FILM: Drive Angry in 3D (dir: Patrick Lussier, 2011)

"Anyone NOT trying to kill you?"
"No."

All the right ingredients are here for a cult-classic Grindhouse-lite story, but the execution is very hit-and-miss. Nicolas Cage gives one of his 'internalised' performances that aims for cool and falls short - not so much Drive Angry as Drive Faintly Seething - which he executes with an interesting air of detachment but has little impact for someone who breaks out of Hell to wreak revenge and save his granddaughter. This approach does work as a useful contrast to a terrific performance by Amber Heard, who throws herself into her role as Cage's sidekick with abandon; however, a strong female lead is no excuse for the deliberate and unpleasant misogyny on display here. William Fichtner as The Accountant, sent from Hell to pursue escapee Cage, easily gets the best one-liners and his wonderful performance steals every scene in which he appears; the rest of the dialogue is mostly profane and uninteresting. The set pieces range from lively (a Shoot 'em Up-style massacre-while-having-sex) to underwhelming (surprisingly, most of the car/chase sequences). The film was shot in 3D and looks good, even though the actual 3D effects are only sporadically interesting. Drive Angry will find a more natural home as a post-pub DVD: undemanding, underdeveloped and moderately entertaining.

FILM: The Rite (dir: Mikael Hafstrom, 2011)

"That's it."

"Er, really? That's it?"

The Rite is rather like its lead character, 'doubter' Michael Kovak: handsome, earnest and a little dull. The team behind the movie has taken great pains to distance it from the elephant in the room - The Exorcist - and in spite of conventions of the demon-possession genre being present (impossibly flexible bodies, growling devil voices, etc), The Rite does take a more measured, less showy approach to the subject, 'inspired by real events'. Sound design and mise-en-scene are exemplary throughout - the movie is a beautiful visual and aural treat - and the deliberately slow pace gives the viewer ample opportunity to savour both. Colin O'Donoghue gives a well-controlled if often flat performance, with Anthony Hopkins, Rutger Hauer and Ciaran Hinds all providing suitable gravitas. By taking such a serious and sincere approach, the film feels too cautious, clinical and underwhelming overall to truly grip the viewer either on a visceral or intellectual level, which is a great shame, as there is much to admire in the craft of the movie.

FILM: I Am Number Four (dir: D.J. Caruso, 2011)

"I play a lot of X-Box."

I Am Number Four requires patience, as the rather lethargic first half sets up an unusually high number of narrative strands for a 'young adult' movie which paves the way for an interesting second half and a rip-roaring FX-heavy finale. This film provides a much stronger basis for a movie franchise based on popular novels than other recent attempts such as Percy Jackson and Cirque Du Freak and also creates more interesting characters than the Twilight dullards. Alex Pettyfer and Dianna Agron are solid as the central couple, although Pettyfer acts more effectively when not speaking (his monotone American-ish accent is languorous) and he handles the action sequences well. Timothy Olyphant gives another watchable performance as Number Four's protector in a cruelly-underwritten part, and of more interest than the leads are two engaging performances by Teresa Palmer as the kick-ass Number Six and Callan McAuliffe as Four's bullied high-school sidekick Sam. Trevor Rabin provides an evocative score, and the whole look of the film is of a higher quality than might be expected from this kind of film. After a very lively climax (silly CG monsters aside), I Am Number Four capably sets up the next chapter which - if box-office allows - has potential to be very interesting indeed.

FILM: True Grit (dirs: Joel and Ethan Coen, 2011)

"My bullet!"

"YOUR bullet?"

The Coen brothers deliver another film that is a complete joy to watch. The viewer is literally dropped into a wonderfully-realised Western tale from the start, and it is to the film's credit that it is instantly absorbing and needs no preamble. This seems to be one of the most relentlessly dialogue-heavy Westerns ever made, with a fantastic script that is expertly delivered and gives the superb cast so many opportunities for their characters. Jeff Bridges gives a wonderful and mesmerising take on John Wayne's iconic Rooster Cogburn role, with excellent support by Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper, and an absolutely stunning (and demanding) feature debut by Hailee Steinfeld as young Mattie Ross, the girl who hires Cogburn to track down her father's killer. Roger Deakins as returning Coens' cinematographer captures the arid winter landscapes beautifully, and Carter Burwell's restrained score complements the film superbly. This new interpretation of True Grit is completely confident, accomplished and a real treat from start to finish.

FILM: Paul (dir: Greg Mottola, 2011)

"Sometimes, you just gotta roll the dice."

Paul is a very amiable caper. Pegg and Frost continue their effortless screen relationship, once again cast ideally as the 'nerds' who go from Comic-Con on a road trip to key UFO sites across the USA, encountering alien-escapee Paul along the way. Voiced by Seth Rogen, Paul is a hugely enjoyable character, and his world-weary, rude slacker personality is a refreshing twist on the standard take on aliens (either intelligent or flesh-hungry monsters) that constantly surprises, even though the CG realisation is not of the highest quality. Kristen Wiig gives a lovely performance as the one-eyed God-fearing woman that the trio 'kidnap' along the way, Jason Bateman does a good Tommy Lee Jones as Special Agent Lorenzo Zoil (a wonderful movie pun), and great cameos from Blythe Danner and Sigourney Weaver add to the film significantly in the film's later stages. There is no denying that Paul would have benefited from sharper script editing, and the obvious classic sci-fi film references are mainstream and simplistic, but for all its funny crudity, Paul is an enjoyable, warm-hearted and entertaining journey with a surprisingly affecting ending.

