The return of Tony Stark, in the guise of Robert Downey Jr, in Iron Man 2 proves to be a welcome one. For Downey Jr utterly owns the dual role of Stark and Iron Man, and in this entertaining superhero sequel, he’s given a tricky nemesis to fight.

The foe is Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko, introduced properly in a staggering action sequence set at Historic Grand Prix of Monaco. Director Jon Favreau stages this superbly, and Iron Man 2 manages to pack plenty into its opening 40 minutes as a result.

The foot does go off the gas, though, in the middle part of the film, when Iron Man 2 does get bogged down by a few too many characters and plot points. But there’s regularly something to keep the attention up, before all bets are off for the entertaining finale.

Iron Man 2 may not be a perfect sequel, but it’s certainly a good one. And it’s a thorough and rigorous home cinema workout, too. Boasting spectacular visuals and a thunderous surround sound mix, the Blu-ray edition of the film is a thrilling ride, and the best way to enjoy an already-worthwhile movie. —Jon Foster

You know you're going to get a different kind of superhero when you cast Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role. And Iron Man is different, in welcome ways. Cleverly updated from Marvel Comics' longstanding series, Iron Man puts billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (that's Downey) in the path of some Middle Eastern terrorists; in a brilliantly paced section, Stark invents an indestructible suit that allows him to escape. If the rest of the movie never quite hits that precise rhythm again, it nevertheless offers plenty of pleasure, as the renewed Stark swears off his past as a weapons manufacturer, develops his new Iron Man suit, and puzzles both his business partner (Jeff Bridges in great form) and executive assistant (Gwyneth Paltrow). Director Jon Favreau geeks out in fun ways with the hardware, but never lets it overpower the movie, and there's always a goofy one-liner or a slapstick pratfall around to break the tension. As for Downey, he doesn't get to jitterbug around too much in his improv way, but he brings enough of his unpredictable personality to keep the thing fresh. And listen up, hardcore Marvel mavens: even if you know the Stan Lee cameo is coming, you won't be able to guess it until it's on the screen. It all builds to a splendid final scene, with a concluding line delivery by Downey that just feels absolutely right. —Robert Horton

Though it bears little resemblance to the celebrated 1969 original starring Michael Caine, this 2003 remake of The Italian Job stands on its own as a caper comedy that's well above average. The title's a misnomer—this time it's actually a Los Angeles job—but the action's just as exciting as it propels a breezy tale of honour and dishonour among competing thieves. Inheriting Caine's role as ace heist-planner Charlie Croker, Mark Wahlberg plays straight-man to a well-cast team of accomplices, including Mos Def, Jason Statham and scene-stealer Seth Green in a variation of the role originally played by Noel Coward. As the daughter of Croker's ill-fated mentor (Donald Sutherland), Charlise Theron is recruited to double-cross a double-crosser (Edward Norton in oily villain mode), and once again, speedily versatile Mini Coopers (this time, the modern BMW versions) play a pivotal role in director F Gary Gray's exhilarating car-chase climax. It's perhaps the greatest product placement in movie history, and just as fun the second time around. —Jeff Shannon

The greatest Brit-flick crime caper comedy of all time, 1969's The Italian Job towers mightily above its latter-day mockney imitators. After Alfie but before Get Carter Michael Caine is the hippest ex-con around, bedding the birds (several at a time) and spouting immortal one-liners ("You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"). The inheritor of a devious plan to steal gold bullion in the traffic-choked streets of Turin, Caine recruits a misfit team of genial underworld types—including a lecherous Benny Hill and three plummy public-schoolboy rally drivers—and uses the occasion of an England-Italy football match as cover for the heist.

In his final screen appearance, Noel Coward joyfully sends up his own patriotic persona, and there are small though priceless cameos from the likes of Irene Handl and John Le Mesurier. But The Italian Job's real stars are the three Mini Coopers—patriotically decorated red, white and blue—that run rings round every other vehicle in an immortal car-chase sequence, which preserves forever the British public's love affair with the little car. Quincy Jones provided the irreverent music, naturally, while the cliffhanger ending thumbs its nose at anything so un-hip as a resolution. It's all unashamedly jingoistic—ridiculously, gleefully, absurdly so—but the whole sums up the joie de vivre of the 1960s so perfectly that future historians need only look here to learn why the decade was swinging.

On the DVD: The Italian Job disc contains three all-new documentaries——"The Great Idea" (conception), "The Self-Preservation Society" (casting), and "Get a Bloomin' Move On" (stunts)—which dovetail into a good 68-minute "making of" featurette. Contributors include scriptwriter Troy Kennedy Martin and Producer Michael Deeley, who also crops up on the sporadically interesting commentary track with author of The Making of The Italian Job, Matthew Field. The deleted "Blue Danube" waltz scene is also included, with optional commentary. The print is a decent anamorphic transfer of the original 2.35:1 ratio, and the soundtrack has been remastered to Dolby 5.1. The animated Mini Cooper menus set the tone perfectly. —Mark Walker

The James Bond Collection - 20 Disc Box Set includes the first 20 films in the franchise. Dr No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is not Enough and Die Another Day.

