Director: Guillermo del Toro

Script: Guillermo del Toro, Mike Mignola

Cast: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, John Hurt

As much as it may agitate the bitter pro-auterist cinephile, there's a lot to be said for imposed creative restriction. If the excessive Brontosaurus chase in the recent remake of King Kong proved one thing, it's that failing to contain a man of Peter Jackson's imagination and aptitude on such a vast project will only result in on-screen indulgence.

Likewise, Guillermo del Toro's Spanish efforts, particularly The Devil's Backbone and the awards darling Pan's Labyrinth, have regularly proven far more intimate efforts than his Hollywood offerings. Admittedly, I've loved those too; but there was the sense in both Blade 2 and the original Hellboy that despite his unarguable talent, our favourite Mexican (sorry Benicio, Speedy) does not know when to stop. During Hellboy II's more cluttered moments it could be argued that the director doesn't know when to hold back the ideas, but I for one am grateful for his shortcoming.

Like Jackson's did with Kong, with Hellboy II del Toro pays tribute to the movie monsters of  old; Harryhausen, Hammer and even anime such as Princess Mononoke. Unless you were a twelve year-old weaned on videogames and reality TV it was difficult not to be worn down by Hellboy's succession of monster fights, with the more interesting character moments each feeling like an interval between the last creature encounter and the next. Del Toro has added twice as many such fights to this predecessor, yet Hellboy 2 never loses focus of its characters. The monsters themselves are possibly the most ingenious and original seen on screen, all presented with an appreciation and affection not before captured outside of a Harryhausen creation.

2008

Director: Andrew Stanton

Script: Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Cast: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy

After the delightfully oddball concoction Ratatouille, Pixar has moved further still from family movie conventions with Wall E, the tale of a diminutive recycling robot (a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) continuing to operate on a barren Earth long after mankind has trashed the place and buggered off. When the sleek, iPod-inspired probe EVE hits Earth, our lonely trash compactor's love for her takes him to the stars and beyond.

Given that Pixar created such an empathetic entity as Luxor Jr. from a hopping desk lamp, it should be no surprise that Wall E is capable of displaying more humanity than most live actors. That the stout lovechild of Short Circuit's Johnny 5 and a Nintendo Gamecube, with almost no associable human features, is one of the most endearing and sympathetic heroes of the last decade is testament to Pixar's two principal crafts: the very finest animation, and an earnest, heartfelt approach to storytelling which no amount of Disney/DreamWorks success formulae will ever recreate.

It's almost a waste of a paragraph to mention Wall E's animation. Since Toy Story made the jaws of 1995 plummet, computer generated imagery has matured to a level where it has become possible to enjoy these animated features without even considering the level of labour which goes into such a work. Photorealistic at times, Wall E's uninhabited world is impressively detailed; the mountains of junk that now tower over our dilapidated cities never seem to repeat, nor do the household items our inquisitive robot explores. Many of Pixar's other efforts also make wry cameos, often as plastic Happy Meal toys.

For any other studio, such affectionate touches would warm our hearts and tickle our intellects, but this attention to detail has almost become a prerequisite of Pixar. Sadly, like Cars, Wall E does not quite reach the colossal expectation that greets all of the studio's films, due in most part to the second half's somewhat sentimental human sequences. Bloated, slothful and technologically dependent to the point that our bone masses have decreased, our species is in a sorrowful state. Despite helmer Andrew Stanton's initially cynical tone, one which sees Mother Nature as a now precious commodity, the film eventually takes a more forgiving approach, treating those who destroyed our Earth with maternal fondness rather than contempt.

But though this tactless sentimentality jars with any anti-consumerist message that Stanton was presumably headed towards at some point – I will conveniently ignore the fact that Wall E has already spawned millions of merchandising products, many of which will end up as landfill – we must bear in mind that this is a kid's film. A superlatively glum and sceptical kid's film with a bright and happy ending, then.

As much of an achievement as Wall E is, it's difficult to believe that even the most apathetic of cinemagoers will leave their seats without some small feeling that it could have been something great. Is it fair to criticise an excellent film for not being great? Probably not. But again, only Pixar would be scorned for a tailoring a family film for the littl'uns by sprinkling in two ingredient often missing from postmodern cinema; hope and forgiveness. We're ungrateful bastards.

