Search: Starring Dougray Scott

For those who have seen the originals, stay away.

The writers, Michael (The Player) Tolkin and Bruce Joel (Ghost) Rubin are award winners. Why have they churned out a run-of-the-mildew script that makes Volcano read like a tight human interest item?

What we get is a sort of Law And Order: Special Supernatural Unit, the red blooded vigour of the original played out as American courtroom drama.

toppard and director Michael Apted weave a web of intrigue, suspicion and, for God's sake, romance into what might have been as incomprehensible as a computer hacker's notebook.

The evil step-mother myth is treated with intelligence.

The problem lies with the script, which is credibility shy and littered with loose ends.

None of this is very interesting, but the action does make up for it in part.

It is to Tom Cruise's credit that the sequel is infinitely better than the original.

You could wash your hair, play scrabble and still not miss the point.

Jobson uses the inherent thrill of the hunt to pursue his concerns about the vast gulf between the haves and the have-nots, and the arrogant disconnect of those who view life as mere data on a screen.

The script is laced with expletives and the comedy weakened by a lack of dialogue support.

An admittedly brave shift away from the standard expectations but there’s not really that much of any weight or innovation going on to be pondered.

Jonathan Pryce conveys the burden of inner conflict with exceptional subtlety, as James Wilby carries Sassoon's intellectual fury with fortitude.

Everything Hannibal failed to be.

When someone dies, there’s grief that feels real, as disorientating as any fever.

To Kill a King features a career-best performance by Rupert Everett as King Charles I.

The script never leaves the starting block, the sexual touch paper fails to ignite and the acting has no lead in its pencil.

The acting has a richness that sparkles.

The plotting is bold and deliberately structured yet, given the small cast and high drama of the set up, this is an oddly cold affair.