The straitjacket of the sports film seems to have flattened writer-director Reema Kagti’s distinctive voice but there is a palpable high when the team finally coalesces into one and goes for the kill

What’s less fun is the exposition and necessary lessons on how humans have messed with Mother Nature. The romantic angle between Jonas and Suyin will make you cringe – in one scene, she walks into his room without noticing that he has only a towel on. And they continue to flirt with each other even as they descend into the ocean to battle a monster.

You’ll have to get past that. And focus instead on the impressive giant CGI shark, a surprising mid-film twist and the climax when through some supremely illogical turn of events, we get Statham going mano a mano against the shark. Which is exactly what we paid for.

Apart from Cruise, the film is bolstered by the usual suspects – Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg playing Hunt’s team members. There’s also a trio of fabulous women – Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan and Angela Bassett, who plays the CIA director. At one point, she disdainfully declares: IMF is Halloween – a bunch of grown men in rubber masks playing trick or treat. There’s also Henry Cavill, showing us that he can do much more than be Superman.

Director Ari Aster’s masterful slow burn horror film starring Toni Collette and more works at two levels – familial and supernatural

My advice would be to watch all four films as a whole and in the order the filmmakers intended. It’s more enriching.

Be warned that like the first, this film is also ultra-violent with impalings and decapitations. If you like your cinema understated and refined, then this is not for you. But for the rest of us, there’s enough to enjoy here.

Infinity War didn’t wear me down in the way that Age of Ultron did, it didn’t give me the high of the first Avengers either. Like I said, manage expectations and you’ll be just fine.

Ultimately Beyond the Clouds is a mixed bag.  It is likely to be a footnote in Majidi’s rich filmography. But the film is worth seeing as an intriguing experiment. I’m going with three stars.

Because Mercury finds context, and not just gimmickry, in its treatment of sound. It remains scary precisely because the actual ghosts are never seen, but only ever heard about. Just like real life.

…this is the sort of film that will divide audiences – for some, it will play as painfully pretentious. For others, it will evoke a depth of emotions. I belong to the latter.