MONSTERS VS ALIENS (PG)

Fast-paced and peppered with cute visual gags, Monsters Vs Aliens is a blast from eye-popping start to uproarious finish, especially in cinemas projecting in jaw-dropping 3D.

A green, glowing meteorite lands on fun-loving Susan Murphy on her wedding day. Before her husband to be has a chance to say “I do”, Susan grows in size until she stands an impressive 49 feet and 11 inches tall.

Wedding guests flee and Susan is held hostage by the military in a secret government compound with fellow captives inventor Dr Cockroach PhD, half-ape half-fish The Missing Link, indestructible gelatinous mass B.O.B. and a 350-feet long grub called Insectosaurus.

Rating: Four stars

THE BOAT THAT ROCKED (15)

The year is 1966, a golden era for rock ’n’ roll in this country, but BBC radio plays a mere 45 minutes of pop music a day. Thus, around 25 million listeners tune into pirate radio stations, which devote every waking (and sleeping) minute to music. One such station is Radio Rock. The DJs are a motley crew of misfits with one thing in common: a passion for vinyl.

As Government ministers try to shut down pirate radio stations, the captain’s grandson, recently expelled from school, joins Radio Rock for the summer, in the hope that he might mend his ways.

The Boat That Rocked, rocks and rolls to a thumping soundtrack including The Beach Boys, Jeff Beck, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and The Who

Rating: Three stars

THE DAMNED UNITED (15)

In the annals of modern British football, Brian Clough remains one of the most charismatic, bullish and successful figures. He is still the only domestic manager to win back-to-back European cups.

Steeped in nostalgia and blessed with an endearing performance from Michael Sheen as the so-called ’greatest England manager we never had’, this valentine to the former darling of Nottingham Forest shoots and scores on many levels.

Rating: Four stars

TRAITOR (12A)

Exploiting the disparity between fact and illusion, Traitor is a taut thriller of political intrigue and espionage.

Central to the nightmarish plot is an undercover operative, apparently embedded within a terrorist cell to bring it down from the inside, whose dubious actions continually suggest an ulterior motive.

Like the characters, we’re left in the dark for most of the film. A couple of twists don’t ring true and the ending signals its sly intentions far too early.

Rating: Three stars

DUPLICITY (12A)

Words are meaningless in this comic caper – everyone is bluffing to some extent. We don’t know who to trust – if anyone – as the intricate plot unfolds, right up to the final frame. CIA officer Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) and MI6 agent Ray Koval (Clive Owen) leave behind government intelligence to employ their expertise in the cutthroat world of big business.

Frothy and energetic, we’re compelled to take sides as the battle of the sexes escalates into an all-out war.

Rating: Four stars

LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLERS (15)

Stars of the brilliant, and deservedly, award-winning sitcom Gavin & Stacey, star in this juvenile horror spoof. Clumsy, dull, and almost completely starved of laughs, Lesbian Vampire Killers has the duo huffing and puffing all the way to the village of Cragwich, blissfully unaware that the locals have been cursed for centuries by Carmilla, the Lesbian Vampire Queen. The two join forces with a campervan full of sexy, foreign student girls to despatch Camilla and her undead minions.

Rating: Three stars

PAUL BLART: MALL COP (PG)

Size matters, especially when deciding who to poke fun at, in this politically incorrect, comic spin on Die Hard, set in a New Jersey shopping centre under siege from armed robbers. Instead of lean, mean Bruce Willis in a sweaty-drenched vest, Paul Blart: Mall Cop places its trust in the sweaty palms of an overweight, lovesick father, whose dreams of joining the state police are thwarted by his body. But a group of highly organised criminals who target the mall on Black Friday have Paul going from zero to hero.

Rating: Three stars

MARLEY & ME (PG)

Animal lovers will go bow wow wow for this comedy-drama about one man’s journey of self-discovery with a mischievous Labrador.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston star as a young couple struggling to juggle professional and parental responsibilities as well as Marley, the tiny, adorable bundle of fun that soon grows into 100 pounds of uncontrollable energy, chewing up anything and everything in the couple’s home.

Only the stone coldest heart – or a cat lover – would fail to be moved by the outcome of this movie.

Rating: Four stars

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