CONAN THE BARBARIAN 3D (15)
A GROUP of warriors descend upon a village destroying everything in their path to find the final piece of a magical mask that will bring back to life the evil wife of warlord Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang). When Corin (Ron Perlman) sacrifices himself in order for his son Conan to survive, it leads Conan on a personal vendetta to seek revenge for his father’s death. Along the way Conan (Jason Momoa) encounters terrifying monsters, Zym’s hulking henchmen and Marique (Rose McGowan), a powerful witch. He even finds a little romance with Tamara (Rachel Nichols), whose blood is required to revive Zym’s wife.
STAR RATING: **
COWBOYS & ALIENS (12A)
JAKE Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes in the desert with a gunshot wound, a large metal bracelet on his wrist and no memory of who he is or how he came to be in the dirt. He struts into town and is unmasked as a killer with a sizeable bounty on his head. Arrested by the sheriff and bound for prison alongside Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano), Jake makes his escape from the prison coach during a devastating attack by extraterrestrial craft. Percy is abducted and the boy’s powerful father, Woodrow (Harrison Ford), vows to rescue his son and he press gangs Jake into accompanying his posse on the perilous mission. Beautiful cowgirl Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde), publican Doc (Sam Rockwell) and a fatherless boy called Emmett (Noah Taylor) join the hunt for the aliens.
STAR RATING: ***
FINAL DESTINATION 5 (15)
SAM (Nicholas D’Agosto) dreams of becoming a chef while working in the office of a paper manufacturer. He’s been tasked with organising a staff away day for his colleagues, who include on-off girlfriend Molly (Emma Bell), best friends Peter (Miles Fisher) and Nathan (Arlen Escarpeta), sleazy Isaac (P J Byrne) and Olivia (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood). All is well until the bus they’re travelling on gets stuck in traffic on a suspension bridge. Sam has a premonition about his friends’ impending doom and as his daydream comes to an end, Sam realises what he saw in his mind’s eye and hurries his friends off the bus. Sceptical at first, they soon start following when cracks appear in the road and all make it to safety. Death has been cheated once again, and Death doesn’t like that. Very quickly Sam and his friends are under threat...
STAR RATING: ***
THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE (15)
THE boys from BAFTA award-winning television series The Inbetweeners have made the move to the big screen. We’re reintroduced to pompous Will (Simon Bird) as he is being berated by his father (Anthony Head); the gormless but perpetually happy Neil (Blake Harrison) packing up his supermarket shift mid-service; the ever boastful and lusty Jay (James Buckley) getting discovered by his mum in a compromising position involving ham; and a heartbroken Simon (Joe Thomas), in tears because he has been dumped. As the four wave goodbye to Rudge Park Comprehensive, they decide they need a proper lads’ holiday in Malia, Crete, to reinvent themselves. Of course, nothing goes according to plan. Their accommodation is a hell-hole, they wind up in the saddest club on the resort strip, get in scrapes, get drunk and then get naked. There’s humiliation on a regular basis - but somehow the chums actually meet some girls.
STAR RATING: ***
ONE DAY (12A)
ANNE Hathaway and Jim Sturgess take the leads as bookish Yorkshire lass Emma Morley and charming ladies’ man Dexter Mayhew, who have a drunken encounter on their graduation on St Swithin’s Day in 1988, and make a pact to remain friends. True to their words, the two friends stay in touch throughout the next few years, as Dex travels around the world while Emma slaves away in a Mexican restaurant in London. As the years pass by, and despite the friends working in London, they often lose touch before reconnecting again. One Day charts their lives throughout 20 years, as they deal with the joys and heartbreaks of life.
STAR RATING: ***
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (12A)
SCIENTIST Will Rodman (James Franco) is determined to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, the disease which has slowly consumed his father Charles (John Lithgow). Will feels certain he is close to a breakthrough and tests his latest serum on chimpanzees, noticing dramatic increases in intelligence and brain activity in the primate subjects. However, a high-profile showcase with shareholders goes spectacularly wrong and Will’s profit-driven boss, Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo), demands the project is shut down. Will smuggles a baby chimp called Caesar out of the lab and raises the infant with his father. As the years pass and Caesar blossoms, Will falls in love with veterinarian Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto). Caroline warns Will that he cannot keep Caesar as a pet forever and meddling with nature has repercussions.
STAR RATING: ***
THE SMURFS 3D (U)
AS THE Blue Moon Festival approaches, Papa Smurf (voiced by Jonathan Winters) experiences a horrifying vision of arch-nemesis Gargamel (Hank Azaria) imprisoning the entire Smurf village in cages. Soon after, lovable Clumsy (Anton Yelchin) accidentally leads Gargamel and his cat Azrael to the village and the Smurfs flee for their lives. Papa, Smurfette (Katy Perry), Clumsy, Brainy (Fred Armisen), Gutsy (Alan Cumming) and Grouchy (George Lopez) stumble upon a portal, which sucks them into present-day New York. Luckily, kind advertising executive Patrick Winslow (Neil Patrick Harris) and his pregnant wife Grace (Jayma Mays) are on hand to help the Smurfs return to their village.
STAR RATING: **
