TED

The leap from the small to the big screen is often tried but rarely successful in either of the categories of critical acclaim or box office takings.

Macfarlane seems to know this and has acted accordingly. Instead of going for the easy-but-open-to-failure route of simply extending one of his TV shows into a feature-length running time, he has written and directed a fresh piece of work for his first foray into the medium of film.

However, for those of you who are now wary of this new direction and change from the creator of Peter Griffin, don't fret - this might not be an actual episode of Family Guy, but it's the nearest thing to it. Just like Malcolm In The Middle was like a live version of The Simpsons, Ted has ALL the trademarks of its surrogate father show present and correct. From cast all the way through to cut-away sequences that have no place being there, fans will know that Macfarlane's hand, and blue-languaged mouth, are all over this project.

And cleverly on his part, for those of you that have never "quite got" the wonderful weird humour that is Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show, there is more than enough fresh material and new actors to help those people differentiate it from its animated parents.

Narrated by American Dad alumni Patrick Stewart, we are told the simple story of a boy that even the beat-up Jewish kids won't play with - a boy so lonely that he wishes his favourite teddy bear could talk to him so they could be best friends forever. Amid the 80's posters and references ( Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom etc), we see the wish come true and a montage that shows the passing of time for both "thunder buddies for life" - Ted the magical bear being interviewed by Johnny Carson, both friends dressing up as E.T. and Elliot, the strangeness of graduation day and Wahlberg meeting Kunis.

Skip 30 years ahead and that's when the filthy fun really starts! Ted and Wahlberg's Johnny are happily drifting through life and still together, with the addition of Kunis' quietly suffering Lori under the same roof and into the mix. The basic plot of how friendship can be affected by the process of growing up has been depicted before - You, Me And Dupree - but here the added element of a beer swigging, coarse-mouthed bear is enough to make Andy and his favourite toys Woody and Buzz wanna head back to Daycare with their hands clamped firmly over their ears. Make no mistake, Ted is not for the easily offended. If you've seen any uncut episodes of Family Guy, you'll already know exactly how far the jokes can go and that no one is safe from the mirth-magnifying-glass. Over the years what has become more and more acceptable in films has now equated to the fact that you're still kind of shocked at what is said because the certificate here is only 15. The idea that a joke is a joke, and that no one should be above or beyond being at the end of one is run with throughout but strangely never seems to stray into the truly offensive arena but mostly into the "hand over mouth, oh no they didn't!" vicinity.

The non-bear cast are great with Kunis bit-by-bit breaking away from her put-upon, unwanted Meg character as Macfarlane's writing and her performance never let her fall into the so-easily-seen "hateful girlfriend" that tries to break up the long-life buddies. Wahlberg must have credit for treading the thin line of dumb schmuck that can't get his together and loyal friend torn between two individuals that he loves, without ever losing your faith in him. Except for one scene when he confides in McHale's wonderfully egotistical slimy Boss of Lori in a "man to man" pact that delivers one of the films best scenes where Ted has an unexpected guest arrive at his party - Flash Gordon himself! Not unlike the Mike Tyson surprise appearance in The Hangover, this one gets extra kudos points for keeping the gag running throughout the film and also the fact that both Ted and Johnny are star-struck every single moment that Flash is upon the screen.

What does come as a surprise however, is the emotional pull that the film is able to create with its audience. The final act, not to give too much away, sees events unfold where Johnny and Lori realise that they could lose Ted forever and put their "hanging by a thread" love life aside to unite to save the day. That a CGI'd bear that humps cash registers and wants to have strong words with Hasbro about his lack of bear/manhood can make you want to cry during the finale is truly a great feet of emotional manipulation on Macfarlane's part and of the technology that gave us Lord Of The Rings' Gollum and Avatar's Na'vi. You'll believe a bear can drink!

A wonderful mix of various types of humour, ranging from slapstick to shock, Ted is part 80's homage, part Toy Story (18 Cert ), part coming-of-age tale, part bro-mance, part love story, but mostly, it's the funniest film you would have seen in ages!

