Four different magicians, Danny Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) are brought together to a New York location by a strange tarot card that they have received and while here they receive details related to some elaborate magic tricks. We then cut to a year later where they are on stage in Vegas as The Four Horsemen performing a trick based around the theft of a vault from a bank in Paris and are thanking their new benefactor Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) who is head of a major insurance company.

This seeming real theft puts the Horsemen in the path of FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and an Interpol agent (Melanie Laurent) who are investigating the robbery and while they are almost certain the Horsemen are guilty they have absolutely no proof so they turn to Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) who is a renowned exposer of the truth behind magic tricks. When, during a subsequent act the Horsemen seemingly transfer millions from Tressler’s accounts to members of the audience Tressler agrees to hire Bradley to track down the magicians and it becomes apparent that there are links between the Horsemen and to a group called the Eye who claim to have the power of real magic.

Director Louis Leterrier, who also directed another movie I recently reviewed, the awful Grimsby Brothers, does a good job of keeping us on our toes through numerous chase sequences and in a movie where nothing is as it seems the twists and turns of secret identities, revenge for former acts and underground brotherhoods, in general, are not telegraphed. Although some of the magic scenes do require a leap of faith to eliminate any disbelief you may be feeling I suppose that’s what magic is anyway so I could accept that.

The stunts are all interesting if a little far-fetched and the four leads are all good as the Robin Hood type public heroes, although Eisenberg was the stand out for me with an almost neurotic personality that he does very well but the problem came when the rest of the cast took centre stage as Ruffalo wasn’t his usual strong character, Laurent wasn’t given a lot to work with as she swung back and forward from agent to awe struck fan, Caine was, assumedly, added as a box office pull as he had little time on screen and Freeman, while a little more central to the plot, really only acted as the voice of exposition as he spent the movie explaining how each magic act was carried out.

Overall, it was a decent movie but it relied a little too heavily on the glitz and glamour scenes of spectacular feats and explosions and if you’re looking for a really good movie with some real suspense based around the world of magicians check out Christopher Nolan’s excellent The Prestige instead.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Sticking reasonably close to the original tale of the book, Tim Burtons vision of Alice in Wonderland is ready made for 3D cinema with the colourful, psychedelic world suiting the medium perfectly. We find Alice (Mia Wasikowska) as a teenage girl who’s quirky ways don’t fit in with the rest of her society class but this doesn’t stop Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill) from wanting her hand in marriage but only for the betterment of his family so Alice wants no part of this and runs away only to fall down a rabbit hole and into the fantasy land. Along the way she meets, and is assisted to varying degrees, by all the characters from the books in order to help her cause to defeat the Jabberwocky (briefly voiced, but superbly so by Christopher Lee) and restore the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to power.

There were times when Wasikowska seemed perfect for the role as she played Alice with a mix of innocence and determination with equal measure but once she needed to carry out a scene with one of the stronger actors this is when she felt like a background piece rather than the central figure that the story should have dictated.

Johnny Depp is one of the few actors who can take a weird character and make it unique each time. Be it Jack Sparrow, Wonka, Edward Scissorhands or any of the others he has portrayed the one thing you cannot deny is that they are memorable and in this case, while quiet annoying at times, his Mad Matter is near perfect. The dual personalities of his quiet demeanour when happy to the gruff Scottish accent he develops when annoyed is a great trait that he brought and it is his character, more than any other, which is most memorable, even above the only other contender the ever childish and easy to anger Red Queen, despite Helena Bonham Carters best efforts. The rest of the acting is fine but neither Crispin Clover as the Knave of Hearts or Hathaway as the White Queen get a lot to work with though the voice acting talent is excellent with Timothy Spall, Barbara Windsor, Alan Rickman, Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry and Michael Sheen all adding character to the creatures.

While far from being a great film, it does hit the right notes in terms of bringing a version of the classic tale to the big screen and, as you would expect, Burton’s vision is decidedly dark which was a nice step away from the cartoonish look of previous versions but it does suffer from feeling the need to cram in action sequences to keep the masses interested, when they are not necessarily needed.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

George Clooney is Lee Gates a TV financial expert who’s show full of gimmicks, energy and glamour advises on potential money makers in the Wall Street market however when we join the movie it’s the day following a rather poor piece of advice from Lee has lost a lot of people money. He is all about himself and doesn’t blink for a moment as he rolls on despite his error seemingly uncaringly. Trying her best to keep the ego in check is Julia Roberts as Patty Fenn who keeps the wheels in motion behind the scenes and feeds Clooney information as required, all the while trying to ensure that the show must go on. One person who lost a lot of money because of Clooney is Kyle Budwell (jack O’Connell) who invested an inheritance on the supposed sure thing that backfired so he decides that he needs to take action to highlight what he sees an injustice, he manages to get into the studio with a gun and a bomb and holds Clooney hostage live on air.