There have been films based on books, video games, theme park rides and even songs, but Johnny English must be the first one based on an advert. Taking its inspiration from the Barclaycard commercials, which starred Rowan Atkinson as a hapless MI6 agent, this full-length film is a cross between a James Bond spoof and Mr Bean. Johnny (a pen-pusher who dreams of a life in her majesty's secret service) is given the mission to protect the crown jewels after a bomb kills all of MI6's existing spies. Unfortunately they are stolen from right under his nose by evil industrialist, Pascal Sauvage (a ridiculously accented John Malkovich) who is intent on seizing the British throne and turning the UK into the biggest prison colony in the world. Thus follows comic set-piece after set-piece, including a hilarious car chase and the obligatory breaking-into-the-evil-genius's-lair sequence, in which English, ably assisted by his much more intelligent subordinate Bough (a brilliantly patient Ben Miller), tries to recover the jewels, stop Sauvage's nefarious scheme, prove to his superiors that he is not completely insane and get the girl, here an Interpol agent played by Natalie Imbruglia.

It's a one-joke movie: he's the worst secret agent in the world. Situations and script are more than a trifle cliched, too, and John Malkovich's performance is cringeworthy. But Atkinson's talent for creating a frustrating but ultimately endearing character is firmly set in the British tradition of rooting for the underdog. The result is an entertaining and endearing spoof with some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments and sparks of originality that more than outnumber the groans. —Kristen Bowditch

After the success of Jurassic Park in 1993, the floodgates opened for digital special effects, and Jumanji is nothing if not a showcase for computer-generated creepiness guaranteed to give young children a nightmare or two. Whether that was the filmmakers' intention is up for debate, since this is a PG-rated adventure revolving around a mysterious board game that unleashes a terrifying jungle world upon its players, including gigantic spiders, huge mosquitoes, a stampede of rhinos, elephants, and every other jungle beast you can imagine. Robin Williams plays a man-child who's been trapped in the world of "Jumanji" for 26 years until he's freed by two kids who've discovered the game and released its parade of dangerous horrors. A chaotic and misguided attempt at family entertainment, the movie does offer a few good laughs, and the effects are frequently impressive, if not entirely convincing to the eye. —Jeff Shannon

Movies don't come any bigger than Peter Jackson's King Kong, a three-hour remake of the 1933 classic that marries breathtaking visual prowess with a surprising emotional depth. Expanding on the original story of the blonde beauty and the beast who falls for her, Jackson creates a movie spectacle that matches his Lord of the Rings films and even at times evokes their fantasy world while celebrating the glory of '30s Hollywood. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a vaudeville actress down on her luck in Depression-era New York until manic filmmaker Carl Denham (a game but miscast Jack Black) entices her with a lead role. Dazzled by the genius of screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), Ann boards the tramp steamer S.S. Venture, which she—and most of the wary crew—believes is headed for Singapore. Denham, however, is in search of the mythic Skull Island, hoping to capture its wonders on film and make a fortune. What he didn't count on were some scary natives who find that the comely Darrow looks like prime sacrifice material for a mysterious giant creature....

There's no point in rehashing the entire plot, as every movie aficionado is more than familiar with the trajectory of King Kong; the challenge facing Jackson, his screenwriters, and the phenomenal visual-effects team was to breathe new life into an old, familiar story. To that degree, they achieve what could be best called a qualified success. Though they've assembled a crackerjack supporting cast, including Thomas Kretschmann as the Venture's hard-bitten captain and young Jamie Bell as a plucky crewman, the first third of the movie is rather labored, with too much minute detail given over to sumptuous re-creations of '30s New York and the unexciting initial leg of the Venture's sea voyage. However, once the film finds its way to Skull Island (which bears more than a passing resemblance to LOTR's Mordor), Kong turns into a dazzling movie triumph, by turns terrifying and awe-inspiring. The choreography and execution of the action set pieces—including one involving Kong and a trio of Tyrannosaurus Rexes, as well as another that could be charitably described as a bug-phobic's nightmare—is nothing short of landmark filmmaking, and a certain Mr. Spielberg should watch his back, as Kong trumps most anything that has come before it.

