Short on enthusiasm and originality, the legal thriller Closed Circuit wastes a talented cast, writer, and director on something that's been done to death. The film isn't merely ill conceived. It feels like it was cloned in a lab.
Not only is Iron Man 3 an almost insurmountable high bar to clear for this summer movie season and the best Marvel film to date, it's also just an excellent all around movie. It's the antithesis of shallow blockbuster filmmaking that still delivers the goods and knows how to be a fun and enjoyably twisty ride thanks to Robert Downey Jr.'s continued excellence as Tony Stark and some fresh new energy courtesy of writer and director Shane Black.
While far from the best film of the year like Ridley Scott said last year upon the film's UK release, The Awakening is an efficient and slow burning chiller does offer some genuinely good scares, some interesting thematic material, and a strong leading heroine before a muddled ending sours things slightly.
