How To Train Your Dragon 2 soars high but carries little weight

 

When it comes to computer-animated family fun, the only real contender is Pixar.

Their main rival, Dreamworks, has been mostly reliant on a number of franchises: Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda. So far, though, they’re yet to produce anything to rival the artistry of Toy Story.…

Jersey Boys hits the jukebox but misses the stage

Jukebox musicals are a dime a dozen, much like the machine from which they get their name.

Usually focusing on a single band or era of music, they used tried-and-tested narratives as a framework for the hits. Whether it’s Jim Broadbent smarming his way through “Like A Virgin” in Moulin Rouge or Meryl Streep’s recriminatory “Winner Takes it All” in Mama Mia!

Oculus gets you right between the eyes

 

All families, no matter how idyllic, are haunted.

We are all scarred by our experiences, growing up, as adults, however superficially: what we hear – our parents arguing in their bedroom – what we or don’t see – the monster at the foot of the bed.…

22 Jump Street is a chip off the new block

 

Is there any genre quite as enjoyably predictable as the buddy cop movie?

Two officers –one straitlaced, the other a maverick – forced to team up, only to form, despite, or perhaps because of their differences, an abiding friendship. It’s The Odd Couple with armaments.…

Edge of Tomorrow makes respawning fun

 

If at first you don’t succeed, get covered in boiling alien blood and try, try again.

What the forgettably titled Edge of Tomorrow most reminds us, however, is that Tom Cruise is at his best when not playing an outright hero.…