Despite the visual challenges of King Kong, the movie's most difficult hurdle is the budding romance between Ann and her simian soulmate. Happily, this is where Jackson unqualifiedly triumphs, as this unorthodox love story is tenderly and humorously drawn, by turns sympathetic and wondrous. Watts, whose accessibility balances out her almost otherworldly loveliness, works wonders with mere glances, and Andy Serkis, who digitally embodies Kong here much as he did Gollum in the LOTR films, breathes vibrant life into the giant star of the film without ever overplaying any emotions. The final, tragic act of the film, set mostly atop the Empire State Building, is where Kong earns its place in movie history as a work that celebrates both the technical and emotional heights that film can reach. —Mark Englehart, Amazon.com

Angelina Jolie is the first and best reason to watch Lara Croft Tomb Raider. She gives an extraordinarily committed, physically demanding performance, taking on the mantle of the video game heroine with real conviction and energy, and becoming the embodiment of every teenage boy's wish-fulfilment fantasy female. She's tough, sexy and tomboyish all at the same time, and even has a plummy English accent to give her a touch of class. It's a shame that the movie doesn't live up to Jolie's high standards. A soulless juggernaut of computer-generated effects and one-dimensional characters, the film falls into the same trap that has ensnared every other video game adaptation before it. The convoluted plot—which is concerned with a mysterious planetary alignment, a quasi-Masonic secret society known as the Illuminati and a mcguffin called the Triangle of Light—takes itself far too seriously. Oddly for a film with such a pedigree, the only humour is to be found in the endless repetition by Jolie of the word "bugger", which presumably is hilariously funny to American audiences. Director Simon West, an alumnus of the Brookheimer-Simpson school of filmmaking, choreographs the action sequences spectacularly enough, and their impact is boosted hugely by Jolie's ability to perform almost all the stunt work herself. But the end result is an empty experience that leaves the viewer with the feeling that this much-loved character and this dedicated actress could have been better served.

On the DVD: Eschewing the need for a second disc, this DVD still has plenty of additional material to keep fans happy. There's no single making-of documentary, but rather a series of shorter pieces on specific aspects of the production—the original game, the transition to the big screen, the special effects, the stunt work and the rigorous training endured by Jolie (apparently she got so good she could do the stunts better than any of the stunt doubles). There's also U2's "Elevation" video, some deleted scenes, DVD-ROM features and a chatty commentary from director Simon West. The widescreen picture and thumping surround soundtrack are impressive. —Mark Walker

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life may be an improvement on its 2001 predecessor, but its appeal is mostly aimed at fans of the video games that inspired both movies. That pretty much leaves you with some fun but familiar action sequences, and the ever-alluring sight of Angelina Jolie (reprising her title role) as she swims, swings, kicks, shoots, flies, jet-skis, motorcycles, and free-falls her way toward saving the world, this time by making sure that a grimacing villain (Ciaran Hinds) doesn't open Pandora's Box (yes, the actual mythological object) and unleash a deadly plague that will "weed out" the global population. Exotic locations add to Jolie's own coolly erotic appeal, but we're left wondering if this franchise has anywhere else to go. —Jeff Shannon

"Britain, Britain, Britain, land of technological achievement. We've had running water for over ten years, an underground tunnel that links us to Peru, and we invented the cat," narrates Tom Baker gleefully at the beginning of Little Britain, introducing the first hit show for fledgling digital channel BBC3 and the best new comedy since The League of Gentlemen. In fact, creators and stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams acknowledge a large debt to the League, not only in the gallery of grotesques all performed by the duo, but also in the way in which the familiar sketch-show format is expanded by clever use of locale: not Royston Vasey here, but "Britain" itself in all its perverse splendour: from Darkly Noon, where chavette Vicky Pollard seems all too frighteningly real ("Yeah, but no, but yeah. Shut up!"), to the Welsh village with only one gay, to the council estate where buck-toothed Lou looks after apparently wheelchair-bound Andy ("Yeah, I know"), to Kelsey Grammar School where pupils are baffled and confused by their fusty teacher, and many more besides. It's unashamedly puerile stuff and, as with The Fast Show before it, many sketches rely on a single incident or catchphrase repeated over and over in only slightly different contexts. But it works brilliantly, thanks to the characterisations of Lucas and Walliams, their sharp eye for the eccentricities of modern life, and of course that surreal voiceover from Tom Baker.

On the DVD: This is a handsome two-disc set chock full of tasty extras. Lucas and Walliams provide a surprisingly serious commentary, joined in turn by producer Myfanwy Moore and director Steve Bendelack (a League of Gentlemen alumnus). There's the original pilot episode, plus plenty of deleted scenes, live sketches, several behind-the-scenes segments, an interview with Jonathan Ross, and a half-hour Best of Rock Profiles, the hilarious spoof series in which Walliams and Lucas impersonated various rock stars. If that's not enough, you can also select from a gallery to watch all the sketches featuring your favourite characters. Another triumph for Auntie Beeb. —Mark Walker