Statham is as gruffly convincing as he usually is (though it’s 20 minutes before he’s even allowed to kick any ass), but the action scenes are horribly inconsistent: fine in the hand-to-hand stuff, sloppy elsewhere.

This is not a perfect film, but it handles the important stuff — abuse, trauma and recovery — unexpectedly well. If its reception is anything like the book’s, it will be a powerful vessel for people with similar stories of their own.

Lacking the boldness of originality and substantial character development, The Artist’s Wife nonetheless showcases Olin’s best performance in years and a brittle brilliance from Dern.

It suffers from ADD, but there's some terrific stuff in here. Leaving 15 minutes from the end and saving yourself a lumbering coda may improve enjoyment.

A powerful story about father and sons, told by a father and son. At once a showcase for a monumental talent, and the arrival of an exciting new one.

Prisoners Of The Ghostland is by turns brilliant and rubbish. Cage is in his element, it has visual invention to spare, and the fight scenes are fun, but it’s a shame such imagination is tethered to equally all-over-the-place storytelling.

Anne Hathaway delivers another likeable performance in a tweenie treat that has enough smarts to keep older viewers engaged, too.

Very amusing fun.

A relatively enjoyable kids' movie that will entertain the kids, but unsurprisingly may leave the adults cold. From the director of The Wonder Years, it doesn't break any new boundaries, but rather sticks with what he knows best, that is sentimental childhood comedies.

Ultimately lost in it's own contrivances, Big Business still manages a few laughs thanks to it's big name leading lady.

Bullock delivers a towering performance that grabs the movie and the Oscar race by the scruff of the neck. You will be moved, but at the price of any nuance or complexity.

The inside track on one of sport’s biggest scandals, nimbly shot and sharply scripted, powered by an outstanding performance from Ben Foster and the quiet integrity of Chris O’Dowd.

Lane as the greedy schemer and the timid, gangly Evans make a good slapstick team, with great support from a cast of larger-than-life characters including Walken as the exterminator who approaches his task with military precision and outrageous hardware.

Best enjoyed for the fun, slick action and the astonishing, super-expressive realisation of Alita herself, because elsewhere it’s cyberpunk business as usual, marred by some sloppy plotting.

Some good performances, impeccable craft and good intentions can’t compensate for a lack of dramatic urgency and emotional heft. The Book Thief is effective, but not effective enough.

Fans can console themselves with some disorientating creepiness as half-glimpsed monsters swarm and the fine melodramatic performances. But as the film descends into a babbling wreck you start to wonder whatever became of the directing talent that gave us Dark Star, Assault On Precinct 13, Halloween and The Thing.

That this is just about passable as a divorced parent’s weekend treat is down to Roberts’ charm and the timeless appeal of Nancy herself.

All involved have done a solid job in executing what most fans likely want from a very belated Beverly Hills Cop sequel. This is not an action movie with the slickness or invention to take on any current blockbuster franchise. It’s cheerfully old-fashioned and easy. It feels like you should be popping open a VHS case to watch it.

Terrence Malick’s Hollywood tale is a frustratingly fleeting experience, a sleepwalk through Tinseltown that beguiles you with its visual artistry but leaves only the faintest of impressions when the curtain falls.

This slick and sticky horror is the most accomplished treatment of vampire lore since Near Dark.

A thriller in the key of Woody. The “same old, same old” but still entertaining.

With Almodovar's early work, it was all about extravagance with his later work such as Talk to Her and Bad Education aiming more for the intellectuals. It's a surprise, then that this film lacks both the flamboyancy of his earlier work and the depth of his latter, landing somewhere unsatisfactorily in the middle.

An ultraviolent Korean crime film with plenty of swagger and visual brio, but still too generic to really stand out from the pack.

Ultimately, BMX bikes and Day-Glo elbow pads just ain't cool. One best left to fond memory.

If you are immune to the charms of Carrie and co., this will do little to convert you. Still, it has more than enough sass, style and sentiment to keep the faithful satisfied. Add a star if you're a fan.

It looks gorgeous and offers strong performances from Driver and Ridley in particular, but ultimately the saga ends with neither a bang nor a whimper but something inbetween.

Conventional to an almost eye-watering degree, this could have used a little more effort to subvert the genre - and a little more Terence Stamp.

As an exploration of cultural discord, Nagisa Oshima's film is pretty thin stuff, despite its reputation. Bowie is a potent irritant, but Tom Conti is solid in support and Sakamoto's mesmerising score sparkles anew.

An interesting premise but stodgy, suspense-free execution.

Comes across as a TV movie and overall, a disappointment - a high calibre cast and concept completely squandered.

