Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), a former circus star, finds his life turned upside-down when he returns home after the end of the First World War scarred and broken. Finding himself employed by circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) who enlists him to care for a newborn elephant, named Dumbo, whose oversized ears make him a laughing stock in an already struggling circus. But when Holt’s children, Milly and Joe, discover that Dumbo can fly, persuasive entrepreneur V. A. Vandemere (Michael Keaton) and aerial artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green) swoop in to make the peculiar pachyderm a star.

Tim Burton remains one of my favourite directors of all time, and every time I hear that he’s taking up a new project I’m excited for what this visionary director will deliver. And in Dumbo he really gives us a treat with a story that is very close to his heart and touches on many of the themes that he has explored throughout his life. With its narrative and central themes, Dumbo is tailor-made for Burton with his explorations of ideas related to outsider characters, society’s fringes and individual expression. Many characters in Burton’s films are made out to be freaks or monsters and excluded from society and that, of course, happens to the baby elephant known as Dumbo who is vilified and mocked for his large ears. But unbeknownst to the world, Dumbo’s physical extremes actually give him the power of flight and this elephant does soar to amazing heights.

Burton makes the film incredibly personal, and he really takes audiences inside the mind of Dumbo and presents the elephant’s point-of-view to the world. We feel Dumbo’s feelings and his journey to be reunited with his mother once again, and Burton’s reverence for this journey is incredibly impactful and heartfelt. Along with investing your emotions in Dumbo’s journey to find his mother, he also brings you into the life of the film’s other characters including former rodeo star Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), gifted trapeze artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green) and circus owner and ringmaster Max Medici (Danny DeVito).

Renown for his unique and quirky cinema aesthetic, Dumbo is very much a Disney movie interpreted through the vision of Tim Burton. While it doesn’t hold his typical gothic sensibilities, Burton does manage to place his own unique and thoroughly quirky design elements into the film and puts his own stamp on the material and its characters. His love for German Expressionism also helps inform the design of this early 1900s set film, and the use of practical sets, ornate costuming and wide-framed imagery really help you pull you in deeper to the experience of Dumbo.

For me what made this film so enjoyable was we were seeing Burton get to play with colour and light, and really bringing a sense of warmth to his work. It was engaging to see him get away from the shadows and instead focus on a film where light plays such an important role and his tonal palettes and cinematography borrow a lot from the look at feel of that classic cell-shaded Disney Animation.

Along with telling the story of the film’s titular baby elephant, Burton frames his story around the members of the travelling Medici Brothers circus. Chief among these characters is WWI veteran and former rodeo star Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), who returns from the war a broken man, having lost his left arm in the trenches, and his wife to Spanish Influenza. Desperately looking for a way to rebuild his life, and support his children, Holt is charged to look after Dumbo, and together these two outsider characters help each other soar again.

The role of Holt was something different for Farrell, who really pulls away from his heart-throb status and falls into the role of the film’s everyman. It’s a performance that he really invests himself into and here we find him searching for the idea of hope again, which he is able to find thanks to the belief of his children and his belief in a certain baby elephant.

Joining Farrell in the film is Eva Green as the fantastical and elegant trapeze artist Colette Marchant and the actress makes the greatest change in terms of narrative arc throughout the story. Beginning as a flamboyant opportunist, Colette soon warms to both Dumbo and Holt and reveals her true persona that she wears under the mask of her circus life. Determined to do the right thing, she invests in Holt’s mission to see Dumbo reunited with his mother, and the inevitable spark that develops between the characters is spot on within the film. Green’s portrayal really borrows from the likes of Hedy Lamarr for the role, and she has this bold presence that one equates with actresses of that classic cinema era within her role as Colette.

Lending the film it’s antagonistic side is Michael Keaton as V. A. Vandevere, who makes a long-awaited return to working with Burton again and the actor again proves why he is in such demand these days. With the flair and parlance of a big-time showman, this seedy entrepreneur is one to hide behind the big lights in order to make a profit, and he sees Dumbo as his winning ticket. Keaton revels in his chance to be a villain here, and he really goes for it with his cruel business acumen. The actor makes for a great villain and he really provides the film’s central characters with plenty of obstacles to set Dumbo free.

Finally, Burton regular and cinema icon Danny DeVito graces the screen with plenty of charisma and a whole lot of comedy as the owner and ringmaster of the Medici Brothers Circus, Max Medici. The minute you see him on-screen DeVito has the whole audience laughing as this charlatan-type promoter who is looking for any way to make a quick buck and whose mounting problems are causing him plenty of stress. But while he does inevitably get his shot at the big time, he soon learns that its cost is too big to bear and that his love for his troop, who in reality are his family, drives him to do the right thing in the end. In my viewing of Dumbo, I’d say that it’s both baby Dumbo and Max who make up the heart and soul of this film and that the two of them are the ones who truly bring everything together.

