Jason Day previews February’s cinema releases, which includes a silver screen adaptation of a retro video-game character and the Suicide Squad sequel…
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (out on February 7)
Suicide Squad sequel focusing on Joker’s demented female acolyte Harley Quinn. Margot Robbie returns, collecting a group of other misbegotten women to take revenge on crime lord Ewan McGregor. The trailer suggests this is wickedly enjoyable, off-kilter nihilism, including a sequence with Quinn as Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Dolittle (February 7)
Third cinematic stab at novelist Hugh Lofting’s story after the disastrous 1967 musical with Rex Harrison and mixed critical reaction to Eddie Murphy’s 1998 box office hit. This time around, Robert Downey Jr. takes the title role as the doctor who can communicate with animals.
Underwater (February 7)
Kristen Stewart stars as an engineer whose ocean floor drilling station is shook to its core when a group of creatures are stirred by their activities in this taut looking action thriller.
Emma (February 14)
Anya Taylor-Joy (Split, Glass) headlines as Jane Austen’s heroine who meddles with the romantic lives of her nearest and dearest, but finds herself wrong-footed when love knocks at her own door.
Sonic the Hedgehog (February 14)
This is the big-screen version of the old Sega Mega Drive hit game about a blue hedgehog who dashes about at superspeed collecting coins and battling baddies. James Marsden and Jim Carrey star.
Greed (February 21)
Steve Coogan stars as selfmade British billionaire Sir Richard McCreadie who stages a lavish 60th birthday party in Greece to help restore his public image following a damaging inquiry. Director Michael Winterbottom’s satire on wealth and the fashion industry co-stars David Mitchell and Isla Fisher.
Downhill (February 28)
The 2014 movie Force Majeure took a wryly comic look at modern marriage and machismo, looking at the fallout of a father’s fight or flight decision to abandon his family during an avalanche. This US remake stars Will Ferrell and Julia Louise Dreyfus and seems just as spiky as the original.
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