FILM: 47 Ronin 3D (dir: Carl Rinsch, 2013)

"I think mine is broken."

47 Ronin is a fairly solid retelling of the legendary tale, if somewhat lethargic, murkily shot and presented in mostly unremarkable 3D.   It lacks the demented energy of a late 80s Tsui Hark production, the eye-popping excesses of a Cat III exploitationer and the visual majesty of a Kurosawa, even though the film seems to aspire to all of these but within a 12A certificate.  Set-pieces are hurriedly-realised and surprisingly brief, but the third act belatedly delivers with a well-staged final assault and some genuine character beats.  Flat dialogue does not help, but it is good to see Keanu's relentlessly puzzled expression back on the big screen, Hiroyuki Sanada carries the heroic disgraced samurai leader with real dignity, and Tadanobi Asano and Rinko Kikuchi chew the furniture wonderfully as the boo-hiss villains.  The most intriguing aspect of this film is that Universal chose to throw a mega-blockbuster budget at what might at best be a niche curiosity, especially as the result is rendered somewhat toothless and bloodless in the pursuit of a wide mainstream audience.

FILM: The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (dir: Ben Stiller, 2013)

"Beautiful things don't ask for attention."

Understated is the key word here, and this modern take on the Walter Mitty short story takes the basic premise and then smartly extrapolates in the opposite direction in Steve Conrad's clever and delightful script.  Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig give wonderfully low-key and sincere performances to these seemingly small and ordinary characters, and it is a joy watching Stiller's Mitty emerge from his negative-cutting vault to meet with the wider world in extraordinary ways and Wiig's fragile single mother taking the first tentative steps from a broken relationship into a new romance.  Cinematography is glorious throughout, and the well-chosen uplifting indie-rock soundtrack makes the middle-age-crisis angle play wider, even if giving the film the feel of a high-end consumer product commercial at times.  As Mitty's wild flights of fancy (allowing the filmmakers to play with a variety of genres successfully) give way to the wonders of the real world, the beautifully focused-down ending makes this a wonderfully life-affirming tale that for the most part avoids the saccharine and heavy-handed approach of a Forrest Gump for something more universal and identifiable for the audience,

FILM: Frozen 3D (dirs: Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, 2013)

"Glad I caught you."

The Tangled formula is repeated winningly here, making Frozen easily one of the best Disneys of the modern era.  The film mixes the best of classic and contemporary, with a whip-smart script and tight plotting that provides many genuine moments of both drama and humour.  Idina Menzel and the enjoyable Broadway-styled songs lend a very Wicked feel, with the occasional but forgivable whiff of High School Musical cheese.  The characters, both human and non-human - Sven the Reindeer and Olaf the Snowman are instant classics - are well-played and effective, and both design and animation are dazzling, especially in 3D.   Frozen is an immensely enjoyable film that plays well to a broad audience and keeps Disney well up in the ranks of modern animation.

FILM: The Harry Hill Movie (dir: Steve Bendelack, 2013)

"To be honest, I fell asleep just after you did.  It's a miracle we're still alive."

If The Goodies TV show back in the 1970s had been turned into a movie, it would have probably looked much like The Harry Hill Movie...but with laughs.  Quite simply, this is a baffling film to watch, less surreal than just peculiar.  Both star and director are clearly much better suited to the television (i.e. shorter-form) format, as the whole Harry Hill concept and brand of humour simply are too quirky and small-scale to translate effectively to the big screen, which is a shame.  Hill comes across as naïve and likable, Julie Walters replays her usual old-lady schtick, and Abu the puppet hamster (voiced well by Johnny Vegas) is surprisingly engaging, but apart from a couple of inspired moments - The Magic Numbers running a B&B, walking brains replaying the raptors-in-the-kitchen sequence from Jurassic Park - there is little to hold the interest even for its mercifully-short running time.

FILM: Anchorman 2 The Legend Continues (dir: Adam McKay, 2013)

"What's MTV?"
"I think it's a venereal disease."

This sequel to the laugh-out-loud cult classic thankfully does not disappoint.  Although played out on a wider canvas and perhaps more scattershot than the original, Anchorman 2 has a higher hit-rate and is more consistent, in spite of a woefully-misjudged extended lighthouse/shark/blindness episode in the final third. The core team play off each other with ease and great humour, with Carell's Brick stealing every scene and providing many of the laugh-out-loud moments.  Christina Applegate gets disappointingly little comedy to do here, and even Kristin Wiig's female-Brick character underwhelms, but James Marsden is spot-on as Burgandy's younger competition.  Anchorman 2 is easily one of the year's most enjoyable comedies and continues the legend admirably.

FILM: Saving Mr Banks (dir: John Lee Hancock, 2013)

"...and there you shall stay until you learn the art of subtlety."

Saving Mr Banks is a worthy, solid and frequently charming if ultimately inconsequential film that charts the interesting if slight tale of the Mary Poppins author's clash with Hollywood and Walt Disney.  Juxtaposing Travers' Australian outback childhood with the L.A. tales of adapting the book for the classic Disney film becomes an increasingly obvious and predictable exercise, all leading inexorably to a inevitable reveal and conclusion.  Hanks is on fine form as a rather soft version of Disney the man, and likewise Thompson gives a precise and well-drawn performance as Travers, even if she tends to come across as an eccentric Englishwoman to make her character a bit more likable.  In smaller roles, Paul Giamatti is wonderful as Travers' driver, Ruth Wilson does a lot with little as the outback housewife, and Colin Farrell is sincere if at times melodramatic as the author's imaginative but dissolute father.  This is a well-made, well-meaning film that spins a reasonably entertaining yarn out of somewhat slight material.

FILM: The Hobbit - The Desolation Of Smaug IMAX 3D (dir: Peter Jackson, 2013)

"Why are there dwarves coming out of our toilet?"

The Desolation Of Smaug kicks off with a much greater sense of threat and urgency (in both editing and narrative) than the first Hobbit film, and maintains and builds on that throughout, making this second film a much more engaging experience.  This is a Jackson film in which all the pieces fall into place - stunning design, great score, hugely ambitious and effective set pieces (the spiders and the barrels sequences are top-notch), a not-unbearable high-fantasy script, fantastic action but with some well-placed humour, confident direction - all building to an ambitious and huge-scale finale with a glorious cliffhanger for the final installment.  The Elves work - Legolas is still handy in a fight (his CG-action avatar still occasionally rather cartoon-like), and Tauriel is a welcome feisty addition; Richard Armitage and Aidan Turner have more to work with and do so very effectively, the remaining dwarves still background players; Martin Freeman remains perfectly cast and delivers completely; the Orcs are relentlessly, graphically and too-easily disposable; and the crowning glory - Smaug is terrific, both in Cumberbatch's voicing and the impressive realisation on-screen.  As the film started, it really did not feel like a year since the first film; the final film in a year's time cannot come soon enough.