HORTON HEARS A WHO! (U) (All major cinemas)
JIM Carrey returns to the world of Dr Seuss for the first time since playing The Grinch but this time we only get to hear him in this animated treat for Easter.
He give voice to hero Horton of the title, an elephant with super hearing who embarks on a mission no one else around him can understand.
Horton discovers a tiny world exists on the top of a clover, a world called Whoville which isn’t populated by hoards of David Tennant fans but by a race of creatures with an incredibly elaborate way of getting around.
Trouble is, nobody believes him, so much so that one particularly nasty creature, the Sour Kangaroo, aims to destroy the clover to prove Horton’s folly.
This prompts our hero to travel to the top of a mountain to find a safe place for Whoville to exist in peace forever.
Steve Carell and Seth Rogen are among the other stars lending their vocal talents to this slight but charming tale.
STAR RATING: **
THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (PG) (All major cinemas)
PROMISING family film based on the best selling books in which twin brothers and their sister find themselves pulled into a world of faeries and other magical creatures.
Director Mark Waters remade Freaky Friday and gave us Mean Girls, both excellent family films, and he once again proves his gift for providing entertainment that treats young people with respect and therefore doesn’t send their parents to sleep.
Freddie Highmore is impressive yet again in dual roles of twin brothers - one angry, one nice - who are joined by a sister to combat the efforts of a nasty ogre who is trying to get his hands on a book that will give him great power.
Action is very much the name of this game but parents should be warned that despite the PG rating, younger and more nervous children are likely to find some scenes disturbing.
STAR RATING: ***
MEET THE SPARTANS (12A) (All major cinemas)
THERE are really only two things you need to know about this lame spoof:
1. It is a belated parody of last year’s surprise hit action epic 300 which was so camp itself that any single unintentional moment of hilarity was funnier than any of the intentional ones here.
2. The team behind it were also responsible for Spy Hard, Epic Movie and Date Movie and so therefore are still seeking their first genuine big screen laugh.
STAR RATING: *
STEP UP 2 THE STREETS (PG) (All major cinemas)
THE raunchy poster tends to suggest this is a hot and steamy street wise look at hip hop dancing, likely to be punctuated by scenes of sex and violence.
In fact, so innocent are the protagonists and so safe the scenarios they play out, it might as well be street dance according to Disney.
And there is a certain charm to that as working class good girl Andie (Briana Evigan) changes schools and forms an attachment to wealthy Chase (Robert Hoffman) before they team up to take on a rival dance team.
Yes, it is a sequel but apart from a brief appearance by the lead character from its predecessor, that fact is completely irrelevant.
STAR RATING: **
27 DRESSES (12A) (All major cinemas; Thursday preview)
KATHERINE Heigl gets the chance to capitalise on her wonderful work in Knocked Up by taking the lead role in this rom com as a young woman who has been a bridesmaid 27 times and now faces the 28th when her sister is about to marry the man Heigl secretly loves. Thursday previews take place the day before its official release.
