Two time travel epics and a Dickens adaptation to lure you back to movie theatres

It seems like the movie industry has taken this one weekend to revive itself. Not only do we have the most-anticipated and much-delayed film of the year, Tenet, the return of cult favourites Bill & Ted and a terrific version of David Copperfield, we also have a host of others. Three weren’t previewed: the lone Marvel film of the summer (The New Mutants); a huge hit film from China (The Eight Hundred); and Bring the Soul, a little noticed film about the Korean sensation BTS, the musical group that just broke a YouTube record for video views. And also we have some new streaming titles.

Here’s the list...

Tenet: 3½ stars

Bill & Ted Face the Music: 3

The Personal History of David Copperfield: 4

Fatima: 3½

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: 3

You Cannot Kill David Arquette: 2½

TENET: We’ve been waiting for this one and, if you’ve followed the many articles, it seems the whole movie industry is depending on it. It was to be the big blockbuster of the summer, and may still be, or at least a version, because of the times we’re in, somewhat reduced from the usual. It is huge on screen, though; cost more than $200 million to make and was filmed in seven countries. But it’s also quite a puzzle. Christopher Nolan’s latest mind trip is not too concerned with explaining itself. That’s not a problem early on when it introduces the time travel concept of “inversion” with a bullet flying back into a gun (you buy into it all right) or in the middle with a thrilling pair of highway chases back to back. Vehicles pursue and are pursued backwards and forwards and you’re grabbed by the sheer excitement of the spectacle. It is a problem later on in a hunt for the algorithm behind it and then a climactic battle. They may have you perplexed.

Focus on the straightforward and familiar story above it then. International agents (John David Washington, Denzel’s son, and Robert Pattison, again expanding his post-Twilight range) are working for the mysterious organization of the title to stop a Russian oligarch (Kenneth Branagh, spitting menace) from making use of the technology. He could use it to communicate with the future. We find out later what his problem is and what he intends to do; it’s no surprise actually.

To get to him, Washington, known only as The Protagonist, gets close to the oligarch’s unhappy and abused trophy wife (Elizabeth Debicki, the soon to-be Lady Diana). We go on sparkling boat rides, visit rich locations and get a film that often plays like an 007 adventure, a genre Nolan says he loves. It is big, colourful, tense and, even with the obscurities of the plot, highly engrossing. (Scotiabank, 5th Avenue, Marine Gateway, The Park — in 70mm — and suburban theatres, in IMAX at two of them) 3½ out of 5

BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC: This is the other time travel film this week, continuing the adventures of the two rockers from San Dimas, Calif., 31 and 29 years after their original films. They take that same phone booth to the past (and the future) under pressure of an urgent mission. They still want to write the greatest song ever, one that will unite all mankind, and feel a deadline to do it or “reality will collapse.” Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter bring us their quest with the same goofy humour we’re used to, but also a recognition of how they’ve failed in life. A touch of maturity it seems.

They figure they must have written a great song sometime and travel to the future to find it. What they find are failed rockers singing to a few people in a bar. In another time, they find themselves as old men in a care home regretting what they’ve never achieved. Better idea: Go back in time and bring together some famous musicians for a special band, a variation on their first movie when they gathered historical figures to pass a high school test. Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Ling Lun and Mozart (all played by excellent impersonators) and rapper Kid Cudi join them. They’re helped by their own daughters, but impeded by a woman known as The Great Leader, who sends a mechanical robot and then Death himself (William Sadler) to try to stop them. Silly, but good fun, and an imaginative extension of the Bill & Ted legacy. (International Village and seven suburban theatres) 3 out of 5

THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD: You may have seen a previous film of the famous novel by Charles Dickens. Well, here’s a bright, sparkling and very modern version that you’re sure to enjoy. The title is closer to the very long original, but be assured it’s the same story. David narrates it himself and tells of the many events drawn from Dickens' own life. He starts it speaking to an audience and then walks into a long flashback. From his birth, to being sent to work in a bottling factory, to living in a capsized boat, being told his mother has died and is already buried, the difficulties keep coming at him. The glory of the novel and the film is his ability to move on and triumph over them.

