Unlike its newly trim director, Kong does boast some flab around the middle but by the final reel there’s little doubt that what could have been Jackson’s folly is a triumph, the kind of romantic action spectacle that makes the big screen silver and provides box-office gold. Puts the prime in primate.

Impossible to recommend as a great Friday night out, yet agonisingly vital as thought-urging cinema.

Absurd, outrageous, gross, disturbing, insightful, and so funny it’ll burst half the blood vessels in your face.

An emotional smackdown. Rourke's never been better, and the change of pace and texture suits Aronofsky perfectly. "The Raging Bull" of wrestling movies? Oh, go on then.

A bravura documentary which balances the personal and the political as it peers into the First Lebanon War, its animated approach never feeling like a novelty. Astonishing, unforgettable: you have to see it.

Admirably low-key, deeply compelling and their warmest movie since Fargo.

A kids’ movie for grown-ups. A grown-up movie for kids. Exactly what you’d expect -- and hope for -- from the latest, and we’re guessing final, Woody and Buzz adventure.

It hardly rewrites the rulebook, but Warrior is a powerful, moving and brilliant sports-pic-cum-family drama. Like "The Fighter," but with kicking.

Polley’s fearless personal journey is a huge achievement, a genuine revelation — but the less detail you know beforehand, the better. Go in cold, come out warmed.

Both Greengrass and Hanks are on award-deserving form in a riveting, emotionally complex and hugely intelligent dramatisation of a real-life ordeal.

Without doubt, Jaa's a star — a man very possibly worthy of the 'new Bruce Lee' tag.

Mostly harmless. A very British, very funny sci-fi misadventure that's guaranteed to win converts.

Brutal, bloody, terrifying, astonishing... And so tense it'll leave you aching. The most significant Brit chiller since "28 Days Later."

Setting out more to challenge us with its ideas than make us whoop at the action, Vendetta can be clumsy, but there are enough impressive flourishes to make up for its stumblings.

The Prestige traces the course of their bitter feud, as their respective acts of sabotage become ever more deadly.

A war film more of sober, grim reflection than balls-out escapades. Yet it grips consistently, its bursts of combat delivering gut-punches of veracity.

A sharper account of the Iwo Jima conflict than Flags, this balances its unflinching handling of the horrors of war with its touching portrayal of those who face them.

The odd conclusion renders it somewhat oblique, but Perfume is a feast for the senses.

The year’s most pleasant cinematic surprise. Once has enough heart, wit, verve and sheer songwriting genius to ensure you’ll see it far more times than its title suggests.

With the whole of America as his backdrop, Penn pulls off his most ambitious movie yet. The result is a beautiful and thought-provoking road movie.

An engaging melodrama whose less convincing plot points are superseded by some astonishingly affecting performances from the mostly unknown cast.

Once you get over the unlikelihood of Affleck and Crowe as buddies, State Of Play stands as a sterling thriller, benefiting from admirable convictions and an arguable return to form by Russell Crowe.

Intelligent and uncompromising, with knock-out performances from Downey Jr. and Foxx .

A film for anyone who’s ever climbed trees, grazed knees or basked in the comfort of a parent’s sympathy as they’ve pulled you off the ground crying. It’ll make your inner child run wild.

One of the most chillingly effective visions of the world’s end ever put on screen -- and a heart-rending study of parenthood, to boot.

Grown-up but not too serious; action-packed but not juvenile… Not only is this the mullet-free Robin Hood movie we’ve been waiting decades for, it’s also Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe at their most entertaining since Gladiator.

A simple entertainment in a summer of overcomplicated disappointments. Also much harder-edged than you may have expected.

Gripping, heart-wrenching, powerful and a sad indictment of scientific practice, which shows that 'human' and 'humane' are all-too-often mutually exclusive.