Let’s think about all the films we’ve had about finance and banking. From 1987’s Wall Street up to 2015’s The Big Short, there has always been a cinematic interest in the fast-moving world of money. But 2016 brought us something fresh and different in this exhausted and repetitive genre. Equity, directed by Meera Menon, is the first female-led banking film. Yes, it has taken until now to show us the ladies of finance. Forget the Wolves, Equity is the Women of Wall Street - and it is easily one of the most underrated films of the year.

Naomi Bishop (Breaking Bad’s ball-busting Anna Gunn) is a senior investment banker who deals with IPOs, hired to handle the imminent launch of Cachet – a privacy-based social media platform. Unbeknownst to Naomi, her old friend Samantha (Alysia Reiner) has become a ‘white collar crime’ investigator and is working to bring down Naomi’s shifty hedge fund banker boyfriend Michael (the always brilliant James Purefoy) while Naomi’s pregnant and ambitious VP Erin (Sarah Megan Thomas) is willing to do just about anything to get the promotion she feels she is owed. All these characters’ lives become intertwined in a web of corruption and scandal over a surprisingly tense and engrossing 90 minutes.

Some of the marketing made Equity’s female-centric narrative feel like a gimmick, with press materials proudly starting the synopsis with “Equity is a world first”, being the first “female-driven banking film”. While this is arguably an important part of the film, it never feels heavy handed. The film opens with Naomi at a successful women seminar, talking about how refreshing and important it is that women can now openly discuss their ambition and that money “is no longer a dirty word” for them, and the film ends with a similar sentiment – but the lioness's’ share of the narrative is so confident and expertly delivered that, quite rightly, the gender becomes irrelevant. These are extremely strong female characters and they shit all over the Bechdel test – a test that asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. They very rarely talk about men (there are only two men of note in the story), and even then it’s purely for business purposes.

A lesser filmmaker would have made this into a preachy feminist romp but director Meera Menon makes Equity a very strong and stylish finance film that could easily stand among the best the genre has to offer. It may lack the star power of some of the best, but it has a strong story and great characters – and that’s all you need sometimes. The narrative is captivating, the entire cast are superb (except for a rather wooden Samuel Roukin as Cachet’s young inventor), the cinematography is beautifully cold and the score is a stunningly bleak compliment to the visuals.

Equity is one of those great films that suffers for multiple reasons – none of which are the film itself. Firstly, the film’s release was silent and snuck by with almost no fanfare. This is never a good start for a film that relies pretty heavily on strong marketing; finance films unfortunately don’t sell themselves. They need a little push. And as is the problem with most finance films, it is a little too smart for the masses – there are no big stand-out scenes and certainly no action. This is a dialogue heavy piece that expects the viewer to have a basic grasp of banking and finance. Don’t expect to be spoon fed what everything means – if you can’t keep up, you’ll get left behind. 

If you want an intelligent slow-burning story with great characters, Equity is worth investing your time in. If you’re looking for explosions, car chases, gun fights – or if you’re a raging sexist – you should probably look elsewhere. You will lose interest with this one. Ah, banking puns. I knew I couldn’t resist them for long.

Equity is a surprisingly good little film, and could easily stand among the finest finance films. 

★★★★☆

Sam Love

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Tickled

I absolutely love a good documentary. I’ve always found them to be the highest form of entertainment in the world of film and television – I’m all for getting lost in a space fantasy or a spy thriller, but there’s nothing more engrossing than real life itself. Documentaries bring us inspiring stories of people, times and places and from each one, we learn a little bit more about the world. But not all documentaries are uplifting or fun…sometimes they show us the dark side of human nature.

