Movies starring Ian McKellen

The Keep (1983)

96 mins     Action , Drama, Horror      

Michael Mann has made some impressive movies over the years but sadly "The Keep" is not one of them, yet I applaud him for what he is trying to do. To put it simply Mann rips up the rule book and tries to create a different s...

Plenty (1985)

124 mins     Drama      

"Plenty" is about this, no it is about that, no you are both wrong it is about this. That was the conversation I over heard between a group of movie friends discussing the 1985 movie "Plenty" starring Meryl Streep. Now at tha...

Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

112 mins     Drama, Mystery      

Released back in 1993 and starring Will Smith who at the time was still pulling in the audiences with "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air", "Six Degrees of Separation" is a wordy movie, heavy on dialogue whilst minimal in movement. ...

The Shadow (1994)

108 mins     Action , Adventure , Drama      

Movie Review - The Shadow (1994) Alec Baldwin stars as Lamont Cranston, aka The Shadow, who finds himself doing battle with his nemesis, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), who plans to hold a city to ransom with an atomic bomb...

Apt Pupil (1998)

111 mins     Drama, Thriller      

Adapted from a Stephen King novel "Apt Pupil" is an unsurprisingly disturbing movie. It has a disturbing basis and concept and much of what happens is disturbing yet despite a disturbing performance from Ian McKellen and soli...

X-Men (2000)

100 mins     Action , Adventure , Sci-Fi      

When I was growing up there was only really one big screen super hero, which was "Superman". Yes there were other comic book heroes but rarely did their presence make it onto the big screen and certainly never into a series o...

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

178 mins     Action , Adventure , Fantasy      

As a child I was given either a copy of "Lord of the Rings" or "The Hobbit" to read and despite trying a few times I could never get into it, this sort of fantasy quest story has never really been my thing. So when in 2001 Pe...

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

179 mins     Action , Adventure , Fantasy      

Everyone who loves movies has them, movies which do little for you but the masses absolutely love them making you feel the odd one out. For me there are three movies where I am in the minority because "The Lord of the Rings" ...

X-Men 2 (2003)

133 mins     Action , Adventure , Sci-Fi      

Following the crowd pleasing success of "X-Men" it's no surprise that "X-Men 2" or "X2" as it's also known was produced, especially as the original whilst a good movie felt like a precursor to a sequel with its emphasis on bu...

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

201 mins     Action , Adventure , Fantasy      

Those who have read my reviews of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" will already know what I am going to say about "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King",...

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

104 mins     Action , Adventure , Sci-Fi      

So after two strong "X-Men" movies delivered impressively by director Bryan Singer, along rolls the third and maybe final movie in the franchise "X-Men: The Last Stand". But sadly Bryan Singer didn't roll along with it being ...

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

150 mins     Mystery, Thriller      

I have never read Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and to be frank I have no intention to do so. But even so I can still spot that during the adaptation from print to film Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code" lost something, somet...

Flushed Away (2006)

85 mins     Adventure , Animation, Comedy      

So Aardman gives us a CGI version of a clay-mation and it is both interesting and entertaining with that curved look of "Wallace & Gromit" but dare I say even more detail and tone which wouldn't be financially feasible doing ...

The Golden Compass (2007)

113 mins     Adventure , Family, Fantasy      

If I was a young child between the ages of 9 and 15 I would imagine, even hope that "The Golden Compass" would entertain as it has all the ingredients which when I was that age would have kept me glued to a movie. Unfortunate...

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

169 mins     Adventure , Fantasy      

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Martin Freeman stars as the younger Bilbo on a quest to reclaim Erebor, the lost Dwarf kingdom...

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

161 mins     Adventure , Fantasy      

This is quite possibly going to be the shortest review I have ever written and maybe even the shortest review of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" you may come across. So visually "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" is ...

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

144 mins     Adventure , Fantasy      

Anyone who has read my other reviews of the "Hobbit" movies and "The Lord of the Rings" movies will be well aware they are never my thing and I have to be honest each movie has caused me to fall asleep and then have to watch ...

Mr. Holmes (2015)

104 mins     Drama, Mystery      

Movie Review - Mr. Holmes (2015) Ian McKellen stars as the ageing Sherlock Holmes who finds himself dealing not just with frailty but the loss of his memory, as well as the muddled memory of the last case which bugs him...