For all it boasts in ingenious style, this genial American yarn lacks the delicious bile of Jenuet’s early days.

Fine if you like the band - you'll be treated to some cartoons playing over the top of their Discovery album. For everyone else, just daft.

As a visceral, camera-shuddery ride into foamy-mouthed zombie hell, it’s efficient enough -- but if you’ve already seen [Rec], steer clear...

Lacking the style and scares of the better Conjuring movies, Annabelle Comes Home plays its tantalising spookhouse concept a little slow and far too straight.

Grown-up but not too serious; action-packed but not juvenile… Not only is this the mullet-free Robin Hood movie we’ve been waiting decades for, it’s also Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe at their most entertaining since Gladiator.

An ambitious documentary on one of the most intriguing, frightening phenomena of our time. The attempt to cover every aspect of a broad topic results in an intriguing if slightly disjointed watch.

An enthralling, enjoyable if ultimately far-fetched thriller.

However, as with Dead Ringers, Cronenberg approaches a touchy concept with a mixture of icy tact and cinematic daring, always informing the wilfully perverse material with a penetrating intelligence and (almost subliminally) very black wit.

Watching Matthau and Lemmon in this vehicle is sometimes hard to stomach after knowing that they are worthy of so much more. Instead of making anyone laugh all it's poor, cheap comedy does is make you cringe for these respectable actors.

Wasting big-name actors, The Mauritanian is simultaneously over-stuffed and under-powered, turning a horrifying real-life ordeal into something flat and formulaic. Only Tahar Rahim’s consummate portrayal of grace under duress stands out.

Terrific performance alone can't mask the lack of originality.

Both assuredly funny without being forced, and smart without being smug, this is one comedy that deserves to go forth and, indeed, multiply.

A sci-fi which balances big themes and claustrophobic action with apparent ease.

The only film you’ll see this year with a limbless torso playing drums with animated entrails, this wickedly witty take on the seamy side of creative ambition is well worth a spin.

It’s annoying and one-note and so relentless in its cheeriness that it eventually comes to seem almost likeable. At least there are great voice performances underneath all the felt and pop mash-ups.

Another lavish and largely entertaining Disney re-do, with strong turns from Massoud and Scott. But, appropriately for someone playing a huge, powerful entity trapped in a tiny ornament, Smith’s genie performance feels disappointingly constrained — both by overdependence on the original and some ghastly CGI.

Remember the film you hoped "Snakes On A Plane" would be – this is it! By any sane cinematic standards, meretricious trash … but thrown at you with such good-humoured glee that it's hard to resist. It's a bumper-sticker of a movie: honk if you love tits and gore! Honk honk honk.

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

The fifth Purge outing goes for broke and comes out wanting, working neither as political commentary nor horror-action-thriller. In this case, bigger is definitely not better.

Emancipation can’t avoid the well-trodden hallmarks of slavery stories, nor offer a particularly fresh perspective on them. It’s best when it leans into other modes — and when it centres on Will Smith’s outstanding, understated performance.

There should be something fun in watching Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer drop C-bombs and go apeshit. Instead, Ma is an ersatz, misjudged exercise in psycho-horror that lacks the courage of its B movie convictions.

Zeffirelli's mawkish tendencies are checked by Mortimer's funny, richly observant screenplay; it's rose-tinted but plays up character and everyday detail rather than wallowing in war-movie villainy.

Fortunately, the fabulous songs, performed by scads of contemporary artists, provide some relief in an overlong, overdone portrait.

A serious misfire.

Offbeat, stylish and packed with some wonderfully bizarro moments.

An enjoyable satire is let down by a third act that juggles too many ideas for its own good.

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

Christopher Landon dials down the blood and dials up the feels for a fun, heartfelt horror-comedy enlivened by David Harbour’s accomplished apparition-acting.

Fleischer Camp brings a light touch and a good human cast to this reverently faithful effort, but it’s never as clear and bright as its source material.

This is delightfully bonkers; an eerie and edgy outpouring that makes Twin Peaks look like Moonlighting.

What this sometimes witty time-filler never quite manages is a genuine sense of confined menace. For that, you'll have to get aboard the original when it next plays on TV.

Far from the best of Penn’s directing work but also not the worst (The Last Face is unlikely to lose that dubious crown). Dylan emerges the most triumphant Penn from a largely boring drama.

Lightly humorous, well performed and not nearly as smutty as you might imagine. The earth may not move, but there are tingles of pleasure along the way.

Despite the pleasant feel and fun performance from Zane there's something missing from this superhero adventure.

