Movie round-up
The Dark Knight: With a record-breaking opening weekend in America tucked under its utility bat-belt, The Dark Knight swoops onto these shores amidst a storm of hype and feverish anticipation. No film could live up to such expectations but The Dark Knight soars tantalisingly close, probing the inner demons of Gotham's favourite crime-fighter as he duels with his most famous adversary. Rating: Four stars
Baby Mama: This entertaining comedy tells the story of a corporate high-flyer and her hilarious journey of self-discovery in the company of a ballsy, trailer trash surrogate. It's unabashedly frothy fun - providing plum roles for Saturday Night Live cohorts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as the unlikely buddies - and delivering an abundance of hearty laughs. Rating: Three stars
Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging: Gurinder Chadha's new film is a comic portrait of growing pains filmed on location in Brighton and Eastbourne. This light-hearted slice of angst and alienation will strike a chord with the target audience - teenage girls - as the socially awkward heroine takes kissing lessons and endures humiliating luminous fake tan in her battle to win the best boy in school. Rating: Two stars
Wall-E: The technical wizards at Pixar (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles) dispel the myth that size matters in their latest computer animated fable about a little robot cleaning up a futuristic planet Earth ravaged by pollution. Wall-E is a magical, out of this world love story, distinguished by amazingly detailed visuals. Director Andrew Stanton's futuristic film shoots for the moon and exceeds the hype. Likely to be the year's best film. Rating: Five stars
Meet Dave: Two Eddie Murphys are no better than one in this family comedy where he plays the noble leader of a race of tiny aliens on a mercy mission to save their dying planet. He also plays the extra-terrestrials' spaceship, called "Dave", which has been designed to look like a human being so the otherworldly visitors can pass amongst us unnoticed. The script nearly drowns in its own sickly sentiment and Murphy is utterly charmless. Rating: Two stars
Donkey Punch: If you don't already know the meaning of a "donkey punch", you certainly will by the blood-soaked conclusion of Olly Blackburn's lurid, sex and drug-fuelled thriller. No time is spent developing the characters before plunging them into a moral quagmire from which senseless slaughter is apparently the only means of escape. Wooden acting ensures their corpses will float. Rating: Two stars
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth: The fantastical storyline which underpins the remake of Journey To The Centre Of The Earth may continually hark back to Jules Verne's mid-19th century novel, but Eric Brevig's film is unquestionably a 21st century beast. This rollicking romp marries state-of-the-art special effects with old-fashioned family morals - see it in digital 3D if you can. Rating: Three stars
Mamma Mia!: Director Phyllida Lloyd and writer Catherine Johnson, who masterminded the smash hit stage version of the all-singing all-dancing musical, work their magic here too with an all-star cast including Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. This rollicking romance set to the ABBA songbook is 108 minutes of pure joy - it's so much fun, Mamma Mia! should be prescribed on the NHS. Rating: Four stars
The Forbidden Kingdom: Martial arts titans Jet Li and Jackie Chan share the screen for the very first time in this chop socky adventure, a lively East meets West smackdown filmed on location in China. It's hugely entertaining and self-consciously daft, hung loosely on a fantastical yarn that incorporates elements from various well-known legends and novels. Rating: Three stars
Hancock: Will Smith plays a self-loathing super hero crime fighter who begrudgingly rescues beached whales, thwarts bank robbers and helps to maintain peace on the city streets, except his headline-grabbing exploits always result in millions of dollars of damage and the public are not amused. Part comedy, part doomed romance - partly successful movie. Rating: Three stars
(Reviews by Damon Smith)
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