Jeff Bridges returns over 25 years later to reprise his role as Kevin Flynn, the gaming wizard who creates a dark digital world that would eventually become a metaphor for the potential of the internet and cyberspace. This time it's all about his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) who has no desire to follow in the corporate side of what is his fathers legacy, buy his conscience will not let him fully detach himself from it.

I can't share too much more than that in order not to spoil it, and I must add it was a welcome return to one of my heroes of the 80's, Scarecrow and Mrs Kings' Bruce Boxleitner. But I must be honest: although nowhere near as bad in terms of style over substance like, say, Transformers 2, it is upon entry of the digital world that it becomes obvious - as the natural background disappears, so does the emotion of the movie, and in particular, its character development becomes formulaic.

It's a movie with plenty of pulse, but lacks heart.

Much kudos to Daft Punk for my favourite soundtrack of any flick this year, but I think I'm going to be looking for that album before I give any thought of a dvd purchase of this follow up. This will appeal to the 12 year old boy in all of us. For those of us without that capacity, keep it moving.

Disney animated adaptations of classic tales have a long history, and lately, whether it was the interaction with reality in Enchanted, or the not so familiar Bayou take on the Frog and the Princess, the results have been decent, but do not stack up to the classics that kind of lost steam in the post-Lion King late 90's. (try Tarzan and Lilo and Stitch as examples of decent but not classic).

Try the 3D adaptation of Rapunzel on for size if you're looking for the restoration of that classic feel. It certainly doesn't disappoint, striking the perfect balance in the tension between the romanticism associated with fairy tale with the right amount of current humour that movies usually from Dreamworks camp have a tendency to tip the scale heavily in favour of (check for the Dream Thug Bar scene for what I'm referencing).

The Disney charm is back in a major way, with sharp writing, great voice talent featuring Mandy Moore in the title role and Zachary Levi as the rogue love-interest Flynn Ryder. Though the score didn't stand out as it usually does from Alan Menken, it does the trick. And the animation? Sweet.

Though Toy Story 3 is definitely the animated movie of the year, this one is definitely a close second, and will give it a run for it's money at the Oscars.

Aarif Lee (for those of you who know your Cantopop might know him as Aarif Rahman) stars as Bruce Lee in this story of his childhood and youth as told by his siblings Robert and Phoebe. There have been many movies reenacting the life of Bruce Lee, but most of them have dealt with him during his rise to fame internationally. This is one that tells the story from his birth.

Legendary Tony Leung plays Bruce Lee's comedic actor father, and does a brilliant job walking the line between the humourous and the stern disciplinary of the household, while Christy Chung and Michelle Ye round out the paternal cast as his mother and aunt.

The casting is great, and although the pace and the story telling is uneven in many parts, there is a certain charm that is wonderfully inviting to the viewer into this family story telling session.

The worst thing unfortunately is what most Bruce Lee fans watch his movies for - the fighting here is sub par. So please, if you're going to see a bio film in the line of Ip Man, you'll be disappointed. If you just enjoy a decent story, and want to see from a credible source what may have happened in Bruce Lee's younger days in Hong Kong, this is a worthy entry point.

Robert Schwentke takes a massive turn from his last directing outing on Time Travelers Wife, and goes for the DC graphic novel "Red" as his source material on this one. Bruce Willis plays Frank Moses, a "Retired and Extremely Dangerous) ex CIA agent who is trying to settle into a "flipped" normality, who has sparked up a romance with a tax agent stuck in mundanity (Mary Louise Parker) with whom he has only met over the phone. It becomes apparent that he and some fellow ex agents are the subject of a hunt, and in that hunt, he has to sacrifice his normalcy for a lifestyle that he couldn't possibly leave behind. Could it be that the CIA is now crooked? Is there a hidden weapons embargo that they have gotten themselves into unknowingly, because believe me when I say, there's a lot of weapons on this movie!

