Zoe Saldana

News, Reviews & Features
  • Marvel's Cine-CHAT-ic Universe: Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

    Movie Feature | Ali Gray, Matt Looker, Becky Suter, Ed Williamson, Luke Whiston | 28th March 2019

    It's the regular feature you assumed had been quietly abandoned - but we've got nothing else going on right now! We're back with another scintillating edition of Marvel's Cine-CHATIC Universe: this week/month/quarter, we're talking about James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy, but also, very much other things too.

  • Analysing the cast signatures on that Guardians Of The Galaxy support letter

    Movie Feature | Ali Gray | 31st July 2018

    Touching scenes online this week, as the cast members of Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy series banded together in a show of support for fired director James Gunn, by co-signing a letter that almost but not quite called for his reinstatement. Gunn, a former Troma filmmaker and purveyor of questionable humour, was fired by Disney after a bunch of right-wing lunatics, led by lisping dong Mike Cernovich, dredged up a bunch of offensive ten year-old tweets and weaponised their fake outrage in order to punish the director for his outspoken liberal views. It’s all very 2018, but let’s focus on the real issue here: MOVIE STAR SIGNATURES!

  • Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

    Movie Review | Matt Looker | 1st May 2017

    While fans continue to squabble over the correct, surely-soon-to-be-official 'Ultimate Ranking of MCU films' (nearly there, guys! Seriously, you're doing great work), it's easy to overlook the fact that, at this stage, the Marvel movie-making model looks unlikely to ever produce a truly bad film. Sure, there have been Dark Elvish messes and Mickey Rourke-sized hiccups, but Marvel really has its mathematically-safe, formulaic shit together now and, as a result, always delivers an agreeable level of fun and action albeit without taking any real risks. That is, except for Guardians Of The Galaxy, the only property in the Universe that still feels like a gamble, sitting apart from the homogenised Avenger adventures to follow its own completely different set of rules. Which is why it's a shame that this sequel follows them too.

  • Shock: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 made by same people as Vol. 1

    Movie Feature | Ali Gray | 17th February 2016

    Is all this really necessary? Next you'll be telling me Star Wars: Episode VIII features some of the characters from Star Wars: Episode VII. Some but not all. Too soon? Too soon.

  • Guardians Of The Galaxy

    Movie Review | Ali Gray | 29th July 2014

    Just for a second there it looked like Marvel might have let their foothold slip. Edgar Wright's departure had irreparably sullied Ant-Man; Captain America 3's release date clash with DC's Batman V Superman in 2016 seemed like a suicide mission; the suspicion lingered that Thor: The Dark World wasn't actually all that great in retrospect. Momentary blips, all, because Guardians Of The Galaxy is the most confident, daring and balls-out fun Marvel movie of the lot. The last two Marvel releases have been samey sequels, adhering largely to a tried and tested formula, but Guardians Of The Galaxy is one of Marvel's best films simply because it doesn't really feel like it's part of the Marvel universe at all.

  • Trailer breakdown: Guardians Of Ga'Hoole The Galaxy

    Movie Trailer | Ali Gray | 21st February 2014

    You haven't properly seen the first teaser for Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy until you've seen my step-by-step analysis, which mainly consists of cries for help, fashion queries and unforgivable inaccuracy. Still, I do know one thing: raccoons are EEEEEEE! (*clutches hands beneath chin in girlish glee*)

  • There's someone missing in the first Guardians Of The Galaxy image

    Movie News | Ali Gray | 1st January 2014

    Disney have released the first official image from their forthcoming Marvel intergalactic adventure, Guardians Of The Galaxy. We can't help but feel there's someone quite important missing, especially given the obvious Usual Suspects homage. Thankfully it was my New Year's Resolution to do more rubbish Photoshopping, so I made amends. Send the cheque to the usual address, Disney.

  • The Losers

    Movie Review | Matt | 27th May 2010

    The promotional material for The A-Team claims that "There is no Plan B", and yet the release of both The Losers and The Expendables this summer proves that there's no shortage of other crack commando units surviving as soldiers of fortune. And with The Losers beating the others to the punch with a film that delivers enough ridiculous action to compete with Hannibal and co's Tank vs. Plane trailer moment, you have to pity the fools that now have to follow it.

  • The Losers trailer seems familiar

    Movie Trailer | Ali | 29th January 2010

    Think Ocean's Eleven meets The Expendables meets Smokin' Aces meets The A-Team meets Stuff Happening In Slow-Motion.

  • Avatar

    Movie Review | Ali | 16th December 2009

    How to rate a film like Avatar? Do just that: review the film, not the hype. Believe what you've heard industry execs raving about and James Cameron's latest opus is a "game-changer", supposedly the biggest cinematic revolution since the advent of colour film and talking pictures. These are superlatives impossible to qualify; exactly how do you know you've changed the game if play has yet to resume? No, the only way to analyse Avatar is to strip it down of all its baggage until you're left with the core experience: cold, hard data. And what do you get?