7 great movies to see in Beijing cinemas this month

General release films in Beijing this month

This month, more Hollywood blockbusters (and recent Oscar winners) make their way to China's cinemas. Take a look at our picks of the best ongoing and upcoming releases in March.

Green Book

On general release now. 

'Tony Lip' Vallelonga (a pizza-chomping Viggo Mortensen) is a brutal NYC club bouncer prone to howyadoins. On the hunt for work, he gets an unlikely gig at the invitation of Don Shirley (cryptic Mahershala Ali, superb), a finicky black jazz pianist who requires a tough driver to escort him on a tour of the Deep South. Tony’s no bleeding heart, but for the right price, he’s willing to swallow his pride. Winning just a few Oscars this year, Green Book is certainly worth a trip down to the cinema. 

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

On general release now. 

The Hidden World is a utopia to which Hiccup must lead his clan when an infamous dragon hunter called Grimmel (F Murray Abraham) appears on the scene. Their journey is complicated when Toothless falls for Light Fury, a mysterious female dragon with cloaking powers. Hiccup becomes part-love guru, part-third wheel in a dynamic that lends the movie its best and most charming moments.

Captain Marvel

On general release now. 

Superheroes save the world on a regular basis, but their movies aren’t nearly as courageous: For every ingenious Black Panther that departs from the billion-dollar formula, you get ten timid time-wasters. Captain Marvel, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first female-led instalment, means a lot symbolically – especially to young girls who resonate with Gal Gadot’s confident portrayal of Wonder Woman. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes after two alien races at war trap Earth in the middle of the maelstrom. Set in the '90s, Captain Marvel brings out a whole new period of the MCU to explore, and Danvers might just be the lady to do that. 

Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

On general release from Fri 22. 

Five years and two spin-off movies later, writer-producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller return to Bricksburg for a bigger, louder and brasher second Lego instalment. At the end of The Lego Movie, we discovered that the characters’ adventures were a product of a boy called Finn’s imagination. Now, his sister is here to play and their rivalry has caused an apocalyptic change in Bricksburg. Everybrick hero Emmet (Chris Pratt) is still his glass-half-full self, while Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), his Master Builder girlfriend, has become more brooding as their town, now known as Apocalypseburg, takes a beating from Duplo invaders. When an alien kidnaps Lucy, Batman (Will Arnett) and pals, Emmet mounts a solo mission to rescue them.

Bohemian Rhapsody

On limited release from Fri 22. 

The afterlife has rarely been quiet for Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who died young in 1991 after a flurry of late-life creativity. First came Wayne’s World, with Mike Myers head-banging along to Queen’s 1975 hit ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Then came a massive tribute concert in 1992 and a globetrotting stage musical, We Will Rock You in the 2000s. Now, 27 years on, comes the authorised movie biopic to push the Freddie Mercury legend even further into the realm of the unreal. Bohemian Rhapsody is as brash, loud and mask-wearing as Mercury at his most playful. Read more about its China release here. 

Dumbo

On general release from Fri 29. 

Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) enlists former star Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) and his children Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins) to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughingstock in an already struggling circus. But when they discover that Dumbo can fly, the circus makes an incredible comeback, attracting persuasive entrepreneur VA Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who recruits the peculiar pachyderm for his newest, larger-than-life entertainment venture, Dreamland.

Roma

General release date TBC. 

With his white-knuckle sci-fi thriller Gravity, Mexican auteur Alfonso Cuarón extracted an intimate character study from the vastness of outer space. Now he goes in reverse: In his deeply personal black and white marvel Roma, Cuarón – a director of erotic road-trips (Y Tu Mamá También), dystopian thrillers (Children of Men) and The Prisoner of Azkaban, the finest entry in the Harry Potter series – unhurriedly observes the smallest parts first, before expanding to gradually reveal the social and political canvas of 1970s Mexico City, where he grew up in a middle-class neighbourhood called Roma. A sober and autobiographical elegy about his childhood and the women who raised him (one hardworking live-in maid in particular), Roma coalesces out of episodic recollections, digitally filmed with a crisp, grain-free appearance for unsentimental visual conviction. No wonder it won so many Oscars, then. 

For great films to watch about China, hit 'Read more' below. 

You might have missed

More from Time Out Beijing

Stay up to date in Beijing