It’s a film to see for the performances, which are faultless, but while it’s sometimes riveting this play has been awkwardly translated to screen.

The leads work hard and there’s an attempt to add fun via cheesy music and Salma Hayek, but hackneyed dynamics, half-baked action sequences and saying “m#th&rf$ck*r” does not a Shane Black make.

Coming off like a peculiar mash-up of The Host and Dr Strangelove, Shin Godzilla is weirdly paced but does add a new twist to the old formula.

Cruise is as compelling as ever with charm to spare, and this is a ceaselessly entertaining, sometimes tense romp. Although it doesn’t dig much below the surface.

Toy Story with a twist, this is better than it had any right to be. Hardcore horror buffs may laugh and scoff at the mechanics of some of the scares; the rest may never be able to walk past the window of a toy shop without crossing themselves.

A worthy — if chilly and difficult — addition to the sadly extensive filmography of American mass murder. The soundtrack from Canadian singer-songwriter Maica Armata adds some much-needed heart.

Like many sequels, Truth To Power is bigger but messier than its predecessor. While it doesn’t quite deliver the oomph of the original, it is still a timely, persuasive wake-up call.

Loud, silly and tired. Aside from an almost-fun Jackie Chan cameo, this is enough to give anyone a severe nut allergy.

Unapologetically aimed at the arthouse crowd, this is superior filmmaking. Superbly acted and well written, it stakes its claim in the pantheon of love-gone-wrong watches.

It demands patience and an open mind, but Lowery’s return to his indie roots after Pete’s Dragon is a highly unusual and, at times, emotionally shattering fable.

The only fireworks here are of the indoor kind, but this sensitive, beautifully acted film lingers long after the final frame. And the Newfoundland locations are breathtaking.

A fascinating topic is attenuated by conservative storytelling and sketchy characterisation. Nevertheless, the sense of place is as assured as the vigilant performances, while the defusing sequences are genuinely suspenseful.

It's loud, at times unwatchably gross and sometimes lingers on the verge of hysteria. But it's also a warm-hearted and optimistic celebration of black womanhood. Maybe friendship can save us all.

Elba is genuinely great as the tormented Roland, but the film does its best to suffocate him under a mountain of plot-heavy nonsense. Disappointing.

It’s cool and brutal, but with such impressive action credentials you almost wish there were fewer plot devices to distract you as Charlize gets up and at ’em.

A little reticent in gore gimmicks for the Final Destination crowd, but considered as a middle school between Goosebumps and Clive Barker, it’s just the haunted lottery ticket.

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.

A fiendishly effective holiday-gone-wrong thriller that's better at cranking up the agoraphobic action than fleshing out its characters. Still, it'll find few fans at the Mexican Tourist Board...

While it's tempting to sum up in thumbs down emoji, when they go low, we go high. So let's just say, abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

A gruelling, nightmarish, ferociously vivid riot epic that recreates one of the darkest chapters in American history. Unflinching, unmissable and terrifyingly pertinent.

Edgy and hilarious, Nanjiani and Gordon’s true story of cross-cultural love is a Trump-baiting marvel that’s worth the hype.

Deliberately uncomfortable viewing, this is nevertheless a compelling exercise in gritty psycho-noir with outstanding performances and real dramatic weight. Director Ben Young is a name to watch.

A wildly ambitious space opera, but also a self-indulgent narrative morass. Sometimes, it seems, creativity can benefit from a few limitations.

Even if it needed one last push to make it truly exceptional, there’s a lot to enjoy here. And Soderbergh once again attracts a cast it’s a pleasure to spend time with.

A spare, propulsive, ever-intensifying combat thriller, Nolan's history lesson is both a rousing celebration of solidarity and the tensest beach-set film since Jaws.

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.

Crucial for serious fans of Lynch, even if it may baffle newcomers. Since pretty much the only thing more interesting to lovers of his work is the enigmatic man behind it, there’s a lot for them to get their teeth into here.

Serra’s sad, stately, haunting addition to the slow-cinema genre doubles up as both an intimate study of the Sun King’s death and a requiem for Europe’s fading arthouse scene.

Verdict City Of Ghosts wears three hats with aplomb — a summation of the tragedy that’s befallen Syria, how horror can be resisted with just laptops, phones and courage, and the importance of shining a light into the darker corners of the world.

Never reaching the heights of Malick’s ’70s heyday (what does?), Song To Song represents some kind of return to form following Knight Of Cups. It won’t convert the unconvinced, but it is beautiful, melancholic, audacious and well-played, a refinement rather than reinvention of a singular filmmaker.

Part wildlife documentary, part urban love letter. Kedi may only be a slender 79 minutes long, but it’s a lyrical and surprising philosophical tribute to the therapeutic power of pets.

Telling an unfamiliar tale in a highly predictable manner, this is a laudable, but lightweight tribute to golf's founding fathers.

