Review: Carlos The Jackal

Cut-down from the 5 and half hour long French mini-series, it's rather apt that this biopic of famous plane-jacker Carlos the Jackal flies along a rapid pace.

Thanks to its subject matter, style and having a stunning performance in the lead role, Carlos is reminiscent of recent films such as Mesrine and Steven Soderbergh's Ché - but where those were wisely released in 2 parts, despite its quality the first half of Carlos in particular suffers slightly from feeling like its being played in fast-forward at times.

Things settle down once we reach the raid of 1975 OPEC meeting and the fallout from events, but whilst being highly enjoyable, anyone watching the film version will feel that they're missing out by not going for the full 5 and half hours.

Review: Unknown

Fans of Liam Neeson's last trip to Europe may be disappointed as despite having a trailer that makes it looks like more of Liam Neeson beating up a load of foreigners, Unknown is for the most part a thriller about a man who awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and life.

There's nothing new here, but what it sets out to do it does really well - the last third especially, picking up the pace with a well-handled twist and Neeson delivering plenty of the action that made Taken such a cult hit.

Review: The Rocker

The Rocker is likeable enough, but is never funny enough to escape the shadow of School of Rock hanging over it.

A cast including a young Emma Stone do a good job with some pretty bland material, but the finished product does feel like a Disney TV movie that somehow made it to the silver screen. The televisual feel isn't helped by the most laughs coming from Rainn Wilson and Jane Lynch, who more funnier - and more famous for their roles in the American Office and Glee respectively.

Review: Mission Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol

The third installment in the Mission Impossible franchise was lost under the wave of Crazy Cruise-bashing that surrounded its release, meaning that one of the biggest movie stars of all time grabbed more headlines for being a settee jumping Scientologist rather than starring in one of the best Hollywood action films of the noughties so far.

With the likes of Valkyrie and Knight & Day being solid if unspectacular efforts, Cruise needed Mission Impossible 4 to hit the spot to show he still had the star power to open a movie, Jeremy Renner seemingly drafted into the cast in case everything went tits up again this time around.

Katie and Suri will glad to know that Tom is safe for a while as Mission Impossible 4 is the strongest film in the set so far, with a series of set pieces that make full use of the IMAX format - most action films would be pretty happy with a sequence as good as Cruise and crew breaking into the Kremlin, but they then go and top it minutes later with some thrilling stunts on Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

As a result, the films finale feels a slight anti-climax as after all Ethan Hunt has been through, struggling to fight a 50 year old in a fancy car park seems a bit of a let down. Pixar's Brad Bird directs the film with flair, but the JJ Abrams influence is still prevalent and feels similar in tone to the job Joss Whedon did with Avengers Assemble - the Marvel film may be set to be the blockbuster box office hit of 2012, but MI:4 is worthy of being held in equal critical esteem.

Review: Paul

Pegg and Frost team up once again to showcase their natural chemistry once again as a pair of nerds setting out on a once in a lifetime US road trip, but despite taking the lead roles they settle for being the links between several not so-subtle spoofs 80s sci-fi as the rest of the cast get most of the good lines - with Seth Rogen shining as the CGI alien Paul, showing he suits a supporting role and delivering an excellent voice performance that could've ruined the film if he hadn't delivered the goods.

Relying a bit too much on swearing for laughs and the lack of any truly memorable jokes stop this film from being a classic, but simply describing Paul as a more mainstream effort from Pegg and Frost downplays how entertaining and likeable this film is.

Review: Hugo

Mis-marketed as Scorcese's first family film - instead of having the widest appeal, Hugo is arguably Marty's most niche film to date, focusing on French film-maker Georges Méliès and the birth of cinema rather than the character from which the film takes its name.

At times you feel like Hugo actually gets in the way of things, with his hijinks trying to escape from Sasha Baron Cohen's 'Allo 'Allo style station master sitting uneasily amongst Scorcese's love-letter to early cinema. Kids won't like the second half and adults will struggle to stay with the by the numbers chases and pratfalls that make up most of the opening act.

Hugo deservedly won 5 Oscars for its sumptuous design, but its telling they were all for its technical prowess as the sets always outshine the script.

Review: Snow White And The Huntsman

Forget the cartoons you watched when you were young, this version of the Snow White tale is closer to Ridley and Russell's recent re-telling of Robin Hood than anything Disney.

What counts in Snow White And The Huntsman's favour is whilst Robin Hood felt like a disappointment thanks to those involved - because this looks a little bit rubbish many will come out pleasantly surprised that it's a pretty competent and enjoyable film.

Chris Hemsworth once again proves that him talking in a slightly ridiculous accent and wielding a weapon can carry a film and Charlize Theron wisely plays it straight instead of the OTT wicked witch may would've gone with. Kristen Stewart is the weakest of the leads, not awful but doesn't show anything to suggest she's the fairest of them all with army's doing battle for her at the drop of a hat.

Things gets a bit disjointed in the middle, with a live-action Studio Ghibli style sequence breaking up the mood created - things get even more surreal when the 8 (Spoilers!) Dwarves turn up and feature the likes of Ray Winstone, Nick Frost and Lovejoy.

Not sure it'll get the sequel that the ending is clearly hoping for as its not quite good enough to go out of you're way to see - but on DVD or telly it's perfectly entertaining fare.