Movies go Fast and Furious yet again and elsewhere culturally sensitive and socially activist

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It's a full but mixed bag this week. From a lawyer's fight against colonialism, to breezy banter about race relations to mainstream popcorn diversions, you have wide choices. Three with Canadian content.

Twice Colonized: 4 stars

Fast X: 2 ½

White Men Can't Jump: 2 ½

What's Love Got To Do With It?: 3

Retrograde: 3 ½

Master Gardener: 2 ½

Dark Nature: 2

TWICE COLONIZED: It's been on in Toronto and Ottawa for a week, opens in Vancouver Tuesday and wider soon and should definitely be seen. It's a very personal view of colonialism from an activist who has felt it in two separate cultures. Aaju Peter was born in Greenland, raised in Denmark and lives in Iqualuit up in Nunavut.

Courtesy of Ánorâk Film Greenland

She's a lawyer who speaks passionately about how both Canada and Denmark “tried to make me white.” And how Inuit people suffer “the highest rate of suicide and unemployment. The highest rate of everything.” One of her biggest issues is the seal hunt. Northern communities depended on it and it was taken away. She wants an Indigenous forum at the European Union to prevent such things happening. She's angry. “Our children are going hungry. Our hunters are humiliated. Shame on all those bastards.” She also fights encroachment by mining companies and other colonizers. It's a stunning portrait that Danish director Lin Alluna took several years to film. (in theaters) 4 out of 5

FAST X: You want action? You get pummeled by it here. There so much of it. The story interrupts repeatedly for car chases, cop car crashes and even helicopter collisions in locations around the world. There's a drag race in Rio, an extended crash-a-thon in downtown Rome. A drive down (yes, down) a dam in the United States. This all started small 22 years ago, about street racers, and now roars back in a film number 10 that cost over $300 million and has four Academy Award winners in the cast. And up there starring up ahead of them, Vin Diesel, with an acting style like the nightclub bouncer her once was and the solid presence he commands. He's upstaged this time, though.

Jason Momoa steals the show as a showy, struttting, grimmacing enemy out for revenge. Diesel's crew took down his father, a Brazilian drug dealer, a few films ago. Momoa, as his now-grown son, saw it all and wants to issue payback by inflicting “suffering” on Diesel's group that self-identifies as “family”. And there's another threat. The U.S. Government “Agency” that the crew has been working with has a new boss and he wants to shut them down. More opportunities to insert action set-pieces. They're exciting and well-staged but hardly new. We've seen many before in these films, although one sequence is a treat as tanker trucks come at our guys from both directions on a narrow road. The films and the cast have been remarkably consistent and very popular. This one is big, loud and in a story-sense: weak. (In theaters everywhere) 2 ½ out of 5

WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP: A cult-classic from 1992 is updated to today but it's hard to know why. It's fun, energetic and totally unecessary. That's because it doesn't have much the same reflection on the concept of success and disappointment as the original. Without that depth, it just a standard story about two basketball hopefuls who've lost their prospects to go pro. Kamal (played by Sinqua Walls) has a temper that got him ejected from consideration. Jeremy, played by white rapper Jack Harlow, has injured his knees. But he's a hustler and slick talker and lures guys into pickup games for money.

The two join up in these hustles to get money to help their girlfriends. Kamal's is trying to start a hair salon; Jeremy's wants to be a dancer. He's promised her he won't play basketball again and for a while is able to hide it from her. And since he seems like such a weak player he gets a lot of guys playing against him and losing their money to him. He and Kamal advance to a couple of tournaments, for thousands of dollars in prizes. But it's the road there that's the heart of this film. Kamal and Jeremy gets off a lot of banter about race relations, much of it funny, biting and very contemporary. There are spectacular basketball shots effortlessly made, a few fights and very strong language (not what you'd expect on a Disney channel). Even with the personal issues the two bring, the film is only moderately affecting. (Disney+) 2 ½ out of 5

WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT: We've seen comedies before about Pakistanis living in England. Old country ways vs new ones. Stay within the culture. Don't marry outside. They're familiar themes and they a get a bright new take is this film directed by Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, Bandit Queen) and written by Jemima Khan. She's the former wife of Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and centre of a political crisis now going on. She was also a friend of Lady Diana and in the script takes a couple of sly digs at Charles. He was still prince at the time. All that is in the context of a story about marriage protocols.