But if there is one character who absolutely steals the show then it is above all else the character of Dumbo. This doe-eyed baby elephant is the very embodiment of the word cute, and the minute he arrives on the scene you’ll be sure to smile. Dumbo is above all else the epitome of love, and he’s the one hopeful thing that can bring together so many desperately broken people back together. Whether it be Holt, Colette, Max or the entire Medici troop, Dumbo is the one thing that helps to give them a purpose in their lives and to see the brightness and the hope in all things. This baby also goes on his own unique journey and has his courage tested at every turn, but through all of these unique challenges, and the faith that others have in him he does indeed soar high.

Through the vision of Tim Burton, Dumbo makes for a bold and beautiful piece of cinema that holds true to the core of the power of narrative storytelling and the unique attributes of classic Disney animation. It’s a film that truly enchants its audience and champions the ideas of individuality, family and above all else hope, and you’ll leave the cinema feeling that you can fly.

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

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Focusing in on broken war veteran Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), and his children Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins), Dumbo brings audiences into an absolutely enchanting environment of the early 1920s, and the birth of a baby elephant with very big ears called Dumbo.

Tim Burton is one of my all-time favourite directors and here he gives us a film that is truly enchanting with plenty of bright colours, and a strong resonance of hope and dreams. Known for his ability to focus his narratives around outsider characters, the story of Dumbo seems like a perfect fit for Burton’s talents and frequent Burton collaborator Eva Green agrees, “Tim Burton is directing, he understands outsiders, people who don’t fit in, vulnerable souls like Dumbo.”

Not only has Burton worked his creative genius into the project, but this film is also a reunion piece for the director with the likes of Michael Keaton, Eva Green and Danny DeVito lending their talents to the whimsical story. All of the performers seem to have been blown away by the size and scope of the project, and of it’s relevance as a narrative Danny DeVito, who portrays circus owner Max Medici, summed it up best by saying ‘we need this movie right now.”

Get ready for your heart to soar a little higher when Dumbo arrives in cinemas on March 28.

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While I’ve definitely felt my eyes get teary with the film’s latest trailers, this last one is extremely poignant and it promises plenty of heart and whimzy. Check it out below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), a former circus star, finds his life turned upside-down when he returns home after the end of the First World War scarred and broken. Finding himself employed by circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) who enlists him to care for a newborn elephant, named Dumbo, whose oversized ears make him a laughing stock in an already struggling circus. But when Holt’s children, Milly and Joe, discover that Dumbo can fly, persuasive entrepreneur V. A. Vandemere (Michael Keaton) and aerial artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green) swoop in to make the peculiar pachyderm a star.

Dumbo is a great choice for Burton to helm with its unique subject matter and time setting and you can really see the director’s artistry come alive here. It’s also a bit of a reunion for Burton as well as he’s packed the film out with an amazing list of frequent collaborators who include the likes of Michael Keaton, Eva Green and Danny DeVito.

Get ready for all the magic imaginable as one little elephant finds his courage and sets out to soar high when Dumbo arrives in cinemas on March 28.

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Here’s the official synopsis below:

Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), a former circus star, finds his life turned upside-down when he returns home after the end of the First World War scarred and broken. Finding himself employed by circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) who enlists him to care for a newborn elephant, named Dumbo, whose oversized ears make him a laughing stock in an already struggling circus. But when Holt’s children, Milly and Joe, discover that Dumbo can fly, persuasive entrepreneur V. A. Vandemere (Michael Keaton) and aerial artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green) swoop in to make the peculiar pachyderm a star.

Following in the footsteps of the heartwarming first teaser, this new trailer for Dumbo takes you inside the magic of the circus and Dumbo’s extraordinary ability to fly. Alongside everyone’s favourite baby elephant, Dumbo will also explore the story of Colin Farrell’s Holt Farrier, a former circus star who suffered greatly through WWI and is now at a loss with his life and how to raise his two young children. But together with Dumbo the Farrier’s may just find the hope they need to soar once more.

I’ve long regarded Tim Burton as one of my all-time favourite filmmakers and to see him back at the Walt Disney Company really brings a smile to my face. With his extraordinary imagination and desire to entertain I’m certain that Dumbo will take audiences on a fantastic ride of magic and wonder and prove that no matter how hard things get, with a little bit of hope, anything is possible.

