Boxing Day 2019 movies guide: Jumanji, Jojo Rabbit and more
Six new movies are hitting cinemas today, but one stands above the rest. There is no better way to recover from your Christmas food coma.
Boxing Day movies is an Australian tradition, piling into the cinemas, bellies still full.
There’s no better place to recover from your Christmas food coma than in an airconditioned cinema.
These are the six movies on offer this year.
JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillen, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Awkwafina
Director: Jake Kasdan
What it’s about: Two years after leaving Jumanji, the four teens find themselves back in the mysterious land, but this time with a new mission and body swaps they weren’t counting on.
Is it any good? Jumanji: The Next Level is a solid adventure romp with reliably funny performances and some exciting action set-pieces including a nightmare moving ropes course. But it doesn’t match the freshness of its predecessor.
Rating: 3/5
JOJO RABBIT
Starring: Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell
Director: Taika Waititi
What it’s about: A young German boy and fervent Hitler supporter finds out during the dying days of World War II that propaganda isn’t always the truth.
Is it any good? Taika Waititi’s “anti-hate” satire is charming and winning until it isn’t, about 35 minutes from the end when it takes an abrupt tonal shift. But what comes before that moment is very entertaining and clever, and Davis is particularly charismatic.
Rating: 3.5/5
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
Starring: Noemie Merlant, Adele Haenel
Director: Celine Sciamma
What it’s about: Set in 18th century France, a female artist is commissioned to paint a portrait of a young woman set to be married to an Italian nobleman. Left alone on an island estate, the two discover a passionate romance.
Is it any good? Sciamma’s film is one of the best of the year, a burning story fuelled by female desire and outrageously excellent performances from Merlant and Haenel.
Rating: 5/5
CATS
Starring: Francesca Hayward, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Ian McKellan
Director: Tom Hooper
What it’s about: Based on the long-running Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical, Cats follows a group of cats who gather for a talent contest/ball where the winner gets to ascend to the “Heaviside layer”.
Is it any good? Cats may be an ideal musical theatre production but it doesn’t translate to the big screen. Asking audiences to invest in two hours of only song and dance is a big stretch, especially when they’ll spend the whole time distracted by the “digital fur technology”.
Rating: 2.5/5
THE TRUTH
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
What it’s about: A grand dame French actor has just written her memoirs, a retelling her adult daughter is challenging. The mother and daughter spark in each other a re-examining of the past and why their relationship soured.
Is it any good? Japanese director Kore-eda is particularly adept at easy-flowing family dramas and even though this is his first feature outside of his homeland and isn’t as refined as the Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters, there’s still a lot of charm. And Deneuve is very commanding in this.
Rating: 3.5/5
SORRY WE MISSED YOU
Starring: Kris Hitchens, Debbie Honeywood, Rhys Stone
Director: Ken Loach
What it’s about: An Englishman joins a courier service as a contractor and finds the unforgiving job only adds to his family’s struggles to dig themselves out of debt.
Is it any good? Ken Loach is known for his gritty social realism dramas and Sorry We Missed You is cut from that cloth. The performances from the inexperienced actors are very good and Loach’s stark and spare approach forces you to confront those trapped in the gig economy.
Rating: 3.5/5
STILL IN CINEMAS: Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, Knives Out, Playing with Fire, Frozen 2, The Addams Family, Last Christmas, Black Christmas, Joker, Ford v. Ferrari, Parasite and The Good Liar.
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Which Boxing Day movie are you most excited for? Comment below.
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