Rough Magic (1995)
Jul 6, 2000Magical Realism
Venture into Magical Realism with Bridget Fonda as a magician's assistant who undergoes a Mexican ceremony to emerge with real magical powers. Featuring a young Russell Crowe.
Jim Broadbent
Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997)
Oct 31, 2005Scandanavian Murder Mystery/SF Twist
Adapted from an acclaimed book, Julia Ormond stars as an Icelandic heroine in a detective story with an SF twist
The Borrowers (1997)
Jul 16, 1999Miniature People Adventures
Amiable adaptation of Mary Norton's books about a family of miniature people that live in hiding in a human house. Aimed for big scale effects and slapstick set-pieces but sufficiently engaging nevertheless
The Avengers (1998)
Dec 16, 1999Chic Spies/TV Series Remake
The Avengers was the height of 1960s chic. Amid the 90s/00s fad for big screen remakes of tv shows, this was a miscalculated disaster that gets everything about the original wrong from the casting to the droll humour
Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
Aug 21, 2014Jules Verne Comedy Adaptation
Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel is turned into a comedy vehicle for Jackie Chan. One of Chan’s biggest flops, an overblown turkey packed with celebrity cameos and replacing Verne’s adventure with incredibly unfunny slapstick
Robots (2005)
Apr 11, 2005Animation/Cute Robots
Enjoyably likeable animated film from Blue Sky Studios set in a world inhabited by robots. Lots of visual invention and madcap slapstick
Valiant (2005)
Jan 7, 2006Animation/Talking Carrier Pigeons
Amiable British animated film set amongst the Allied Resistance during World War II, all cast with talking carrier pigeons
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Dec 15, 2005Epic Fantasy Adventure/Magical Otherworld
The film adaptation of C.S. Lewis's book sought to appeal to audiences for the Lord of the Rings films but between Lewis's heavy-handed Christian allegories and Andrew Adamson's inexperience as a director fails to fly
Inkheart (2008)
Apr 27, 2010Man Can Bring Fictional Characters to Life
Another failed attempt to start a fantasy franchise. However, the interesting premise of someone who can bring fictional characters to life ends up going goes precisely nowhere
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
May 25, 2008High Adventure/Alien Artefacts
The fourth of the Indiana Jones films, returning after a 19 year gap to general disappointment. Largely a film about Indy getting old, this tries but the action scenes pale against what the series was in its heyday
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Jul 17, 2009Young Wizard
Sixth of the Harry Potter films, this feels like a step back from what its predecessor built up. The film suffers from trying to cram all of J.K. Rowling's book into its running time and ends up being frustratingly mannered
Arthur Christmas (2011)
Dec 15, 2011Animation/Santa's Son
An animated collaboration between Aardman and Sony Pictures Anomation. This has a good deal of eccentric charm that overcomes one’s dislike of the cloying sentiment of most Christmas films
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)
Jul 15, 2011Young Wizard
I've never been a huge fan of the Harry Potter series but the final chapter rounds out the boy wizard saga in rousing style, mounting an epic-sized battle and finding characters depths that hold some of the best writing of the series
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Oct 24, 2012Cross-Historical Epic
A cross-historical epic from The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer. An uneven film driven more by its determination we view it as an epic. Surely a studio publicist's nightmare, it grasps at the meaning of it all yet eludes telling audiences what it is about
Paddington (2014)
Jan 17, 2015Talking Bear
From the awful slapstick-heavy trailer, the prospects for this seem dismal – less Paddington Bear than a reprise of the live-action Yogi Bear. The finished result confounds expectation and the story of a small unassuming bear at large in the world comes full of considerable charm
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Jul 9, 2016Jungle Hero
A reasonable attempt to revive Tarzan. Tthis could almost be a sequel to Greystoke with more of an emphasis on adventure. Alexander Skarsgård broods his way through the title role.
Paddington 2 (2017)
Mar 18, 2018Talking Bear
Sequel to the 2014 film based on the much loved children's books … This comes with exactly the same mix of silliness, overblown slapstick and sweetness that made the first film work – albeit on a more elaborate budget – and succeeds with the same winning charms
Dolittle (2020)
Feb 29, 2020Doctor That Can Speak to Animals
This revival of the classic children's character who can speak to animals took a critical battering but I kind of liked it. It has a completely madcap slapstick tone and more crucially returns to the stories and banishes any bad memory of Eddie Murphy
A Boy Called Christmas (2021)
Dec 25, 2021Santa Claus Origin Story
Gil Kenan dips into motion-capture animation to make this charming and likeable Christmas film that in effect tells a Santa Claus origin story, one that works without drowning in saccharine sentiment
Paddington in Peru (2024)
Feb 21, 2025Talking Bear
Third of the Paddington series, this has more of an adventure film feel as it takes Paddington and the Browns to Peru in search of a lost city