Zac Efron

News, Reviews & Features
  • Review: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile is none of those things

    Movie Review | Ali Gray | 7th May 2019

    About ten years ago, when I was making my first cautious foray into screenwriting, I came up with a concept for a slasher movie with a difference. The main protagonist, you see, would be the killer, but the audience don't see him as a deranged serial murderer, they see him as a mentally disturbed person being harangued by groups of sexy young teens who keep humping each other all over his abandoned summer camp or something. It was going to be very edgy with a shocking twist with a capital 'T'. Then one day I sat down and tried to write it and realised not only was it impossible to fully conceptualise, but the concept was also, in fact, terrible. Not to worry though: looks like someone eventually made a film out of my shit idea.

  • Baywatch

    Movie Review | Ed Williamson | 24th May 2017

    One of the many wonderful things about living on the same planet as Zac Efron is that he knows when and how to take his shirt off. It is a rare talent to look like he does with his abs out, accept that directors are going to want him to get his top off at least twice a film, and then to do so with enough of a sense of self-mockery that you don't think he's an absolute bell-end. Self-awareness is what got him and his co-star The Rock where they are today, and so a riff on Baywatch, sending up how daft it was, feels like just the ticket. So why isn't it sillier?

  • Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates

    Movie Review | Matt Looker | 7th August 2016

    I have been trying to write a movie script for a few years now. Of course, I am under no illusion that it will be any good but, like all aspiring screenwriters I am hoping for two impossible things to happen: 1) it will be lauded as a magnificent piece of art, and 2) it will actually get made into a film. What Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates shows, however, is that if you care less about 1), there are some quick and easy ways to make 2) happen.

  • The recipient of this week's 'Nice try, asshole' award for sneaky marketing

    Movie Feature | Ali Gray | 9th September 2014

    Jesus, the fences even line up.

  • Bad Neighbours

    Movie Review | Matt Looker | 1st May 2014

    In a matter of months, I will be a dad. And, just like Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne's characters here - two new first-time parents putting up with a college fraternity that have moved in next door - I worry about what will become of my social life. Will I have to miss out on all the fun things I want to do in order to take care of my child? Will I just never leave the house again? Will I lose my cool, youthful edge? Luckily, Bad Neighbours has shown me a fool-proof plan: just be a really fucking terrible parent.

  • Parkland

    Movie Review | Rob Young | 18th November 2013

    The assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22nd 1963 is still a source of huge debate. As the 50th anniversary approaches, investigative journalist-turned director Peter Landesman cares not for conspiracy theories, second gunmen, magic bullets, grassy knolls or book depositories. Instead, he's just happy to brag about how much more he knows about JFK than we do.

  • The Paperboy

    Movie Review | Matt | 14th March 2013

    Getting booed at Cannes just isn't the indicator of quality that it should be. The world's finest film critics all in one screening feeling so appalled by the movie in front of them that they are compelled to collectively voice their disdain in the rudest way possible? That film has to be utter balls, right? And yet, as previous Cannes booees The Tree Of Life and Antichrist have proven, all it usually means is that the film offers something markedly different that polarises viewers. As it is with The Paperboy. But did I love it or hate it? See, that's the problem: I don't even know.

  • Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

    Movie Review | Rob | 24th July 2012

    While everyone is still going nuts about The Dark Knight Rises (and rightly so because it's awesome), let's not forget there are other films out as well. Like this one, for example – a brightly-coloured, sickening mass of environmental propaganda dressed up as a kids film, that'll make your offspring ask lots of questions, like "Daddy, why aren't we watching Batman?"

  • The Death And Life Of Charlie St. Cloud

    Movie Review | Rob | 10th October 2010

    In order to enjoy the fantasy-friendly Charlie St. Cloud, you need to have either a soft spot for spiritually romantic movies, be open minded about the afterlife, be a twelve year-old girl obsessed with Zac Efron, or be easily impressed by stunning landscapes and peaceful coastal towns. Unfortunately, I'm a sucker for a striking seaside backdrop - and films that kinda reminds me of Field Of Dreams.