Helen O'Hara

It glides romantically along on the surface while political turmoil boils away underneath. Its plea for tolerance isn’t subtle, but it’s a story that deserves to be told.

Big, bold and teeming with imagination, it is so busy world-building that it occasionally forgets to have fun. But with this heavy lifting done, there’s every reason to hope for an even more magical adventure next time.

It’s a little too long, but holds the attention thanks to Lane’s charisma, Ryan’s breathtaking cinematography and the dizzying power of young love.

Wheatley continues an unbroken run of quality, helped by a great cast and a startlingly effective premise. This is seriously cool, stuffed with great dialogue and riddled with bullets.

It’s not the worst of the trilogy, but this is less for fans of thrillers and more for people who are pining after last year’s holiday to Florence.

The best zombie-ish apocalypse in years. Sennia Nanua is a major discovery, but it’s the dense social commentary and moral dilemmas that will haunt you.

It’s well designed and shot, but in service of a story that never coalesces into something intelligent or compelling.

A fiercely original, pleasantly unpredictable character piece. This is a gang of outsiders with something valuable to say about the world we live in.

Even by the standards of animation, the logic fails here are impressive. But the bigger problem is the lack of charm, focus and original storytelling as the animals suddenly have to save the world instead of just surviving it.

It's scatty, scrappy and thoroughly OTT, but then that's like the characters themselves.

The pristine setting never meshes with Jones’s efforts to give emotional reality to his army of characters, who cannot escape their tropes: leader, hero, warrior woman, mystic.

Messier and heavier than Days Of Future Past, this is not so much the next step in the X-Men’s evolution as a failed callback to past glories.

The setting is glorious and Dormer is on form, but the scares can’t match either.

As a counterpoint to the (much better) "Spotlight," it’s a fascinating look at modern journalism – but perhaps not always for the reasons its makers intended.

It may occasionally shock a laugh from you, but between those moments your face will be a rictus of horror.

It’s fun to see Zoolander once more. It seems unlikely that the premise could ever sustain a third film, but if this is Derek’s swan song then he leaves amid a flurry of feathers and bustle – surely all a male model could wish for.

Witty, absurd and far more entertaining than it has any right to be, this could finally shed light on the financial crisis for those of us who found it all too boring to contemplate.

The prequels this ain’t. We can all breathe again.

Acerbic, unexpected and quietly heart-warming without ever approaching sappy, this takes a no-nonsense approach to big issues - life, love and ageing - and never feels heavy-handed. We should all be so lucky in our grandmothers.

If anything, this is too faithful to the book, sometimes getting bogged down in detail as Katniss struggles to her goal. But its epic sweep, grand designs and unyielding central performance make this a compelling finale.

While it’s a woefully incomplete middle chapter, at least it’s never boring.

While there are fun moments, the whole is an odd mix of grotesquerie and cutesiness.

Cavill and Hammer are made for each other, but the film can’t always find the pyrotechnics to match their chemistry.

Gripping, humane and lighter than it sounds, Stewart’s first foray into directing suggests that he was right to quit the day job. We can’t wait to see what he does next.

Bigger and, yes, darker than the first, this is less air-punchingly gleeful but probably more consistent. Thanks to Whedon and the most charismatic, compelling cast you’ll find anywhere, Age of Ultron redefines the scale we can expect from our superhero epics but still fits human-sized emotion amid the bombast.

Once you swallow the giant pill that is the premise, it just about makes sense, and Woodley sells it with all her conviction.

A compassionate and inspiring look at an extraordinary life, anchored by two of the best performances of the year.

Both heavy-handed and ham-fisted, this is a self-important morality tale where you can see everyone's uppance coming long before it arrives.

The drama and tone are powerful and effective and Lawrence makes an exceptionally charismatic heroine, but an almost total lack of action means this is less catching fire than treading water.

It’s a well-made adventure with great energy and considerable style, but it’s essentially a maze without an exit.

Strong performances keep the viewer guessing as much as our heroine, but the character drama recedes as the thriller element builds, to its detriment.

At times terrifying and too tough for tinies, this is nevertheless a triumphant sequel that puts its faith in Hiccup and Toothless to find a way through dark times for man and dragon. Until we all get our own dragon to go flying with, the result is a story sufficiently thrilling to have us all airborne.

Smart, tough and a little bit cool, this is an intriguing opening rather than a slam-dunk in its own right, but the cast - and especially Woodley - make it sufficiently diverting to merit a place in the action franchise ranks.

Nearly as good as the last film — the starrier cameos compensating somewhat for the more scattershot plot — this is fun but could have been more deeply felt.

There’s a good-hearted father and son tale at the heart of the madness here, but the surroundings are sometimes a little too silly for true greatness.

The plot’s all over the place, but there are a lot of laughs and some strong action beats along the way.

