THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN 3D (PG)

TINTIN (Jamie Bell) buys a model ship and is plunged into a centuries-old mystery involving Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig). Ivan asks Tintin to name his price for the boat but the reporter refuses to sell, sensing the wooden vessel is far more valuable than it first appears. Sure enough, a cryptic conundrum lies within, revealing that ‘only a true Haddock will discover the secret of The Unicorn’. Assisted by trusty pooch Snowy, Tintin searches for more clues, meeting booze-sodden Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), whose family history holds the key to the mystery of a cursed shipwreck.

STAR RATING: ***

CONTAGION (12A)

BETH Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns from a business trip in Hong Kong with acute flu-like symptoms. Her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) dutifully nurses her and their son Clark (Griffin Kane), who is also feeling under the weather, but both succumb to the fatal illness. Mitch is rushed into isolation but miraculously he seems to be immune to the outbreak and is soon allowed to return home with his daughter, Jory (Anna Jacoby-Heron). More cases are reported by an increasingly hysterical media and Dr Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) from the Centre For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dispatches one of his best operatives, Dr Erin Mears (Kate Winslet), to the Emhoff house in Minneapolis to trace the pathogen. In a secret laboratory, Dr Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) and Dr David Eisenberg (Demetri Martin) try to grow the virus in order to engineer an antivirus, with guidance from respected academic Dr Ian Sussman (Elliott Gould).

STAR RATING: ****

THE HELP (12A)

EUGENIA ‘Skeeter’ Phelan (Emma Stone) returns home to Jackson after graduating from university with dreams of becoming a writer. She is horrified to learn that her family's beloved maid Constantine (Cicely Tyson) has quit and that one of the neighbours, Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), is proposing that black workers should have to use separate bathrooms. Determined to end the discrimination, Skeeter pitches a book to editor Elaine Stein (Mary Steenburgen), detailing the extraordinary lives of the maids, who have spent countless years raising white children. At first, the maids are reluctant to talk but Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) eventually shares her thoughts as she comes to terms with the recent loss of her only son. As Hilly continues with her crusade for segregation throughout Jackson, Skeeter's secret novel gathers momentum.

STAR RATING: ***

THE IDES OF MARCH (15)

HIGH-FLYING Democrat presidential candidate Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) has a knack for spouting the perfect sound bite with a winning smile. Flanked by his ballsy campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and brilliant press secretary Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling), Morris seems destined for the White House. However, an ill-advised dalliance with seductive intern Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood) leaves Morris's reputation hanging by a gossamer thread as New York Times journalist Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei) and the other media vultures begin to circle. Meanwhile, rival campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) looks for chinks in Morris's armour, knowing full well that everything hinges on securing the endorsement of influential Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright).

STAR RATING: ****

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN (PG)

FOLLOWING a disastrous mission in Mozambique, Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) turns his back on MI7 and heads to a Tibetan retreat. Section chief Pamela Thornton (Gillian Anderson) woos him back to help thwart an assassination attempt on the Chinese premier and pairs him up with rookie agent Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya). After a meeting with Agent Titus Fisher (Richard Schiff), Johnny learns of a dastardly plot masterminded by a shadowy organisation called Vortex. Johnny joins forces with fellow operative Simon Ambrose (Dominic West) and sexy behavioural psychologist Kate Sumner (Rosamund Pike) to unmask a traitor.

STAR RATING: **

MACHINE GUN PREACHER (15)

VIOLENT biker Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) emerges from prison, seemingly intent on returning to his boozy, degenerate old ways, much to the chagrin of his wife Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) and daughter Paige (Madeline Carroll). Then, miraculously, Sam finds God at the church attended by Lynn and her mother Daisy (Kathy Baker) and he is deeply moved by a sermon from a pastor who tends to a flock in Africa. So Sam decides to be good a Christian and travel to war-torn Sudan to build an orphanage for the children who have been caught up in the bloody conflict. In the process, Sam witnesses shocking acts of brutality and he takes up arms to protect the boys and girls, assisted by Sudan People's Liberation Army soldier Deng (Souleymane Sy Savane).

STAR RATING: ***

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 (15)

THIS second sequel traces the malevolent force that haunts sisters Katie (Katie Featherston) and Kristi (Sprague Grayden) back to its origin. The film opens in March 2005 in Carlsbad, California, with Kristi heavily pregnant and painting the nursery a fetching shade of blue. Her sister arrives and stores two old boxes in the basement, one of which contains numerous video cassettes marked with the girls' names. Events rewind to September 3, 1988, and the birthday party of young Katie (Chloe Csengery). Younger sister Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) keeps to herself, talking to an imaginary friend called Toby. Celebrations are captured by videographer Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith), the new boyfriend of the girls' mother, Julie (Lauren Bittner). He becomes intrigued by strange sounds in the family home, setting up two cameras. Events become increasingly sinister.

STAR RATING: **