Another mixed Narnian offering which, while it doesn't bust through the series' three-star ceiling, at least gives us its best FX, biggest monsters and finest child actor yet.

A pleasant package then, easy on the eye, and gently charming but, like The Brothers McMullen, one which places Burns as a comfortable rather than cutting-edge moviemaker.

While not to everyone's tastes, this is without doubt one of the most exhilarating films of 1994.

A few too-broad gags aside — and even these are in the funky spirit of ’60s Marvel — this is a satisfying second issue with thrills, heartbreak, gasps, and a perfectly judged slingshot ending.

Roth and Reeves locks us in for an increasingly terrifying thrillride.

More style than substance here but what style it is and what little gems of cinematic moments collect together in this enjoyable ensemble.

Cards on the table: rock operas pretty much suck except for "Tommy."

A typical 90's comedy featuring staples Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez who re-hash their 'cheeky cops' schtick from the first picture and are now joined by O'Donnell who tries to inject more humour allowing us to forgive the lack of an engaging story. Sadly this is where all three fail.

A dark action-comedy rather than a spooky gothic picture, Renfield is pitched to please long-time Dracula fans while reminding new generations that this Count was the first and arguably best monster villain in Hollywood horror history.

Too long, arduous, lecturey and patience-testing for even the all-new Matthew McConaughey to rescue. Director Ross is apparently so swamped by a sense of historical righteousness he hasn’t noticed he’s smothered a decent story.

Sweet-natured, undemanding family fun.

Strongly performed by a fresh-faced cast, A Paris Education is familiar and doesn’t completely grip, but is an enjoyable celebration all the good things in life; films, arguing about films, friendship, love, politics and Paris.

Well played and well shot, Run’s idea of relocating Springsteen’s America to a rain-swept Scottish fishing town is interesting, but sadly it runs out of gas and road before it hits the horizon. Less baby we were born to run, more baby we were born to drive around in circles for a bit.

As darkly disturbing as Jim Thompson's novel, this is a genuinely upsetting film that might also be Winterbottom's best. Not for everyone, but near-faultless all the same.

Lightweight but likable.

Resistance fails to commit to anything: too confused to honour its hero, too generic to shine a new light on a crucial moment in history. Somehow, such a remarkable story is here made forgettable.

A mysterious and disorientating blend of giallo violence, cinematic experimentation and Lynchian psychohorror. Revel in its bonkers beauty.

What The Tender Bar lacks in dramatic heft and originality, it makes up for in warmth, geniality and a clutch of great performances — chiefly Ben Affleck, who turns a stock uncle character into a memorable mentor.

Just the right recipe for a seasonal horror cocktail — gruesome kills, proper suspense, sly wit, likeable leads and a dose of just deserts for very, very bad boys and girls.

The best Muppet movie for some time, adding film references a-plenty, dark, edgy comedy and even a touch of post-modernism to the usual all-singing, all-dancing ridiculousness.

Hackneyed and somewhat dated Tarantino-isms abound. But for the committed fan of such things, there is more than enough to enjoy here: not least an entertainingly unhinged performance from Willem Defoe.

Harmless enough day in the sun for Goofy; pity there's an overwhelming feeling throughout that he deserves better.

Totally crackers but it gets powered by pure invention and eccentricity alone.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It hits some major horror notes, with Wilson and Farmiga providing much needed heart and soul, but the new Satanic worship elements causes the franchise to take a farcical turn.

A grumpy Ben Affleck can’t save this confused thriller that has as many twists as a trepanning drill, and is about as likely to leave you feeling lobotomised.

A wry, sharp and never self-serious take on pop stardom.

Sprouse and Richardson are proven heavyweights in the young-adult pocket of Hollywood, but this soft-hearted teen romance spreads on sugary sentiment too thickly to leave a lasting message.

Despite his erotic thriller credentials, Lyne makes a tepid return to the director’s chair with a rather basic adaptation of an intriguing marital character study that Affleck struggles to enliven.

It’s impossible to overstate how much this film owes to Ryan Reynolds. Even if you don’t understand Pikachu’s world, everyone can understand a great joke superbly delivered.

Mad Max 2 with Thought for the Day thrown in. There’s some ace post-holocaust action, but you can’t help feel you were invited to a party with fizzy pop and cream cake and got suckered into a sermon instead.

Often beautiful but wildly inconsistent, Australia is none more Baz Luhrmann, which perhaps says it all. Worth a look on the big screen, though.

A toe-tapping triumph for dance fans, though less so for non-converts.

Romero does his best to streamline the flabby storyline and gets some extraordinarily subtle performances from a great cast, but King's malformed original keeps hobbling the film.

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