Tickled is an extremely difficult film to review because after the initial premise, it quickly becomes something a little stranger than expected – and that’s saying a lot for a film about the hidden sport of endurance tickling. With that in mind, I’ll try and be as vague as possible but there is a possibility that mild spoilers may be found within my words. If you want my advice, close this review and just watch the film. Right now. Read nothing else about it before you watch it, and your experience will be greater for it. But for those who need persuading, read on…

Tickled follows David Farrier, a New Zealand "light entertainment" reporter on the hunt for a big story. After he stumbles upon videos online about an activity described as "competitive endurance tickling" - in which young athletic men are restrained and tickled by each other - he begins to research it. However, his initial enquiries to the video creators are met with extremely hostile and cruel replies, telling him they’re not interested and insulting him. Intrigued by these alarm bells, Farrier partners with television producer Dylan Reeve to learn more about these tickling videos and the people who produce them.

What follows is an increasingly tense and borderline frightening story of one of the many underbellies of this world. Our two heroes travel from New Zealand to the US to pursue these video creators, as well as interview past tickle video participants, and find out just what it is they have uncovered. The initially amusing and light premise becomes quite the opposite.

Tickled is a thoroughly engrossing and tense story that plays out like a fictional thriller or drama, causing us – the audience – to frequently need to remind ourselves this shit is real. This is helped by the rather stunning cinematography and sharp editing, giving the film a very cinematic feel – but still remaining grounded in the documentary genre.

The film has a lot in common with 2010’s Catfish film, as our heroes are met with dark deceit and increasingly unusual revelations as the story unfolds over its short 90 minute runtime. This is the sort of documentary that Alfred Hitchcock would’ve loved, dropping twist after twist on us and shocking us at every turn. The film travels far across its runtime, beginning innocently and ending in darkness.

And that’s as much as I’m able to say. Tickled is an absolutely unforgettable documentary and one you simply cannot miss. Watch it, make your friends watch it, make your family watch it, make strangers watch it (like I’m attempting to do…) and discuss it – because there is a lot to discuss.

Tickled is a masterpiece of the documentary genre. 

★★★★★

Sam Love

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The Last Guardian

After eight years or so in development, The Last Guardian was always going to be either a masterpiece or a disaster. At least, that’s how it seemed; the truth is halfway between. You’re probably aware that this is the end to an unofficial Fumito Ueda trilogy. Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and now The Last Guardian are tenuously linked, if only aesthetically and thematically. Although the game takes place in a huge ruined castle, suspiciously similar in appearance to that of Ico, it is (ostensibly) neither a prequel nor a sequel. 

You, as an unnamed young boy, start the game by waking up in a cave next to a large wounded beast. The beast is chained, and appears to be wearing some sort of damaged battle armour. You’re covered in mysterious tattoos. You don’t know what the hell’s going on. The Last Guardian steps closer to traditional storytelling than either of the other games. Scattered throughout the experience is narration provided by the boy, now a man and recounting his experiences with the beast in the castle. These snatches of commentary are, however brief, few and far between. It’s still very much a case of “environmental storytelling” (basically, you have to pay close attention to cutscenes and your surroundings to piece together the story by yourself). Using this narration to give the player a nudge if they seem to be spending too long finding a way forward is a neat touch though.

Calling this a puzzle-platformer is a bit of a stretch. There’s not really anything easily identifiable as a puzzle; if the way forward isn’t immediately obvious, all you need is to explore and possibly experiment. Though you’ll be separated briefly from time to time, you spend more or less the entire game with Trico (the beast’s species, rather than its name). Trico him/her/itself is a flawed masterpiece. When you get close, it’s aesthetically a bit of a mess, and (like pretty much the rest of the game) clearly a PS3 creation wearing a PS4 moustache. The head is wonderfully rendered and fairly expressive, but the feathers on the main body look rather unrealistic, however that’s not very important.

It’s interesting and impressive how Trico’s personality, and in turn the relationship between it and the boy, evolves over the course of the game. To begin with, it’s little more than a sort of pet that you take advantage of, using the head as a platform or gripping onto the feathers as it happens to cross a gap you could never tackle yourself. By the end Trico, while still animalistic, is more like a friend. A stupid friend thanks to the AI, but still. You’ll have helped and saved one another multiple times, with Trico often stepping in to aid you of its own volition. 

