ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS 2: THE SQUEAKQUEL (U)
GIRL power is alive and well in the Chipmunks sequel as Alvin, Simon and Theodore meet their match in three feisty females (voiced by Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler and Anna Faris), who challenge them for battle-of-the-band honours at their new high school. Director Betty Thomas treads a familiar path, driving a wedge between the tiny animated heroes and then reuniting them for a foot-stomping finale.
STAR RATING: **
AVATAR (12A)
FOUR years after his underwater IMAX documentary Aliens Of The Deep, director James Cameron (Titanic) unleashes his latest special effects-laden blockbuster, which is rumoured to push the boundaries of big-screen technology. When warmonger Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), decides to attack an alien race, his methods change the face of warfare and the fate of a planet.
STAR RATING: ***
EDGE OF DARKNESS (15)
Based on the award-winning BBC mini-series, and directed by Martin Campbell, Edge Of Darkness is a gripping tale of one father’s crusade for justice set in the murky world of corporate and government cover-ups. Homicide detective Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) clashes with CIA operative Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) as he tries to uncover the secret life of his murdered daughter, while exposing corruption extending to the uppermost echelons of power.
STAR RATING: ***
INVICTUS (12A)
CLINT Eastwood’s majestic new film chronicles the true story of Nelson Mandela’s dogged quest to reunite fractured South Africa through the game of rugby. Adapted by screenwriter Anthony Peckham from the book Playing The Enemy by John Carlin, Invictus is a superb humanist drama, starring Morgan Freeman as Mandela, and Matt Damon as South Africa’s rugby team captain Francois Pienaar.
STAR RATING: ****
PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTNING THIEF (PG)
CHRIS Columbus directs the big-screen, big budget version of the first of five books by Rick Riordan. High school student Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) embarks on a quest to the underworld when he discovers he is the son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd). Columbus doesn’t let the effects overwhelm the storytelling, although it’s more of a stretch than a squeeze to fill the rollicking two hours.
STAR RATING: **
THE PRINCESS AND THE Frog (U)
DISNEY breaks with tradition and casts its first ever African-American princess in this enchanting reworking of the Grimm brothers’ fairytale, set in New Orleans around the time of the First World War. Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) is turned into a frog after kissing a smooth-talking amphibian, and has to embark on a perilous quest to get herself turned back into a human.
STAR RATING: ***
SHERLOCK HOLMES (12A)
GUY Ritchie’s reinvention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary sleuth has produced an entertaining triumph of style over substance as Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law track a killer who comes back from the dead.
STAR RATING: ***
A SINGLE MAN (12A)
OSCAR-nominated Colin Firth stars in Tom Ford’s first cinematic outing, which is a haunting drama about a professor who secretly says farewell to the people he loves as he contemplates suicide after the death of his lover. It is a deeply moving portrait of love and death, anchored by Firth’s fearless central turn, and Julianne Moore is dazzling as ever in a booze-soaked supporting role.
STAR RATING: ****
VALENTINE’S DAY (12A)
JULIA Roberts, Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher and Shirley MacLaine are among the stars in Garry Marshall’s sugar-coated tale of romance and heartbreak in Los Angeles. Marshall’s film runs the risk of being little more than cinematic candy floss, however, there are some big laughs and eye-catching performances from a stellar cast, who appear to be having a ball.
STAR RATING: ***
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (PG)
MAURICE Sendak’s classic children’s story comes to the big screen in this enchanting adaptation, directed by Spike Jonze of Being John Malkovich fame. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cynmru in Mold from Friday-Monday.
STAR RATING: ***
THE WHITE RIBBON (15)
MICHAEL Haneke directs this year’s Cannes winner, a period drama set in a small German village on the brink of the First World War where strange ‘accidents’ suddenly start to happen. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Tuesday-Thursday.
STAR RATING: ****
THE WOLFMAN (15)
ALMOST 70 years after the original film was made, the furry beast runs free again in director Joe Johnston’s remake, starring Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt and Sir Anthony Hopkins. A man (Del Toro) returns to his homeland to help search for his missing brother, but becomes embroiled in a horrifying mystery that has haunted the village of Blackmoor. Johnston orchestrates some tense set pieces, with the requisite edge-of-seat jolts and scares.
STAR RATING: **
