Jack's Typewriter

    Screenwriter M.R. Carey spares no time in plunging into this zombie-ridden post-apocalypse. Carey’s delightfully freakish twist is that his child protagonist, Melanie, is a ‘hungry’ (Carey’s byword for zombie) who maintains human intelligence. She resides on the last citadel of humanity, a bleak military base-cum-research facility, and is kept along with other children like herself to be studied and eventually chopped up by steely, no-nonsense scientist Dr Caldwell (Glenn Close). Angel-faced Melanie and her friends attend school on the base. Their benevolent teacher, Miss Justineau (Gemma Arterton), treats them with compassion unlike Sergeant Parks (Paddy Considine) and his chums who refer to the children as “friggin' abortions”. The film opens as Justineau conducts an animated class reading of the ancient Greek myth, Pandora’s Box. Melanie’s eager hand-raising earns her an approving pat on the head from Justineau, a move that triggers the children’s feeding instin

Director Kenneth Branagh transforms himself into Agatha Christie’s Poirot in this star-studded update of the 1974 adaptation. But this take on the famous Belgian detective looks more like a mash-up of Guy Ritchie’s swashbuckling Sherlock Holmes and a human Mr Monopoly than the familiar character. The neat, black Suchet‐stache is replaced with a lavish greying creation while the characteristic limp is switched for some serious skill at hand-to-hand combat. Much like Poirot’s new look, the film is extravagant and ostentatious . Everything is a treat to look at. The costumes and sets beautifully complement the trail of luxury train-carriages that are The Express. Taking their places in the dining carriage, and at the cordovan bar, is a glittering cast of familiar faces: Michelle Pfeiffer as Caroline Hubbard, Johnny Depp as Ratchett and Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff. It’s let down by what little is shown of the landscape outside of the train itself. The CGI mountainside is no