Starting with the words ‘I remember everything’ Jason Bourne starts with a hook and for the first third of the movie it doesn’t stop. We see Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) on the Albanian border living underground and off the grid but still haunted by his past. Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) is in Iceland hacking into the CIA database to extract information for Christian Dassault (Vinzenz Kiefer) who is an internet whistle blower she crusades with so when this unearths information regarding Jason Bourne and his father she decides that he needs to be advised. Her hacking has placed her in the line of fire of Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander) a CIA technical specialist who puts a tail on her to investigate who she is working with and when the CIA realise that Bourne is the person Parsons is contacting, CIA director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) orders an unnamed asset (Vincent Cassel) to take him out, but Athens is in the middle of a riot and the CIA lose their man, the man hunt is back on and Bourne must try and uncover what was his fathers involvement was in a government program named Iron Hand which seems to be linked back to the Treadstone project as well as figuring out where a new software operating system called Deep Dream comes into play.

With Paul Greengrass back at the helm we are back to the quick cut, shaky camcorder style and it leaves us in no doubt that we are at the heart of the Bourne series. This style works brilliantly during a chase scene based around a riot in Athens is outstanding, which is possibly the best action sequence of the whole series. In fact when the action kicks in the movie is great but the problem seems to be, because Bourne remembers everything the purpose he had in the previous movies is no longer valid, so the film needs to find a different purpose to motivate him which does not have the same emotional impact on the audience. While, for a movie called Jason Bourne he probably gives the least Bourne like performance since kicking ass to extract information has generally been replaced with hacking and bugging but these are the progressive times we live in. That being said the introduction of Aaron Kalloor (Riz Ahmed), the Deep Dream operating systems, the ethical links to user privacy and security, while being relevant to current society, just seemed tacked on as a plot thread to add some padding and when these sections of the movie were being played out the movie seemed to drag a little, maybe this was on purpose to heighten our anticipation of the action kicking in again but it didn’t wok for me.

So while I can’t fault the acting as all involved were spot on with Jones on top form as the battle hardened CIA director who is struggling to get his head around the new technology based terrorist threatand Vikander, who is the best of the bunch, as his go to expert, both being outstanding and with two superb action scenes in Athens and Las Vegas mixed in with a generally good espionage movie it’s hard to put my finger on why I was a little disappointed walking out, the best suggestion I can make is because I had such high expectation that I’m being overly picky.

So, if you were a fan of the originals then you’ll enjoy this fourth episode in the franchise (I’m omitting the Bourne Legacy as it’s a stand alone film) and while it’s not quite Bourne at his best, the bar is set very high so it’s still a very good movie.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6 Out Of 10

Taking us back to the unlikely buddy cop movies of the 80’s and 90’s Ride Along stars Kevin Hart as Ben Berber a wise cracking security guard who dream of becoming a police officer, especially because his girlfriend Angela (Tika Sumpter) has an overprotective brother James Payton (Ice Cube) who is a detective so before he asks James for his blessing to allow him marry Angela he decides to apply for the Atlanta Police Academy. When he is successful and approaches James he is told that he will need to prove himself worthy by accompanying James on a typical day as a Ride Along where James is hopeful of putting Ben off taking that career path.

So begins Bens baptism of fire into the police world where James does his best to rid himself of what he sees to be the nuisance in his ear but to his initial dismay but eventual reluctant acceptance James realises that Ben has some smarts and can put clues together that he has missed so he agrees to allow him help on the case.

We have seen this story time and time before with the tale only changing slightly on each occasion, two guys who couldn’t be more different thrown together in a situation where they initially clash but it slowly dawns on them that if they work together the sum of their parts makes them stronger and thus they can both win out in the end. There’s nothing new in terms of the comedy either, it’s all been seen before however the interaction between Hart and Ice Cube works well, there is a chemistry between the two which keeps the movie going and it’s all about these two as the rest of the cast have little to do, even Laurence Fishburne has to take a back seat.

In what is essentially a close parody of Training Day with a comic spin Ice Cube plays the hard nosed, street wise detective well and is a perfect foil to ground the manic Hart who actually seems to be playing the character of Kevin Hart rather than Ben Barber, motor mouth to the point of annoying. If you like his style of comedy you will no doubt enjoy the movie but if not then if can grate on your nerves a little. The film does have it’s moments but it’s a premise that’s been done so often that there nothing new here so it’s average at best despite the efforts of all involved.

