Now You See Me (2013)

Four stage magicians (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco) unite as the Four Horsemen. At the climax of their Las Vegas show they appear to actually use magic to rob a bank vault in Paris. From there they engage in a mystifying crime spree, all the while pursued by an ill-tempered Federal agent (Mark Ruffalo) and a professional skeptic (Morgan Freeman).

I have a pretty firm rule when it comes to films about magic: it has to be possible. Christopher Nolan's The Prestige is a knock-out example: it presents an assortment of magical illusions and tricks, but displays them in realistic ways and explains how they are done. I remember around the same time that The Prestige came out there was a similar magic-themed thriller starring Edward Norton titled The Illusionist. It simply didn't work, and one of the key reasons it didn't was because its magical illusions were created using computer-generated effects. They weren't actually possible to perform, and that just made the whole film collapse in on itself. It could not be trusted.

That is basically the core problem with Now You See Me. If you are going to present your audience with a movie about stage magicians using their craft to steal huge piles of money, you need to make that magic understandable, practical, and believable. Once you cut corner and simply use CGI and hand-wave your explanations, the reality of your story has been broken. It simply doesn't matter any more.

The Pull List: 7 September 2016, Part 1

"I Am Gotham" gets a heartfelt and quite sad epilogue this week. Gotham Girl started out in this series as a bright new superhero in Gotham City. Now her brother is dead, her mind has been damaged by the villainous Psycho Pirate, and it has been revealed that her super-powers are a finite resource: once she uses them up, she is going to die.

Part of this mostly self-contained issue focuses on Gotham Girl fighting crimes around the city while talking to the imaginary idea of her dead brother. The other half focuses on Batman, once again watching an orphan vigilante suffering and desperately wanting to fix them properly for once. It's nice in that it taps into very strong, perennial themes for the Batman comics, and certainly Tom King writes it all quite well. A final page cliffhanger sets the book towards its next major arc, but all in all this is just a rather sad, rather sweet story about grieving a loved love.

It isn't perfect. I question whether or not, as part of his attempt to connect with Gotham Girl, Batman would take off his cowl and reveal his true identity and tragic past. On an emotional level it works, but it seems weirdly out of character. It makes this an imperfect issue: generally very good, but just flawed enough to irritate now and then. (3/5)

Batman #6. DC Comics. Written by Tom King. Art by Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert and Scott Hanna. Colours by Marcelo Maiolo.

Under the cut: reviews of Aquaman, Green Arrow and Superman.

Star Trek: "The Man Trap"

It is 8 September 1966, exactly 50 years ago, and time for the first-ever episode of Star Trek.

The Enterprise travels to the long-dead planet of M-113 to deliver supplies to the archaeologist Robert Crater (Alfred Ryder) and his wife Nancy (Jeanne Bal) - who is a former lover of Dr McCoy (DeForest Kelley). When a string of Enterprise crew members die, the salt drained from their bodies, it becomes clear that there is something else living on M-113.

"The Man Trap" was the fifth episode of Star Trek to be filmed, but the first-ever to be broadcast. In the fashion of 1960s television drama it does not act as an 'opening episode' in any real fashion: the Enterprise is already well into its five-year mission, and we meet the regular characters purely through the undertaking their day-to-day duties onboard the ship. It is a fairly mediocre episode, all things considered, but it does contain the elements and the characters that will go on to make Star Trek a 50 year-old hugely successful television and film franchise. Everything has to start somewhere, after all.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: "The First Duty"

It is 30 March 1992, and time for another episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The Enterprise returns to Earth, where Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) has been invited to give the commencement address at Starfleet Academy. Shortly before his arrival there is an accident in a fighter exercise: one cadet is dead, and Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) has been injured. As the investigation into the accident proceeds, it becomes clear that Wesley and his fellow cadets are hiding the truth.

