ZOOTOPIA (PG)

109 minutes/ 3.5 stars

Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour (1998-2007) movies, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon (1987-1998) series, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in The Heat (2013).

To this list of famous film buddies, add a rabbit and a fox.

Zootopia is a metropolis where animals live and work together.

But when citizens go missing and return to their feral state, panic threatens to tear society apart.

Idealistic Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), the first bunny to make it as a cop, has to solve the case with some grudging help from wily fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman).

Among the things that the film gives a fresh spin to is the well-worn genre of odd-couple buddy cop movie. There is plenty of inventiveness and attention to detail here, from the exuberant script to the lively voice work, and the bright and enticing animation.

Boon Chan

SON OF SAUL (M18)

107 minutes/ 5 stars

Hungarian director and co-writer Laszlo Nemes' astoundingly assured feature debut chronicles a few days in the life of one concentration camp inmate, a person whose journey peeks into the routines of a death camp - from the time prisoners walk through the gates, to the gassings, to the plundering and sorting of things found in pockets, to when their ashen remains are shovelled into a river.

Saul Auslander (Hungarian actor Geza Rohrig, above) is a Sonderkommando, a Jew selected to act as warden. His job is to herd his own kind into the death chambers. One day, he fixates on the idea that the corpse of a child is that of his own son. He hides the body, hoping to give it a good burial.

This work, winner of the Jury Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, is not just an important film; it is also deeply human and deeply moving.

VENUE: 6001 Beach Road, Golden Mile Tower, 05-00 The Projector

John Lui