EVERYBODY politely stood to one side as the Marvel Avengers assembled themselves in your local multiplex last week, so this week there’s a bit of a logjam on the new release front.
Teenage boys and girls are very much the box office target over the next few days, with American Pie: Reunion first out of the traps.
All the familiar faces in this lowbrow ensemble series are back in harness, as we find out what has happened to those gormless teenagers – the first American Pie movie hit our screens 13 years ago – and whether they have matured at all. Er, not really...
The comedy is broad, the set-ups are obvious, but punters loved this crew enough to support a whole raft of sequels and they’ll probably come back for yet another helping.
> Over to the teenage girls now, so it’s Zac Efron front and centre in The Lucky One.
Mr High School Musical is a battle-hardened but still baby-faced US marine who finds a random picture of a hot babe in the aftermath of a raid in Iraq and adopts it as a lucky charm, claiming it’s the reason he has been able to survive three tours.
Back in the States, he tracks down the subject and wangles a job at her kennels to get closer to her.
Love blossoms, but if he blabs that he is a mildly disturbed stalker with highly-developed killing skills will that put her off?
The man who penned this pap also bought you The Notebook and Dear John, so don’t say you weren’t warned about what’s in store if someone suggests this as a date movie.
> Turn up the macho posturing to 10 and welcome back Jason Statham, who hasn’t headlined a mindless action thriller for at least a fortnight.
In just over 90 minutes of breathless and brainless bravado our close-mouthed hero takes on the Russian gangsters who have murdered his entire family, the Triads, and corrupt cops for good measure – and all the while he has to protect a little kid with a secret code locked away in her amazing memory.
The film is called Safe, but the title hardly matters – it’s Statham, and his inexplicable appeal, that will drive ticket sales.
> If a movie has a title like Silent House, you know straight away that we’re in horror territory.
There been a real rash of frightfests recently, and if they push your buttons you’ll want to know that this one is all about a woman helping to clear out her family’s secluded family home so it can go on the market.
But the electricity has been cut off, there’s a mysterious woman who claims she is a childhood friend, and pretty soon it doesn’t look as if there is any way out.
The claim to fame is that the story – from the team which created 2003’s Open Water – is presented in one continuous take, and it’s a remake of a hit Uruguayan film.
If sitting down for a serving of contrived chills, knock yourself out – it’s only a 15 certificate, so you won’t have nightmates