MOVIES: Peter's all the rage

Actor and long-time Shane Meadows collaborator Paddy Considine makes his feature debut with this hard-hitting British drama that shows a good deal of promise, for all that it's rough around the edges.

Tyrannosaur is an expansion and continuation of Considine's own BAFTA-winning short film, Dog Altogether, and retains that film's stars, Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman, who both do exceptional work.

Set in a grey and grim town in the north of England, Mullan plays Joseph, a man capable of great anger, a drinker, sad, lonely and damaged and not over the death of his wife. When he's drunk, his temper gets the better of him, as he takes it out on his dog and is given to picking fights with youths who annoy him.

He finds himself in a charity shop run by Hannah (Colman), a devout Christian who shows him kindness. He returns the favour by verbally abusing her, but this is nothing compared to what she suffers at home at the hands of her husband (Eddie Marsan).

They live on a nice estate but he beats her and violates her, and so Joseph and Hannah cling to each other for support. He visits her shop most days, but the spectre of Joseph's instability and Hannah's husband are never far away.

It's grim, but not entirely without humour, but it has to go deeper, has to find the compassion, which it does, and to deliver fresh and unforgettable characters, which it doesn't.

We've seen it all before, though for a while the misery is not laid on too thick and is all the more stomach-knotting for it. Considine is even able to switch it occasionally, to surprise, and when the audience is kept on its toes is when the film is at its best.

Where it really triumphs is in giving us some of the rawest, most impressive screen acting we'll see all year. Mullan commands the screen with his presence, a seething ball of rage and sorrow able to convey huge amounts with just his facial expressions. Colman is quite astonishing, showing a range few must have known she was capable of.

It's a shame they're both so often let down by Considine's dialogue, which doesn't always sound quite right coming out of Mullan's mouth.

It's a film that can be very powerful indeed, but not every scene works, not every character moment sits quite right, and the script could probably do with another pass to make it flow more naturally.

So see Tyrannosaur for the acting – just maybe don't go expecting a great deal else.

Director: Paddy Considine, running time: 92 mins

PERFECT SENSE (15) Ewan McGregor's best film in years ****

Following on quickly from the shambolic You Instead, David Mackenzie returns to Scotland with this superior apocalyptic romance.

Ewan McGregor plays a Glasgow chef who falls for scientist Eva Green just as people around the world begin to lose their sense of smell, then taste, with the rest likely to follow.

Though the first while is spent trying to recognise the Glasgow locations, once you get over that it's a fairly original spin on the end of the world that actually ends up being quite moving. The modest budget means city-wide scenes of devastation aren't on, though the decision to occasionally cut to similar scenes from elsewhere in the world is a misstep that takes us out of a main story that works thanks to the strength of the central relationship and McGregor's emotional performance.

It's certainly his best in years, and probably Mackenzie's best film to date.

Director: David Mackenzie, running time: 92 mins

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (12A) Wonderful, whimsical romantic fantasy ****

Woody Allen takes a break from the misanthropy of some of his recent movies with this exquisite, warm-hearted comedy drama that stars Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, above, as an engaged couple spending some time in Paris.

He's in love with the city and wants to stay there and write, she wants to go back to America. But every night at midnight he finds himself in the 1920s, hanging out with Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, then in the morning he's back in his modern life, made all the more complicated when he falls for Picasso's mistress (Marion Cotillard).

Bursting with ideas, this is a wonderful, whimsical romantic fantasy in which every scene delights and every actor excels, with Wilson in particular a revelation as the latest Woody surrogate.

And though it's often said whenever Allen releases something decent these days, this really is his best work in decades.

Director: Woody Allen, running time: 94 mins

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN (PG) A waste of Atkinson's physical talents **

Rowan Atkinson's inept spy returns in this silly slapstick sequel that's a little bit Bond spoof and a big bit CBBC.

Disgraced MI7 agent Johnny English (Atkinson) is called back after five years in the wilderness to investigate a plot to kill the Chinese prime minister, and though this is all very complicated, the movie doesn't really have much on its mind beyond Clouseau-style pratfalls.

But unlike Clouseau or the Naked Gun's Frank Drebin, English actually shows competence from time to time, which somewhat defeats the point of having a pompous twit for a hero.

More disappointingly it wastes Atkinson's physical talents, content to just have him bump into things.

Still, it's sometimes so daft you can't help but smile, particularly if you're seven years old and like to see people fall over a lot.

Director: Oliver Parker, running time: 101 mins

THE LION KING 3D (U) Don't miss the chance to see this Disney classic *****

Though it hails from 1994, The Lion King is still Disney's biggest ever non-Pixar hit, and this chance to catch it once again on the big screen should not be missed.

Pay no attention to the 3D, because it's worthless, and instead marvel at the stunning animation that tells the story of lion cub Simba and his quest to reunite his pride following the murder of his father.

It is hilarious and poignant and buoyed by one of the finest soundtracks ever to grace a cartoon, thanks to Tim Rice and Elton John's memorable songs (Hakuna Matata, Circle of Life, Can You Feel The Love Tonight?) and Hans Zimmer's majestic score.

And though it signalled the end of Disney's second golden age, what a way to go out.

Directors: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff, running time: 89 mins