It’s a decent script full of tension rather than action but it’s made much better by its two leads who work well together to keep things moving as they help O’Connell get to the bottom of an issue which grows from a simple system error to something a lot more high level as the film progresses. However the film also suffers from the fact that while it tries to humanise O’Connells character his gullibility in investing the money expecting to make a profit but then believing that the fact that he lost his money is down to a TV pundit only alienates us and I was more interested in seeing how Clooney dealt with the situation rather than worrying if O’Connell got his supposed justice.

The final third also takes a turn for the worse and eliminates a lot of the tension which keeps the movie interesting as it moves from the claustrophobic confines of the studio where the closed quarters adds to the peril of the situation into the areas around Wall Street which, while highlighting just what a circus the today’s social and mainstream media streams can be, shifts the movie away from the edginess that the first two halves gave us.

It’s very good concept for a film which just doesn’t quite hit the mark it’s still a good movie although really only because of the impact and interaction of its two main starts and unfortunately the plot falls a little short towards the end.

DJ Speaks Rating:5.5 Out Of 10

Yet another of the recent comedy sequels that seem to be the flavour of the month, or maybe people are just running out of ideas! This time Ben Stiller is back as the clueless male model Derek Zoolander who has retired and lives a solitary existence in extreme Northern New Jersey since an accident at his Center For Kids Who Can’t Read Good caused the death of his wife and injury of his best friend Hansel McDonald (Owen Wilson), then as he struggled with this situation he also lost custody of his son.

In the meantime head of the Interpol fashion police Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz) who is investigating the death of a number of celebrity stars realises that they all died trying to imitate Dereks classic Blue Steel pose and soon links the deaths to an old legend around a chosen child and the fountain of youth legend. It will come as no surprise who the chosen child turns out to be but when Derek tracks his son down with the help of Valentina and Hansel, whom he has managed to reconcile with, the ever vain Derek is devastated to find out he is a fat child and despite his best efforts cannot bring himself to love him. So begins a cameo laden plot into the world of the fashion industry to infiltrate the inner circles of the business to find out what is the link to the legend of the fountain of youth and who is behind it.

Zoolander 2 has received a lot of critism but as far as the recent slew of comedy sequels go it’s as good as any. While totally unnecessary it pokes fun at itself throughout with Stiller excellent as the hapless model, Wilson get a little more to do this time around and he put all his comedic efforts to the fore and Cruz makes a good foil as the straight laced Valencia. The rest of the cast all give it full throttle with Kristen Wiig superb, and almost unrecognisable as Alexanya Atoz whose mispronunciation of English words is hilarious. Possibly best of the lot is Benedict Cumberbatch in a small part as the omnigender model All. The one main gripe I would have is that Will Ferrell does not get the unleash his comedy this time around.

The movie does exactly what it needs to do and you will laugh, despite your best efforts, at the stupidity of both the plot, the overacting and the implausibility of the whole situation. If you can accept that it is just Stiller poking fun at the fashion industry again and take the film for what it is you should enjoy a giggle or two along the way.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Robert DeNiro gives once of his better performances in recent times as Ben Whittaker, a retired widower who is bored with life out of the work place so he applies for a position on a senior intern programme with an e-commerce company which was founded and is being run by Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway) a driven go-getter type who never seems to have a minute in her schedule. Ben is assigned as her aide but she has no time to deal with such trivialities, so he is left on the side lines waiting to be advised of what is expected of him.

But Ben is not the type of guy to sit twiddling his thumbs so slowly but surely he starts to notice small things that he can assist with outside of Jules’ remit and his younger colleagues soon realise that technology is no match for life experience and Bens alertness to the personal needs of his career, his colleagues and, eventually, the boss turn him into a father figure for the company.

DeNiro does a great job underplaying his great talent in a rare role as a normal, run of the mill character who cares far more than he should about his new career and new friends that he has made. Yes, there are a lot of run of the mill plot threads such as Jules’ kid who takes a shine to Ben, the struggling boss trying to find a work/home life balance and the rekindling spark of love Ben finds with a co-worker but this is all against the back drop of a DeNiro performance which, while not classic, shows how he can hold centre stage with ease and there are flashes moments of why he is a legend of cinema, plus it’s nice to see a male-female relationship on screen which isn’t tinged with sexual tension or a will they/won’t they get together sub plot.