This is not a simple story of an uptight English woman induced to loosen up by those freedom-lovin’ Yanks, but a delicate and brilliantly acted story of overcoming the past to embrace an uncertain future. Emma Thompson, in particular, is magic.

It admirably avoids many of the pitfalls of adapting this book, but seems to have lost some of the life and pace as well.

Loveable - especially if you're as fond of a pun as we are - and extremely silly.

For a long stretch of the second act the film feels like doing a long stretch, but Schwarzenegger’s having a ball as Stallone goes through the motions.

Apparently unable to decide whether to take its own mythology seriously or not, this is a mess of sculpted cheekbones and incoherent romance.

It falters in the middle and hesitates unnecessarily in setting up the love story, but Gru still has charm and kids will adore the Minions.

An awkward mix of realist social drama and Statham actioner, this doesn’t quite convince as either.

It’s no masterpiece, but this is a promising debut from Boone and a good showcase for his entire cast.

It will require no conspiring to make you fall for this one; Whedon and Shakespeare are a perfect match.

Ben Barnes as a Colombian? Really?

A tough, impactful film that offers a sometimes uncomfortable but always gripping examination of cause and effect.

The midway point between "A.I." and "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid." It has quirky charm and a tender heart, but the treacly sentiment may become wearisome.

The inconsistencies in tone - is it an Anchorman-style farce or something more serious? - distract from likeable turns from the leads.

Had this adaptation of the young adult fantasy-romance taken a few more liberties, it might have been a home run.

Somewhere between the pop-culture deconstruction of "Zombieland" and the skewed romance of "(500) Days Of Summer," this manages to make the apocalypse seem charming. Warm is the right word.

Occasionally, like its characters, ragged around the edges, this nevertheless rings with all the emotion and power of the source and provides a new model for the movie musical.

Fans will be left on a high; other viewers will be confused but generally entertained by a saga whose romance is matched only by its weirdness.

An animation that never drags itself out of mediocrity despite the best efforts of gifted animator Tartakovsky.

Perhaps no more absurd than the Verhoeven version, but certainly less amusing. Farrell and Beckinsale emerge unscathed, but the endless scrabbling for novelty and reinvention leaves this feeling unaccountably stale and familiar.

It benefits from a supernaturally engaging cast, but this treads too closely to the rom-com model to feel as smart or moving as Westfeldt's previous best.

"The Notebook" may have had us blubbing but since then Nicholas Sparks adaptions have offered thin pickings for cinemagoers. For all Efron's boyish charms, this one could be the most ordinary of the lot.

It's just not quite as much fun as it should be, despite Pearce's best efforts and some good chemistry with Grace. Unusually for an action thriller, this could have benefited from being just a little longer.

If even a tenth of the care and attention lavished on the production design and action sequences had been afforded the script, this could have been an adventure of legendary proportions. As it is, this fizzles whenever anyone opens their mouths.

Smart, funny and really quite hot, this is worth a look no matter what you think of "Charlie's Angels."

Like "Ghost Rider: Low Voltage," this is a surprisingly underpowered excursion into Marvel's mad world by Neveldine and Taylor. More purgatory than hellfire.

The few weaknesses in the plot can be overlooked as The Vow makes for a wonderful - if a bit teary - romance that is brilliantly acted.

A delightful blend of hand-drawn animation and CG style that'll be soul food for hopeless romantics everywhere.

The acting's better than it's ever been, but with the best will in the world, this can't get past the fact that the story's demented.

It won't do anything to win over those not already partial to Tarsem's style, but it has more than enough blood, guts and glamour to satisfy – and Cavill looks like a superman.

Two charming leads don't make up for a comedy that just doesn't quite deliver the laughs it should.

Funny and scary - and sometimes both at once - it lives up to the original, even if it fails to surpass it.

Flashes of bleak humour makes this wry portrait a compelling experience.

Moving and insightful. Not a classic by any means, but a fascinating glimpse of the way we live today.

These bosses cannot justify either murder or lasting comic memories, fatally compromising a farce that could have been great but ends up merely mediocre.

A worthy farewell that packs in as much action as its seven predecessors combined and manages not to stint on the emotional beats. Harry Potter leaves us as a quiet, bespectacled, corduroy-wearing hero for the ages.

This one coasts by on Hanks' immense appeal and charm, but more focus and a touch more sharpness are needed to make it really come alive.

Somehow less than the sum of its very impressive parts. Massy Tadjedin brings out the best of her strong cast but all the eyeball-melting beautyon display and the highly polished treatment of the story could have done with a touch of authentic grit.

Terrifying and beautiful, believable and fantastical, this is one of the best children's films in years and Selick's finest -- better even than "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Bleak, brutal and quite possibly brilliant, this is a triumphant return to form for Lumet and further proof that Hoffman is on an incredible winning streak.

The start wobbles, but once boy and dragon connect, this becomes a thrilling flight.