Emily Browning

News, Reviews & Features
  • Legend

    Movie Review | Matt Looker | 10th September 2015

    It’s no great revelation to say that biopics, by their nature, are fundamentally flawed. Unless somebody’s life follows a perfect three-act structure, unless the subjects really are two-dimensional models of greatness, and unless any number of indiscretions or inaccuracies can be overlooked without raising too many eyebrows, then biopics tend to fall into the viewing equivalent of the uncanny valley. While all of these still apply to Legend, the film makes up for it with one brilliantly simple decision: to treat the Krays like completely ridiculous, larger-than-life, cartoonish characters of fiction. And it’s probably safe to say that they are so much more fun that way.

  • Pompeii

    Movie Review | Ali Gray | 23rd April 2014

    "But every Paul WS Anderson movie is a disaster movie!" I hear you cry. How very droll. Pompeii is indeed the first movie by director Anderson that's supposed to be a catastrophe - a further step away from sci-fi trash towards period drama following 2011's re-stab at The Three Musketeers. Titanic is the obvious template (love across a class divide against a backdrop of massive loss of human life), but Pompeii has more in common with your BBC1 Saturday afternoon adventure mini-series: it's a curiously bloodless affair, with pretty faces, mild peril, swords, sandals and really rather fetching costumes. Look at that image above and tell me you can't imagine the continuity guy announcing that the next thrilling episode of Pompeii is coming up after Final Score with Gabby and Garth. This is basically my way of telling you that it isn't very good.

  • Sleeping Beauty

    Movie Review | Ali | 14th October 2011

    If I had to describe Sleeping Beauty in one word, that word would be 'challenging'. 'Challenging' performances. 'Challenging' to interpret. 'Challenging' to watch. Despite being a film that has more full-frontal female nudity than your average middle-aged man's hard drive, Sleeping Beauty gives precious little away, only maintaining your interest on the promise that it's going somewhere that it never quite gets. Admittedly the nudity helps pique your interest, but even that presents the most challenging of boners.

  • Sucker Punch

    Movie Review | Ali | 25th March 2011

    Warning: this is going to be one of those reviews where I basically spend a thousand words completely picking holes in the film, only to give it three stars anyway - feel free to knock off a star if you're not easily impressed by shiny things (I am shallow and a horrible person). It says a lot about Sucker Punch that it can have such hugely obvious flaws and still remain enjoyable for the most part - if it wasn't executed with such panache it would probably qualify as one of the dumbest movies of 2011.

  • The Uninvited

    Movie Review | Ali | 6th May 2009

    Yawn. That's how excited I was about The Uninvited. Not even bothered enough to think up a witty intro. Fact is, even for a man who's often frightened by his own toes, modern horror movies fill me with roughly as much terror as receiving a free pizza. I am happy to report, then, that this is barely a horror movie at all, and wha...