As derivative as it all may be, it’s still superb entertainment.

On one level, Stealth is technically breathtaking, viscerally thrilling action cinema of the highest order. On another, it is slavering, state-of-the-art war porn.

Guaranteed to offend, but also guaranteed to leave you in spasms of laughter.

As soon as Howard steps up to the mic, the movie crackles to life.

Like its slack-jawed clones, The Island is full of energy and incredibly pretty but burdened with only the minimum of smarts.

It’s uncomfortably the work of someone who thinks mass murder is cool and has no feeling for regular humans.

A beguiling work of some beauty, this is a further move into a world of hypnotic, observational cinema for Gus Van Sant. But in the end, the detached style has the power to alienate as much as to enthral.

Witty, wonderful and wildly imaginative, Burton’s first proper ‘family movie’ since "Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure" delivers a sugar rush that’ll last for days.

Wedding Crashers doesn't quite live up to its promise, but through no fault of its off-the-wall cast.

Fleetingly enjoyable in very short bursts, this is the most cynically constructed event movie in recent memory, its heart purely in its wallet. A fantastic bore.

A leftfield sports documentary that's as insightful and thought-provoking as it is fast and furious.

Insightful as ever but a little dated in the set-up and treatment of the shooting.

Simmering study of a petty hood-cum-wannabe pianist succumbing to his innate violent side - but there might be a touch too much ivory tinkling for some.

Dark and stormy, even gloomy, this is a distinctly autumnal blockbuster from the man who invented summer.

It’s neither funny nor charming enough, proving a disappointing treatment of fabulous source material.

Inventive suspense, spiky characters, outrageous horror and wicked satire. Welcome back, George - you've been away too long.

For all its flaws, it's thrilling viewing whenever LaChapelle opts to show rather than tell.

Flawed but very original.

It's a missed opportunity to make a great documentary, but still decent family entertainment, with awe-inspiring Antarctic scenery and some very cute stars.

This strict adherence to formula is wearing for anyone over ten, but worse is Lohan.

A frank look at 21st century mores, this succeeds in saying new things about anxieties as old as the human race.

Significantly grittier than previous Bat-beginnings, this finds new things to do with, and say about, a character who's been around since 1938.

A full-on action flick, subversive rom-com and weapons-grade star vehicle that’s drenched in Tinseltown glitz, from a director who knows how to put the money on the screen while his tongue’s firmly in his cheek.

A bizarre, hopelessly muddled fantasy that's likely to induce utter bewilderment in its target audience.

Just as Miyazaki seemed on the verge of properly crossing over, he serves up an anime riddle wrapped in an enigma - though with all his usual charm, wit and hand-drawn beauty.

Delivers old-fashioned, "Shawshank Redemption"-style entertainment.

A hanging-out movie that’s as close as you’ll ever get to soaking up the time, the place and the attitude. Too slack for mainstream audiences, though.

There are some engaging moments, but director Ken Kwapis fails to achieve a distinctive tone.

It's less a film than a series of skits exhumed from the Reynolds original.

Spirited, amiable, featherweight summer fun.

Star Wars really does begin here.

This year's Dodgeball? Not a chance. Ferrell admirably tackles the so-so material, but it soon defeats him.

A note to Fonda: even thin, fabulous 67-year-olds shouldn't wear strapless gowns. It's scary.

A promising idea that never develops beyond that.

Cute, comical kids help make this ballroom dancing comp-romp a feelgood winner despite inexpert editing.

A true emotional epic.

A desperately sad look at two men whose determination to rebel against their heritage and succeed in their artform has rendered them unable to communicate. Compelling stuff, though.

A frustratingly thin epic. You're left wanting more exposition, more character development, the tidying up of loose ends.

Corbet emerges as an actor of sensitivity and depth, but it’s Gordon-Levitt who steals every scene as the damaged, destructive but ultimately sympathetic rent boy.

Sounds rather soapy and melodramatic, but director Susanne Bier, assisted by an able cast, ensures the traumas are painfully realistic and subtly observed.

A haunting, perceptive and uncompromising examination of controversial subject matter, expertly written and directed by Paul Haggis and characterised by excellent performances from its starry cast.

Mostly harmless. A very British, very funny sci-fi misadventure that's guaranteed to win converts.

A compelling, if obscure, experience with evocative scene-setting and dreamy atmosphere.

Solid, mature and finely acted, but intermittently daft.

Peet works hard with the slight material and there are some cutely kooky moments.

Despite the talking heads and grainy blow-ups of TV footage, the film boasts some rather gorgeous cinematography and moves briskly, with the interviews masterfully edited.

It's part satire of the drug-fuelled clubbing scene, part harrowing disability drama -- and almost entirely improvised.

This is a gentle, camp but nonetheless revealing satire on how a nation circumvented the social strictures imposed upon it by Franco's fading fascist regime.