UK release date: 01.08.12

Certificate: 15

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Every film studio's marketing agency tries to bill their latest effort as "the most anticipated movie of the year!" Well, this time, one company have the right to use that slogan, but haven't. Now there's confidence for you!

2005 saw Christopher Nolan turn the superhero genre on its head with his realistic, reality-based Batman Begins. It wasn't until his 2008's The Dark Knight that the world woke up to the fact that Nolan had not only turned the genre around but would have redefined it for all of those that were to come. Now, the finale in Nolan's Batman trilogy is upon us and the pressure to not only perform to the standards of The Dark Knight but to also manoeuvre into the rare slot of "perfect trilogy" along with the likes of Toy Story and The Bourne franchises is all too real.

He's done it!

From the beginning reel, this is all about spectacle, story and surprise! For those of you that have recently watched the first two outings you will be rewarded with  a story arc that goes full circle and will have you smiling and nodding in appreciation at the cleverness of the script and its execution. It's that good. It's that engaging. It's that close to celluloid perfection. Each cinematic visit to Gotham has shown Nolan's increasingly deft hand at the action sequences as they, along with the scripts and performances, have built up to more and more breath-holding, armrest-clutching and mind-bending proportions. It now comes to the point where, especially when viewed in the IMAX format, that you seriously wonder how Warner Bros could reboot the Batman franchise and who would be brave and stupid enough to try.

The opening sequence here involving a Federal plane being hijacked whilst in flight is enough to equal, if not top Dark Knight's Joker-fuelled bank robbery for sheer visual opulence. The "jump-straight-into-the-story" scenario of a mid-flight kidnapping is something that any of the Bond films would sell Moneypenny to have on their CV and is made all the more enveloping to the viewer by being one of the many extended scenes filmed in the IMAX format. Here, Nolan along with his regular cinematographer Pfister, uses that format to fill the entire frame with a controlled cacophony of colour, conundrums, chaos and carnage. The stakes are the highest that they've ever been for the Batman and this is reflected in the set pieces that fill the screen and the imagination.

After such a striking intro, some audience members could feel that the following 45 minutes feel like abit of a "go slow" but this is where Nolan and co-writers Goyer and brother Jonathan Nolan take the time to introduce the new key players in memorable style and lay the groundwork for the finale by going over key points from Batman Begins and Dark Knight. One such player is Hathaway's Selina Kyle/Catwoman. By still keeping everything grounded in a heightened sense of reality, here the Pfeiffer interpretation of Catwoman in Burton's Batman Returns that sent hormonally overcharged males over the edge is a gone-but-not-forgotten memory. The overtly sexual chemistry that she delivered opposite Keaton's Batman is replaced here by Hathaway's coolness and banter with Bale's broken Bruce. Hathaway treads the thin line between help and hindrance to Bale's out-of-practise hero with the single goal of solitary survival - it's this characteristic that makes her so watchable without any camerawork that lovingly follows her form in the skintight catsuit.

Then of course there is Bane, the Bat's baddie this time round. Original fears that circled around the characters hard-to-understand voice are mainly unfounded - all is clear, and those lines of dialogue that aren't are easy to establish with Hardy's body language and his motivation - destroy Gotham and its protector, the Batman. Here, the threat to Bale's broken Bruce/Batman is all the more credible than before - Ra's Al Ghul wanted to mentor him; Joker wanted to play with him; Bane wants to destroy him. There is, especially tied in with the fact that this is Nolan and Bale's final Batman outing, a real sense that the Bat could bow out at any time whilst on the receiving end of Bane's fury.

The returning cast members, in true Nolan tradition, all have their own story lines and their parts to play in the return and the Rise of Batman. Caine, as loyal Wilfred, is still the anchor of reason and humanity for his master and as well as delivering alot of the humour still, this time he gets to hit the emotional target for the audience as he tries to speak some sense into Bale's heart-broken billionaire. Freeman as the Q of Bruce Wayne's world has the most diminished role of all the regular cast but still has the dry sense of wit that makes him a welcome addition each time he appears on the screen. The best revelation is Oldman's increasingly grizzled Gordon. With the knowledge of Harvey Dent's true demise haven eaten away at him for 8 years, Oldman gets the more accomplished story arc and remains the strongest link through all three films. That, plus he gets to have one of the more emotionally charged reveals in the final act.