DJ Speaks Movies: 5 Out Of 10

Sophie is a young girl living in an orphanage in London who suffers from insomnia so often is awake at 3AM or what she calls the real witching hour. One of those nights while on her balcony she sees a giant but he notices her and kidnaps her from her bed taking her away to giant country where she believes she is going to be eaten and tries numerous times to escape but he eventually explains that he only took her because he had to as she would have told the world about him which would have highlighted the secret fact of his existence. So Sophie is stranded in his home with no means to get back to London but there are a number of giants living in giant country and the rest are not as friendly as Sophie’s captor so they constantly have to hide her away from the other giants who begin to suspect that there is food in the vicinity.

As Sophie spends more time with the giant a friendship of sorts develops and as he open up to her he explains that he is called the Big Friendly Giant which Sophie shortens to The BFG and he brings her along with him as he carry out his work which is capturing peoples dreams but when they return they realise that the other giants are aware of Sophie’s presence and are constantly trying to locate her so Sophie and The BFG must devise a way to rid themselves of the other giants.

I read the book many, many years ago so I was walking into this one with knowledge of the tale and with high expectations given that Stephen Spielberg was at the helm. Did it work for me as a movie? Not really, as I was pulling too many small continuity errors as the movie progressed, the constant use of the mixed up grasp of the English language used by the BGF started to get on my nerves after a while as did the bossiness of Sophie, bah humbug, I know. What I will say, putting that previous statement aside is that as a family film the BFG most certainly does work. The motion capture work for the gain by Mark Rylance is great and Ruby Barnhill matches him every step of the way as Sophie, their interaction and emotional acting works to a tee even if although some of the green screen moments are a bit plain to see.

It’s easy to say it’s a movie about a girl befriending a giant and going on an adventure together but behind the story there is so much more. The giant becomes a lost father figure, looking after Sophie, keeping her safe from danger above all else which also acts as a confessional of sorts as part of his convalescence for previous deeds. Sophie becomes a mother, guiding the giant, teaching him about the human world, correcting his mispronunciation and teaching him to stand up to bullies. It’s a very clever way of bringing two characters who feel alone in their world together in friendship.

It’s a no frills tale which is reasonably well presented but is nowhere near the Spielberg classics list however during my time in the cinema, from the laughing and giggling I heard, all the kids watching the movie were enjoying themselves so it will the kids and I’m sure some adults alike entertained.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10

Let me just start by saying that while it is not critical that you have seen either of the first two movies before watching this film the relationships of the characters and their motivations will be much clearer with the knowledge of those two films so I would suggest that you watch them first (they are well worth a watch anyway) before seeing this movie.

The USS Enterprise is three years into it’s five year mission to explore the unknown frontiers of space and Kirk (Chris Pine) is beginning to have self doubts as he is approaching the same age that his father died at so he questions his ability to perform his duties as the ships captain to the levels they require at the same time Spock (Zachary Quinto) has received some news which is making him question his choices to leave his planet and people behind to take the role within StarFleet and this has caused friction within his relationship with Uhura (Zoe Saldana).

When the Enterprise docks at the newly build StarBase of Yorktown, a massive population hub for the United Federation Of Planets, all the crew are looking forward to a bit of well earner R&R however an escape pod arrives with it’s sole occupant Kalara (Lydia Wilson) requesting help after her ship was attacked in an uncharted nebula where her crew members have been imprisoned, the only ship equipped with the technology to investigate is the Enterprise so our heroes are sent to investigate and rescue the crew. Once they arrive they find out that they are not as equipped as they may have thought and after an attack on the Enterprise by an alien known as Krall (Idris Elba) and his troops who are looking to retrieve an artifact which is stored in the discovery archives of the ship, the crew is either captured or stranded on an alien planet so Kirk and they few remaining free crew members must save their friends and thwart the plans of Krall and his followers.

I will start by saying this movie is visually spectacular, I thought the CGI and effects were superb and the heavy action scenes had me completely engrossed. The ships and their battles are, arguably, the best I’ve seen on a screen as yet but given the involvement of J.J.Abhrams and with Justin Lin in the directors chair I would have been disappointed with anything less however where this movie surprises is how it opens up further the inter crew relationships, camaraderie and almost family like bond. Simon Pegg (who also gives his usual, excellent comic relief performance as Scotty) and Doug Jung have put together a script full of emotion without being melodramatic, which gives more cast members a chance to shine in the spotlight than in the previous movies, which is funny at the right moments and introduces a brand new character who more than holds her own on screen in Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) who was previously captured by Krall but managed to escape, has been hiding undetected on the planet and reluctantly agrees to assist in taking him down. We see just how the Kirk-Spock development is constantly growing as they have both now come to realise that their weaknesses are covered by the strengths of the other. Karl Urban once again is superb as McCoy, I thought in the first two movies that he, more than anyone encapsulated the mannerisms of the original character and in this movie he nails it again, for me stealing the show and Elba is, as always, super as the villain who has more to him that is initially believed.

