The Screen Critic: Marvel’s return to form, a terrific Aussie drama and two ladies return for a fun murder mystery

With Thunderbolts Marvel returns to those strengths missing from a lot of its recent efforts, namely hooking a strong character story with loads of quality action and good ol’ fashioned fun.

Florence Pugh heads the gang of second-tier superheroes we saw in 2021’s Black Widow, only here they’ve been upgraded in the absence of the Avengers.

Their nemesis is a corrupt US politician (Julia Louis- Dreyfus aka Elaine from Seinfeld) who has a secret project to create her own super-powered minions.

Lots of distinctive action sequences and humour complement the focus on character as a lowly goofball (Lewis Pullman) is transformed into a being who can turn people into shadows. Terrific stuff.

Veteran naturalist David Attenborough has just turned 99 and his stirring documentary Ocean highlights his life-long concern about environmental destruction.

Alternating between beautiful footage of the ocean’s delicately balanced eco-system and ghastly scenes of trawling Attenborough makes the case for preservation with his trademark passion and intelligence, along with a large dash of hope.

Ever the optimist, Attenborough presents an eye-opening documentary with a timely message about the heavy price of human exploitation.

Harking back to the fun-driven horror films of the 1990s comes Clown in a Cornfield, a blood-soaked lark about a group of small-town teenagers doing battle with murderous clowns armed with chainsaws and machetes.

There aren’t that many jolts but the jokes, creepy atmospherics and hammy scare tactics are more than enough to keep genre fans happy. A lovely date movie.

In the terrific, unusual Australian psychological thriller The Surfer, Nicolas Cage plays a desperate father whose attempts to salvage his relationship with his son is derailed when he encounters a gang of crazed surfers.

All he wants is to buy his beachside childhood home and so recapture the stability that a broken marriage has sapped from his life. He quickly discovers, however, that the local beach is now the turf of surf ruffians.

A great lead performance from Cage ignites an intriguing, increasingly tense drama with plenty of twists. (Opens 15 May)

A wise-cracking Anna Kendrick and an over-dressed Blake Lively team up again as best frenemies for Another Simple Favour, a winning murder-mystery comedy sequel to the 2019 hit A Simple Favour.

More glamourous, gag-filled and trashy this time around, the tale sees popular true-crime podcaster and author Stephanie (Kendrick) head off to scenic Capri in Italy at the insistence of Emily (Lively), the woman she put in prison for murder in the previous movie. (Double murder, actually.)

With a second half crammed with left turns, the lark becomes delightfully preposterous, with the two leads putting in extra-cheesy performances, their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks.

Check it out on Prime where it’s atop the viewing charts, along with the first film. Enjoy.

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