As he is being hunted, so are his retired ex-agent friends (Helen Mirren and John Malkovich (who rock their roles) Morgan Freeman). The trouble is, it is unclear as to who the hunter could be?

This movie is pure fun - and although Willis is a little young for this cast (he's supposed to be a peer of the legendary Ernest Borgnine?) he leads out the cast well, with Parker adding here Jamie Lee Curtis-type awkwardness perfectly to her role here as the onscreen love interest.

Although this would by no means be considered a classic, or challenge cinematic history, it's why you go to watch movies right? Just like the reason Nacho Libre wears stretchy-pants in his room... Is for fun...

Tony Scott is at it again at the directors helm of "Unstoppable" which is "inspired" by the true story of a runaway unmanned freight train with (but of course) highly dangerous and explosive goods in tow which was 'released into orbit' by two aloof rail workers in Pennsylvania (played by almost typecast bumblers TJ Miller and Ethan Suplee).

Meanwhile further down the track are the rail veteran Frank (Denzel Washington) and his young trainee Will (Chris Pine) who have issues of their own, when this runaway train seems like it's on a collision path towards them, and eventually some towns in Pennsylvania which would suffer fatal loss if something didn't happen to stop the train.

Rosario Dawson and Kevin Dunn round out the solidly performing cast as the decision makers throughout the film, which on paper would seem like a straight forward film, especially being based on true events. But there are two factors that make this one a winner: firstly, much attention is placed on the overall feel of the film, which had my left foot firmly planted on the floor of the cinema as if to be pressing an imaginary brake pad. Secondly, more than a typical ride-movie like say, Speed, this one develops the heart of the two primary characters with back stories that only mildly garner the scent of cheese.

Overall, this is a great ride of a film, that much like that runaway train, starts off a little bit bumbly, but picks up immense speed as it thunders along its tracks.

If you know me, you know that the Romantic Comedy, along with the Horror film are my least favourite genre's of film. So I must say from the get go that this movie did not change my opinion. I was drawn into the film by it's two lead characters, because as most of you also know about me, I've been a hip hop head since I was 11 or 12.

This one stars Queen Latifah as Leslie Wright - a young African-American professional who always seems to luck out when it comes to men: they love spending time with her but see her as more of a buddy, and not in the De La Soul sense. She seems to live in the shadow of her god-sister Alexander (Paula Patton) who's greatest desire is to marry someone successful. Good fortune lands in Wright's lap, when she meets New Jersey Nets star player Scott McKnight (Common) and they seem to hit it off (yup, even the character names of the rappers rhyme). But as we know it's not all roses...

The reason though that this movie doesn't change my opinion on Rom-Com's is because it's the cliche's that pull this movie way down. Latifah is likable as always in the lead role, and although Common is likable too, there are moments, you just wish he'd emote a bit more to match Latifah in the lead. Absolutely no surprises here, and you can pick the end from the first 20 minutes, but it's likable enough for you to check it out if you're a fan of the genre.

(Good to see my man D Wade and Dwight Howard represent in the basketball moments)

Jon M Chu is back in the directing chair for the next installment of the Step Up dance movie franchise - has he redeemed himself for the last Step Up movie of which I rated as one of the lesser desirable and watchable movies of the genre.

This episode has Moose from the last movie (Adam G Sevani) is now headed to NYU to study with his best friend, finds himself in a dance cypher, and before you know it, discovers an underground dance scene, and finds a crew who all live together in the hood of New York City, headed by pretty boy Luke (Rick Malambri). Luke has issues of his own - girl issues, rent issues... yeah, yeah, yeah...

Let's be brutally honest - we don't watch these films for the storylines, and this is no exception... There is definitely a charm about Sevini and his performance in both movies, and although the acting performances aren't as bad as most dance movies, that really isn't saying much. (and who besides me, is tired of preppy suburbian people trying to look like they are from the hood.)

