DVD: Centurion (dir: Neil Marshall, 2010)

What are you waiting for - an order? Get stuck in there!"

Centurion is a good, solid film, effectively directed by Neil Marshall who gives his now-familiar group-under-siege scenario a robust new setting. It is unapologetically violent and bloody, creating a real sense of danger and desperation throughout. The bleak, wintry Scottish Highlands provide a terrific visceral backdrop to the action, well served by the Lord Of The Rings-style swooping wide landscape shots which give the film a suitably epic and timeless feel. Ilan Eshkeri delivers an excellent score, matching the different tonal shifts extremely well. The cast certainly suffered on location which is evident on screen, and Michael Fassbender and Dominic West prove to be superb leads, backed up by a very strong (mostly British) cast. The key characters are interesting to watch and follow, and the film packs in a lot of different situations which gives it real energy and momentum. Whilst the film offers little that is new, Centurion definitely delivers on plot, characters and action.

DVD: Basement (dir: Asham Kamboj, 2010)

"It feels like we've been walking around this place for days. It's doing my nut in!"

This micro-budgeted British horror is getting a near-simultaneous release across a range of media platforms, which is either to satisfy modern consumers' demand for whichever format they want to watch or to maximise takings before word-of-mouth spreads. The director suggests in the bonus features that the idea was too compelling for a short and was subsequently developed further, but running at a meagre 73 minutes it feels much, much longer. The majority of the movie consists of the trapped 'students' wandering around murky tunnels, their disinterest rapidly empathised with by the viewer. Characterisation is basic, dialogue is alarmingly dire, pacing is leaden and little happens. An attempt at a score wanders in randomly, and themes such as war, genetic engineering and patriotism are shoehorned in to give some kind of sci-fi justification for the whole plot which actually makes little sense. A couple of reasonably-handled gore moments liven things up briefly, but even then the actors do not seem that bothered by events. The fact that even Danny Dyer did not attend the premiere speaks volumes. Basement is murky, dull and utterly unengaging.

FILM: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (dir: Edgar Wright, 2010)

"Hey! Big fan."
"Why wouldn't you be?"

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is an absolute joy from start to (predictably sweet) ending. Edgar Wright directs with astonishing assurance, handling the mash-up of genres and tones to superb effect. It is boundlessly creative, with terrific anime/gaming-styled fight sequences and an excellently-constructed soundscape that ties the whole film together very tightly. The cast play it pitch perfect, Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead giving consistently engaging and surprisingly well-executed lead performances and notable support by Ellen Wong as Knives - Scott's high-school-age girlfriend - and Kieran Culkin as his room-mate. The script and visuals are zippily constructed, the barrage of on-screen conceits even covering the occasional falters in dialogue. Scott Pilgrim is an immensely appealing movie that has real heart amongst the on-screen mania.

FILM: Piranha 3D (dir: Alexandre Aja, 2010)

"Zoom in! Zoom, zoom, zoom, ZOOM!"

Inception may have tickled the brain cells, but Piranha 3D is easily one of the most entertaining movies of the Summer. It is a full-blooded, 18-rated horror that genuinely delivers. Piranha 3D hearkens back to classic 1980s slashers, except instead of one masked killer and a handful of teenagers in the woods, here we have a massive shoal of cold-blooded murderers with 20,000 college kids on Spring Break! The casting is also a retro-fest, with Elisabeth Shue giving a strong performance as the local sheriff, Jerry O'Connell sleazing with ease as the seedy internet-porn director, and brief cameos from Richard Dreyfuss, Dina Meyer and Christopher Lloyd. Kelly Brook was born to play a bikini-clad soft-porn star in a 3D movie, and as our innocent protagonist and moral compass, Steven R McQueen (The Vampire Diaries) impresses throughout. Indeed, a strength is that the film is played seriously, eschewing the high-camp theatrics of the 1980s film, and once the very low-key first half set-up (with emphasis on totally gratuitous T&A) makes way for the ensuing non-stop bravura rollercoaster of set-pieces, there is a real sense of menace and jeopardy the moment anyone makes contact with water. 3D has not been used with such gleeful abandon in a horror movie since Friday the 13th Part III in 3D (which may have had a 3D flying eyeball, but this film trumps it with a bitten-off penis!). The inevitable Jaws references are nicely handled (an abundance of yellow inflatables, the reverse-dolly-zoom shot aptly deployed), but Aja makes Piranha 3D its own lean, mean, pacy movie. The astonishing scale of the carnage at the lake party in particular is handled superbly, with impressive make-up effects, and there are some excellently-realised swift gore gags along the way. The poorly-rendered CG/3D effects in the opening scene are alarming initially, but thankfully this is the film's only major misfire. Leave your brain in the car park, sit back and enjoy the pure popcorn horror entertainment on offer here.

FILM: Salt (dir: Phillip Noyce, 2010)

"Oh, I believe in moles all right - but not the boogeyman!"