I will mention that the fuss over the sexual orientation of Hikaru Sulu (John Cho) which has been in the news in recent weeks is all a bit much, it doesn’t play any part in how the movie plot progresses and only adds diversity and a sense of realism to the character, so I really have to question if it matters? Okay, the original character wasn’t gay and wasn’t written that way but times have changed drastically since then and are we really still so archaic in our thinking that this is still a big deal as I’m sure you could take any of the characters and find something in their actions which they weren’t originally written to do?

I had reservations when I seen Kirk on a motorbike in the trailers and while it still seemed out of place it did work in the context of the plot and any movie which uses ‘Satotage’ by the Beastie Boys as a key part of the story (you’ll see what I mean) gets bonus points even if it is a bit silly, but overall this movie had the feel of a real summer blockbuster and despite the final third lagging a bit I walked out very entertained so break out the popcorn, sit back and enjoy. Is it the best in the series? For me, no. While in was best in some aspects, Into Darkness was a better overall movie but its close.

On a last note I will say a final goodbye to Anton Yelchin who had a lot of screen time in this movie as Pavel Chekov and it looked like they were building him into becoming a bigger character in the franchise, he was taken far too soon and was a sad loss to both the Star Trek universe and the movie world in general.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6 Out Of 10

Once again it’s time to bear arms for the annual Purge where for one night all crime is made legal as part of The New Founding Fathers of America’s (NFFA) police state manifesto. First things first, if you haven’t seen either of the previous movies then I suggest watching them first as they give a background into the state of the country and the reasoning behind The Purge which this movie doesn’t take time to outline so while not essential to do so, some elements of this movie will be lost if you have no previous experience with The Purge.

The movie opens at one of the previous Purge nights and a family who has been tied up is in the process of a game where the mother must choose which family member survives. We then cut to eighteen years later where it’s only days until the latest purge and we are shown riots in progress with regard to the NFFA using The Purge for their own financial gain. The increase in the anti-purge movement may also have an effect on the latest Presidential race especially since the current leading candidate is Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) who was the survivor of the opening scene and wants to abolish The Purge altogether.

So in a spin doctor move to try and improve their standing with the lower classes the previous rule where Government officials were exempt from The Purge is revoked which leaves Roan wide open as prey. Her head of security is Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) who was a key player in the second movie and wants rid of The Purge as part of his own redemption but they are betrayed and the safe house that Roan is staying in on Purge night is compromised so Barnes must take to the streets with Roan in order to keep her alive.

At the same time store owner Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson) receives news that his insurance premium has been increased and without the means to pay he needs to protect his store on Purge night along with his friend and shop assistant Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria) but before the night is through they will need to risk a lot more than their store in order to play their part in this year’s Purge.

Where the first two movies had some feeling of fluidity as the various groups or people came together to survive, this time it all felt a bit staged, some plot lines are opened but never developed and just felt tacked on to try and fit with the continuity of the movie. Plus, for me, it was all a bit too politically motivated and transferred from the genre of action/horror to action/thriller which was a shame as the selling point of these movies was always the transformation of people of Purge night, the depths of depravity people would stoop to when given free rein to do so and the lengths people go to survive. While this felt more like a group of people caught between two military groups fighting a political war for one night. Grillo still got some time to show his skills just much less often & Mitchell is believable as the senator who will risk it all, including her life, to get elected but the rest of the cast, including Williamson who could have been a major player but ended up a little more than light comic relief at times, all drifted in and out of the film until they became ex-machina in a lot of scenes and the last twenty minutes or so become a bit over ridiculous as the movie seemed to run out of ideas as how to best come to a resolution.

I will give the movie credit for its excellent use of iconography such as the moving shot past the Lincoln Memorial which is littered with dead bodies on the steps and the columns have PURGE written in human blood. These type of moments give the film a certain uniqueness and eeriness that makes it memorable but unfortunately they are only for fleeting moments in the movie.

There are also strong religious links in the film with the NFFA coming across as a fanatical religious cult and there is the use of martyrdom on both sides of the fence plus the obvious race divide which has appeared in all of the movies in the series is even further accentuated here. Yet, the irony that so many people died in the course of trying to keep the anti-purge senator alive was to always the fore in my mind which seemed a little like double standards.

It’s a decent action film but it’s not as good as either of the preceding movies in the series and while there was some scope left open for another movie in the franchise I hope that they take it in a different direction and perhaps create a look at the NFFA back story or something along those lines as The Purge itself seems to have run its course.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10