Check out our full reaction for the new Dumbo trailer below, and you be guaranteed that the tears started to roll pretty quickly:

Get ready to witness the impossible and find your courage when Dumbo arrives in cinemas on March 28, 2019.

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Here’s the official synopsis:

Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), a former circus star, finds his life turned upside-down when he returns home after the end of the First World War scarred and broken. Finding himself employed by circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) who enlists him to care for a newborn elephant, named Dumbo, whose oversized ears make him a laughing stock in an already struggling circus. But when Holt’s children, Milly and Joe, discover that Dumbo can fly, persuasive entrepreneur V. A. Vandemere (Michael Keaton) and aerial artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green) swoop in to make the peculiar pachyderm a star.

Burton looks to have clearly elevated the film with a new focus to the story around the central figure of Holt, a broken war veteran played by Colin Farrell who finds himself charged with the care of Dumbo. Both are lost souls looking for some kind of love in a new and rapidly changing world and it’s here that I sense Burton is really exploring the idea of family and how in the hardest of times its the one thing that we can cling to.

Dumbo sparkles with imagination and Burton and his team of magnificent artists have done a terrific job of realizing the fantastic world of circus with plenty of bright lights and big colours and Dumbo looks like it will be a film that will thoroughly enchant it’s audience, both young and old with enchanting story of magic and love.

Make sure you’ve got tissues beside you when Dumbo arrives in cinemas because it is sure to be film that will really tug at your heartstrings and will cause a flutter in your heart of March 28, 2019.

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Following the same non-linear narrative introduced in the first film, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For follows four interconnected stories through the harsh streets of Basin City. The film’s primary focus is on Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) who is contacted by his former lover, the beautiful Ava Lord (Eva Green), who wishes to escape her abusive husband, billionaire Damien Lord (Marton Csokas). But a love struck Dwight soon learns that Ava’s cry for help might hide far darker intentions.

Brolin is perfect as the pugilistic Dwight, a hard man who has had his share of vices and now ekes out a living as a private investigator. While he’s capable of dispensing a good dose of pain, he also puts himself in the position to receive a fair bit of it himself. Brolin is an absolute beast of man who commands the attention of the screen, and the audience will really be rooting for him to survive and get his payback. The incredibly seductive Green has this definite feminine feline grace and sexuality, which she uses as a razor sharp weapon. This goddess is one bad girl, and the former Bond girl has a lot of fun with her seductive personality. Green was definitely the right choice for the role as she also has the look of a 1940s starlet (which is in keeping with the film’s noir material), and she’s a ball of energy up on screen. The absolutely stunning Rosario Dawson also returns as the tough talking Gail, and brings a dash of smoking sexuality to the film, while Dennis Haysbert takes on the role of the vicious Manute from Michael Clarke Duncan, and is well up to the task.

‘A Dame To Kill For‘ is bookended by two very different, but interconnected stories: ‘Nancy’s Last Dance’ and ‘The Long Bad Night’. “Nancy’s Last Dance” follows Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) as she tries to cope in the wake of John Hartigan’s (Bruce Willis) death, while plotting to kill Senator Roark (Powers Boothe) while “The Long Bad Night” sees Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a cocky gambler, who wants to destroy the biggest villain in Sin City at his own game, until he beats the wrong man and events take a turn for the worse. The film also features “Just Another Saturday Night” which finds Marv (Mickey Rourke) back on the streets, waking up on a highway overlooking the Projects, surrounded by several dead young men and unable to remember how he got there.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is front and centre in ‘The Long Bad Night’ portraying a character that plays to Levitt’s strengths as an actor. Johnny is a brash, arrogant, slick hustler who makes no attempt to hide his incredible skill and luck at the poker tables, and his smart-aleck charm will take him along way with audiences. He’s pitted against corruption incarnate with Powers Boothe returning as the sinister Senator Roark. The scenes where these two battle it out at the tables are pretty incredible to watch, and things do get intense. Also keep your eyes open for a surprise cameo from Christopher Lloyd.

Finally, ‘Nancy’s Last Dance’ follows Nancy Callahan as she struggles through the death of John Hartigan, and makes a move to avenge his death. This part of the film was definitely my favorite as its fun to watch Nancy completely fall to pieces, and then go crazy. Nancy’s battling some demons this time around, and her reliance on the bottle isn’t helping. Alba’s commitment is frightening, particularly with the extremes that she goes to in her performance. Again, she has to contend with Powers Boothe’s vial Senator Roark, but she gets some help from Mickey Rourke who returns as the ever lovable Marv, and who has a lot of fun doing what he does best: wrecking absolute havoc.

