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From the animators of Shrek comes another grahical piece of eye candy for the kids.

How to Train Your Dragon is a tale about a young, accident-prone Viking who befriends a dragon. The problem is his village has been as war with the flying reptiles for centuries.

Hiccup manages to shoot a dragon down following another attack on his village. The next day he goes in search of it, only to find he's injured the creature's tail and it can't fly properly. Hiccup feels obliged to help the creature and the two secretly become friends.

Inevitably though like all films that have used this basic story before, his secret gets found out. Then it is a race against time to save the other villagers.

The film is nice in 3D but nothing special. If you opted for the 2D option you would not miss much. The story is a little bland, there are no clever plot twists or surprises along the way.
And Hiccup's voice seems to be monotone all the way through.

But with that aside the film is really good. The visuals, especially during flight scenes are beautiful and there's some good gags. Kids will definitely enjoy it.

Tim Burton's take on the children's classic, Alice in Wonderland does not disappoint.

Although seeing it in 3D is not quite as good as some other movies out just now and the plot is not as grown-up as originally portrayed it is still a good revamp of a story most of us only recall through Disney's earlier cartoon version.

If you did not like Disney's original cartoon film you will likely have reservations about this one. But rest assure they are ill-founded.

The story is simple enough for children to follow and the acting is good enough to keep the adults happy. Although the depth to characters is somewhat wanting.

Alice returns to Wonderland at the age of 19 and must confront the Red Queen who has taken over the land.

But Alice is convinced that she is only dreaming her experiences. She also believes her first adventures there when she was six years old was the stuff of dreams.

But it is not until the end of the film that it dawns on her that Wonderland is a real place. This is despite enough clues earlier on in the movie that would hit most other people like a brick. The audience will be forgiven for thinking that she is a little slow.

Jame Cameron can breathe a sigh of relief as his big budget intergalatic flick has won audiences the world over.

Many thought the multi-million pound movie would not live up to the initital hype generated by select preview groups who saw it last summer once released to a global audience.

But luckily for James Cameron it did.

Avatar tells the tale of former marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who is given a second chance after he becomes disabled. Jake is asked to travel to the jungle-covered world on Pandora to carry-on where his twin brother left off before he died.

Through the use of mentally controlled, homegrown blue aliens Sam and his colleagues must infiltrate the native population of Pandora to win their hearts and minds. Unbeknown to the aliens, their village lies on top of a very rare metal which the army wants to sell for millions.

Sam is ordered to gain their trust and provide strategic information for his bosses so they can extract the metal by force if necessary. However, spending time with the natives allows him a new take on life.

With breath taking graphics and a deeply emotive storyline, Avatar is a movie that is difficult to falter besides the aliens sometimes looking cartoony around the eyes.

Just when you thought the Disney Pixar shed would be running out of ideas for good films they go ahead and release this little gem.

A film not as hyped as some other previous titles, Up is nevertheless one of the better films to come out of the Pixar stable.

Seventy-eight-year-old Carl feels life has passed him by following the death of his wife. As a youngster he had always dreamed of travelling on an adventures but somehow never quite got round to it.

Following a row that gets out of hand with a construction site worker, it is decided Carl should be sent to a retirment home. However, the old zoo entertainer escapes by turning his home into a flying contraption with balloons.

It is then that he discovers Russell, a young scout he met a few days before clinging to his porch for dear life. Putting up with the ever inquisitive eight-year-old Carl continues his journey to the mystical Paradise Falls where he hopes to land his home and live out the rest of his days in peace.

But it is when they arrive and meet 'Kevin', a bizarre, blue coloured, over-sized ostrich-like bird that their adventure really takes off.

The CGI in Up is of noticable better quality than compared to some previous Pixar titles but without losing its cartoon magic. The tale is pacey with a slow introduction to the main characters and riddled with good one liners throughout (especially from the talking dogs).

Up is in cinemas now.

It's not often that a film made by South African filmmakers makes it into the global movie market. But District 9 appears to be an exception.

The movie tackles the idea of aliens "living among us" in a new light to other science fiction films that have gone before us. Forgiving the clique, there is a slightly more realistic element to it in terms of how the human race would deal with the arrival of aliens (contrary to the generic Holywood alien movies that lead us to believe that all extra-terrestrials are only here to kill us and destroy the planet for no adequetely explained point or advantage).

After an alien ship arrives above the city of Johannesburg the people of Earth fear a forthcoming invasion. However, after three months of hovering above the city and no hint of its purpose the vessel is boarded.

After discovering a group of aliens who appear to have survived some sort of plague onboard the ship the South African Government takes the step of rehoming the survivors in a refugee camp which later becomes known as District 9.

20 years later, tensions between the aliens and humans begin to reach boiling point. Things are made even worse when the government turns over control of the slum to a private company known as MNU.

The company appoints one of its officers, Wikus, to start relocating the aliens to a new refugee camp some miles away known as District 10. But during the inspection of an alien residence Wikus messes with a device which shoots black liquid into his face.

It is not long afterwards he is seeking their help after his arm begins to mutate and his own company come after him.

District 9 is shot in a documentary like style reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project. Although not really scary, the film does take on a paranoid atmosphere which leaves one questioning whether the aliens are merely harmless refugees or infact are a threat.

District 9 is in cinemas now.

Eight years and six movies later you would think the popularity of the Harry Potter locomotive would have begun to wane at least a couple of years back.

But unlike other popular franchises which keep churning out films until the point they're so bad that they never get a cinema release anymore, Harry Potter still knows how to draw a crowd despite many fans giving the latest edition very mixed reviews.

Many fans have dubbed the film 'Harry Potter and the teenage hormones' and you don't have to watch very long to figure out why.

