Neil Smith

Though more forgiving than previous Solondz films, Dark Horse is too slight to herald a wholesale change of direction. Yet it's still worth catching, if only for Walken's terrible toupee.

Like the inscription on her daddy’s sword, the new Mulan is loyal, brave and true… but not quite as funny or dramatic as it might have been.

An intense and gripping dramatization that, a few liberties apart, does justice to a disturbing true story.

“You did well!” Bening tells Driver. Writer/director Burns deserves the same praise, and more besides.

Jordan’s apparent resolve to make an anti-Twilight unfortunately results in a movie that, if not for a fistful of moments of shock, style and excess, would be as drained of colour and tension as Ronan’s victims are of hemoglobin.

Entertaining enough but inessential, Kingdom offers spectacle and thrills but lacks the ambition, smarts, and gravity of its immediate predecessors.

Tapping into the same rich vein of British folk horror the likes of 2015’s The Witch and 2022’s Enys Men mined so productively, Starve Acre roots its dread in a gloomy past that is mundane, real and tangible.

A lot of thrilling, dazzling, sometimes frightening fun.

A brief cameo from producer Benedict Cumberbatch provides some additional mid-film star wattage. Yet who needs it when you have Comer, a force of nature to rival any city-swamping deluge?

There’s an undeniable charm here that, allied with the picturesque locations, results in a nostalgic throwback to a gentler age.

Pixar falls back on the tried and tested in an entertaining caper that will be a surefire kid pleaser this summer. Old favourites are always welcome, but it would have been nice to see some more new ideas too.

A visually striking and inventive overhaul of well-oiled IP that suggests animation was the right path all along. Autobots, roll out!

André Øvredal (Troll Hunter) ruthlessly ratchets the tension – with no little assistance from Olwen Kelly, conveying menace without moving a muscle.

As cozy as a mug of Horlicks inside an electric blanket, Hoffman's film couldn't offend if it tried. Age, however, has yet to wither its veterans' undimmed star appeal.

Veteran French actor Bouquet brings a lifetime of experience to his arthritic old master, though, while the frequently unclad Theret captivates and exasperates in equal measure.

Chastain stalks the corridors of power with steely aplomb in Madden’s coolly compelling incursion into House of Cards territory.

With writer/director James Gunn off to DC and some of its stars signalling they’re done with their characters, there’s an inevitable air of finality – not to mention contractual obligation – about this third instalment in Marvel’s Guardians series. If anything, though, that’s more a strength than a weakness, all involved being seemingly intent on going out on an emotionally affecting, thematically audacious high.

Jan Ole Gerster’s deceptively slender character study has a complex undertow, subtly linking its wallflower anti-hero’s acceptance of his failings with his country’s wider atonement for its World War II past.

Pimped, primped and dressed to the nines, Joe Wright's Tols-toy story looks the business. Like a disappointing Christmas present, though, the pleasure quickly evaporates once you remove the shiny paper.

Stirring and striking, Hooper's epic musical won't be wanting for awards and plaudits. Danny Cohen's cinematography is stunning and Hathaway's Oscar is guaranteed.

The director of The Square gives a new shape a whirl with hilarious, scathing and sometimes jaw-dropping results.

This is a Shyamalan movie through and through. And it’s his best in some time, thanks to a magnetic McAvoy.

Third time’s the charm for a franchise that’s found its groove, ironically by changing the record.

A memorable showdown from yesteryear is recalled in an enjoyable yet frustrating film that stubbornly refuses to pick a side.

A bleak yet strangely heartening film.

It's a must see for fans of roar footage.

2 Days is a sparky, crowd-cheering gem buoyed by Julie Delpy's smart writing and Adam Goldberg's tart whining. Less swoony than Linklater's "Before Sunrise/Sunset," but Delpy nails the relationship humour.

The style might cause whiplash, but it’s worth it for the thrilling momentum Chazelle brings to his revisionist filmdom fantasia.