James White

This latest visit to Raccoon City captures the games’ spirit but fails to translate that to cinematic thrills.

Eastwood’s back with a look at manliness filtered through the wisdom of aging. It makes the odd stultifying stop and falls into several cliché potholes, yet Cry Macho ultimately finds its way.

Looking to cast a spell of its own, The Craft: Legacy tries some new tricks. It’s just a shame that for all the worthwhile additions, it’s sometimes more toil than bubble.

This Tramp doesn’t really stamp a fresh personality on a story already told well. But it also doesn’t embarrass itself compared to the original and it’s got a shaggy charm of its own.

Unlikely to win over those who remember the lush vistas and Montalban-powered original, nor appeal much to teens looking for a horror-filled night at the movies, Fantasy Island is distinctly sub-par filmmaking full of clichés and lacking in real entertainment value. No one would call this their ultimate fantasy.

Unpacking classic fiction that has already been adapted a few times, once to critical acclaim, is no easy task. Yet while it’s not completely up to the challenge, The Turning at least offers up enough moody chills and a lead in Mackenzie Davis it’s not hard to root for as the craziness builds.

The Kitchen flits through scenes, coming across as its own trailer rather than a full movie. And it makes disappointing use of its great components, wasting three chewy, thoughtful core performances.

As a mindless summer horror diversion, Crawl is watchable if rarely all that thrilling. The movie’s far from toothless, yet often substitutes easy scares for any real substance, and suffers for that.

Crossbreeding superhero tropes with horror staples was an idea laden with promise. Brightburn is enlivened by trademark James Gunn black comedy, but hamstrung by sketchy writing and a botched sense of dread.

If it sometimes lapses into genre clichés, Upgrade still delivers on the action front. Just turn your phone off before you go into the cinema, lest it gets ideas.

Hardly likely to convince anyone that remakes are worthwhile, Overboard ekes out laughs but fails to add the romance to the comedy. We’d leave this one in the water.

Slick and solid in moments, Den Of Thieves disappoints with its reliance on easy plotting and gruff, overcooked acting. One for Butler completists only.

Silly and aimed squarely at the younger crowd, Captain Underpants has enough spirit to be entertaining. Just don’t expect it to work all the time.

By driving back to the core homespun wisdom of Cars, the third film is a course correct from the second. But this is still not vintage Pixar.

This is Mel Gibson back to doing what he once did best, just older and grumpier. The movie has problems but delivers when it needs to.

Fitfully funny but failing to really build to much of anything, The Boss is mostly a bust. Even its main character would have a hard time buying it.

Quick on its wits and fast with its fists, this is Black firmly back doing what he does best. And nobody out there does it better.

Cheap and cheerless, Norm’s appeal melts faster than the polar ice. With characters so completely devoid of charm or entertainment value, even David Attenborough would call for a cull of this lot.

A joyless and pointless remake. The new take on Bodhi and co. squanders a potentially enjoyable premise and rarely delivers, except on the occasional stunt.

The truly effective emotional arc is handed to the furry member of the cast.

Elba's reunites with Luther director Sam Miller to lesser effect in a workaday home-invasion thriller.

A Dame To Kill For shares some of the downsides of the first, particularly dubious female characterisation. But this retains the gritty, gruelling vice-grip on graphic-novel noir that made Sin City so enjoyable.

Despite the odd rip-roaring tune and some sturdy performances, this yuletide tale is as memorable as last year's sprouts.

Occasionally charming but mostly bland fare from Weitz, despite the reliable cast. About A Boy remains the best showcase of his talents.

A stylistic departure from the shaky aesthetic of the first film. Sadly, most of its nervy shocks and creeping sense of unease go the same way.

While not the balls-out action movie the marketing suggests, this Rock-powered family drama is not with its moments.

Gonzo freakiness in such doses that cult status is practically ensured.

Clever premise, witless execution.

The sharp ends in Smashed are here for all to see, and Ponsoldt never shies away from their spiky, thought-provoking effect. Yet he also finds grace and warmth in the story.

The first couple of servings back in the day were fresh and fruity, but the franchise has been left on the shelf a little too long. It's occasionally entertaining to have these characters back in our lives, but for the most part this fails to party like it's 1999.

The Avengers have been assembled and, for the most part, they fit together superbly. A joyous blend of heroism and humour that raises the stakes even as it maintains a firm grip on what makes the individual heroes tick.

There have been far, far worse remakes out there. Harmless, feel-good fun.

Rocky with robots? It's not quite in Balboa's weight class, but Real Steel at least has some heft. There's barely a story beat among the beat-downs that you won't expect, and sometimes the saccharine gets in the way of the spectacle, but on the whole this is enjoyable family entertainment.

Brand fan? You'll likely enjoy his antics. But Russellophobics would be better off seeking out the original.

A solid thriller with McConaughey doing what he does best.

Wells knows how to extract the goods from a great cast, but it's in service of a somewhat mundane story. Still, it'll make you think about the imbalance in the business world, even if the arguments and consequences are nothing all that revolutionary.

Not up there with the Farrelly brothers' classics, but still a worthwhile, farcical comedy.

Smith might be the focus, but while he’s got the charisma and the moves, it’s Chan who makes it punch above its weight. Nice scenery too.

Skewers the action genre while also finding room for sheer madness. We've still yet to see the equal of Ron Burgundy, but this latest offering is a wonky yet worthy addition to the McKay/Ferrell pantheon.

A Twilight pastiche with all the wit you'd expect from the makers of "Scary Movie" and "Meet The Spartans."

Lithe, bold, often funny and full of characters to cheer for, it never pretends to be anything more than a trigger-happy romp. If that’s what you’re after, The Losers offers plenty of explosive entertainment.

DreamWorks could be entering a period of fresh creativity. With How To Train Your Dragon and a balanced, darker-hued and very funny Shrek finale, they’ve found the magic again.