Peter Rabbit (PG)
Directed by Will Gluck
★★★

THE GOOD news is that this sweet and charming modern take on Beatrix Potter's classic characters bears no resemblance to the film's appalling trailer.

Having got rid of the cantankerous old Mr McGregor (Sam Neill), Peter Rabbit (James Corden) and his siblings (Margot Robbie, Daisy Ridley and Elizabeth Debicki) and friends face a new enemy in the shape of McGregor's city-dwelling nephew Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson).

Not only does Thomas hate rabbits but he starts competing with Peter for the affections of their animal-loving neighbour Bea (Rose Byrne).

Colourful and fun, this action-packed animated live-action feature retains the charm and magic of Potter's lovable characters, with Corden capturing Peter Rabbit's mischievous and spirited nature to a T and Gleeson showing that he's an adept hand at comedy. There are plenty of visual gags, though the running one with a bemused cockerel doesn't quite hit the mark.

Guaranteed to keep little ones thoroughly entertained but not so much the Potter purists, I fear.

Maria Duarte

Mary Magdalene (12A)
Directed by Garth Davis
★★★

THERE is nothing of Cecil B DeMille’s sacred stars-and-spectacle approach to biblical drama in director Garth Davis’s somewhat stolid retelling of the story of Mary Magdalene, hallowed as a leading female disciple of Jesus and, slandered by the church, once dubbed a prostitute.

Visually, the film works and Davis is well served by cinematographer Greig Fraser and Italian locations creating a convincing double for the Holy Land.

Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett’s feminist-slanted screenplay follows Mary as she quits her small Holy Land fishing village and joins Jesus of Nazareth and his radical group. She stays with him until, abandoned by his male followers, she is present at the crucifixion and the resurrection. “Now I know you are the son of God!” she declares.

So far, so Sunday School.

The leads, however, are what really count here. Rooney Mara plays Mary with skill and sincerity and always manages to convince within the scripted bounds of a character who, at times, tends to be just a little too good for total conviction.

But, within that context, she dominates the narrative and the even better good news is that Joaquin Phoenix, who embarrassed himself last week with his surely legendary outbreak of unabashed scenery-chewing in You Were Never Really Here, makes up for that misfire. He plays Jesus here with commendable unaffectedness.

Alan Frank

My Generation (12A)
Directed by David Batty
★★★

AS TOLD through the eyes of film legend Sir Michael Caine, the story of the pop cultural revolution in the 1960s and the rise of the young working class is an inspiring one.

Narrated, produced and starring the Hollywood star, it's a wonderful snapshot of “swinging sixties” London and his own personal journey through them.

The use of archive footage, painstakingly intercut with recordings of Caine's conversations with the likes of David Bailey, Twiggy, Marianne Faithful and Paul McCartney, make this a real time-travel trip.

It's a fascinating look at the significant changes taking place at that time to the NHS and the welfare state, along with the thoughts of some of the key players in the worlds of art, music, film and fashion and how they had to fight to get noticed because of their working-class backgrounds. Caine states that, if the director of Zulu had been British, he would never have been cast as an officer and hence been given his big break, being a working class cockney.

Though no ground-breaker, the documentary provides additional colour and context and fresh insight from someone who epitomised the sixties — Caine himself.

MD

Tomb Raider (12A)
Directed by Roar Uthaug
★★★

FEMALE empowerment is showily celebrated in slam-bang style with the return to the screen of the brainy and athletic English archaeologist Lara Croft, initially a popular video game heroine and first played on screen by Angelina Jolie.

Director Roar Uthaug’s update, based on the hit 2013 Tomb Raider video game, has Alicia Vikander stepping into Jolie’s boots and she makes the role her own.

Armed only with determination and her abilities — no comic-book superpowers here — Croft leaves London and heads east to see if her missing long-vanished father is still alive on a mythical island off the coast of Japan.

She finds the island and her dad after lively close encounters of the combat kind in Hong Kong and then saves the world from Walton Goggins (Mathias Vogel) and his villains seeking the tomb of an ancient empress that holds the secret of world power.

There's enough action to exhaust Indiana Jones and it's this, along with attractive tropical locations and cinematic magic when needed — not narrative logic or depth of character — that’s the driving force of a noisy reboot.

Verdict? Low in logic. High in action.

AF

My Golden Days (15)
Directed by Arnaud Desplechin
★★★

BEAUTIFULLY acted and exquisitely executed, this captivating coming-of-age drama is a visual and emotional delight.

More than 20 years on, it has Mathieu Almaric reprising the role of Paul Dedalus in director Arnaud Desplechin's My Sex Life … or How I got into an Argument.

Paul, now an anthropologist, is about to finally head home from Tajikistan when he starts reminiscing about events in his youth, among them his mother's violent attacks of madness, his school trip to the USSR where he gave his identity to a young Russian and the rude but beautiful love of his life Esther (Emmanuelle Devos), whom he met when he was just 19.

Told in flashback, it captures the folly of youth and fractured memories to perfection. The performances are all top-drawer, especially by newcomer Quentin Dolmaire as the teenage Paul. He's certainly one to watch, as is this film.

MD