If you're not a fan of the dance movie genre, then don't watch this one. But if you are there is definitely good news, and that is, that this one innovates on a couple of levels.

Jon M Chu takes elements of what he's been doing with his innovative web series LXD series (check that out for an innovative take on dance as heroism) and added the 3D touch, and I must say, it was definitely to the movies advantage. I'll boldly go as far as to say that, although some of it is contrived and unnecessary (remember a certain scene involving a couple of cups of slurpee and an air-vent), this is the 2nd best use of 3D in a non-animated film as far as I can remember (I wonder what could be the first? Hmmm...). Also look out for the other "star" of the second movie, Mari Koda, who appears here with some of the old crew.

The dancing is incredible on this one due to a number of great choreographers (including Rich and Tone Taueluga - GO SAMOA!), and that's why I went to see this. So to see my man Madd Chadd do his thing in 3D? Worth the ticket price for real...

Christopher Nolan is at it again, writing and directing one of the better yet more psychologically complex movies of the year with Inception.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dorn Cobb, who is somewhat involved in a web of espionage with which he is a thief who extracts thoughts and secrets from people from their subconscious. He has lost everything he knows to be familiar through this research and all of the extraction, and now is in a place where he has an extraction job which could be his magnum opus and his ticket out!

Though from this description of what may seem like a "one more job than I'm done" type of movie which has been done to death, the good (and some would say bad) is the complexity of the nature of extraction. I won't spoil it for those who have yet to see the movie, but believe me when I say that this is one movie that you definitely need to bring your brain (maybe two) to follow all that is going on.

I made two mistakes in seeing this film: 1) I got there a little late, and 2) It was a very late session, and I had just flown in from overseas - so I was tired. Please don't make these same mistakes when you do see what may be one of the better movies that you'll see this year: stellar cast, eye engrossing visuals, and great direction make this one a winner...

If you want a movie that will just entertain you without challenging your psyche - go elsewhere. If you want a rubiks cube type of film, go watch this one more than once...

Tom Cruise stars as Roy Miller - a CIA agent who appears to have gone rogue to save the invention of young inventor Simon Feck (Paul Dano - remember him from There Will Be Blood?). Of course along the way he literally bumps into suburbian petrolhead June Havens (Cameron Diaz) who becomes the Mrs King to Roy Millers "Scarecrow" - enjoying the fantasy fulfilling fast life of the spy man.

This one was extremely lightweight - and what attracted me to want to take my wife to see it, was that in the trailer it showed the side of Tom Cruise that we are now having to come to terms with: the post-Oprah-couch-jumping Tom Cruise. He realises that he has to do schtick, and I do like this Tom Cruise I admit, one that doesn't take himself too seriously like the Mission Impossible or Minority Report or even the Lions for Lambs, Tom Cruise. In my estimation he's learnt from Will Smith, and I'm sure he'll put his kids in movies soon too...

Although this opened to dismal sales at least for Tom Cruise action standards in the US, this is still a fun ride for those who prefer their action movies with more bangs than brains. If you have a spare 2 hours of change, this is a good way to spend it - heavy on the thrill, light on the thriller.

I'd have to say straight off the bat, that apart from the original Star Wars trilogy, this is the only trilogy where I've loved every installment as a classic on it's own back to back.

It's been a long time since Toy Story 2 - almost 11 years in fact since we saw Woody get rescued for the fanatical Al of Al's Toy Barn fame. Andy, the young boy who owns the toys has grown up and is ready to go to college, and so the decision has to be made as to where to place the toys of his childhood, that have been left in a chest untouched for years. The toys end up at a pre-school, and, well let me just say that things are extremely different when they arrive there.

I won't go into the movies plot any more than to say, the animation has matured with time from the last two movies, and 3D is not overbearing yet wonderful, there are many thrilling visual scenes, and the most emotional tug you've ever experienced in a Pixar movie yet - yes more than Nemo, Up and the other two. This episode in the trilogy had this reviewers 3D glasses fog up on more than one occasion.