What we have here, is the perfect end to a perfect trilogy. Nolan has delivered what many feared that he couldn't do - a film that could be equal to what was considered one of the best sequels committed to celluloid and the best superhero film of all time. Each fan will have their personal favourite out of the three adventures but they will like all of them regardless, and that is what separates these from the rest of the wanna be's. A film that has definitely been worth the wait and worth the hype.

UK release date: 20.07.12

Certificate: 12A

THE AMAZING SPIDER--MAN

A mere 5 years after the release of the luke-warm received third outing of the friendly neighbourhood's Spider-Man, the arrival of the web-slingers reboot has, not surprisingly, met with some resistance from the fans. "Too soon" came the cry across the Internet as the memory of director Sam Raimi and Tobey Maquire's Peter Parker still echoed around the minds and DVD players of people everywhere.

And, the thing is, for once, they're not that wrong. For anyone who has watched and liked any of the three Raimi-led adventures that spanned from 2002 through to 2007, there may be a definite feeling of deja-vu being served up by the new team of director Marc Webb and Andrew Garfield's Peter interpretation. The effects may have moved on in leaps and bounds - and trust me, there are leaps and bounds a-plenty to be seen throughout its 136 minute running time - but the story and its staging have not.

Sometimes its not fair to make comparisons, but some films just seem to call upon you to do so. When Nolan's Batman Begins arrived, no one sat and compared it to or thought about Burton's earlier franchise reboot simply titled Batman - 16 years separated them and also a totally different approach to not only the telling of the story, but the actual storyline itself. Those two major factors stopped all comparisons until The Dark Knight allowed people to compare Nicholson's original Joker with Ledger's depiction. Here though, the luxury and the sanity of those two fundamental factors, have been somewhat over-looked.

Webb, who delivered the wonderful (500) Days Of Summer showed that love in all its forms - doomed, destined, demented, demanding - was something that he was adept at portraying. This has not left him as the love story aspect of The Amazing Spider-Man comes through strong and thusly very engaging. Garfield's Parker isn't as nerdy as Maquire and Stone's Gwen is more alongside Dunst's love-interest Mary-Jane rather than Bryce-Howard's throw-away Gwen, but when the two share the screen together, they almost make you forget that upside-down kiss in the rain....almost! Garfield nails the awkward teenage boy asking the hot girl out at the beginning, but all-too-soon his shy side seems to disappear only to be replaced with a fairly confident man who has no persecution from the press or the Police for that long - no J.J. and The Daily Bugle to help keep him grounded and on his toes here, and Leary's Captain Stacy hardly works up a sweat for the vigilante.  That level of confidence took Maquire 3 outings to reach, and even then it was enhanced through a dangerous black-slimed Spidey suit.

Comedy is on-hand to help speed the proceedings along with most of it aimed at Garfield's reaction to his new powers - the crushing of an alarm-clock, the impossible task of applying tooth paste to a brush whilst half asleep, the knocking people out that want to cause him harm and apologising to them whilst doing so - which is then replaced with borderline cockiness - the "you've found my weakness - it's small knives!" line as he gets to grips (mostly on walls) with his abilities.

All this however is just smoke and mirrors to those who want to see a Summer Blockbuster and not some version of (500) Days Of Spidey - it's an adventure film with a superhero battling a big bad villain. Which is where Webb and co run out of steam alittle. Ifans' Lizard makes its appearance quite late in the day and never seems that hell-bent on destroying our hero - their eventual fights seems more perfunctory rather than prolific. The action sequences are good but that's not what most people will want after handing over their cash to the box-office... the likes of Avengers Assemble, Iron Man, Thor and The Dark Knight have all raised their own respective bars in the action-stakes and the ones here seem adequate as opposed to Amazing. And who wants to see The Adequate Spider-Man?

