Film Awards 2016: Part IV

Best Film Based on a Computer Game

The optimistically named Warcraft: The Beginning is a right ol' mess of a movie. Yet sometimes messes can be fun. This wasn't one of those times. For people who have never played the computer game there is too much that needs explaining, too many characters and magic powers to keep track of. I felt lost, and nobody should feel lost in a film as dumb as this. Warcraft: The Beginning did go on to make nearly half a billion dollars, so we may well be getting a Warcraft: The Middle in the near future. Needless to say, I won't be watching I will probably end up watching it.

Best Use of the Michael Scott Principle of Improv

If The Big Short is the sharp-witted version of the financial crash, then Money Monster is the farce. It seemed like everyone had a good time making this film, and it's hard not to have a good time watching it. As for tension, the movie follows the Michael Scott principle: if you want to make a scene interesting, give someone a gun. Or, in this case, a bomb. That said, the film doesn't really work as a thriller, but it certainly has enough going for it to make it eminently watchable, if not exactly memorable.

Most Unnecessary Sequel

There were three strong contenders for this gong. Independence Day: Resurgence and Now You See Me 2 did all they could to demonstrate their superfluity. The former has all of the nonsense of the original but none of its silly charm, whereas the latter continues to suffer from the fact that magic can only be effectively communicated in a live experience and not by way of a medium. But the king of this year's unnecessary sequels is Jason Bourne. The Bourne Ultimatum was practically perfect in almost every way. Indeed, the Bourne trilogy has a strong case for being the best trilogy in the history of cinema. A fourth installment was wholly unnecessary, but unfortunately we got what we wanted and not what we needed. The sequence during the riots in Greece is pretty spectacular, but the rest of the film feels tired and unimaginative, adding nothing to the character or the story. It is by no means a bad film, but it is destined to remain a disputed member of the canon - a strawy film if you will (#Reformation500).