What’s it about?
Our favourite plucky female a capella group is back! But are they looking to life after college or maintaining their now-established high standards? A suspension following a wardrobe malfunction may acca-lerate their fate…

What did we think?
Generally sequels develop the depth of characterisation but the follow-up to the delightful Pitch Perfect chooses to instead make the characters more two-dimensional. Oddly it works.What do we get? A dumbing down of Beca (the lovely Ana Kendrick) and Chloe (Brittany Snow). More Fat Amy and more Lilly (Hana Mae Lee’s kooky Korean). Political Incorrectness galore. More songs. A bigger (and better) riff-off. Over the top jokes that range from sly to outright sexist and racist. On paper it sounds a bad idea but in the cinema it was toe-tapping and almost non-stop LOLling. And I mean actually laughing out loud even as your mind is scolding you for laughing at the highly inappropriate one liners. With wonderful singing, genuine laughs and a savvy approach to directly appealing to its target demographic, PP2 will be met with acca-citement from the fanbase. As I left the preview screening dozens of teenage girls were already animatedely talking about plans to see it again when it is released later this week (May 7 in Australia).

What’s it about?
Caleb is a bright young coder who wins a company wide lottery that has him spending a week at his celebrity boss’s mountain retreat. On arrival it is revealed that his role is to interview an Artificial Intelligence program in a beautiful body.

What we thought
Dan says: There is an almost immediate menace in this film that never stops. This slow burning thriller crept relentlessly forward, always keeping me delighted. The ‘car-chase brigade’ may find it plodding but for those with some patience they’ll be rewarded in spades.

The visuals are impressive. Imagine the Portal video-game come to life but GladOS is much, much cuter. Each carefully considered pause contains a screen full of delicate engineering ticking away at the seams of this flirtatious droid.

You won’t be able to look away, which is good training for the oncoming robot apocalypse.

What’s it about?
A group of high school friends are Skyping when a guest enters the conversation: Laura Barns, a classmate who committed suicide a year ago.

What did we think?
Dominic Barlow says: The entire movie takes place in real time on one of the character’s computer desktop screens, and it makes smart cinematic use of familiar images from that environment. Less smart is the story, whose characters become hard to like at all as they are forced to answer for their transgressions. Their constant screaming and crying feels like seeing the “Leave Britney Alone” video play in several open windows, but the film they’re in is enough of a fun novelty to be worth checking out.

What’s it about?
Marvel’s superhero team reunites to fight an AI determined to destroy the world. Did I mention they created it too?

What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: The Avengers sequel is a grand spectacle featuring amazing fight scenes and lots of adventure and for most people that will be enough. The CGI and one liners are strong enough to overshadow some poor characterisation (the inter-team tension is incredibly same-same and a smug sarcasm is way too prevalent) and a subplot featuring darkest fears that is both cliched and actually goes nowhere. Thankfully grater emphasis on the lesser characters and the delightful voicing of Ultron by James Spader help you gloss over the negatives and you can just enjoy this fast-paced action flick for the fun romp it is.

What’s it about?
An adaptation of the World War One memoir of Vera Brittain (Alicia Vikander), an Oxford student whose life is thrown into disarray upon the enlistment of her fiance Roland Leighton (Kit Harrington) and brother Edward (Taron Egerton).

What did we think?
Dominic Barlow says: The Theory of Everything might have gobbled up Oscar nominations earlier this year, but this is easily the superior historical British romance. It uses a tender love story to portray the personal damage done by a dark time in human history. With a fine cast and finer visuals, it’s a devastating, moving and inspiring piece of work.

What’s it about?
In this latest high school comedy, Mae Whitman plays Bianca, a perfectly happy girl whose sense of self is turned upside down when her neighbour and high school jock Wesley (Robbie Amell) tells her she is the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) of her group.

What did we think?
Francesca Percy says: Homecoming dance! John Hughes references! Makeover montage! This entertaining story is nothing if not self aware, but it falls short of being teen classic material, due to the not-quite fully-formed characters (Bianca excepted). That’s not to say it doesn’t have enough going for it to make it worth your time. There are enough laughs, and Mae Whitman is fantastic as Bianca – it was great to see the character flourish and strengthen her feelings of confidence and self-worth while still staying true to herself.

What’s it about?
British soldier Gary Hook (Jack O’Connell) is separated from his unit during a Belfast riot.  Unarmed and injured in hostile territory, he’s got to survive the night – but who can he trust?

What did we think?
Amy Currie says:  Director Yann Demange’s depiction of Northern Ireland at the height of the ‘Troubles’ is bleak, ugly and very, very well done.  There’s certainly plenty of action, but it’s thoughtful and unglamorous.  There are no goodies or baddies – just people trying to make sense of a sad and terrible mess.  You won’t exactly have fun watching this, but you’ll be glad you saw it.

What’s it about?
A beautiful behind the scenes fashion journey following Raf Simons as he creates his first collection as creative director of one of the most prestigious haute couture houses in the world, Christian Dior.

What did we think?
Cindy Nelson says: This story is as beautiful in subject as it is told. Much like the dreamy dresses you see being hand sewn by the masters at the height of their profession, director Frederic Tcheng has woven the history of Christian and the freshly anointed prince Raf Simons’ technique as a designer, vision and aesthetic seamlessly. Despite being acutely aware of the awe inspiring final runway presentation that was the finale and climax to the film, I was still overwhelmed by the “oohs”, “ahhs” and simply lost count of the number of “wows” that audibly filled the cinema throughout the screening. Dior and I is one of the best fashion documentaries of all time. And be warned – a simple bouquet of flowers will never be enough ever again. Sublime.

What’s it about?
When Shaun’s mischief inadvertently leads to the Farmer being taken away from the farm, Shaun, Bitzer and the flock have to go into the big city to rescue him, setting the stage for an epic adventure.

What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says:  A delightful movie that proves quality storytelling doesn’t even need dialogue to charm the heart. Amazing characterisation and a surprisingly emotional storyline will leave everyone from toddler to imaginative adults with plucked heartstrings. Even if you aren’t familiar with Shaun and his pals you’ll still find something in this heartfelt comedy.