So, it's good but it needed to be better than that to comfortably sit apart from its slightly older sibling rather than squat in its shadow. The rally of the New York populace to Spider-Man and his plight to save them that featured in Spider-Man 2 gets a pale imitation here which has less of an impact since no one is really against him apart from The Lizard so why should we find it that stirring then? Oh, and the main reason why this has been advertised as a new beginning to the Spider-Man story where we find out that Peter Parker's parents had a secret that led him to becoming essentially orphaned and ending up with Uncle Ben and Aunt May - forgotten about and then ignored until a snippet that occurs during the end credits (so don't leave straight away if you see the set-up for the inevitable sequel.)

For those who have never seen the recent original trilogy, you will be pleased and in some places, awed at what Webb has done. For those of you who have seen AND liked them, you will find yourself mentally ticking off the comparisons whilst doing the occasional good laugh (Stan Lee's obligatory cameo is fantastic this time round) and semi-smile through-out.  With new franchise comes great responsibility.... MUST. TRY. HARDER.

UK release date: 03.07.12

Certificate: 12A

PROMETHEUS

Event movies seem ten-a-penny nowadays - every other week there's an "epic conclusion to the saga" or the "further adventures of..." demanding your attention and your cash. However, there's one filmatic event that has quietly been building up by word-of-mouth and loyal fan-base hysteria as bit-by-bit, clues about it have leaked out into our world.

Not labelled as a prequel to Scott's original game-changer Alien back in 1979, instead, his return to the sci-fi universe has been referred to as having the same DNA as his franchise-spawning horror where "In space no one can hear you scream." It turns out that this isn't just pompous marketing propaganda, but quite accurate - DNA is key to Prometheus. Alongside with the question of faith and how far would you go and what you would experience before you lose yours. Yep, Scott is back walking around on deep territory.

For those of you who have invested in the franchise that Scott unwittingly started some 33 years ago, you may find yourself in Marmite land - you'll either love it or hate it. This ultimately will give hints and suggestions to the questions you never knew you had in you regarding the Alien mythology rather than answer them directly. Prometheus straddles the divide between "stand alone film," "existing franchise builder" and by the end credits, a possible "new franchise starter." For people willing to open up to the possibilities that there can be more questions to Alien related films other than "where did they come from?" and "who's the new Ripley?" they will be rewarded with a plethora of, admittedly more left-of-field conundrums such as "what the hell?" and "where's the Space Jockey with the burst-through ribcage?" This is definitely not a direct prequel. Nor is it a horror set in space.

Dark, abandoned and unloved corridors are not present to have you gripping your armrest - here the varying degrees of terror comes from not being chased by the unknown but by one of the greatest fears around - man's own stupidity, ignorance and desires. Like Burke "fucking people over for a goddamn percentage" in Aliens, it's what the crews intentions and reactions are that drive the moments of nail-biting. Now, with an extended crew count here - listed as 17 on the ships log - Prometheus does suffer somewhat from in-depth characterisation that the smaller body counts of Alien and Aliens had. There's not enough time for all of the crew to step into the spotlight to have you care enough about them when the shit hits the fan. So when two characters make the ultimate sacrifice, their act does not have the impact it should have had due to them being left on the side-lines once the landing on the planet and the discoveries start to unfold. The emphasis is on the few rather than the many.

The few central characters however are given more than ample time to win you over or to be despised for either their lack of humanity or intelligence. Rapace, the nearest thing to Weaver's female-empowering Ripley, is the films more-theological anchor to the "why are we here?" plot as opposed to Weaver's more survival-instincted "how do I get away from here?" female heroine. The more self-preservation aspect is secured to Theron's seemingly ice-cold corporate executive who represents Weyland Corporation aboard the ship. Her stand-offishness allows for uncertainty about her intentions and origins and one of the films many surprisingly funny moments - her one being with Elba's no-nonsense Captain and the most unusual way of asking for sex committed to recent celluloid memory. The biggest surprise is Fassbender's artificial David - a perfect mix of Holm and Henriksen's "artificial person" that wiles away the years of hyper sleep by basketball-cycling and developing his A.I. to levels that could prove disastrous to everyone onboard. An enquiring mind, regardless of whether its composed by wires or synapses and not bound by a fear of consequences  is a dangerous mix, especially on an unknown planet with a collection of vases that hold either death or re-birth, depending on your point of view.