Star Trek gives the military legal drama a run around the block in "The First Duty", which brings back former regular cast member Wil Wheaton for the second of two Season 5 appearances. While Wheaton did not leave the series on the best of terms, it is good to see that he was prepared to make occasional guest appearances - and it's even more encouraging to see the Next Generation writers room make proper use of him when he does come back. "The First Duty" is arguably the best single episode he ever got.

Belladonna of Sadness (1973)

In medieval France, a young couple approach the local lord to request permission to marry. Rather than receive permission, the bride-to-be - Jeanne - is violently raped by members of the court. Abandoning her broken fiancee, Jeanne makes a pact with the devil. Living in the forest, she manifests magical powers and becomes a dangerous threat to the lord's rule.

Belladonna of Sadness is a 1973 Japanese animated film. In English-speaking countries it has languished in comparative obscurity - I had heard of it but had never seen it - but thanks to an excellent remastered and subtitled blu-ray from Cinelicius Pics it now has the opportunity to be seen by a whole new audience. It is a strikingly original anime, one that will easily divide its audience. It is a challenging, provocative work, told via extremely limited animation. It straddles a deeply uncomfortable line, because while it tells a fiercely feminist story it tells it through a sometimes quite repugnant sexualised male gaze. It is a great movie and an awful one: it challenges the patriarchy while using some of its more sordid cinematic tools. What is a viewer to do?

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

The Avengers have a fatal showdown in Lagos that sees a building severely damaged with civilian casualties. Tired of the rising death toll from superhero incursions, the United Nations spearheads a set of accords to bring the Avengers under government control. When the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) appears to stage a terrorist bombing of a UN summit, killing the king of the African nation of Wakanda, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) leads the charge to sign up to the accords and bring him to justice. When Captain America (Chris Evans) refuses to sign, and sets out to apprehend the Winter Soldier - former best friend Bucky Barnes - for himself, the stage is set for a super-heroic 'civil war'.

Or thereabouts. Captain America: Civil War is arguably the most ambitious and complex Marvel Studios picture yet. Ambitious because it pulls in a huge quantity of pre-existing characters while still finding time to introduce a few new ones. Complex because it is a combined sequel to both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron, and failing to see both of those films in advance will likely render half of this film somewhat confusing and nonsensical. It is also complex because of how one reviews it. If you're a Marvel fan, a lot of scenes in here are going to be an absolute delight. If you're simply looking for an entertaining action blockbuster, it's a little more difficult.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Cause and Effect"

It is 23 March 1992, and time for another episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The Enterprise goes out of control and explodes. Events jump back several hours. Crew members are getting a sense of deja vu. There are strange energy fluctuations. Eventually a portal opens in front of the Enterprise, another starship flies out, they collide, and the Enterprise goes out of control and explodes. Events jump back several hours. Crew members are getting a sense of deja vu.

"Cause and Effect" sees the Enterprise caught in a time loop for an entire episode, with each day inevitably ending with the ship's destruction and the death of its entire crew. The episode is often referred to the Groundhog Day episode of The Next Generation, except that isn't really true apart from the very basic similarity in set-ups. That film was all about Bill Murray knowingly manipulating the same day over and over to try and create the perfect day. "Cause and Effect" is all about the viewer waiting to see how long it takes for the Enterprise crew to even realise the time loop is in effect.

Pixels (2015)

Pixels is a very bad movie, and you should probably avoid ever watching it. Really: despite a funny premise, and despite being based on a pretty great short film, it is a dreadful waste of your time and money. I watch these things because if they're good I can enjoy them, and if they're bad I can get a review out of them. Unless you're looking for a terrible movie to review as well, you really can pass Pixels by.

The film follows child videogame champion turned electronics installation technician Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), whose childhood friend Will (Kevin James) grew up to become President of the United States. When aliens arrive on Earth and challenge the planet to a war based around 1980s videogames, Will enlists Sam and some other videogame enthusiasts to help save the day and protect the human race.

Or something like that. To be honest the plot is irrelevant, because there's a good chance that by the time it develops you will have lost the will to live.