MEN IN BLACK 3
Dir: Barry Sonnenfeld - Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin

Now I think about it, four suns seem a lot for this film. It's really a three-sun film but gets the extra one simply for Jermaine Clement's wonderful villain who, while not quite pipping Vincent D'Onofrio's bugged-out turn in the original, brings a welcome spark to this late franchise reboot.

The second film fell into the void of lazy pointless sequels by opting to simply rerun the same plot for a second time – at least here the story, as Will Smith heads back in time to stop the death of a younger Tommy Lee Jones is new.

That means that Tommy Lee is sadly relegated to the sidelines but some pitch perfect mimicry from Brolin as his younger self almost compensates, though his dynamic with Smith doesn't quite have the same frisson. In fact that is where things almost come unstuck. Smith's wise-guy persona seemed fresh and funky fifteen years ago but now often comes across as a rather contrived caricature.

That said, this does exactly what it says on the tin, and has laughs and bang up CGI effects. Which will do for this week.

In case last month's The Ledge didn't inspire enough vertigo, we now have big budget thriller Man On A Ledge wherein Aussie action hunk Sam Worthington takes time off from battling Titans to hang out, well, guess where? Since it's revealed in the trailer I don't think it's giving too much away to say that he's actually a diversion so his brother (Jamie Bell) can get some good old robbing done. Yes, it's a heist thriller of sorts, similar in tone to Spike Lee's Inside Man but, even if you thought that had some plot holes, little will prepare you for how absolutely illogically unbelievable this is. It looks good but you really – really - need to turn your brain off.
Lovers of England's sixties and seventies horror phenomenon Hammer Films will no doubt be chuffed to see their full return with The Woman in Black. It also marks the first big post-Harry Potter lead role for Daniel Radcliffe. He plays a widowed lawyer sent to evaluate an old estate only to find obstructive locals and the sort of ominous warnings that only appear in Gothic horror flicks. It seems that the area's children have been dying and villagers blame the titular woman or, at least, her ghost. The period setting (1910?) adds to the gloom and Radcliffe acquits himself well in a ghost story that revels in creepy atmospherics, disguising the slim nature of the plot.

Danny Trejo's ex-Vietnam vet has lived an anonymous existence for forty years when an internet video of him beating up two punks on a bus brings celebrity status as Bad Ass. Then his best friend is murdered, and with the LA police disinterested, he leaps into the investigative fray. What with Trejo's presence - and the title – this brings to mind the exploitation thrills of Machete but it's actually a much straighter affair. A conspiracy is uncovered but, clearly of more importance, a lot of people get beaten up along the way. Not exactly aiming high or even vaguely original, Bad Ass still delivers low-budget B movie fun.

The stylish and striking American indie Neverlost plunges directly into the troubled inner world of insomniac Josh, who narrates in a blackly humorous direct-to-camera monologue reminiscent of Fight Club. Popping sleeping pills to no effect he

becomes fixated on a lost college sweetheart and increasingly flips – Jacob's Ladder-style – between his unhappy marriage and an idyllic life with the ex-fiancée. It's an intriguing premise but, aside from Josh's ever-loosening grip on reality, not a lot really happens and the film, small and well-accomplished though it is, is ultimately less ambitious than it first appears.