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: ***
ANONYMOUS (12A)
DIRECTOR Roland Emmerich stokes the controversy about whether Shakespeare actually wrote the plays that bear his name with this handsome but structurally flawed drama. Bookended by scenes featuring Sir Derek Jacobi, Anonymous unfolds during the later years of Queen Elizabeth I (Vanessa Redgrave), who is besieged by plots to overthrow her. Edward de Vere (Rhys Ifans), the Earl of Oxford, is credited as the true author of the plays but he cannot put his name to these impassioned works when many are convinced that the theatre is the crucible of the Devil. At 130 minutes, Emmerich's history lesson is hefty but for all its impressive production design, this conspiracy theory is much ado about nothing.
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.
STAR RATING: ***
IMMORTALS 3D (15)
MANY centuries ago, the Gods waged war against the Titans and imprisoned these creatures within Mount Tartaros, within a cage that can only be broken by a bolt from the mythical Epirus Bow. Megalomaniac King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his hordes declare war on the Gods by ravaging the land in search of the bow. Ancient law prevents Zeus (Luke Evans), his daughter Athena (Isabel Lucas) and the other Gods from intervening in mankind's conflict, so they watch with mounting dread from their vantage point on Mount Olympus as Hyperion slaughters everyone who gets in his way.
STAR RATING: **
IN TIME (12A)
DIRECTOR Andrew Niccol imagines an emotionally starved globe in which money has become obsolete and the currency is time. People are engineered to age until they reach 25 years old, then a timer, embedded in their arm, begins to tick down second by second to their demise. During a night out, Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) has a chance encounter with handsome yet suicidal rich man Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer), who donates 100 years of his time to Will's body clock. Granted access to the most exclusive parts of the city, Will learns the truth about how Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser) and the men in power manipulate the populace for their own gain. Will vows to bring down the corrupt system forging an unlikely alliance with Philippe's rebellious daughter Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried).
STAR RATING: ***
STRAW DOGS (18)
SCREENWRITER David Sumner (James Marsden) transplants his entire life from Hollywood to the Deep South after his actress wife Amy (Kate Bosworth) loses her father. The town of Blackwater appears to be warm and welcoming. At the local diner, David meets Amy's ex-boyfriend Charlie (Alexander Skarsgard), who has put in a bid to renovate the roof on the remote farmhouse owned by Amy's family. It becomes clear that Charlie still holds a torch for Amy and the screenwriter tries to ward off his rival.
STAR RATING: **
TOWER HEIST (12A)
JOSH Kovacs (Ben Stiller) manages one of the most luxurious and tightly secured residences in New York City. However, one wrong decision threatens to ruin everything. Josh entrusts the workers' pensions to venerated Wall Street titan Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), who lives in the penthouse suite. It transpires that Arthur is a crook and he is placed under house arrest after he is caught stealing two billion dollars from his investors. Convinced that the pension money must be hidden somewhere within Arthur's condo, Josh approaches petty criminal Slide (Eddie Murphy) to plot the perfect heist before the Wall Street magnate flees the country.
STAR RATING: ***
TRESPASS (15)
DIAMOND dealer Kyle Miller (Nicolas Cage) arrives home in his Porsche, desperately trying to close a deal, while his wife Sarah (Nicole Kidman) grounds their teenage daughter Avery (Liana Liberato). Avery defies her parents' punishment and slips out of the multimillion-dollar house to attend a party with wild child friend Kendra (Emily Meade) just before Elias (Ben Mendelsohn), his girlfriend Petal (Jordana Spiro), brother Jonah (Cam Gigandet) and hard man Ty (Dash Mihok) bluff their way through the front door. Elias and his accomplices have been watching Kyle and they want the gems that the father has stashed in a safe in his office, which is protected with a biometric thumb pad. Kyle refuses to accede to the thieves' demands, even with a gun pointing at Sarah's head. Then Avery sneaks back into the house, having left her party early.
STAR RATING: **