Director: Dave Filoni

Written by: Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching, Scott Murphy

Voice Cast: James Arnold Taylor, Matt Lanter, Ashley Drane, Tom Kane, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson

There's a noticeable lack of grandeur in the very first minutes of Clone Wars. Gone is the scrolling text, replaced by a recap montage and a Starship Trooper-esque commentary which would feel more at home in Futurama. Has this been a Matt Groening production we would already be laughing, in on the joke. Yet this is Star Wars, and Lucas and his many subordinates are not big on satire or irony. Or indeed the declining public perception of their space opera universe

In probably the weakest plot to have graced any Star Wars spin-off, Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta (though he is more frequently referred to as "Stinky") has been kidnapped by the Dooku led Separatists, who hope to dominate the Hutt trading routes. And, er… that's about it. Cue ninety minutes of action as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda jet off to save him. Set between Episodes II and III, this film is more in tone with the former, with the reckless and difficult to like Anakin continuing to demonstrate why he should never have been trained in the ways of the Jedi. On the plus side, the woeful Lucas trade politics have been trimmed down; though they're still present in one cringingly out of place scene.

Amongst the familiar faces there are several new additions to the Star Wars universe. Though she originally appeared in the more inventive Genndy Tartakovsky 2003 Clone Wars series, Dooku's Sith apprentice Asajj Ventress has a far more prominent role here. Like Darth Maul she's a visually impressive villain with a cool lightsaber gimmick but little in the way of personality; she's emrely evil for evil's sake. Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's sudden and unappreciated padawan, is clearly aimed at the younger audience. Spunky, motor-mouthed, and somehow less annoying as the film progresses, she's far from the ext Jar Jar Binks, and is arguably one of the few characters in the entire prequel chapter with any spirit. More suited to the Jar Jar comparisons is Ziro the Hutt, who is best described as a blend of Jabba the Hutt and South Park's Big Gay Al. Even in this Henson-puppet populated universe, he's one of the most bizarre aliens ever conceived; thankfully his screen time is short.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Script: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, David S. Goyer

Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Eric Roberts, Cillian Murphy, William Fichtner

Outside of the animated feature Mask of the Phantasm, Batman has never really received the cinematic treatment he deserves. Despite a large canvass for intelligent, creative storytelling in the comic medium, the world’s foremost rodent-themed detective has never been given the thought provoking movie adaptation that comic writers such as Frank Miller, Grant Morrison and Jeph Loeb have provided again and again. Even Nolan's excellent Batman Begins began to creak once the origin story had been dealt with.

I can’t help but find it amusing than in a year of little CGI robots, big CGI Hulks and billionaires in CGI flying suits, audiences would rather see a knife-wielding psychopath in greasepaint. Let’s put Heath Ledger’s untimely death and the post-humus Oscar debacle aside; the Joker dominates Nolan’s twisted plot from the very first scene – a meticulously orchestrated bank robbery with a dark sense of humour that would not feel out of place in a Coen brothers piece. A malevolent force of destruction devoid of reason or redemption, Joker's ostensibly chaotic masterplan pushes Batman further than ever before, forcing impossible decisions upon him in the hoper that he will accept the futility of his fight.

Despite Bruce Wayne's technology, and the fact that financially he has Gotham at his disposal, he can neither comprehend nor predict the Joker’s unhinged game theory. More importantly, he cannot bring himself to kill him. It’s this theme that carries The Dark Knight, adding gravitas to the impeccably paced cat and mouse charade, enhanced to no end by Han Zimmer’s exhilarating yet elegant score, which at times intensifies to spine tingling levels. Though there are several big buck car chases, the Nolans and screenwriter David Goyer should be applauded for constructing a three man face-off which satisfies every requisite of the summer blockbuster without compromising the plot’s personal level.

2006

Dir: Jens Lien

Script: Per Schreiner

Cast: Marian Saastad Ottesen, Fridjov Såheim, Kirsti Eline Torhau

The Bothersome Man begins with perhaps the most nauseating and disparaging kiss in movie history. As he watches two adolescent lovers slurping hideously as they attempt to eat each others faces, bland everyman Andreas nonchalantly jumps in front of a passing train. Some time later, he finds himself on a bus travelling to the small and perfectly formed town of Bothersome, where he is provided a tidy home and a dull but comfortable job.

Writers: Brian Azzarello, Josh Olson, David Goyer, Greg Rucka, Jordan Camera Goldberg, Alan Burnett

Cast: Kevin Conroy, Gary Dourdan, David McCallum, Parminder Nagra, Ana Ortiz

Watching Gotham Knight I felt as though I had been lied to, by both the marketing campaigns and the DVD packaging. The stories are interlocked in as flimsy a way as imaginable, and are jarringly inconsistent; in one short Gotham City resembles the futuristic cityscape of Blade Runner, in another the Neo Tokyo from Akira, with Gordon's office set amidst neon pagodas. Batman's costume changes throughout, as does Alfred's appearance.

Nor does the feature fill any gaps between Batman Begins and the Dark Knight, as has been sold us. The appearances of Scarecrow, Killer Croc and Deadshot (unrecognisable from his comic counterpart) are too brief to have any significance, while several tales feel out of place with Nolan's mythos, such as one in which Wayne, drawn to resemble Ryu from Street Fighter, receives training from a mysterious Asian woman.