Intended as an emotional journey where play does (nearly) all the talking, this noble aim is scuppered by some schoolboy errors that Sony had more than enough time to ensure were squashed. The art design is typical of a Ueda project, and therefore wonderfully atmospheric. It is unfortunately accompanied by a camera that, especially in the second half or so of the game, insists on straying much too close and obscuring the boy you’re trying to control. The result is sometimes the camera making a determined attempt to disappear up Trico’s arse as though you’re trying to conduct an endoscopy. Other times, you might be able to see what’s going on fine, but a bit of scenery that looks grabbable actually isn’t and/or you miss your jump for no particular reason, sending you to back to the last checkpoint which, incidentally, is sometimes a little too far back to keep the flow of the experience going. 

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The guards that will try to grab you throughout the game are rather pointless. All you have to do to free yourself is inelegantly bash all the buttons on your controller, which is stupid. You’ll never get dragged into one of the mysterious blue doors unless you will it; and similarly, you won’t be completely enamoured with The Last Guardian unless you convince yourself you should be. Could’ve done with another four years development time. 

★★★☆☆

Luke Kemp

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Hell Or High Water

There’s something about films set in the American South that always have me hooked. I don’t know what it is – maybe it’s the dusty, bare locations, or the rawness of the characters. Whatever it is, ‘Hell Or High Water’ (directed by David Mackenzie) has got it all.

Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are brothers who have recently experienced the death of their mother and, coming from a poor household, are struggling to get the money they need to keep the family ranch from being sold. The two take to small local bank robberies to raise the cash – easy for Tanner, who has just finished a ten year sentence and has no fear, but not for Toby, who is much more of a straight living kind of guy (he even apologises to the victims of each robbery upon departure). 

Meanwhile Texas Ranger Marcus (Jeff Bridges) is facing retirement from his role, and spending his last couple of weeks with his partner Alberto (Gil Birmingham) trying to suss out who the two thieves are, and catch them before he has to leave. 

The premise itself is a simple one, but it works best that way. Although the plot is important it’s not the main focus of the film, as we look more at character development. What really sets ‘Hell or High Water’ apart is just how believable the character relationships are – both sets of characters have interesting relationships with one another, and it just feels real. The racial banter between Marcus and Alberto is amusing to watch and adds a subtle comedy, yet it’s also a great demonstration of how strong the relationship is between the two. Toby and Tanner have a more difficult relationship considering Tanner’s less than savoury past, but again there’s a certain connection between the two that stands out. It’s hard not to feel affection for these characters by the end of the film.

There’s also nothing to fault with the film technically, with beautiful cinematography that has clearly been well thought-out by Giles Nuttgen every time. It’s a film you can really immerse yourself in and become part of – something I think makes a whole lot of difference to the viewer. The script is intelligent and deep at points, and at the end of the film the story feels complete. No twist, no cliffhangers, no controversy – just a sense of fulfilment, which is immensely satisfying in a world of films that increasingly try and outdo one another.

Bridges has played a lot of roles similar to this one, so I would expect him to give a great performance, which he inevitably does. Chris Pine is also excellent as Toby, and I’m yet to see him in anything that I don’t like. I thought Foster’s performance of Tanner was particularly interesting as, given his character and actions, is someone we really shouldn’t like, and yet Foster helps to make him likable, and even cared for by the viewer.

‘Hell or High Water’ isn’t just a modern day Wild West plot – it’s also a film about brotherhood, family, friendship, and the choices poverty can impose on a person. It’s gritty and exciting as you’d expect but also thought-provoking, making it a definite must-watch. 

★★★★★

Hannah Read

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Google Pixel - Video Review

The Google Pixel is the next big thing from the nice guys and gals at Google. Join our Lewis as the takes us on a journey of discovery and wonder! Looking through the main features of this shiny new phone set to rival the big boys in the market. Do you think this will do better than the Nexus series?