It’s occasionally sick-funny, but large swathes are unforgivably dull.

About as good as a big, stupid American action movie can be without ever being anything better than a big, stupid American action movie.

Not a Farrelly brothers classic, and (some testicle-washing aside) not much in the way of their trademark gross-out humour, but the boys from Boston do an admirable job of transferring Hornby's story into the States and onto the baseball diamond.

Kung Fu Hustle pummels "The Matrix" trilogy into a puddle.

Interesting misfires from Wong Kar-wai and Steven Soderbergh barely manage to atone for the seedy muddle concocted by eightysomething Michelangelo Antonioni, who mocks his own reputation for existential ellipsis with his voyeuristic vignette.

For the guys it's Rodriguez's best film by far and a treat for fans of good-looking girls in black-and-white, of classic film noir and of imaginative ultra-violence.

This has the power to unite a female audience ready and willing to overlook its supposed weaknesses.

Mildly amusing.

There are films that demand sequels, and then there's Miss Congeniality.

Delivers a decent puzzle and enough jumps to keep you enjoyably jittery.

It has great performances, snappy one-liners and a likeably tricksy structure, all wrapped up in an affirmative antidote to life’s daunting complexities. Welcome back, Woody.

Visually arresting, with an enjoyably wacky premise, but scuppered somewhat by its rusty, clunky storytelling.

Right from the intriguing opening sequence, which hints at the bleakness which envelops the movie, Willis’ Talley is an interesting character.

Compelling and honest with flashes of dark humour which makes this a meaty comedy drama.

Millions, like all kid-powered movies, stands or falls in the first place on the performances of its child actors, and Alex Etel and Lewis McGibbon both delight.

Castellitto deserves great credit for toning down the melodrama in wife Margaret Mazzantini's novel and producing a very human story about chance, choice and consequence.

A poorly written, directed and acted imitation of the first. Not funny, not clever and, crucially, not cool.

A gripping, affecting, strange movie -- but oddly, it's just like too many other gripping, affecting, strange movies we've seen recently.

Fails on both an emotional and comedic level.

The uniformly excellent performances feel real and familiar.

There is some fun to be had if you're in an undemanding frame of mind.

There are some amusing moments and some good performances despite the poor material, but it's not enough.

It means well, but it's all just a bit too tired a formula - even by the standards of a kids film. Put this one in the top field to 'rest'.

While lacking the richness of its source material, it remains an enjoyable, immoral and sometimes beautifully Gothic tale.

Solid history, fine cinema. Downfall is gripping, moving, and, in the end, profoundly horrifying.

Without doubt, Jaa's a star — a man very possibly worthy of the 'new Bruce Lee' tag.

It has charm, comedy and a populist concept, but is structurally weak and too self-consciously multicultural.

There's nothing preachy about this slick and funny doc (narrated by Dennis Hopper), which as a brief history of how porn spurted into the mainstream has all the money shots you could ask for.

An opportunity to exploit childhood nocturnal fears is missed in a second-rate horror.

This is a leaden mess that offers only brief moments of respite.

Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis, predictably impressive in the roles of abusive, alcoholic dad and troubled-but-tough mum.

Shifting between bourgeois soap, tabloid parable and tale of the unexpected, this three-storied study of salvation in extremis makes for unsettling but compelling viewing.

Aside from some effectively understated acting from the leads, there's not much to remember or recommend.

The final shot, in particular, is awesome, and confirms that the sooner Cameron gets back to making proper movies, instead of Boys’ Own diversions, the better.

Well-served by a laudably authentic ensemble, the director explores both character and ethnicity with a canny wit.

Ünel and the debuting Kekilli are as impressive as Akin’s atmospheric snapshots of Hamburg and Istanbul.

A smart script, edgy acting and a gradual accumulation of suspense set-pieces makes for a decent popcorn high.

It's a good story, well told.

Enormous plot holes and a script that’s fatally light on character mean there’s few selling points beyond Jennifer Garner's corset...

It’s been done before, and better. With pigs.

There’s little interest in probing characterisation, but the plot progress is steady and the performances likeable.

The characters might physically appear rounded, but are otherwise paper-thin.

The plot may play second fiddle to the visuals, but there’s no denying that these visuals are to die for.

Clever, original and terrifically witty.

Stark, bold drama.

It's Bacon's astonishing performance that is a quiet, challenging and ultimately discomfortingly human voice.

A few laughs are salvaged due to the sheer quality of the talent present.

The end result, although entertaining and well-crafted, certainly isn't on the same breathtaking scale of, say, Alan Parker's epic "Evita."

It's a weighty message movie, but it's a message worth delivering – and the cast's delivery is flawless.

DiCaprio shines, dispelling fears that he hasn’t the weight to carry such a complex, forceful role.