If you don’t think about the premise or plot too deeply then there’s a good chance you’ll be entertained by a very simple, yet effective movie and probably get the odd giggle along the way.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Tom Hanks is Alan Clay salesman who is sent to Saudi Arabia to try and sell a hologram communication programme to the King who is developing a new city in the middle of the desert. Alan is a troubled man who has lost everything back home (which is told through an excellent dream parody of the Talking Heads song Once In A Lifetime ) and is desperate to get back on track for the sake of this daughters college tuition. We also learn that a previous decision in an old company to outsource some work caused the crash of the whole company and the loss of all jobs so he isn’t on a good run of form and it feels like he has been sent on another ghost chase when he arrives in Saudi and realises that there is nothing happening with the development and his on site team have no access to Wi-Fi, Air Conditioning or even food. So begins an almost Groundhog Day situation of travel to the site only to be told the Kings representative is not there so another day goes to waste with the American head office getting more and more frustrated with the lack of progress. Couple this with having not a lot else to do that try and relieve the boredom with drinking and partying which leads to him having a medical emergency in the form of an anxiety attack.

There are a lot of positives about this movie, the interaction between Hanks and his driver/guide Yousef (Alexander Black) is good and both provides some comic relief moments and serves as a window into the inner culture of the local people. There also seems to be a lot of metaphors for the empty city reflecting the emptiness in Hanks life and irony in the fact that the outsourcing in Hanks earlier life has come full circle and placed him on the receiving end, there are some stranger moments such as when Hanks goes on a hunting type trip with Yousef and some taboo moments with a female Saudi doctor Zahra (Sarita Choudhury) all tying into an entertaining look at life on the other side of the world.

Overall, in the hands of a lesser actor than Hanks this movie may have struggled but he plays the role with a vulnerability and likability that makes you root for him. He’s a blue collared guy who just want’s best for his daughter and puts that above all else including his health who has to learn to live for himself again and in that alone it warrants a watch, just don’t expect anything too spectacular.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Ewan McGregor plays Perry Makepeace a school teacher who is on holiday in Morocco with his girlfriend Gail Perkins (Naomie Harris) as we find out they are trying to work through a troubled period in their relationship and this break is tied in with a work assignment for Harris. During a night out Harris is called away on business leaving McGregor alone in an expensive restaurant but he has caught the eye of a Russian businessman Dima (Stellan Skarsgard) who invites him to join his party. McGregor reluctantly accepts and is brought on a eye opening night out full of the possibility of expensive drinks, drugs and women.

During the night McGregor finds himself warming to Dima who invites him to play tennis with him the following day and soon Dima hands him a USB stick claiming that it contains information on a huge money Russian laundering ring going all the way to the upper echelons of some members of the British government being headed by a cold blooded Russian gangster named ‘The Prince’ (Grigoriy Dobrygin) and so the wheels are set in motion for a cat and mouse game involving Dima, his family, MI6 with McGregor and Harris as pawns.

Handing the USB stick over at customs McGregor is passed into the hands of British agent Hector (Damian Lewis) whose initial disbelief is worn down by McGregors genuinity however he is suffering from such a lack of manpower that he is forced to ask McGregor and Harris for assistance and being a man of morals McGregor feels obliged to help Dima, or more specifically Dimas children, escape to London. It is Skaarsgaard performance that holds the movie together as the plays the outwardly arrogant gangster who stomps around with his chest puffed out peacock like and will kill in the blink of an eye yet with the heart of gold when it comes to the welfare of his family.

There’s more than a little nod to the Hitchcock classics of an everyday man thrust into the middle of spy games in order to save the day in this movie but the film suffers from pushing the limits a little too far as McGregor just seems too keen to be involved for such an ordinary man so our empathy towards him is limited, Harris swings from reluctance to willing accomplice minute by minute and Lewis seems to have a similar mind set, one minute not caring who lives or dies then the next putting his neck on the block for people all of which take away from the believability of the situation. The movie also suffers from a lack of any major tension until the last third so the danger always seems on the peripherals of the story and for an espionage thriller there is not a lot of actual mystery so there are few twists in the tale. In saying that there’s still enough to keep you watching and I would recommend a look if you like thrillers but I would recommend checking out another recent release, Eye In The Sky instead as a better overall film.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10