Re-tooling Salt for a female lead gives the film a slightly different resonance - and a strong actor like Angelina Jolie certainly carries it off very well - but essentially it is a standard implausible cat-and-mouse thriller that just about gets by on the power of its star. Tom Cruise should not have been too worried; Salt is more Jack Ryan (a character the director has put on-screen twice) than Ethan Hunt or Jason Bourne, although there are inevitable echoes of both franchises as well. The plot is straightforward to the point of feeling thin and somewhat empty, but the third act 'twists' are very well played, even though by that point the narrative has literally no place else to go. The action is TV-grade, with the exception of one unexpectedly jaw-dropping stunt in the first big car chase. Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor provide solid acting support as expected, and James Newton Howard provides an efficient score. The film gets more interesting as it progresses, and it is never less than good entertainment, but it is hard to see where the clearly-signposted sequel could go.

DVD: Nanny McPhee and The Big Bang (dir: Susannah White, 2010)

"Greetings, oh covered-in-poo people! Do you speak English?"

The Nanny McPhee sequel relocates to a golden-hued if rose-tinted wartime countryside, but overall the formula remains intact, retaining the original's whimsical charm and gentle fantasy. The slightly dark edge of the 2005 film is here replaced by a threatened sobriety of the impact of war which is quickly dissipated (also evident in Emma Thompson's less sinister performance), and occasionally the tweeness is pushed to the limit (synchronised piglet swimming, the children defusing an UXB). Maggie Gyllenhaal works well as the mother in this film needing Nanny McPhee's particular brand of help, with good turns from Maggie Smith and Bill Bailey. The sub-plot of brother-in-law Rhys Ifans being chased by Sinead Matthews and Katy Brand calling in bad debt is far less successful in characterisations and performances, but it does not detract from the overall success of the film. The child actors work well with some occasionally challenging material. A live-action children's film today that deals with real issues, a bit of history and promotes positive values may be a rarity, and to be this successfully entertaining even more so.

DVD: 2001 Maniacs - Field Of Screams (dir: Tim Sullivan, 2010)

"No reason vengeance can't be fun."

The DVD extras take great pains to point out that this sequel is a comedy made by fans of the horror genre, although the film demonstrates little success in either department. Instead of the Brigadoon-like town of Pleasant Valley providing the backdrop of the first film, the basic set-up of this micro-budget follow-up is 'The Simple Life' meets the Pleasant Valley 'Travelling Jamboree', so most of the action takes place in a traveller followed by a handful of tents in a field. The characters and acting are mostly unbearable, and whilst there may be a planet on which this kind of 'trash' dialogue is found funny, it certainly is not on mine. Some of the brief gore stunts are pulled off reasonably well, but there is no element of suspense or engagement for the audience whatsoever. Not even Robert Englund returns ('scheduling conflicts', apparently), but the cast does include Ahmed 'Jar Jar Binks' Best! 2001 Maniacs was a moderately successful and reasonably inventive formula horror flick - the same director's follow-up here is dire and almost on a par with Cabin Fever 2. The credits end with the threat of a threequel, which should drop the hopeless attempts at humour to stand a chance of being watchable.

DVD: Mega Piranha (dir: Eric Forsberg, 2010)

"I figured it out! It wasn't an explosion! It wasn't terrorists! It was giant piranha!.....Yes, sir, giant piranha!"

The Asylum's shameless low-rent exploitation knock-offs of major studio blockbusters are to be admired in the sense that committed film-makers actually get these films made against the considerable limitations of time, budget and resources, as shown in the DVD's surprisingly upfront 10-minutes 'Making Of' on the DVD. Although the products themselves are lacking significantly in many aspects, ambition is always evident, and Mega Piranha tries very hard indeed. There are some attractive location shots and competent chase sequences, with the repetitive structure of the film compensated for by its sheer energy. Pacing goes off-kilter in some poorly-edited dialogue scenes, and one glorious montage uses all manner of wipes and zooms which raises a smile. 80s pop-star Tiffany proves that she is no Debbie Gibson (similarly used in Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus), and the astonishing Paul Logan's acting is so tightly-focused on-screen that you fear he might explode at any moment. There is no real sense of terror generated by the film, and a lack of script polishing is very apparent, but in spite of the very low-end CGI, there are a lot of visually-imaginative shots attempted. You cannot fault the creativity behind seeing our hero fight off a shoal of killer fish with a knife or using his kickboxing skills on the leaping fish at the quayside. Mega Piranha is not up there with The Terminators, but it is a much more lively affair than Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus.

FILM: The Expendables (dir: Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

"I'm not perfect, but you should have waited - I was worth it."

