Alex B Cann weekly film column

Can The Rock save Christmas? That was the question asked in the £200 million blockbuster Red One. It stars Dwayne Johnson as the North Pole's Head of Security, with one eye on retirement until Santa goes missing.

Cue Captain America star Chris Evans as a bounty hunter, and plenty of action involving giant snowmen, a talking polar bear, a snow globe manufacturing witch, a chicken, and daft capers galore. Lucy Liu plays a North Pole spy chief, but is underused.

I doubt this will join the likes of Home Alone, Elf, Scrooged and Die Hard on the classics list, but it was a little more enjoyable than some reviews suggested. The banter between Evans and Johnson is mildly entertaining, but the script feels a little like it's been penned using AI. Imagine what looks like a lavish gift under the tree, but once you tear off the layers of shiny wrapping paper, you're left with a dud present. It's one to watch on the sofa when it hits Amazon Prime I'd say, rather than rushing out to see it at the cinema, I made up a third of the audience at my screening.

Meanwhile, Anora rockets into my top five favourite films of the year, and I'm amazed at how little publicity it seems to have had. It certainly makes Pretty Woman look like a PG movie, as an exotic dancer falls for the son of a notorious Russian oligarch on a night out at the club where she works, and impulsively marries him whilst they are having an extended date in Las Vegas. Things take a turn for the worse when her new husband Vanya's family find out about the hasty wedding, and send their henchmen to New York to annul things at all costs. Cue an ace sequence of events in the mansion where they are holed up, much smashed stuff, and a chase through the streets of New York The action sequence are brilliant, and the ending sends a shiver down your spine. It's unrushed, well written, and not a single scene is wasted. Funny, poignant, and unmissable.

Finally this week, Paddington in Peru features passport photo silliness, lots of marmalade sandwiches, Antonio Banderas as a gold-grasping seadog and Olivia Coleman as a nun who is hiding a secret under her habit, as the Brown family head to Peru to check on Aunt Lucy. I liked what the film had to say about a sense of place, and some right wing commentators who love to deride all who seek to make the UK their home would definitely benefit from taking in the message of kindness and humanity which is weaved into the storyline, but not in a hectoring way. Fun, entertaining, and a couple of nice cameos.

More on Joy next week before it hits Netflix, but I was lucky enough to see a preview and it's a tale of scientific brilliance in Oldham against all the odds. I'll also review Gladiator II and Small Things Like These.