Lewis Hill

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The Case of Hana and Alice

‘The Case of Hana and Alice’, written and directed by Shunji Iwai, is an anime set in rural Japan that speaks about friendship, mystery, and fitting in. After leaving her home in the city for a new life with her mother, Alice finds it hard to adjust to life in the sleepy village of Ishinomori. Once enrolled in the local school she hopes to make some friends, but instead finds herself bullied by the whole class for having to sit in the seat of a student who was murdered the year before. From what she can work out the students was called Yudas, and he had four wives, but it just doesn’t add up in her mind. Curious, Alice decides to investigate the murder and find out what really happened.

In order to do so Alice has to get the help of Hana, a mysterious student in the year above. The two then go on a bizarre adventure through the streets of Tokyo to find out the truth of the matter, and learn a few things about themselves along the way.

‘The Case of Hana and Alice’ is a little bit different from your usual anime film for a few reasons. The most noticeable difference is the style of animation – the whole film has been rotoscoped. This both good and bad as the animation gets a little messy at times, though I liked the general style of it and the difference in movement was quite refreshing in a way. It also reflected the characters well, who were also making a bit of a hash of their own lives. Secondly, the content was just so different to what you’d usually expect from an anime. There was no real fantasy or anything like that – it’s simply a story of two girls trying to find out answers at school. There are some scenes of ghosts and spirits that almost alarm you at first as they seem so out of place, but after that it all gets pretty real again.

The best part of the animation by far was how the theme of innocence came across to the viewer. Hana and Alice are both just fourteen years old, and they have a very different perception of the world to an adult; hanging out with an old man they don’t know in the middle of a city doesn’t bother them, and nor does the idea of being away from home all night. They also don’t see the issue with sleeping underneath a lorry with its engine switched on – all things that an older, wiser character would hear alarm bells over. It’s quite sweet in a way, as all they’re trying to do is find out what happened to Yudas, and so their safety has just become an afterthought. 

Sometimes the film felt a little bit disjointed – for example, the first half of the film is spent in the school environment, and yet during the second half we barely see any of the characters and locations we’ve been getting to know as suddenly we’re caught up in an inner-city adventure which is led only by errors. There’s quite a big shift, and it feels a bit weird at first. We’re treated to scenes that build up Alice’s past as well, such as joining a new ballet group and meeting up with her dad for the first time in a while, but these aren’t dwelled on and we never hear about them again. 

‘The Case of Hana and Alice’ is an interesting story, and a lot different from other anime. It’s animation can be clunky at points, but is worth watching if you’re looking for an animation that’s a little less fantasy, and a little more 'slice of life'. 3/5

★★★☆☆

Hannah Read

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Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

2D Platformers are ten-a-penny in the current market. Regardless, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is more than just an average clone, and it’s an established series with cult status among fans. The latest in the series was first backed by Kickstarter in 2013, raising nearly double the target amount of $400,000. 

As you might have guessed, the game centres around Shantae, and the titular character can transform into a number of different animals as she attempts to dance her way to understanding her past. The dancing is actually a key part of the game, as she transforms by harnessing the rhythm of the night. Earlier titles had forms including elephants and monkeys, while the sequel expands on the range with a number of new animals to choose from. (Shantae also has a hair-whipping attack which is pretty deadly.)

Sequin Land has been threatened by an impending evil, and it’s down to you to save the day by dancing your way to the bottom of things. The Kickstarter dollars look well spent at first glance. The HD sprites are crisp and appealing, while there’s usually a lot happening on screen at any time. You’ll need fast reflexes, and while the presentation might suggest a simple game, it can be devilishly tough. Difficulty spikes didn’t always match the pacing of the story, although the most experienced gamers probably won't have too many troubles along the way.