FILM: Yogi Bear 3D (dir: Eric Brevig, 2011)

"What are we looking at?"

"I don't know."

With new film versions of old TV and film properties, it is always interesting to see whether they have been updated or stay true to the original version, and this new mix of CG animals and live action certainly retains the childish charm of the old cartoon series. This is a very bland and innocuous film designed to appeal to the broadest audience possible, but its innocence also gives it naive charm. The CG creations of Yogi and BooBoo are terrific, and they are integrated into the spectacular 3D live-action scenery of 'Jellystone Park' to great effect. Dan Aykroyd (as Yogi) and Justin Timberlake (BooBoo) do great voice work and create an engaging relationship, and the film grinds to a halt every time they are not on screen. The human characters are barely written, with Tom Cavanagh and T.J. Miller as Rangers Smith and Jones giving very soft performances, and the usually-reliable Anna Faris hardly registers as Smith's love-interest. Yogi Bear is nicely put together and raises the occasional smile, but it is very much a film for the little ones.

FILM: Gnomeo and Juliet in 3D (dir: Kelly Asbury, 2011)

"I am not illiterate! My parents were married!"

It doesn't take long for you to realise that you are watching one of the barmiest ideas ever - Shakespeare with gnomes and an Elton John soundtrack! - but therein lies the almost irresistible charm of this movie. Gnomeo and Juliet barrels along at a cracking pace with a barrage of awful puns, inspired visual lunacy and sufficient content to paper over a slight unevenness of tone (occasionally too earnest) but which hits the mark more often than not. The repositioning of the play for a very young audience is cleverly done, with the Montagues and Capulets now the names of warring neighbours living in Verona Drive, and the garden gnome families themed 'Reds' and 'Blues' for ease of identification. James McAvoy and Emily Blunt do fine voice work as the leads (if a bit soft at times), and a bizarre mix of supporting actors are entertaining (notably the very funny Ashley Jensen and Stephen Merchant). For older viewers, there is also fun to be had spotting the Elton John hits referenced in the orchestral score (his two new songs are pleasantly old-school but not classics) and some nicely-judged nods to other films and TV - the riff on Skippy is not original but beautifully executed. The animation is terrific and the use of 3D is excellent. By the time the film reaches its Shrek-style musical curtain call, this gentle, whimsical (and very British) tale clambers out of a huge final-act plothole and leaves you smiling, with the target audience - i.e. the little ones in the cinema - clearly loving it.

DVD: I Spit On Your Grave (dir: Steven R. Monroe, 2011)

"It's just not good enough!"

The 80s remake bandwagon rolls on and settles on another of the more controversial titles from that era. Like the recent remake of The Last House On The Left, it is still low-budget (and looks it) but is a bit slicker and the scenes of retribution are designed for the Saw generation. The fundamental problem with I Spit On Your Grave is that the premise, narrative and morality all operate within such narrow confines that the film can do little to surprise and relies simply on the brutality of the initial attack and the subsequent acts of revenge to engage the viewer, which for a film of this length is not enough. Direction is efficient but flat, and the TV-level cast do a fair job, especially Jeff Branson and Chad Lindberg. The last half-hour is pure Grand Guignol, but overall the film feels hollow and overlong.

FILM: The Fighter (dir: David O. Russell, 2011)

"Who are you fighting?"

The Fighter is an excellent film, at turns hilarious, heartbreaking and harrowing, often within the same scene. Christian Bale is receiving a lot of plaudits for his incredible magnetic performance that hooks the audience from the film's first frames, but what should not be overlooked are the other excellent leading performances, from a feisty Amy Adams to the remarkable Melissa Leo and indeed Mark Wahlberg, who absolutely shines and shows that he can deliver a layered performance in the hands of an actors' director. David O. Russell's scattershot directorial stance is more muted in this film but it gives the film terrific momentum and allows the actors to show real depth and response as the story develops. The film treads a very fine line between Hollywood gloss and the true story on which the film is based - brought into sharp focus by the brief actual footage of the brothers in the credits - but The Fighter creates a credible world with finely-drawn characters and performances, and its tale of physical and mental destruction and redemption is absorbing and hugely rewarding.

FILM: Sanctum 3D (dir: Alister Grierson, 2011)

" THE CAVE IS FLOODING!"
"Do you think?"

The three aspects of Sanctum 3D that it has in common with executive producer James Cameron are that it is about diving, the 3D is often beautiful and (as with his recent films) the dialogue is frequently painful. What this film demonstrates ably is that there is absolutely nothing surprising or original that can be done with the divers-trapped-in-underground-caves genre, right down to the order in which the thinly-formed characters meet their maker. Aside from the occasional wince-inducing moment, the movie trudges along with the actors screwing up their faces and spitting out their lines in a forlorn effort to create tension and emotion - lead Richard Roxburgh is to be commended for keeping a straight face at certain points. For the most part, Sanctum 3D is slow-moving, rather tedious and disappointingly unengaging.