James White

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A solid thriller with McConaughey doing what he does best.

The ingredients are absolutely familiar, but what makes the whole recipe satisfying is the sheer amount of gruesome fun Roth manages to have with the concept. Don’t go in expecting characters you’ll care about — just enjoy the stalk/slash/slice/bake terror on offer.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.