If the gigantic sandworms from “Dune: Part 2” aren’t enough for you, you’ll immediately get the next giant monsters thanks to “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” – albeit in a much simpler story. If you haven’t had enough of Zendaya (27) on the trip to the desert planet Arrakis, you can marvel at the shooting star in “Challengers” and a complicated love triangle at the end of the month. In between, things get tragic: The biopic “Back to Black” tells the rapid rise and fall of the talent of the century Amy Winehouse (1983-2011).
The fight continues: After the devastating showdown in “Godzilla vs. Kong”, the giant ape Kong and the fearsome monster lizard Godzilla must now fight together against an equally powerful new threat that lies hidden in our world – and that calls their entire existence into question.
Assessment:
Even in the MonsterVerse, nothing brings people together like a common enemy. And so King Kong and Godzilla, who previously polished each other’s huge faces, now reluctantly have to form a team in order to save the entire world and, at the same time, humanity. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” relies even less on a well-thought-out plot than its predecessor, but offers exactly what many people like to go to the cinema for: bombast in its purest form.
London at the beginning of the 2000s: The talented singer and musician Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela, 27) finds her stage in the clubs of Camden. She inspires the audience with her songs, her extraordinary voice and her unique charisma. Music fans and talent scouts quickly become aware of her and her meteoric rise into the pop heaven begins, but fame has its price…
Assessment:
Musician biographies often tend to make already dramatic events in the artist’s life even more dramatic. In the case of the exceptional singer Amy Winehouse, who died in 2011, this is hardly possible: her rise and fall cannot be retold more quickly than in reality. Viewers who buy tickets for “Back to Black” know they won’t get a happy ending. But a cinematic monument to a musician whose talent left us far too soon.
The former tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) now works successfully as a trainer and coaches her husband (Mike Faist, 32). However, because he is in a bad state of form, Tashi gets him to take part in a lower-class tournament in order to regain his old strength. However, the comeback plan takes a surprising turn when Tashi’s husband has to compete against the failed Patrick (Josh O’Connor, 33) – his former best friend and Tashi’s former partner.
Assessment:
The screen, it seems, simply can’t do without its biggest shooting star at the moment: While Zendaya is still speeding across the desert planet via sandworm in “Dune: Part 2”, in “Challengers – Rivals” she has to deal with much more mundane problems: Featuring a complicated love triangle set in the already grueling world of professional tennis. An exciting combination!