Whilst the first 3/4 of the movie hits all the right marks with great humour (Don Rickles really stood out for me in the ensemble cast behind Hanks and Allen much more in this one, and Ken voiced by Michael Keaton had his moments...), a few scares (yup this one does get a little bit scary, but so was the first one with that kid Sid, remember him and his toys?), and some wonderful adventurous sequences, I must say, just be prepared for one of the most heart tugging last quarters of any animated film you've ever experienced.

This will be one of the best three films this year, and is easily the best film so far!

This is the awaited remake of the 1984 John Avildsen classic, this time Daniel-San is now Dre (played by Jaden Smith) and instead of moving with his mom (Taraji P Henson) from the East Coast to the West Coast, they move from Detroit to Beijing. Being there he struggles to fit in, and is bullied, and, well it follows pretty much the same pattern as the original - replacing Karate with Kung Fu, replacing Mr Miyagi with Mr Han, and replacing Elizabeth Shue's character with "Meiling" played by Wenwen Han.

This is not a terrible movie, but it's so hard to live up to the performances of the 80's classic. You feel as if Jaden Smith as Dre is trying to find his stride in the beginning, but finds it as the movie goes on. As much as I love Jackie Chan who is perfectly cast here, there is not enough of him in this movie to develop the character the way Pat Morita gave his Oscar nominated performance as Mr Miyagi. And who can dismiss the power of the score from the original Bill Conti - James Horner's music is adequate, but the tournament sequence is not the same without "You're the Best Around" by Joe Esposito as cheesy as it may seem.

The antagonists are a plus in this movie, young Zhenwei Wang is stellar as the "Johnny" character named Cheng, and Rongguang Yu as Master Li embodies evil. What this rendition is not able to capture in heart, is made up for in the fighting - the sequences of fighting are a lot more intense here than the original.

I cannot help thinking about this one being more of a money making venture for tourism in China, and the keeping of the title as a reference point even though there is no Karate in it. Not bad, just not Karate Kid.

Grew up on this one... so I was looking forward to it despite what I'd heard from Mr T...

In the rehashed movie version, Hannibal (Liam Neeson) and his band of merry men, big man BA Barracus (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson), Face (Bradley Cooper) and the ever crazy Murdock (Shalto Copley - the show stealer for me: remember him from District 9?) are sent to go home from Iraq, when they discover that US money printing plates have been stolen, and need to be recovered. They find themselves caught in a web of corruption where they end up being blamed for playing a part in being corrupt and are stripped of their titles in the military. What will they do? Of course you can't keep a good man lying down.

Though the movie is not perfect (Jackson is still coming into his own, but it's hard to play a character that was so memorable as Mr.T's version), but is definitely a ton of fun. Plenty of quick witty lines, and a ton of explosions, just like the original. Enter Jessica Biel who gives her best performance I've ever seen in a film, and you've got a check on the right side of memorable remakes. Definitely over the top - but I loved the over-the-top-ness about it...

If you are a fan of good fun action films, then this is one remake that you might turn your brain down a bit and turn up the laughs. Well worth checking out... Even if Brian Bloom is looking really old now...

Now where is that Macgyver remake?

(does contain a fair amount of violence, and a bit of offensive language)

Hmmm... Persians with English accents

Prince of Persia is based on the video game which has an orphan by the name of Dustan (Jake Gyllenhaal) who caught the eye of the King and was adopted into the royal Persian family as a prince among two other princes. After capturing a major city and it's royal princess, the King is mysteriously killed, and Dustan is blamed for the murder. He spends the bulk of this time running away in a parkour-fashion away from the Persians. Yes this is the Persian version of the Fugitive... well at least somewhat.