Full of character-based suspense, it’s dramatic and ramped-up with tension. Existing between a Sundance and a FrightFest film, this is a challenging, horribly plausible future vision.

Coppola’s most traditional film to date is a heightened, darkly comic, sexually tense drama that flips the male gaze, to show what happens when a man, for once, gets caught in the crosshairs of desire.

Old School with added poker chips? Perhaps. But this Ferrell and Poehler-powered comedy blockbuster has big laughs, an enjoyably grisly streak, and a film-stealing turn from Jason Mantzoukas.

Sir Richard Attenborough's long-in-the-making account of the life of Sir Charles Chaplin is a film you desperately want to like, but it emerges as a big, shiny, old-fashioned biopic that ultimately fails either to illuminate the genius of its subject or to excite as a story.

Apart from the odd titter, this is a sound formula suspense movie with spiffy set piece thrills, directed with assurance by Dead Calm's Philip Noyce and attractively played by the plausibly anxious principals.

The characters and scenarios are familiar, but this is a loose, cool, funny remix that makes them feel fresh again.

Given that this is the first whacky comedy to come out of the Gulf War it’s a shame the whole enterprise isn’t a lot more tasteless, but the half-funny goings-on give that the script has been tailored not to offend a military machine on the point of massive war, perhaps at the expense of unpatriotic laughs. That said, it’s a pleasant enough time-waster, and doesn’t drag on too long.

One of Tom Hanks' overlooked performances because this bizarre thriller-comedy ends so strangely but there's much to like here.

Whoopi's affable clowning aside, this film has little more than the title and the bad-mouthed postponement of cliche going for it.

Even if the film takes a moment to sheepishly acknowledge its more offensive gags, it’s still asking for laughs from them.

Bay’s genuine determination to give you a good time still doesn’t result in fun. Overlong, overstuffed and soulless, for fans who grew up with Optimus and Co, The Last Knight will sting like a bee.

The third Despicable Me film chronologically is also the third-best in terms of quality. But it has just enough energy and flashes of inspiration to suggest it’s a franchise that could run and run.

The conflict here is one of morality, identity and the boundaries of humanity; all the guns and napalm, while present, are secondary to War’s purpose.

After a gentle engaging start, The Book Of Henry makes an ill-judged move into thriller territory. But the performances, especially from Jaeden Lieberher, are strong and it delivers that rare cinematic treat: a real surprise.

A fascinating but flawed portrait of a fascinating but flawed man. However, with Cox so good, it’s a surprise Churchill isn’t being held back until awards season.

A well-made Euro pudding, Alone In Berlin, like The Book Thief, can’t find the depths, darkness or daring to stand out.

A pot-bellied fable unlike anything else you’ll see this year. Not since Babe has an adorable porker inspired such peculiar joy or unexpected heartache.

A gorgeously rendered and deeply personal portrayal of a young woman’s life in the part of the world where history’s greatest conflict reached a devastating conclusion.

Holm’s well-judged adaptation of the bestseller keeps the maudlin to a minimum and plays the black comedy just right. A strong contender for feel-good film of the year.

An awe-inspiring piece of filmmaking from Edgar Wright that plays out as a musical through the lens of an action thriller. Sweet, funny and utterly original — you won’t see a film like it this year.

This slight, modestly sweet and mildly charming affair squarely aimed at the older cinemagoer is just the bill for those seniors’ matinées where the ticket comes with a cuppa and a biscuit.

Despite a wonderfully witty voiceover and the bullish playing of a willing ensemble, this bawdy romp consistently stumbles over its more contrived excesses.

It's more than a little precious, but it's also sincere, touching and astute in its insights into social geography and human nature.

Good intentions, but far too earnest to appeal to anyone beyond those who believe you can fight a true crisis of the soul with a campfire and some Kumbaya.

Warm and heartfelt performances from the two principals are undercut by a formula that too readily reveals the outcome. Interesting workings fail to fully add up. Must do better next term.

An informative but incomplete look at Whitney Houston’s life and death, this will frustrate fans as much as it fascinates them.

You’ll long for a slightly smoother animation style (Pixar won’t be quaking in their boots), but this surprisingly fun yarn will undoubtedly have youngsters reaching for the nearest guitar.

With its bestial themes, conceptual humour and cartoonish thespians, this consciously arch farce will intrigue some and infuriate others.

Handsomely done but short on the atmosphere and passion of a genre classic.

An odd but frothily entertaining genre cocktail, which coasts on the charisma of its two biggest names and keeps things just fun enough to forgive its considerable lapses in narrative.

As Diana, Gadot is excellent, a rocking electric cello riff in human form.

Tonally, Baywatch veers all over the place like a drunk on a speedboat, making for one of the most lacklustre comedies of the year so far.