The characterisation maybe uneven where all the cast is concerned but where there is no inconsistency is the visuals and the tech throughout the film. The rundown, low paygrade levels of Alien and Aliens have been replaced by Weyland Corporations trillions of dollars investment to explore new worlds and new possibilities at the behest of its creator - Pearce's ages-old Peter Weyland. Everything is sumptuous and eye-dazzling to the point where the less-tense, more talky sequences can still hold the viewers attention with the ingenious tech in the background or scenery throughout. Although the glorious tech actually helps rather than distracts in one of the more nerve-shredding sequences where an emergency operation is required that is frankly, outstanding in the field of horror/thriller.

So, just like The Phantom Menace seemed to have nothing to do with the events of A New Hope, Prometheus seemingly is light years from its DNA sibling Alien. However, with its open-ending and some small but significant  irregularities - the planet is LV223 and not LV426; the Space Jockey is absent from his chair - there is still a bridge to build from this foundation that should span from here to there. As David says before he wittingly unleashes hell -"big things have small beginnings." And those words not only ring true but have an even greater emphasis once we hopefully see what happens after the events of LV223 are brought back to the big screen.

UK release date: 01.06.12

Certificate: 15

MOONRISE KINGDOM

An acquired taste. Many directors fit into this category - Woody Allen, David Cronenberg - and Wes Anderson firmly sits alongside those individuals.

So far his cinematic efforts - The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Rushmore - have garnered critical praise but not a huge fanbase. A strong, but small cult collective following could be an apt description. But it looks like that could all be about to change.

The best way to describe Anderson's latest is as if The Cohen Brothers took a stab at doing their version of the recent British flick Submarine. Their quirky humour, the oddball characters, the delirious dialogue - the benchmarks of all of The Cohen Brothers outputs are present and correct here in Anderson's tale of young love that can't be contained by an island, Scout leaders, vengeful Scout troops or an impending storm. Yes, it's that kind of a movie!

From the get-go, Anderson has the camera move through, conveyor-belt style, a house that ends up looking and feeling like a full scale doll's house. The automated dolly shots introduces the viewer to one half of the young "lovers" family as they gather round and listen to a vinyl deconstruction of classical music on a portable record player whilst Mum (a restrained McDormand) and Dad (a spaced out Murray) sit in separate rooms. The introduction to the wayward other love interest, sees his escape, Shawshank Redemption style from his Scout tent, much to the shock and incredulous look of disbelief of Norton's brilliant Scout Master. That one of his charges would willingly resign from the Scouts is unthinkable to him.

Now, the first few Harry Potter's had the issue of a fantastic mature cast to dazzle the audience but they were still only the sideline characters - the story had to rest on the shoulders of the then under-performing youths (Radcliffe, Grint and Watson) which pulled back some of the suspension of disbelief and enjoyment of the films. Here, the mature cast is exceptional - already mentioned are Murray, McDormand, Norton. However there is Keitel in fine strong, superior cameo mode and once again Willis in the understated and quietly scene-stealing performance that woke everyone up to what he could do in The Sixth Sense. That said though, they are still secondary to the two young kids that experience the first blossoming of true love that find themselves drawn to each other partly due to their not-too-happy childhood lives - he an orphan that isn't liked by his peers and she the "mis-understood" child of the family. Gilman is easily believable as the boy who just doesn't fit in and Hayward is 'sit-up-and-take-notice" fantastic as the girl who would start off the islands biggest search and rescue mission involving Police, Scouts, worried parents and the epitome of evil - Social Services, played coldly by Swinton.

As all the threads start to come together to form a deliriously OTT finale, you still find yourself either laughing at a look or a line from any member of the cast or the mounting absurdity of the situation as each character gets to play their pivotal role in the proceedings. The effects are low-budget, but that only adds to the charm, and you can even forgive Anderson for doing a Benny Hill-esque sequence where Gilman is chased by a horde of angry Scouts in a field, all speeded up!

A charming delight from start to finish,and  just like Submarine, it's a representation of a childhood that part of you wishes you had experienced.

UK release date: 25.05.12

Certificate: 12A