The characters seem to spend more time trying to get-off with love interests who are attracted to others rather than them than actually trying to save the wizarding world and the human world from utter destruction. They also seem more content playing Quidditch than stopping the end of the world.

The story revolves around Harry Potter being left disillusioned since his visit to the Ministry of Magic in the previous film with the evil Voldemort and wanting to drop out of school. However, he is encouraged back by some of his peers.

All the while strange smoke creatures that bare a similar resemblance to the smoke monster on Lost attack London and kidnap a wand maker by the name of Mr. Ollivander.

Harry's rival Severus Snape becomes drawn into the dark arts and Harry and Dumbledore learn that Voldemort is someone one again at large...for the sixth time.

If you're not read any of the books this movie will likely leave you confused. Fans who follow Harry Potter religously will also be disappointed by this latest helping. But you can look on the bright side, one more film and this dead donkey will finally hit the floor.

With the kids on their summer holidays what better way to get them out of the house and into the cinema than the latest chapter in the Ice Age story.

Sid the sloth steals three dinosaur eggs longing for a family of his own. But as soon as he thinks he has got off without any consequences the mother turns up. Sid find himself taken captive and whisked off to an underground world where the dinosaurs still live.

Friends Manny, Ellie and Diego go in search of him in a world where they are the first choice on everyone's menu. And Scrat the squirrel is still on the hunt for that ever elusive nut.

The animation has improved very little compared tot he revious two movies which is a little disappointing considering the original came out seven years ago now. The third film also appears to have lost some of the lustre of its predecessors with tiresome jokes.

Scrat spending the entire first movie trying to nab an elusive acorn was hilarious in the second film it was still funny if not entirely original but now it is just reprtitive and dull.

That said if your kids are under the age of 10 or not seen any of the others in a while they will still really enjoy Ice Age 3.

If you did not grow up in the eighties or have a family of young children at that time then you will likely feel as alien to this movie as the characters are themselves compared to the original TV cartoon series.

For those unfamiliar with these old toons and the modern movies, Transformers focuses around a group of giant alien robots who can change shape into vehicles. As silly as the concept sounds the formula has spawned a multi-million dollar franchise for over two decades.

In the first Transformers (2007) a good group of robots known as the Autobots arrive on Earth to locate a mysterious life-giving cube known as the All Spark. Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) and his girlfriend Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) become the unwitting owners of one of the autobots (Bumblebee) when he is disguised as a car. But to find the All Spark they end up fighting a group of evil robots known as the Decepticons.

The second installment catches up with Sam two years later as he is about to embark on his move to college. But on arriving he discovers an odd piece of rock in his belongings.
Looking into the piece, Sam effectively downloads ancient knowledge of the Transformers.

Not long afterwards the Decepticons return to Earth with reinforcements, hell bent on revenge over the destruction of the All Spark in the previous movie.

The CGI in the film is stunning, especially when you consider the amount of detail on each character. If you have kids they will love the effects as much as the fight scenes (which five-year-old doesn't want to see giant alien robots beating chunks out of one another?). And there's enough of a human element as well as jokes to keep the adults happy throughout.

Christian Bale returns for what he hopes will be another summer blockbuster (although we doubt it ourselves) after last year's runaway hit, Batman: the Dark Knight.

But if you have seen both films you will be forgiven for getting the impression that Terminator Salvation is a futuristic version of the latter film given Bale's inability to change acting personas.

Like Keanu Reeves, Christian Bale seems to give the same broody, glum and often wooden performance in every film role he plays and playing John Connor is no exception.

This movie is the first in the series not to feature Arnold Schwarzeneggarand none of the cast from the third installment. This will likely be an instant turn-off point for diehard fans of the first two movies.

Terminator Salvation skips ahead to 2018, after machines have rebelled against mankind and for some very generic, (if slightly pointless reason) are trying to kill every last person on the planet. Spurred on by the evil Skynet software programme, it is up to John Connor (Christian Bale) to lead the human resistance against the killer machines.

If you have not seen the original movie, a man by the name of Kyle Reece travels back in time to protect John's mum in the 1980's from a terminator who has also gone back in time to kill her (Kyle subsequently becomes John's father).

In the latest editiion John Connor is out trying to find his-father-to-be, who is captured by the machines, as well as destroying Skynet. He is joined by Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a man with no memory on his quest. But Marcus harbours a dark secret.

The CGI and explosions in the film keep an otherwise repetitive and often dull plot punctuated by poor acting going. And just when you thought the Terminator series had come full circle you will groan at the prospect that the makers are planning to make another one.

With a slightly corny title the original Night at the Museum turned out to be surprisingly good for a children's film full of good gags and stunning CGI. It's a shame that the second appears to have lost some of the magical lustre of the original.

Following on from the first film Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) has given up his job as night guard in the Museum of Natural History to pursue his own business. But time spent away from the magical exhibits that come alive at night leaves him pining for his old job.

Larry's return is far from a warm homecoming when he discovers many of the exhibits are due to be shipped to the biggest museum in the world -- the Smithsonian. And among them is the magical golden tablet Egyptian tablet which brings the exhibits to life.

Larry quickly discovers that their presence has awoken the exhibits of the Smithsonian, including evil Egyptian ruler Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), Al Capone (Jon Bernthal) Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest) and Napoleon (Alain Chabat) who have intentions of taking over the historic complex and then the world.

In a similar style to the first film war breaks out between the exhibits, albeit this time it's more evil versus good rather than every-exhibit-for-himself. Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson and Robin Williams help liven up an otherwise repetitive plot with some good jokes.

And the giant T-Rex skeleton also makes a welcome return to running down the hallways and causing general mayhem.