The score is catchy, which makes sense considering the main characters predisposition to move to the beat. It’s colourful and frenetic, although backtracking is a major part of the game as the main quest is open ended, allowing you to tackle it as you see fit. There’s a heap of collectables to find along the way, and most will be hard to grab without the full range of animal forms.

The zany humour might not be to everybody's taste, but it doesn’t take itself seriously, and it was enjoyable for me. You can customise your genie with abilities and relics, allowing for a bit of individuality and choice as you choose the ones that best fit your style of play. It’s not really an in-depth system, but it’s still a welcome addition.

There’s a wide array of enemy models, as well as bosses that often take a bit of ingenuity to beat. The game is interesting to explore and master, while there’s a clear story despite the minor issues with progression. Was my inner pedant annoyed by the number of typos found in the game? (The answer is; off course!) Regardless, it doesn’t spoil the the gameplay experience, which was compelling enough to last through the relatively short playtime. There are also bonus chapters and alternative characters thanks to Kickstarter stretch goals, and it’s a real blast while it lasts. 

It’s not a genre changing title, and there are a few small issues that hold it back from getting a perfect score. Even so, it’s way better than your average mobile port, and it’s recommended if you’re looking for something to take up a rainy afternoon or two. It’s another Kickstarter success story, and it’s a brilliant platformer. 

Final Verdict: Glass Half-Full 4/5

★★★★☆

James Milin-Ashmore

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Rillington Place

During the 1940s and 50s, one address in London was truly a house of horrors. The now infamous 10 Rillington Place was the home of John Reginald Christie, and was the last place many innocent women ever saw... An upstanding and respected member of the community, ‘Reg’ wasn’t even a suspect when the murders were uncovered – and the rather easily led upstairs-resident Timothy Evans was found guilty of the horrifying crimes in a court of law. After his execution, the grisly truth was discovered…”Christie done it” and the wrong man was killed. The case generated much controversy and is acknowledged as one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in history. 

Many among you may be familiar with this dark story from the numerous true crime documentaries that have covered it, or more likely Richard Fleischer’s 1971 film that utterly transformed Richard Attenborough into the cruel Christie. But the short runtimes of these previous tellings-of-the-tale left questions unanswered. BBC’s Rillington Place, the mesmerising 3-part drama, aims to give a more complete adaptation of the ghastly story.

Rillington Place is spread across 3 parts, each focusing on a different character in the story and arguably taking place from their perspective. Part 1 shows us the beginning of John Reginald Christie’s dark side from the point of view of his wife, Ethel. Part 2 is from neighbour and wrongly-accused justice victim Timothy Evans’ perspective, while the finale is all about John himself – the man described as ‘a sexually dysfunctional hypochondriac and malevolent narcissist masquerading as a mild-mannered ledger clerk’. What a mouthful. These differing perspectives offer interesting angles on events, while the 3-hour length allows plenty of time for slow-burning development. Rillington Place is exceedingly uncomfortable, dark and quiet – but it’s utterly mesmerising.

Tim Roth becomes John Reginald Christie here, maybe even more so than Attenborough did. This is easily one of his finest performances, and certainly one of the best from 2016 in television. Roth will surely be showered with awards for Rillington Place, I’m calling it right now…Roth should be making space on his bookshelf as we speak. His darkly intense performance makes him an extremely intimidating and frightening presence, despite his somewhat small stature, old age and whisper-quiet delivery…He will make you fear all ageing Yorkshiremen. It is just an utterly perfect performance that is, of course, at the absolute centre of this adaptation. Samantha Morton puts in a good turn as Ethel, provoking a lot of thought about domestic abuse; both physical, and mental. Hollyoaks’ Nico Mirallegro is stunning as the troubled Timothy Evans, too – a role previously played by John Hurt back in ’71. 

