Terminator Genisys, Inside Out and Ant Man. Cutting these a little shorter.

So cards on the table, I've not done one of these in a

while. Now I'm sure many of you are in outrage and are a week short from storming my home with torches and pitchforks but sarcasm aside and for the people who do enjoy these, here's some movies to see or avoid. That's up to you, what do I care?

So right out of gate we have the supposed revivification of the Terminator series, the fifth feature release and most definitely the dumbest title so far.
Yes, Genisys spelled that way is the true title of the film and has a plot convoluted enough to match. Robo apocalypse saviour, John Connor once again sends his younger father back to the eighties to protect his mother from a terminator to ensure his birth.
 If you're new to the series then just a preemptive warning that it involves time travel and causality paradoxes by the truck load, with first two movies you could grit your teeth and get on with it, Genisys however doesn't quite have the same luxury.
 This isn't so much a spoiler because the actual trailer ruined what should have been the great twist but John Connor has been reconstituted into a terminator and goes back in time to ensure the rogue AI system Skynet is created.
 The film feels unnecessary and is sadly marred by actors Jai Courney and Emilia Clarke who have the intense chemistry of a bowel movement, Terminator alumni Arnold Schwarzenegger is it's only saving grace despite Clarke's Sarah Connor cringe inducingly referring to him as 'Pops'.
I can't in good conscience recommend this to even the most ardent fans.

Pixar gave toys feelings. They gave monsters and cars feelings, 2015 is the year Pixar Animation Studios gives feelings feelings and it's just short a stroke of genius.
A relatively simple tale of a small family moving away to San Francisco and the effects it has on their daughter Riley. Inside Riley's head (and everyone else for that matter) we're introduced to the five dominant emotions that pilot us: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust. The various emotions are quickly established as unique and versatile characters with each getting some good laughs in but Fear, Anger and disgust sadly being a little underused.
 The story is very much about the relationship between Joy and Sadness however, Joy informs the audience early on that each emotion is essential to protect Riley, for example Fear takes the reigns to keep her from getting hurt and Disgust even helps Riley socially. Joy however cannot figure out why Sadness is there and views her as more of a hindrance, it's through their journey together however that Joy learns that she herself can't steer Riley through life by distracting her with happy things when opposition arises and that Sadness's true purpose is to alert others to when Riley needs help.
It would have been easy to sugar coat it and go for the tired old 'smile and everything will be fine' routine that Disney is famous for, Pixar does something much braver and culturally important in teaching kids and even the grown ups that it's okay to be sad sometimes.
This reason alone makes Inside Out one of the most memorable films of the year.

Marvel Studios is back again with something of a wild card that may initially put some of the more dubious viewers on the back foot, but Ant Man realises how ridiculous it sounds and has fun with it.
Paul Rudd plays Scott Lang, an ex-convict fresh out of prison who is roped into pulling a robbery to pay child support, things go a little awry however when he is roped into a heist while utilizing his new mentor, Hank Pym's shrinking Ant Man suit. Allowing Scott to shrink to the size of an insect while maintaining the strength and mass of his full size essentially makes him a bullet, the helmet also lets him control ants and believe me when I say that despite the incomprehensible premise, that Ant Man has action, humour and a surprising amount of heart.
Compared to the other Marvel entries this one feels scaled down (size puns, yay). The villain has believable motives and once the heist is under way there's palpable tension, in true Marvel style though a witty quip is interjected before it wades into taking itself too seriously and mostly by supporting cast member Michael Pena who near enough steals any scene he wanders into. At it's heart this is a story about fathers and their daughters and doing right by or repairing the fractures in their relationship, and with just under two hours these new characters are quickly fleshed out and feel organic, something summer blockbusters tend to negate.

The Hobbit: Battle Of The Five Armies

The finale to to the Middle Earth saga may not rise up to purge the bad taste left in some fans mouths after the first two Hobbit movies but still manages to recapture some of the original trilogies magic if not a little too late.

Spoilers and shizz...

Leading off immediately from where the Desolation Of Smaug left us we see the Haughty dragon laying waste to Lake Town with only Luke Evans' Bard the Bowman to stop him. Though it's an incredibly short sequence (about ten minutes to be exact) it stands out as one of the most memorable scenes in the movie and captures one of the stories main themes that the unassuming are capable of greater things than thought possible. Not to take anything away from Bard, he's pretty handy with a bow and is a great leader but I wouldn't exactly call it a fair fight, think Mother Teresa fighting off Zeus or something.

Returning to our heroes however, Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) and his company have recaptured the lonely mountain and it's from the gold littered halls the battle of the five armies all kicks off. Bilbo Baggins, the circumspect protagonist of the story begins to worry about the movies main focus, Thorin, the dwarf prince now finally retaking his homeland is overcome with horrific greed which sends him spiraling into a Gollum inspired madness with a voice eerily reminiscent of the dragon, Smaug.

The strained relationship between the patient Bilbo and abrasive Thorin stands out as one of the films greater moments, Armitage and Freeman share a natural chemistry and even wrapped up inside the fantastical nature of the plot, it's in both of these character we find the most humanity, balancing on both ends of the scale. Though the film is mainly composed of one very long (maybe a little too long) battle of the titular five armies of middle earth, there are undercurrents of sub plots that occasionally draw reference to the original trilogy and finally feel like they belong as opposed to Jacksons' usual shoehorning, yet other plots don't really get resolved and it's all down to the two main gripes with the film.

First off the extended cameo of fan favourite Legolas (Bloom) actually fits and at times even makes you question whether the inclusion of him would have improved the novel (perhaps not but y'know...) Lee pace returns again as king of the wood elves and Legolas' father, Thranduil in a part he plays majestically. Through his speech and demeanor to the cast around him he moves with a grace a warrior should not possess but he makes riding an elk look pretty badass. Time shared between the two gives up some character development behind Legolas that though isn't necessarily needed, it does cement his place in this story all the more.

I love Ian Mckellan, he's fantastic in everything he's in and I'd be happy seeing him play anything, he could play the shark from Jaws and I'd still enjoy it, his role as Gandalf however is drastically cut short in this film however to make room for a forced love triangle between one of the dwarves and new character, Tauriel the elf (Lilly) which is brought down by lackluster and paint by numbers dialogue, I can say this with great confidence as any time a scene arose with the pair of them a groan could be heard all around me in the cinema.

That and this bastard taking up far too much screen time to use the same retired joke at least eight times in the movie.

Though the Battle Of The Five Armies has plenty to go around and an over abundance of CGI aside, captures some of the magic of the battle of Minas Tirith from the Two Towers, Billy Connoly provides some genuine comic relief as the rowdy Dain Ironfoot and the battle between the council of Elrond and the weakened Sauron keeps the pace going even though the story seems to be a little stretched once again.

Speaking of the themes of the movie, While Bilbo would have normally been the narratives focus, instead he's somewhat sidelined so Thorin can take center stage, and as the themes of greed and redemption are personified through his actions it's incredible to watch Armitage organically transition between the two which are made all the more powerful by his final confrontation with the white orc Azog.

I could absolutely go on throwing around the pro's and cons of this movie for pages but like Jackson's final endeavor to Tolkein's master piece I'll end this somewhat cleaner.

Though not all of the die hard Lord Of The Rings fans will enjoy this it still stands as an all around good movie, ending on a familiar scene fans may recognise with the panoramic shots of New Zealand and the soft sounds of Howard Shore's Shire theme, The middle earth saga ends as a story worth telling.