Creation (2009)

An engaging biopic of Charles Darwin, directed by Jon Amiel. 

Darwin (Paul Bettany) attempts to complete On the Origin of Species while dealing with the grief of his daughter Annie’s death. He’s also semi-estranged from his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly), and his theories about the beginnings of life on Earth are inflaming tensions in the God-fearing community. 

There are impressive scenes of nature, illustrating the idea of evolution as Darwin perceives it. 

Bettany’s compelling performance lifts the film and makes it highly watchable. Connelly brings a welcome complexity to her part as she tries to reconcile her love for her husband with her love of the God his life’s work debunks.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Harrowing biographical drama directed by Steve McQueen and based on the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup. 

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Northup, delivering a remarkably potent and sensitive performance as a man trying to retain his dignity and composure as he is systematically put through hell.

Kidnapped in Washington DC and sold into slavery, Northup is transferred between cruel owners. We see him treated in an especially barbaric manner by sadistic plantation owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender).

It’s difficult to endure in places – especially when Northup is forced into acts of cruelty against his fellow slaves – but Ejiofor is so compelling that you keep watching anyway.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Cold War spy thriller adapted from the 1974 novel by John Le Carre. 

Gary Oldman is George Smiley, leading an all-star cast that also includes Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones and Mark Strong. 

The plot follows Smiley’s efforts to track down a double agent within the British secret service. I found it often too complicated to follow. I also got annoyed with the unrelenting greys and the deliberately grim visuals. Most of the “drama” comes from flashbacks or reported speech, making it less than compelling. I could appreciate that it was an expertly made film but it was too focused on mood and style to ever pull me in.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Sequel to the first reboot, again directed by Jar Jar Abrams. The characters are just as strong as before (even if the Spock/Uhura romance fails to convince and Spock can be both emotional and emotionless as the story requires), but the plot is somewhat tortured. It’s not entirely clear what the motivations of the villain are and parts of the story just don’t make sense. Even the title is bafflingly random. 

Some of the dialogue is a little clichéd, which is a shame because a better script could have lifted this out of “adequate sci-fi thriller” mode and let these interesting characters develop further. 

Leonard Nimoy appears one last time (he died in 2015) although seemingly just to appeal to the fans. There are many other reference points apparently thrown in as crowd-pleasers (Khan, Tribbles, etc). As with the Star Wars sequels, you wonder why they have to endlessly rehash old ideas rather than creating new mythology and iconography of their own. 

Despite amazing visuals, some thrills and some welcome humour (mainly from Simon Pegg’s Scotty), it doesn’t work quite as well as the first film. And once again it frustratingly ends where the TV series begins, with the crew about to “explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no man has gone before” (although “no man” has now become “no one”). Odd that it has taken two films to get to this point.