Dev Patel as David is just one part of the modern touch here. The blind-to-race casting is new and the film is not old and fussy at all. It’s lively and adorned with terrific actors including Tilda Swinton as his Aunt Betsy, kindly but obsessed with chasing away donkeys, and Hugh Laurie as Mr. Dick, who lives in her house and is funny and eccentric claiming to hear the voice of Charles I in his head. David shows him how to deal with it by writing the king’s words on a kite and flying it. There are many more: Peter Capaldi as Mr. Micawber, Ben Whishaw as the conniving Uriah Heep, Morfydd Clark as naïve Dora. The list goes on. The film offers stark glimpses of poverty in Victorian England and subtle mocking of the pretensions of the higher classes. It’s all delivered at a sprightly pace using modern movie techniques. Nothing old-fashioned about it as assembled by Armando Iannucci, who directed it and co-wrote the screenplay. He’s famous for acerbic political comedy like The Death of Stalin and In the Loop. (5th Avenue, International Village and Langley) 4 out of 5

FATIMA: People who were educated in Catholic schools will be taken right back by this devout rendering of a story they’ve grown up with. It’ll all come back to them to watch three children in Portugal as the Virgin Mary appears to them several times with a warning and a prophecy. That was in 1917, during the First World War. It’s been discussed and written about ever since and led to canonization and a request for a declaration of sainthood. But did it really happen or was it imaginary? The film has no doubts.

Lucia, 10 years old at the time, played by Stephanie Gil, saw her, as did her two younger cousins. They later died of the flu, but she lived until 2005, wrote several books about it, and in the film (as an adult played by Sonia Braga) answers some skeptical questions from a writer played by Harvey Keitel. The bulk of the film is about the original events, the huge crowds that convened when word got out, and the commotion that arose in the town as both church and local officials dismissed it as a challenge to their authority. In modern terms you can see it as part of a strain of Catholic thought that elevates the “mother of God” figure to a higher influence. For believers, it’ll be inspirational. For others, maybe just informative, but well-told — in English — and visualized by director Marco Pontecorvo, whose background is cinematography. (Digital and video on demand) 3½ out of 5

PHINEAS AND FERB THE MOVIE: CANDACE AGAINST THE UNIVERSE: I had never heard of this Disney Channel series, even though there have been more than 200 episodes and there are fan sites that track every detail of every story they’ve ever told. This full-length feature gives them lots of “Easter egg” references back to those shows and plenty to celebrate. It’s a family-friendly adventure with lots of hip, modern humour thrown in and is quite entertaining.

YOU CANNOT KILL DAVID ARQUETTE: Who? You know the dumb sheriff from the Scream movies where he met Courteney Cox (and married her and also divorced her, as she says in the film). But with not much of a movie career for the last few years, he says, he tries to become a wrestler. Why? Redemption. Almost 20 years ago, he angered some wrestling fans by winning the championship at the WCW. It was a publicity stunt, and he only held it for 12 days, but apparently the shame lasted.

So back in the ring he goes. He used to watch wrestling with his dad when he was a boy, so he did have some connection to the sport. Not a lot of talent, though, and the film shows him going to pros for instruction, to Mexican lucha libre guys, to a convention where nobody buys his autograph, to a seedy backyard competition, and to some higher-level bouts. Real names show up, like Ric Flair and Diamond Dallas Page, and there’s a showdown match with a guy who had earlier been slagging him verbally. David gets bloodied in that one. Some actors go into horror movies when their career sags. He’s in a self-pitying confessional produced by his wife, trying to restore his reputation. It’s boisterous, weirdly fascinating and sad. (Available digitally and VOD) 2½ out of 5.