Despite the scenery, the massive amounts of visual stimulation, primarily by the way of CGI and effects, Jake Gyllenhaal struggles to carry this movie which easily could have been deemed "The Mummy 4". Yet another movie that proves that it requires a lot more than 2 hours of eye candy to make a good movie. Although the ending gave a satisfying sense of resolve, this felt like about 3 or 4 other Disney movies, with more blood than I've ever seen (well, I won't say who the villain is, but the Jafar references were so clear, I was waiting for a parrot to appear. Oh and Alfred Molina as a more hefty Jack Sparrow and Destan/Orlando Bloom). Not terrible, but definitely easily forgettable.

This is it... or is it?

I don't know about you but I thought the last Shrek installment was one of the worst, most blatant money making attempts in recent history, so when this fourth installment was about to be released, I wasn't that excited to see it.

When I got the chance to see it though with my daughter and a friends family (thanks Josh and Nani!) I was surprised. I actually enjoyed this installment which has Shrek as a family ogre with Fiona and their three ogre babies, finding himself in a perceived rut wishing he could go back to the old days of solo mudbaths and scaring everyone again. Enter Rumplestilskin who offers to give it to him, at a cost...

This is the "It's a Wonderful Life" sequel that is a nice bow on the end of this rather uneven franchise. Though nowhere near as good as the first two, it definitely is a vast improvement, and somewhat of an acceptable apology for the third one.

Ridley Scott puts his stamp on the Robin Hood story, showing Robin Longstride's (Russell Crowe) transition from an archer in the lionhearted King Richard's army, to taking a band of merry men with him in hopes of preserving his home town and becoming the unlikely hero that Nottingham is looking to be it's guardian. I won't spoil the plot of the film, but lets just say that circumstances change, and supposedly trustworthy people turn massively, leaving the Kingship, and namely Robin Hood to weave through the sea of untrustworthiness to restore integrity to the people and ultimately to the crown... will it happen?

This take is unique from previous efforts to capture the tale of Robin, whether it's Costner to Errol Flynn, the difference here is that it plays out as a prequel: how he meets Marion (played wonderfully by Cate Blanchett) Little John (Kevin Durand) and Friar Tuck (Mark Addy) and the rest of the band of merry men.

Kudos to all the actors, particularly Crowe, Blanchett, the villain actor of the hour: Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac as King John and the veteran Max Von Sydow et al. It has the right ingredients, but unfortunately falls short towards the end in the area of plot, particularly at the end (the final battle scene felt contrived and long winded).

Worth seeing, especially for those who couldn't get enough of the Gladiator pairing of Scott and Crowe (or Body of Lies).

I must admit it's been a while since I saw the original District 13 (what is it with all the sequels that come out this time of year?), and so I did get the actual district concept of District 13 a little mixed up with District 9 and Bruce Willis' Surrogates from last year.

From the get go I was a little disappointed with the dubbing into English from the original French (I'd prefer solid subtitling it's a distraction sometimes) - sure I'm a massive fan of the parkour or freerunning as either a sport or an art-form, but you really can't shape a complete movie around it can you? This encounter has Captain Damien Tomaso (Cyril Laffaeli) and Letto (the legendary inventor of Parkour, David Belle) from the first installment back in the district in an attempt to unify the varying sectors lords to take down the corrupt government services.

The action sequences are exhilirating - and has Luc Beeson fingerprints all over it. But it does take a lot more than this to make a solid film, and that unfotunately is what leaves District 13: Ultimatum a fun watch, but a hollow one at the same time.

(contains violence, coarse language and drug use)

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is back - this time having to prove the need for Iron Man as a renegade hero that is not tied down to a particular government organization, mostly in a proud and cocky manner. Most of his friends can bear with his prideful shenanigans including his loyal buddy Lt Col James Rhodes (Terrence Howard was swapped out for Don Cheadle - both excellent actors).
But there is an underlying secret that he is keeping from everyone, including Pepper Potts his loyal assistant (Gwyneth Paltrow), one that i won't divulge in revealing here. All it takes though is one hater with knowledge, strength and resource to take him down, and being a sequel, he has not one, but two enemies to fend off - the sinister Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) provides the knowledge and strength, and the resourceful yet corrupt and bumbling mogul Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell).

