ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED (U)

DAVE (Jason Lee) heads off on a luxury cruise with singing critters Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) and the feisty Chipettes – Britney (Christina Applegate), Eleanor (Amy Poehler) and Jeanette (Anna Faris). As usual, Alvin gets into various scrapes, incurring the wrath of the ship’s captain and former manager Ian (David Cross), who works as the onboard pelican-suited entertainer. While Dave takes a nap, Alvin and the gang take flight on a kite and are blown on to a tropical island with an active volcano. While the chipmunks return to nature, Dave and Ian race against time to rescue the animals from their new home before it is covered in molten lava.

STAR RATING: ***

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (18)

JOURNALIST Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is found guilty of slandering a prominent industrialist in his magazine Millennium, edited by on-off lover Erika Berger (Robin Wright). With his reputation in tatters, Mikael accepts a commission from the reclusive Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer). The old man is haunted by the disappearance of his great-niece Harriet almost 40 years ago and he hopes that the discredited journalist will be able to deduce who abducted and killed the teenager. Taking up residence on the Vanger estate, the hack begins his investigation and he is soon aided by computer expert Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), who has valuable insights to the case. Together, the unlikely sleuths follow the trail of secrets and lies, trusting no one as skeletons tumble out of the Vanger closet.

STAR RATING: ****

THE LADY (12A)

BY 1998, Aung San Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) is a housewife living in Oxford with her husband Michael (David Thewlis), a university lecturer in Tibetan and Himalayan studies, and their two children, Alexander (Jonathan Woodhouse) and Kim (Jonathan Raggett). When news reaches Kyi about the ailing health of her mother Daw Khin Kyi (Marian Yu), she flies to Burma and becomes embroiled in the national uprising. In retaliation, the Burmese government denies Michael and the boys entry visas, hoping that Kyi will leave the country to be with her loved ones. However, General Ne Win (Htun Lin) underestimates Kyi’s unwavering resolve.

STAR RATING: ***

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL (12A)

IMPOSSIBLE Missions Force operative Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is sprung from a Russian jail by fellow agents Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg). They are ordered to break into the Kremlin to steal intelligence files that reveal the identity of a terrorist codenamed Cobalt. The mission turns sour when madman Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) detonates a bomb inside the iconic building to cover up the theft of Russian nuclear launch codes. Disavowed by the US government, Ethan, Jane, Benji and top analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) must operate outside of official channels to apprehend Hendricks before he can initiate nuclear Armageddon.

STAR RATING: ****

NEW YEAR’S EVE (12A)

A STARRY cast of familiar faces hope to be struck by Cupid’s arrow before the clock strikes midnight in Times Square in New York. Randy (Ashton Kutcher) is stuck in an elevator with a beautiful stranger (Lea Michele), while Paul (Zac Efron) agrees to help record company secretary Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) achieve all of her resolutions in exchange for tickets to the biggest party of the year. Elsewhere in the city, Tess (Jessica Biel) prepares to give birth, businessman Sam (Josh Duhamel) searches for his soul mate, and terminally ill Stan (Robert De Niro) clings onto life under the care of nurse Aimee (Halle Berry).

STAR RATING: **

PUSS IN BOOTS 3D (U)

THE story begins with the young Puss (voiced by Antonio Banderas) being abandoned at an orphanage where kind Imelda (Constance Marie) raises the kitten as her own. Initially picked on by the boys, Puss learns to fight to survive and he helps protect fellow outcast Humpty Alexander Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis). Many years later, the surrogate brothers join forces with sexy pickpocket Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) to steal magic beans currently in the possession of murderous outlaws Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris). These beans are rumoured to grow a beanstalk that leads to the giant’s castle and the greatest treasure of all: the Golden Goose. However, old rivalries between Puss and Humpty jeopardise the daring enterprise.

STAR RATING: ****

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (12A)

SHERLOCK Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) has cut a swathe through the criminal fraternity of late 19th century London aided by trusty sidekick Dr John Watson (Jude Law), who is bidding farewell to crime-solving to marry Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly). Newspapers are filled with shocking headlines about anarchist bombings in Strasbourg and Vienna, the apparent overdose of a Chinese opium dealer and the death of an American steel magnate. Holmes deduces these events are linked to Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris) and the sleuth persuades Watson to join him on one final globe-trotting adventure. En route, the double-act encounters Gypsy fortune teller Sim (Noomi Rapace) and Holmes’s brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry), who is well-connected in the British government. A bruising battle of wits with Moriarty becomes personal when the diabolical professor promises to make Watson and his new wife suffer for Holmes’s meddling.

STAR RATING: ***