Fall Movie Preview

As the nights draw in and summer becomes a distant memory, a trip to the cinema with a big bucket of popcorn is the perfect medicine. Here’s your guide to what’s on offer this autumn.

Takers
Gritty heist movie with Idris Elba leading a group of high-class bank robbers, including Chris Brown. Their life of luxury may be coming to an end, however, as cop Matt Dillon is on their tail. Zoe Saldana and Marianne Jean-Baptiste also star.
Worth seeing? It’s nice to see Elba using his own accent for a change, but this looks too slick to be fun. Ocean’s Eleven without the wry smile isn’t a good prospect.
Release date: 1st October

The Other Guys
Samuel L. Jackson and the Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson are your archetypal bad-ass cops in this comedy, taking down the bad guys and saving the city on a daily basis. Desk-bound detectives Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg get their chance to be the heroes when they investigate a shady businessman (Steve Coogan).
Worth seeing? This seems like a silly and fun take on the buddy cop genre, with a great cast.
Release date: 17th September

Africa United
Three Rwandan children go on the adventure of a lifetime as they walk 3000 miles to fulfil their dream of taking part in the opening ceremony of the World Cup in South Africa, picking up a host of colourful characters on the way.
Worth seeing? The plot sounds cute, and it has the potential to be a very uplifting African story (not something you see very often in the cinema). It may have missed the zeitgeist by having a release date post-tournament, though – we’re all a bit vuvuzela-ed out.
Release date: 22nd October

Red
Bruce Willis is a former black ops agent forced out of a blissful retirement when an assassin tries to kill him. His old gang (Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren) must reform and fight to survive in this adaptation of the comic from British writer Warren Ellis.
Worth seeing? An action film with an excellent and unusual cast – this could be a hoot as long as the script lives up to the premise.
Release date: 22nd October

Due Date
In Todd Phillips’s follow up to the Hangover, Robert Downey Jr is the uptight father-to-be who must hitch a lift across America with annoying Zach Galifianakis to get to his child’s birth on time. Jamie Foxx plays one of the people they meet along the way.
Worth seeing? The Hangover was hilarious and Downey and Galifianakis are so hot right now. Who cares if the plot is lifted straight from Planes, Trains and Automobiles?
Release date: 5th November

Unstoppable
Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson must fight to stop a runaway train full of dangerous chemicals in this fact-based drama from Tony Scott. Will they save the town in time?
Worth seeing? A runaway train doesn’t sound that exciting, but it does have a nice 70s disaster film vibe. Hopefully the quality cast and director can lift this out of B-movie territory.
Release date: 12th November