Miller and Rodriguez were absolutely groundbreaking with the first ‘Sin City’, and the two co-directors were literally ahead of their time with this mind-blowing film through the power and capability of their special effects. With this return trip to the infamous Basin City however, they’ve truly raised the bar with an epic avant garde approach.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For is violent, brutal and scintillating with every frame, and audiences are sure to lap it all up. So remember to walk down the right back alley in Sin City, because you can find anything….

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The brave 300 are dead, and the God King Xerxes marches on Greece, with a desire to put it to the sword. At the head of his army is Artemisia, a fiery, devilish witch who harbors a terrible vengeance against the Greeks, and wishes to see them burn. But one man, Themistocles, an Athenian general and politician, who believes in the new ideals of democracy readies to make his stand against the approaching horde. But this battle will not be fought on Greece’s shores, but instead on the monstrous swells of the open oceans, which will run red with blood.

300: Rise of An Empire is a stirring heroic story of absolutely epic proportions that is packed to the brim with violence, blood and larger than life heroics. Director Noam Murro has assembled an incredible cast to tell a film that in my opinion is the equal, if not better than the original ‘300’.

Sullivan Stapleton is Themistocles, a Athenian General and statesman. Just like Gerard Butler’s Leonidas he is possessed of a fiery willpower and rock hard abs, but the two characters couldn’t be more different. Leonidas was first and foremost a king, born to responsibility, and the glory inherited upon him as Sparta’s first son. Themistocles is a different man, he holds no wife or children, and has devoted his whole life to the betterment of Athens, serving as a soldier, and later a politician. Knowing that he has to inspire all of Greece to fight off the monster that is Xerxes army, Themistocles is a man possessed of voice as well as action, and Stapleton is brilliant in the role. He is both raw and passionate in his portrayal of Themistocles, and he carries concerns and troubles that Leonidas did not have to contend with, such as a city state who are more concerned with political idea’s, rather than with one’s of steel. He is also a master strategist, which adds a dimension of difference to Leonidas’s raw warrior strength. Stapleton is pretty adept with a sword, and his physical transformation is very impressive, which adds to his believability in the role. He’s a great heroic character, and it’s awesome to see him cut a path through his enemies on the big screen.

But where you have nobility and courage in Themistocles, none of this is found in his adversary, Artemisia, played with sadistic glee by Eva Green. Taken as a child, and subjected to unimaginable horrors, she was saved by a Persian emissary and trained to perfection as a master warrior. Irreversibly scarred by her ordeals, she craves nothing but the blood of all Greece. As an audience member you’ll come to learn just how twisted Artemisia is in her first five minutes on screen where she makes out with a decapitated head. This girl is twisted, calculating, but most importantly committed to the destruction of all Greece. Green is perfect in the role as she has the gravitas and the range to make a convincing bad girl, and she’s not shy when it comes to dispatching Greeks. Don’t tick this girl off, it could be the last thing you ever do.

Rodrigo Santoro is one of the significant returning actors as Xerxes, the Persian God King, and we get to see his transformation from man to god with the help of Artemisia. Although Xerxes presence is limited in the film you do feel Santoro’s depth of character when he is on screen. I would have preferred more screen time for the character since Santoro is a talented actor, but Xerxes does work as the higher power who is watching over the events of the film.

The supporting players are all good as well, with Hans Matheson providing a voice of reason and a conscious, along with a willing blade as Aeschylus, Themistocles right hand man. Callan Mulvey is fearless as the Greek general Scyllias, while Jack O’Connell is a young man with something to prove as his son Calisto. Finally Lena Headey returns as Queen Gorgo, acting as the film’s narrator, as well as getting to pick up a blade and dish up her own brand of vengeance for the loss of her husband.

Director Noam Murro throws you into the action, and with the advent of IMAX 3D you can literally taste the blood. Of all the battles I think my favorite was the opening Battle of Marathon, which reminded me of the intensity of the D-Day landings in ‘Saving Private Ryan’, only with swords instead of bullets, and a few more gallons of blood. The cinematography in this battle is excellent, and is paired well with the brutal rain and swells of the open sea in successive battles. For those wanting a good fix of adrenaline, you won’t be disappointed.

300: Rise of An Empire is also impressive as the filmmakers have framed the story from both the Persian’s perspective, which presents another side to the war, as it’s battles take place at the same time as the Battle of Thermopylae, where the Spartans perished. It’s a companion movie, which I think is more interesting to the story than just your typical action sequel. It’s also a darker movie, and has an atmosphere that is reminiscent of film noir.

300: Rise of An Empire is a worthy follow up to ‘300’, and takes the action to a whole new level. If you want an adrenaline rush, then this is the movie for you.

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