Latest video releases reviewed
HERO/YING XIONG ****
Directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Chen Dao Ming, Donnie Yen 12 cert
Zhang Yimou's overpoweringly gorgeous film, in which Jet Li's nameless warrior defends a mighty king from the attentions of three glamorous assassins, treats us to masses of dancing leaves, a hemisphere of descending arrows and a glorious swordfight carried out by antagonists dancing across a beautiful lake. Too pretty for its own good, perhaps? There are worse things.
SPARTAN ***
Directed by David Mamet. Starring Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, William H. Macy, Ed O'Neill, Kristen Bell, Tia Texada 15 cert
Government operative Kilmer tries to recover the President's daughter from kidnappers. It's a David Mamet film. That's right, a film by David Mamet. That means - Are you listening? Are you listening? - that there are disconcerting repetitions in the dialogue and that the plot involves several hairpin reversals. In fact, though Spartan is fun, it makes no sense whatsoever. Whatsoever!
ALFIE *
Directed by Charles Shyer. Starring Jude Law, Sienna Miller, Omar Epps, Marisa Tomei, Susan Sarandon, Jane Krakowski PG cert
A froggy goes a-courtin'. The 1966 original may not have been a classic, but Michael Caine's cruel misogyny helped expose some of the hypocrisy at the heart of swinging London. Jude It's-me-again Law is too smug to be charming and not nasty enough to expose anything more notable than the film's pointless vacuity. Contains poor songs by Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart.
SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW **
Directed by Kerry Conran. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Trevor Baxter, Angelina Jolie PG cert
Fighter pilot Law and reporter Paltrow take on an evil megalomaniac. "The world will tremble" it said on the poster. Sadly, the earth managed to say comfortably unshaken when this retro-adventure, the first live-action feature to take place among entirely computer-generated environments, was released last year. Though it is impressive to look at, the action is far too arch for its own good.
