Paul Byrnes on The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro (M, ★★☆) Read the full review
This new Spidey is a bit dull. He whines a lot, taunts his criminal victims with smart-aleck dialogue and he doesn't really deserve Gwen Stacy, who's the best thing about the new series. She dumps him early on and no wonder. He's high maintenance: huge ego, massive complexes, sticky palms. On the other hand, he does fly very nicely, with superb acrobatics and the graceful arc of a diver. Maybe he still has what it takes to charm an audience of no-longer boys who still have a Spider-Man suit in their closets, right next to their Darth Vader masks.

Philippa Hawker on The Invisible Woman (M, ★★★☆) Read the full review
This is a story of a covert relationship: it is suffused by an atmosphere of constraint. It switches between two time frames, two distinct periods in the life of Charles Dicken's (Ralph Fiennes) secret lover Nelly (Felicity Jones). It begins after Dickens' death, but it also shows the couple together, from their first meeting to the final stages of their relationship. Felicity Jones (Like Crazy, Chalet Girl) gives a strong depiction of repressed emotion but up against Fiennes' Dickens – all bonhomie, energy, mercurial self-consciousness – she's a melancholy figure.

Jake Wilson on The Other Woman (M, ★★★) Read the full review
Following the success of Bridesmaids and then The Heat, it seems Hollywood studios are increasingly willing to give female buddy movies a shot. I can only say: bring it on. This is a chick flick with all the trimmings: falling-down-drunk gags, montages backed by 1980s pop songs, desirable beachfront real estate. The tone is raw and cartoonish. There are some awful, gross sequences, including one involving a transvestite that any sensible editor would have cut. But there's also a winning element of surrealism, exemplified by the bizarre presence of Nicki Minaj as Carly's secretary, spouting aphorisms like "Selfish people live longer".

Paul Byrnes on Chinese Puzzle (M, ★★★★) Read the full review
It is the final part of a trilogy that began in 2002 with The Spanish Apartment. The middle film, Russian Dolls (2005), was shot in London, St Petersburg and Moscow. In Chinese Puzzle, the characters are approaching 40 and still in turmoil. They behave more selfishly, they worry about getting older, and they have firmer ideas about what they want. Until they change. And yet this is an irresistibly bright and funny movie, despite these dramas. Klapisch keeps close to the hearts of the characters.

Jake Wilson on Like Father, Like Son (PG, ★★★☆) Read the full review
Hirokazu Kore-eda's new film has one of the oldest plots in the book: two babies are switched at birth. Both boys, they go to very different families; in particular, to very different fathers. But for Kore-eda, theoretical issues of "nature versus nurture" are far less important than the practical consequences of the exchange. By the time the truth comes to light, each boy has spent six years bonding with the "wrong" set of parents, a situation seemingly impossible to resolve without pain on all sides.

Philippa Hawker on The Finishers (PG, ★★★) Read the full review
In The Finishers, which is loosely based on a true story, French director and co-writer Nils Tavernier (son of director Bertrand Tavernier) explores a singular tale of achievement and will. The wheelchair-bound Julien (Fabien Heraud) is 17, and has cerebral palsy. His father, Paul (Jacques Gamblin), has always kept his distance from his son. But the determined Julien – played with engaging warmth and directness by Heraud – has other ideas. He decides that he and his father, who was once a triathlon competitor, should take part together in an iron man competition.

Jake Wilson on That Demon Within (MA, ★★★) Read the full review
Directed by the prolific Dante Lam, That Demon Within is halfway between an action-thriller and a supernatural horror film. Reality and fantasy aren't always easy to distinguish when we're seeing things from Dave's disturbed point of view: he's plagued by strange hallucinations, nightmares of burning to death, and bouts of rage signalled by a red mist that gathers at the edge of the frame. This is knowing schlock, rather than anything more genuinely scary. But as a stylish exercise with a streak of black humour, That Demon Within offers better value than most films screening at present.