Goon review

Goon (15/R, 91 mins)
Director: Michael Dowse

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Nice guy Doug (Seann William Scott) is a bouncer of little brain who gets a trial for his local ice hockey team after they witness his fighting abilities. Even though he can barely skate, he ends up at a minor league Canadian team as an enforcer to protect their star player and get him out of his slump, which puts Doug on a collision course with another legendary destroyer (Liev Schreiber). Funny and sweet, brutal and profane in equal measure, this makes up in amiability and one-liners what it lacks in storytelling. Characters are flat and there are more hockey scenes than are ideal, but a likeable and convincing Scott keeps it on track and there’s a certain compulsive appeal to the violence.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice review

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (PG, 109 mins)
Director: Jon Turteltaub

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s second fantasy blockbuster of the summer following Prince of Persia is this daft but fun adventure that starts with practically an entire movie’s worth of backstory in a prologue that shows how Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) was once an apprentice of Merlin. His centuries long search for a successor ends in modern day New York where he meets student Dave (Jay Baruchel) whose help he needs to defeat the bad sorcerer (Alfred Molina) who betrayed Merlin. It’s a typically goofy hodgepodge of silly names and cheesy mythology that might have flown in the 80s, often labouring under the misguided notion that any old rubbish with a wizard in it will automatically hoover up the Potter crowd. But slick effects, a nice sense of humour and the always likeable Baruchel keep it just the right side of nonsense.

She’s Out of My League review

She’s Out of My League (15, 104 mins)
Director: Jim Field Smith
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The latest spin on the boy-meets-girl formula is this likeable boy-thinks-he-doesn’t-deserve-girl romantic comedy. Kirk (Jay Baruchel, last spotted voicing the young hero in How to Train Your Dragon) is still in mourning for the girl he broke up with two years before when he meets the stunning Molly (Alice Eve) through his job at airport security. He’s a bit of a goofball but he’s a nice, funny guy who can’t believe she likes him, and so constantly thinks she’s out of his league, which forms the basis for the sometimes contrived conflict. It’s a premise that’s stretched out a little too thinly on occasion in a movie that stalls a bit when going for gross or farcical situations, particularly when dealing with Kirk’s boorish friends and insane family. But it’s sweet, sometimes very funny and most of all, Kirk and Molly are a couple to root for which means it’s built on solid foundations.