Visually, Rillington Place is hauntingly beautiful. Its bleak and colourless setting makes for an uncomfortably real sense of place, filling the viewer with dread each time we enter 10 Rillington Place. Post-war London is accurately displayed as a depressing wreck, making this depressing story all the more hard-hitting. It is the bleakness that gives Rillington Place such immersive power, pulling you into the walls of 10 Rillington Place and not letting you leave. It is extremely uncomfortable viewing, and yet the show is more about what you don’t see. The murders are largely implied rather than shown, and violence is seldom shown. This is a show that terrifies you with a mere hint of horror, in a way that would make Hitchcock proud. It does not glorify or glamorise the actions of John Reginald Christie, it chillingly forces you to feel the horrors of them while respectfully showing very little. It’s a marvellous approach. 

So, is it worth a watch? Absolutely – although it is not for the faint of heart. Rillington Place is a horrifying and ghastly story and this adaptation amps the bleakness up to 11. It is uncomfortably quiet and slow, the dialogue is often whispered and mumbled, the visuals are colourless and depressing, there is almost no music – and yet, it is one of the finest things I saw on TV in 2016. If you have any interest in British history or, like Leonard Cohen sang on his final album, you want it darker – Rillington Place is about as dark as it gets. Bravo, BBC. This was a brave adaptation.

Rillington Place is an expertly crafted piece of television. 4/5

★★★★☆

Sam Love

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Ben Hur

‘Ben-Hur’ is a story that seems all too familiar within the film world – originally written as a novel in 1880 by Lew Wallace, it was first made into a silent short in 1907, presented as a feature film in 1925, and then remade again in 1959 by William Wyler, which is the version that most people praise, before also being recreated as an animation in 2003. Now it’s been redone again, though this time the story has been changed slightly.

Judah (Jack Huston) is part of the rich Ben-Hur family of Jerusalem, who took in an orphan, Messala (Toby Kebbell), and the two became brothers. This is a slight deviation from the original plot, where the two are actually just good friends. Despite being integrated into the family Messala is still a Roman by origin, and so after feeling increasingly alienated by them all he enlists in the Roman army and goes off to fight, leaving on a less than happy note. 

Three years later Messala finally returns, but things just aren’t what they were anymore. Judah has now married the family slave, Esther (Nazanin Boniadi) and him and Messala just don’t see eye-to-eye anymore. After the family are accused of treachery Messala sends them to be crucified – Judah is sentenced to a slave galley instead, and so begins his quest to find Messala and reconcile their relationship.

Despite the changes to the plot, I never really got the feeling from ‘Ben-Hur’ that anything new had been brought to the story, which rather made the whole remake seem like a bit of a waste. The film itself felt very long and disconnected – almost as if we were watching lots of related scenes stuck together, rather than just one plot. The action scenes were very exciting though, such as a gripping scene aboard a Roman galley, and of course the much anticipated chariot scene at the end (again though, it wasn’t as good as it could have been).

I think the main problem was that there was just nothing special about the film. The acting was okay, although Huston felt slightly miscast as Judah, which is rather an issue as the main character. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters, and so the strange relationship between the two brothers did nothing to pique my interest (why Judah was even trying to make up with Messala after all that had happened just did not make sense to me). Even having Morgan Freeman cast as chariot racer Sheik Ilderim did nothing to aid the film, as his performance wasn’t astounding either. 

One change I did like was that Jesus, played by Rodrigo Santoro, was much more featured in this version that the original, which gave it a nice moral edge. Santoro was probably one of the best bits of the film – his performance was excellent, and evoked more emotion from me than the rest of the characters put together.

Putting that positive to one side, there is something we need to talk about with historical films – inaccuracies. ‘Ben-Hur’ was littered with them this time round – from costume design to cultural errors these inaccuracies were rife, including even a major plot point. The mention of ‘progressivism’ was another - the concept did not exist in those times, and it was such an obvious error that it took your attention away from the story. 

Failing to add anything original to a great story, ‘Ben-Hur’ is sadly Just Another Remake. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t that great either. 3/5

★★★☆☆

Hannah Read

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