A winning double act never quite gels in a fish-out-of-water road-trip caper — think ‘National Lampoon’s Gringo Vacation’ — that leans hard on its stars’ charms and very lightly on coherent plotting.

Not the return to form you might have been hoping for. Its story might cover all the same beats as the 2003 original, but there’s little of that film’s spark or spirit.

Hard to root for but mesmerising to watch, Sloane is expertly portrayed by Chastain in this dialogue-heavy lobbyist thriller that should please fans of both actor and genre.

Ozon’s latest is a twisty-turny post-War mystery — think ‘A Very Long Bereavement’ — that boasts a kaleidoscope of quiet emotions. It unfolds slowly, but rewards patience with strong performances and a swooning third act.

Unflinching in its depiction of rural reality, this may be a dour drama, but it has been made with sincerity and an exceptional sense of place.

Made on a budget that would just about cover Kong’s left bicep, Colossal is cool, smart filmmaking, with plot developments that will be talked about for a long time to come.

A maudlin adaptation hampered by low energy and lapses of logic, The Secret Scripture does a disservice to the book it is based on, and the Irish history it plunders.

Though stuck with stretches of guff and looking all too convincingly like video-era rubbish TV, Mindhorn delivers regular proper laughs and eventually wrings just enough drops of pathos to scrape by.

Although it flickers to life at times, King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword devolves into a jumbled affair, weighed down by confusing supernatural elements and a lazy reliance on visual effects.

The story is programmatic and the indie stylings feel tired but Handsome Devil is a winning, enjoyable call for individuality. And Nicholas Galitzine and Fionn O’Shea show promise for the future.

Innately sweet, due to the high number of fluffy animals, but it has the gloopy emotion and silly plotting of a Nicholas Sparks novel. Nicholas Barks, if you will.

Verdict Spies, terrorists, remote-controlled bombs… Unlocked’s components are all too familiar, and it doesn’t put nearly enough effort into making them feel fresh.

An upgrade from Prometheus, Alien: Covenant amps up the thrills but doesn't deliver a memorable crew member or the full-on onslaught of the series at its height.

A compelling story bolstered by engaging performances from Jessica Chastain and Daniel Brühl, let down by occasional awkward tonal shifts and clumsy plotting.

Sand Castle does a respectable job of depicting a wretched conflict that none of its participants wanted, but its reason for being feels a little built on sand.

Undeniably effective, in its own blunt way, this deserves credit for shining light on a crime that’s — unbelievably and controversially — still denied to this day.

This intelligently scripted and imposingly played costume noir revisits the conventions of Victorian melodrama to comment on modern attitudes to oppression, prejudice and morality.

Even when the pixels threaten to overwhelm, Gunn finds refuge in his main characters. There’s plenty to enjoy here.

This is a harsh, unsentimental science fiction film, though the performances suggest small surviving flames of empathy and yearning amid the tough, practical attitudes.

Scuppered by a lazy script that fails to effectively build tension, Unforgettable lives up to its name, but not for the right reasons.

Anchored by a superb Gemma Arterton, Their Finest is a funny, winning, beautifully acted ode to working women and cinema.

A brutal, bloody battle royale that glides along nicely until a disappointing dip in the second half. Still, there are plenty of positive results from this experiment, especially for gore fans.

More "Moonlight" than "Twilight," The Transfiguration is a defining vampire film of the mid-2010s. An acutely observed study of social/emotional deprivation, but also a gripping, disturbing horror movie. And, yes, it’s ‘realistic’.

This Cannes favourite regards Egypt’s recent political uprisings from a fascinating new angle. A minor masterpiece of claustrophobia and expertly managed tension.

Overcoming a shaky start, this low-budget rom-dram rewards patience, with a fine cast delivering strong work. Accept the invitation.

Thoughtful, emotional and often surprisingly funny, Terence Davies offers a rich if inconsistent portrait of a unique poet long deserving of a big-screen study.

Fast 8 is more of the same, more or less, with the emphasis heavily on more.

Charmless and saddled with disastrous flashbacks, this doesn’t have the street smarts to play its strongest hand. There’s a great film in here struggling to get out, but the definitive London noir still remains unmade.

We’re all for true, inspirational stories of courage in defiance of evil. But sheesh, this World War II drama is at least as irritating as it is uplifting.

Despite the all-star trio and the rare joke that lands, Going In Style never hits its stride as a warm-hearted crime caper.

A microwave meal of a kid’s film, consisting of tired tropes and bland platitudes. This particular village should have stayed lost.

A little too derivative to truly stand out, but gorehounds will love it. Don’t a void.

Peck’s film may have been an Oscars bridesmaid but it turns Baldwin’s prescient words into a staggering achievement. It’s an exhilarating blast of focused fury.

A classy French-Belgian horror with an unusual female perspective on monstrous taboos. Shocking but not sensationalist, this is a strong cannibal movie worth chewing over.