The Expendables is enormous fun. This is the dream-team B-movie action star cast, but it is far from being an ensemble movie - this is very much Stallone's film, although Stallone and Statham play off each other extremely well throughout and Rourke scene-steals mercilessly as usual. It is neither a particularly creative nor original film, but Stallone directs capably and the script has some good moments of humour running through it. The fight/action set-pieces are fine, especially the final assault on the baddies' HQ which is ridiculously huge-scale and relentless, although the reliance on digital blood is very evident. The cinema audience showed clear delight at the already-legendary single scene containing the Holy Trinity of stars - Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger - but for me it was seeing Jet Li vs Dolph Lundgren that made the film (and also gave Lundgren the film's best line). The Expendables is the kind of solid, crazy action B-movie that we have not seen in cinemas for a long time and which makes a welcome return here.

FILM: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (dir: Jon Turteltaub, 2010)

"Once you enter there is no...going...back..."
"So I should probably pee first?"

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a refreshingly pacy, tightly-scripted children's fantasy adventure. After two weighty, exposition-heavy prologues, the story and action unfold in an efficient and energetic manner that is consistently engaging. Jay Baruchel (the new Justin Long) gives another likable performance as the hapless apprentice, Nicolas Cage and Alfred Molina are terrific as the warring sorcerers, and underused Brit Toby Kebbell ("Are you in Depeche Mode?") makes a good impression in limited screen time. The almost-redundant romantic sub-plot seems shoehorned in to provide a female presence in the film; indeed, the few female characters who appear briefly are limply blonde/weak/evil. The excellent high-end CG effects here service the narrative in a natural way, most notably in the impressive Chinatown and car-chase sequences. The riffs on the Fantasia-inspired material work well, but this movie stands up in its own right. The Sorcerer's Apprentice is well-crafted, expertly performed and visually very satisfying to watch, and is one of this year's better films aimed at the younger audience.

FILM: The Last Airbender 3D (dir: M. Night Shyamalan, 2010)

"He had his chance. He missed it."

At least it's not The Happening - well, not quite. There is clear potential for an exciting children's action/adventure fantasy film to be made from this material, but M. Night Shyamalan's inert take on The Last Airbender is certainly not it. As director and writer, Shyamalan has to shoulder responsibility for the clumsy and careless script, rendered completely lifeless by the portentous and relentless one-note delivery by virtually the entire cast. Dev Patel stands out with a spirited performance as the Fire Lord's banished son, but the young cast members struggle to give the material conviction. James Newton Howard provides an expansive, stirring score that feels detached from the ponderous and low-key style of the on-screen action. There are some good-looking model/CG visuals augmenting the location work, but the very poor Clash Of The Titans-style 3D post-conversion is at best distracting and at worst an outright failure. There are only so many defocused backgrounds an audience can take, especially in one unforgivably composed duologue scene that is staggeringly poor on screen. The Last Airbender is a long, dull film, and the threatened trilogy structure (this is 'Book 1', with a very sudden open ending) does it no favours, a second film looking unlikely and - on this evidence - unappealing.

FILM: Knight and Day (dir: James Mangold, 2010)

"This is weird."

Knight and Day is a big, daft, enjoyable old-school romantic thriller, complete with 'exotic' locations, a MacGuffin and the use of truth serum!
The film is carried by the committed professionalism of Cruise and Diaz and their seemingly effortless charm, with surprisingly strong support from the likes of Marc Blucas, Viola Davis and Paul Dano in relatively minor but notable roles. John Powell's excellent score would not be out of place in a much more deliberate (and 'cool') thriller. There is some lively (and authentic-looking) stunt work, and whilst the film clearly has no idea whether it wants to be a frothy caper or a serious thriller, its breezy disregard for gaping plot-holes makes Knight and Day an entertaining romp overall.

FILM: The A-Team (dir: Joe Carnahan, 2010)

"Cash don't buy you guts, kid, or brains - and you're short on both."

It is unfortunate that the critics have given this movie such as harsh kicking, as it is simply a Summer popcorn-action-blockbuster that is as shallow and simple as the original TV show - nothing more - and relentlessly entertaining. It is curiously similar to The Losers, but far more enjoyable. Carnahan directs as if this is Smokin' Aces for children, keeping the screen busy to the point of hysteria, with editing so frantic that it can render even some action sequences numbing. The big set-pieces are jaw-dropping and mind-bogglingly stupid, and the bare-bones script is utterly forgettable; having been stuck in Development Hell for years, The A-Team movie perhaps needed Carnahan's manic approach to paper over the thin material and concept. The four leads work together easily: Liam Neeson grounds the movie with a serious and considered turn as Hannibal; Bradley Cooper's 'Faceman' (who should be renamed 'Shirtlessman' in this movie) is uneven but has more depth than the original incarnation; Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson unsurprisingly lacks Mr T's screen presence as B.A. Baracus but works the comedy well; and Sharlto Copley is clearly having a ball as Murdock. Make no mistake, this is very much a boys' film - the female of the species is not well served here. There are moments when the humour shines (notably a 3D gag that is so obvious but very well executed) and the basic thriller plot engages, but the breathless race to get to the next big set-up gives the film - and the audience - no time to breathe. The A-Team provides an undemanding but disposable couple of hours' entertainment, and the nicely-set-up sequel - if it happens - could deliver more of the same.