The strength in this one is definitely the stellar cast. Add Samuel Jackson and Scarlett Johansson to the already stacked list of aforementioned great actors, and you definitely have a wonderful team to work with. Everyone of them brings their A-Game. Unfortunately this is also the weakness in most sequels that usually deliver more bang, less material. This is no different unfortunately - where as the first Iron Man movie had us praising Downey for his take on the Stark role, that was his come back role. Since then we've had a decent dose of Downey in such movies as Sherlock Holmes, The Soloist and of course his oscar nominated role in Tropic Thunder. So his performance here comes as no surprise as the last one did, although he is excellent in this role. The storyline seems to be a lot more scattered this time, and although guys will love the gadgetry and the action, there is not as strong a stick as the first one. It's not a bad movie, it's good - it's just always going to be compared to the first one which was a near classic.

(adult content, violence and some language may offend)

Donnie Yen is back in the role he's played in my opinion, since "Iron Monkey" - the master of Bruce Lee, Ip Man. This time he finds himself in Hong Kong having to face a new enemy - the Colonials. Initially he tries to start teaching his wing chun methods to students there, only to find that there is much rivalry amongst other martial arts schools in the area, who all seem to be under the jurisdiction of Hung Jan Nam (the legendary Sammo Hung). Upon confronting Hung, Ip Man finds that there is an even more impending threat to his teaching in the Colonials.

I've always loved Donnie Yen as a martial arts movie star - and prefer him in these more classical roles than the modern day ones, and think that he deserves to take the baton from Jet Li if he decides to cross over as an international star. This movie, although it is not the classic that the first one was, definitely plays the Rocky 2 role to the originals classic feel. The Rocky bites are there - the training montage, the strong wife, the rival who becomes a compadre, even down to the bad acting enemy from another country. But hey, we loved the Rocky movies for the most part. This one is well worth the view, and a must see for any fan of the genre.

Shawn Levy (son of Eugene, director of "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Night at the Museum") has the honour to direct two of the most prolific TV actors of our time: Steve Carrell and Tina Fey in "Date Night". This is the tale of Phil and Clare Foster, who have found their marriage in a dry patch - exhausted in parenthood and in routine, it all comes to a head when they go on a "Date Night" and decide to be adventurous. It unfortunately backfires when they are mistaken for another couple who are in trouble with the both the law and the outlaw.

Definitely for adults this one in terms of language and theme, this movie does ride on the strong performances of Carrell and Fey, and is made enjoyable when the two are in improvisational mode. The cameos with Mark Wahlberg are hilarious, and although the movie does wear thin fast as far as plot is concerned, it's the Carrell and Fey show all the way. Whether for a laugh or for couple self analysis, this makes for a decent date night movie.

This is the tale of Benjamin Purviss, a budding home-schooled teen author who has his sci fi tale that he wrote as a tribute to his dead father, stolen and plagiarized by his hero - the accomplished sci fi writer Dr Ronald Chevalier (NZ's own Jemaine Clement) who himself is suffering from writers block.

The movie has many side characters including a vhs home film director (Nacho Libre's Hector Jimenez) reminiscent of the "sweded" films from Be Kind Rewind, and an awkward mentor (Mike White). The film shifts between the scenes of Benjamin's plight, and the enactment of the stories: both Purviss' and Chevaliers' starring Sam Rockwell.

Maybe it was because I had so much riding on this one - the movie fails to have the charm, ye the humour, of Jared Hess' previous films, which are now considered off beat classics (Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite). The attempts at laughs feel forced, for example, I've never seen so much vomiting in one film. The story feels borrowed from Big Fat Liar, and by the first half hour, I was ready to throw in the towel. This is unfortunately third time unlucky for Hess, but I'll still anticipate what he has to offer in coming times.