A gritty, brutal chase movie that's more about swords (and spears, and axes) than sandals - although it could have done with a lot more character-meat on those bones.

Not as smart or as satirical as you might hope, but an enjoyable and often funny look at a mad, mad, mad, mad world.

Handicapped by pretensions to making big statements, Blindness is still gripping, disturbing and intermittently powerful.

Dated of course, being typically 80s, but maintains a certain charm.

A stylish portrayal of a literal power struggle based on truly interesting historical figures and events. But it tries to take in too much in too little time, when all it needed was to centre on Edison and Westinghouse.

Whatever the moral perspective, it keeps you gripped right to the end.

In the filmography of liberal-skewing, Bush-era true stories, this is a measured, persuasive item.

While not quite offering the emotional gut-punch it promises, its many ideas never completely cohering, Soul is nevertheless a gorgeous and tender existential trip. It’s full of surprises.

Scruffy and overstuffed, but contagiously good-natured. And frankly more films need to feature showdowns at abandoned alligator-themed amusement parks.

A loose, hurried ending can’t quite live up to the effective sense of dread created in the first two acts, but Amulet is still a fascinating, nightmarish debut from Garai.

After the global success of Ghost, Demi Moore consolidates here with a diametrically-opposed follow-up, not only proving her willingness to eschew the many Ghost-alikes that have inevitably come her way, but also allowing her to show genuine versatility in the thespian-prowess department.

Cute, cute, cute. No bouquets for originality, but it pushes all the buttons of this mini-genre, and Heigl and Marsden ring dem bells.

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.

Jazzily scored and cut, The Uninvited hangs in the Hollywood hills and vibes like a ’90s indie. It’s no Swingers but it’s well-acted and makes entertainment of its earnest themes.

The tennis itself is ridiculously far-fetched, and yet this may still be the best tennis movie ever made.

Although patched together from loose ends, this works surprisingly well, with interesting and well-integrated visual effects, some nice humour and a few genuinely visionary touches.

The ever-versatile Winterbottom's loose and limber adaptation doesn't entirely mesh with Hardy's more formal narrative, leaving this feeling disjointed and underpowered. Nevertheless, there's still plenty to enjoy in the director's customary flourishes.

The second half falls into familiar action tropes, but Honest Thief has some twists and turns, sly humour and a refreshing feel for its characters that raises them beyond genre types.

Carrey tries hard but the success of his excessiveness has always been down to pegging it to good plots and good partners.

Surprisingly watchable for the third sequel and despite its general predictability it's entertainingly inventive.

There’s a pleasure to seeing such a starry cast in a slick cinematic thriller. But beyond that, Crime 101 offers little to remember after the closing credits.

Derrickson bounces back from his insipid redo of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" with an effective chiller that's got a skeleton or two in its closet.

Since the adorable, simple Garden State, Braff’s ambitions as a filmmaker have grown. He’s reaching for answers to really big questions, but they are, just slightly, beyond his grasp.

A franchise rebooted with efficiency, energy and sporadic invention, although Hulk 2.0 hardly smashes it out of the park.

One man’s near-emotionless trip through an event that was the high watermark for US counterculture moves along without any real sense of purpose or pace.

A very unfocused, sporadically funny film, lifted by its (predictable) visual splendour.

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