Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/341807
THIS WEEK Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 How to Train Your Dragon 2 3D (U) 10:15, 13:00, 15:25, 18:35 (2D), 21:00 (2D) Transfomers: Age of Extinction 3D (PG) 17:50, 21:15 22 Jump Street (15) 10:15, 13:30, 16:05, 18:40, 21:15 Simshar (12A) 16:10, 18:30, 20:55 Maleficent (PG) 10:15, 14:00, 16:20, 18:45, 21:10 Blended (12A) 10:20, 13:15, 16:00 22 Jump Street (15) 10:15, 13:30, 16:05, 18:40, 21:15 The Fault in Our Stars (12A) 10:30, 14:30, 18:00, 20:50 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 22 Jump Street (15) 14:05, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10, 23:35 Edge of Tomorrow (12A) 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:05, 23:30 Devil's Knot (15) 14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:55, 23:20 3 Days to Kill (12A) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40 Blended (12A) 14:00, 16:20, 18:45, 21:15, 23:40 Maleficent 3D (PG) 14:10, 18:40, 23:10 Maleficent (PG) 16:25, 20:55 The Fault in Our Stars (12A) 14:30, 18:15, 21:00, 23:40 X-Men: Days Of Future Past (12A) 14:30, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 Bad Neighbours (15) 14:20 Belle (PG) 14:10, 16:20, 18:35, 20:50, 23:10 Oculus (15) 14:05, 16:15, 18:40, 21:05, 23:20 How to Train Your Dragon 2 3D (U) 14:10, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10, 23:30 Transformers: Age of Extinction 3D (12A) 18:00, 21:15 Godzilla (PG) 14:30, 18:00, 20:50, 23:20 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 3 Days to Kill (12A) 11:10, 13:40, 16:05, 18:30, 21:00 Maleficent 3D (PG) 11:05, 13:45, 16:00, 18:10, 20:50 Simshar (12A) 11:15, 13:35, 15:55, 18:15, 20:45 How to Train Your Dragon 2 3D (U) 11:00, 13:30, 15:45, 18:00, 20:45 SOME say the art of romance is dead. This is debatable. Perhaps our cynical age doesn't deserve to luxuriate in dreams of eternal ro- mance anymore, but you'll find a steady drip of romantic comedies making their way onto our silver screens every month or so regard- less. Whatever the case may be how- ever, I would put it to you that if you argue that the art of BRO- mance is also dead, you will have a much harder time of it. Call it what you will – an attempt to in- ject new life into what's become a stale male-female dynamic; a re- laxation of tensions males may feel towards the mere notion of being associated with supposedly 'homo- sexual' behaviour ¬– but deriving (often heart-warming) humour from touchy-feely male movie bud- dies appears to be a trend that isn't going away any time soon. BBC's Sherlock went back to the source and gave it a trim, sharp and super-popular update: Sherlock Holmes and John Watson were ar- guably pop culture's very first bro- mantic pairing, and the Benedict Cumberbatch/Martin Freeman interpretation of the characters milked that for all its worth. Going ever so slightly back, in the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson parodic take on the Starsky and Hutch television series (2004), we find a similar dynamic to 21 Jump Street (2012) ¬– also a comedic update of a police-procedural TV series – which also seeks to derive humour from the cushy relationship that begins to develop between the two leads. A part of me thinks there must be something suspect, even insidious- ly homophobic, about all of this. Though there seems to be an ele- ment of tenderness to these dynam- ics – undercutting the emotionally numb machismo we've come to ex- pect from bona fide action heroes in bona fide, non-comedic action films – the idea that we should be laughing at them too just doesn't sit right with me. But clearly I'm in the minority, as 21 Jump Street ¬– starring Chan- ning Tatum and Jonah Hill as two lacklustre cops who go undercover in a high school in an attempt to bust a drug ring – was not only a commercial and critical success, it has just spawned a sequel: unim- aginatively titled 22 Jump Street, which allows our leads to graduate from high school to college, as they go undercover once again. As tends to be the case with the neo-buddy cop genre – and we can include the aforementioned Star- sky and Hutch under that particu- lar umbrella – logic isn't something that we should be concerned with. Directors Phil Lord and Chris- topher Miller and screenwriters Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel, and Rodney Rothman are brazen in their disregard of it, in fact. Un- der any normal circumstances, incompetent law enforcers Mor- ton Schmidt (Hill) and Greg Jenko (Tatum) would have been fired from their jobs a long time ago. Instead, after they've botched yet another sting operation – in an at- tempt to capture a drug dealer nos- talgic for the good old days of the 90s (Peter Stromare) – they're giv- en a chance to redeem themselves by "doing the same old undercover s**t", only this time in college, spe- cifically the prestigious MC State, where a new 'work hard party hard' designer drug – WHYPHY – is be- ing peddled around. But the filmmakers are also bra- zen in their self-awareness: the irony of our protagonists being told "just do the same old thing again, and everyone's happy" won't be lost on most half-intelligent view- ers, I'm sure. Neither will the con- stant warnings that doing the same thing twice-over normally results in disaster… So does the latter prophecy of doom actually come to pass? It's safe to say that no, 22 Jump Street is hardly a disaster. As far as frat boy comedies go, it's actually pret- ty solid, with real laughs amid the – admittedly overplayed by now – core concept. There is absolutely nothing in the college milieu pre- sented here that hasn't been done before – hedonistic fraternity par- ties, sports-related one-upmanship, clearly defined subcultures – but the familiar dynamics are finely played out. More than any individual gags, or anything to do with the conceit it- self, it's the bromance that gives the film a real ballast, and puts all the crass humour in some kind of con- text. Going native on his undercov- er role, Jenko endears himself to the college football team, much to the chagrin of the decidedly non- athletic Schmidt. Their ensuing dissolution plays out like a slow- burning break-up, and though the concept is stretched over one scene too many, it still yields some funny moments. At the end of the day, 22 Jump Street is likely to be the film you expect it to be: a competent sequel that riffs on its original, but which doesn't really open up any avenues for originality in the process. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 JULY 2014 35 FILM IN CINEMAS TODAY By Teodor Reljic Hopping back on the buddy-comedy wagon THIS WEEK ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ LEAPS AND BOUNDS ★ ★ ★ ★ JUMP ★ ★ ★ HOP ★ ★ SAUNTER ★ CRASH LANDING This week's picks DRAMA BELLE Belle is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mabatha-Raw), the illegitimate mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral. Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (Emily Watson), Belle's lineage affords her certain privileges, yet the colour of her skin prevents her from fully participating in the traditions of her social standing. HORROR OCULUS Ten years ago, tragedy struck the Russell family, leaving the lives of teenage siblings Tim and Kaylie forever changed when Tim was convicted of the brutal murder of their parents. Now in his 20s, Tim is newly released from protective custody and only wants to move on with his life; but Kaylie, still haunted by that fateful night, is convinced her parents' deaths were caused by something else altogether. ANIMATION HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 Five years after their first adventure, Hiccup and his dragon Toothless discover a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider. The two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace, and must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons. Crash helmet: Jonah Hill (left) and Channing Tatum in the undercover cop comedy-sequel 22 JUMP STREET (15) ★ ★ ★ ★