‘71
(15A) *****
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’71 IS ARGUABLY the best-ever film made about The Troubles - partly because it’s not really about The Troubles at all.
You see, the scenario that Jack O’Connell’s youthful rookie is placed in could be replicated in any war zone. You could easily imagine this film playing out in Syria or Iraq.
And while the politics in which he finds himself is handled with intelligence, it is the ‘real time’ setting that propels this flawless action thriller.
Mixed with super performances, smart plotting and a pulsating soundtrack from Belfast musician David Holmes, this easily ranks among the best movies you’ll see this year.
Set in 1971, the movie charts of group of freshly trained rookies, among them O’Connell’s Gary Hook, as they’re drafted in to Belfast. They don’t know it, but they’re about to land in chaos as there are riots all over the city.
Left behind by his unit after a battle turns violent, he is left in strange terrain, using only his skills and instincts as he’s unable to tell who will help him and who wants him dead.
He comes under the radar of a band of Provisionals desperate to track him down as they fight for power, leaving him at the mercy of others including the young son of a loyalist family, and a war weary citizen (an excellent Richard Dormer)
It’s a riveting, tense thriller that pulls you in from the outset and grips you until the final revelations. And O’Connell carries what is a tricky, demanding performance with style and ease. He’s going to be a major star.
The Maze Runner
(12A) ***
IT’S ALL The Hunger Games’ fault. Ever since the first movie in that series was a massive hit at cinemas, Hollywood has been plundering every dystopian young adult novel for the big screen.
But while dystopia fatigue is rapidly setting in, this is a solid, well-paced and acted addition to the genre.
O’Brien is strong as Thomas, a teenage boy who wakes up in future Earth trapped outside a huge maze, among other boys he’s never met.
He has no recollection of who he is or how he got there, other than flashbacks about the workings of a mysterious organisation known as WCKD.
This causes conflict in a group divided between whether to stay in the limbo where they know they’re safe, or to take a risky break for freedom.
The trouble with so many YA adaptations being churned out by the studios means the themes and ideas, which are often similar, can become very repetitive.
But to be fair the cast is very good and the action is propelled along nicely.
