Idris reveals his directing genius

Yardie marks Elba’s first stint in the folding chair and, like the British super-spy, it’s stylish, witty and isn’t afraid to take a few risks. 

He stages long stretches of his debut film in un-subtitled Jamaican Patois and it’s a gamble that pays off handsomely. 

Once your ear is tuned to the rhythm, the dialogue sparkles.

It also takes some nerve to try to make a hero out of a gun-toting gangster from Jamaica who arrives in London with a huge bag of cocaine taped to his belly. 

At times, you may find your sympathy wavering for “D”, the yardie (London slang for a Jamaican gangster), but a charismatic turn from Aml Ameen should keep you onside.

A gorgeously shot and wonderfully scored prologue introduces us to a young D, short for Dennis, in 1973 Jamaica as he witnesses the murder of older brother Jerry (Everaldo Creary) at a party the peace-loving Rasta has organised to stop gang violence.

When we jump forward a decade, D is still consumed by revenge. After he nearly sparks a gang war when he mistakes a heavy for his brother’s killer, local mobster King Fox (Sheldon Shepherd) packs him off to London until things cool down.

To pay his way, Fox tasks D with delivering a kilo of cocaine to a London dealer called Rico (Stephen Graham).

But D instantly senses all is not well with the white Jamaican, whose erratic behaviour and wavering accent suggests he’s been getting very high on his own supply, so he escapes through a toilet window with the drug and Rico’s henchmen’s in hot pursuit. 

After a thrilling night-time chase he makes his way to the East End apartment block where his childhood girlfriend Yvonne (Shantol Jackson) lives with their young daughter. 

Yvonne isn’t best pleased to learn the violence of her home town has followed her to London but Elba and his screenwriters have the good sense to litter their arguments with some very funny lines.

There is also welcome humour as D pairs up with a gang of local musicians to sell his stolen stash to white yuppies in partnership with the Turkish mafia.

As the tension begins to sag under the weight of side characters and sub-plots, you begin to suspect that Elba’s ambition will be brought down by his inexperience. 

But the revenge story is the least interesting thing about the film. By this time I was so taken with the wonderfully authentic production design, I was scanning the back of Elba’s sets for little details.

A fleeting pan across Yvonne’s flat took me right back to my childhood. Remember those “gossip chairs” we used to sit on while chatting on the landline? 

There’s one in her living room. The witty dialogue, the excellent performances and the thumping soundtrack also keep this stylish movie on track.

If Elba doesn’t get to play Bond, perhaps they will let him produce the theme tune? 

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SEARCHING 

*****

(12A, 102 mins) Director: Aneesh Chaganty Stars: John Cho, Michelle La, Debra Messing 

The Blair Witch Project didn’t just scare the bejaysus out of us, it also created a new genre. 

Over the next couple of decades, DVD bargain bins began to fill up with “found footage” horrors. 

Now we’re seeing a new gimmick – films that play out entirely on a computer screen. 

So far directors have used it to create lurid, low budget, chills in Unfriended and Friend Request. 

Now with missing girl thriller Searching, 27-year-old writer-director Aneesh Chaganty takes this as-yet unnamed genre to some far more interesting places.

In an ingenious and surprisingly touching prologue he uses online videos, social media posts and Google Calendar entries to chart the life of teenager Margot Kim. 

The quiet and seemingly well-adjusted high school girl lives in California with her protective father David (Star Trek actor John Cho), her mother having died of cancer.

When Margot fails to come home from a study group David’s first instinct is to open her laptop and search through her internet history. As the days go by, he teams up with a local detective (Debra Messing) to embark on a digital quest to find out what happened.

And yes it all plays out on the screens of smartphones and computers, with Chaganty also using old school techniques as red herrings and twists to ratchet up the tension. But his greatest asset is his leading man. 

Cho is barely off the screen but he adds a human heart to the digital drama.

Has Aneesh Chaganty just created the Citizen Kane of the “desktop thriller”? 

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UPGRADE 

****

(15, 100 mins) Director: Leigh Whannell Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Harrison Gilbertson 

If you’re fine with the idea of self-driving cars, Upgrade has a proposition for you. 

Imagine if computers didn’t just control our vehicles but were also allowed to take over our arms and legs.

Now imagine if that computer keeps blathering on to you inside your head in a voice that makes it sound like the evil twin of Knight Rider’s KITT.

That’s the set-up mechanic Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) agreed to after he was left paralysed by the armed robbers who murdered his wife.

In this riotously entertaining sci-fi film the experimental chip, called STEM, is the brainchild of a clearly sinister tech billionaire Eron (Harrison Gilbertson), who implants it in Grey’s spine on the condition that he keeps it a secret.

That seems increasingly unlikely when the chip turns Trace into a super-tough killing machine so he can track down the man who murdered his wife.

The chip doesn’t give him super-strength, like the Six Million Dollar Man, but it can instantly calculate the perfect moment to dodge a bullet and throw a punch. It’s lack of emotion also brings unexpected benefits.

“You may want to look away now,” says STEM when Trace needs to torture a goon for information.

This gruesome, preposterous, but horribly amusing B-flick would make a great midnight movie.