Lily James stars in this meditation on the subject. Her character, Zoe, had some bad hookups and comes to assess other ways when a friend Kaz (played by Shazad Latif) tells her he's agreed to follow his parents' wishes. It used to be called “arranged marriage”. He says it's better now and known as “assisted marriage”. The parents recommend a suitable partner and he'll be going to Pakistan to marry her. Sight unseen? Unknown? How can that be? asks Zoe. Is computer dating, any better? Or whatever is most common these days? Zoe asks to come along and make a film about those questions. Of course, she and Kaz will gradually become attracted to each other. However the marriage goes ahead. It's big and colorful and it takes a few surprise turns to change things. The film entertains warmly. And Emma Thompson tries to be wacky. (In theaters) 3 out of 5

RETROGRADE: This small Canadian film is a very nice surprise. It's compact, a representation of millenials that feels accurate and a story of one woman's obsession that anybody could easily identify with. Molly (played by Molly Reisman) is very ordinary (in looks and life style) until, while helping a friend move, she's pulled over by a traffic cop for what sounds like a mundane infraction.

She's convinced she's not at fault and decides to fight the $300 fine she's facing. That puts her against the motor vehicle bureaucracy, the low prospects of the legal system and the weak support she gets from her friends. One cites Tarot cards and horoscopes to define her place in the universe. She's adamant that doesn't mean she's powerless and she presses on, though her chances look dim. “It's a monumental task to overturn a cop's testimony,” she's told. We don't know who is right but we're on her side anyway. We've all been there. That feeling of affinity is well-developed in Adrian Murray's writing and direction. Murray won a directing award for this at the recent Canadian Film Fest. (It's in theaters in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa) 3½ out of 5

MASTER GARDENER: Paul Schrader seems to be hit and miss these days. Way back he wrote Taxi Driver and Raging Bull and directed some good ones including most recently The Card Counter. But this one is a miss. It's lethargic at times, unclear at others. The theme is a favorite of his: a man hiding from his past, trying hard to be upright, hoping for redemption. The garden is a perfect symbol: it grows goodness and represents the future. The gardener (Joel Edgerton) tends to it lovingly and does voice overs explaining it. The wealthy dowager who owns it (Sigourney Weaver) is more than happy with him. You know that won't last.

The woman's niece (mixed-race Maya played by Quintessa Swindell) is invited to come live at the estate and issues erupt. The gardener has flashbacks to a neo-Nazi past he's trying to hide. He's got big swastikas tatooed on his back and spent time in prison. The niece is trying to avoid the drug dealers she used to frequent. The script claims there's an attraction brewing between them but we don't detect any chemistry. The dowager, though, thinks the two are getting it on and fires the gardener. He takes the girl with him and down the road both their troubles come back on them. And on the garden. Can't waste a good symbol when you've got one. The film feels like that: deliberate and obvious. And less than convincing. (In theaters) 2 ½ out of 5

DARK NATURE: A few elements distinguish this horror film from the usual. It's Canadian, it's all about women and it was made by Calgary-based filmmaker, Berkley Brady, who is Metis and went to university in Victoria. And the film is getting seen. It's been shown at several film festivals already and is opening today in 30 theaters across Canada.

It's all about trauma. Four young women go on a wilderness retreat led by a doctor/therapist (Kyra Harper) who recommends physical effort to overcome bad memories. “There's no coming to consciousness without pain and discomfort,” she says. The hike into the mountains in Kananaskis country in Alberta is tough but the real ordeal is psychological. We focus on one woman, Joy played by Hannah Anderson, who was attacked and choked by her boyfriend. Every noise she hears on the retreat makes her fear he's followed her and could jump out any second. The film does a very good buildup of dread and unease. Joy has flashbacks and visions. A search down into a deep cave is tense. But when an actual creature shows up it breaks the spell. There's lots of blood but far less credibility. (In theaters) 2 out of 5