Movies: I Am Number Four, Drive Angry, Animal Kingdom

In new thriller I Am Number Four Alex Pettyfer, the cute kid who got his first big break in the Stormbreaker teen spy adventure, seems to be a couple of places further up the queue.

That position is not without its problems, though – he’s a young man in a small town, hiding from evil forces, discovering special powers and falling in love along the way. Same old same old, but at least he’s not a vampire or a werewolf. What’s that? Oh, he’s an alien...

This combination of teen drama and sci-fi, based on a bestselling book, treads very familiar territory and doesn’t have anything new to say, but it looks very slick and the special effects are diverting.

> There’s no trace of David Attenborough in Animal Kingdom, an Australian crime drama which sees a teenage boy getting in touch with his gran after his mum dies of a drug overdose and getting in with her three sons, the sort of family you’d get if you plonked a Mafia clan in the middle of Neighbours. Guy Pearce is the detective trying to put the gang behind bars and out of business, and it’s turned up on release in the UK after an Oscar ‘best supporting actress’ nomination for Jacki Weaver as the Mafia-esque matriach.

> I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t get into a car with Nicolas Cage when he was nice and calm, so the idea of Drive Angry just doesn’t appeal.

This is a bonkers 3D adventure in which vengeful Nic hunts down the vicious cult who murdered his daughter and kidnapped her baby helped by a no-nonsense waitress with fast car and a will of iron. As you do.

As nutty Nic has escaped from hell to embark on his mission, he also has to outwit the Devil’s bounty hunter.

If all you want from a film is big bangs and you don’t mind stupid storylines, clunky dialogue and the aforementioned Mr Cage in full-on action hero mode, fill your boots.

> Much fluffier is No Strings Attached in which Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as buddies who end up in bed and decide that they can both handle a friendship with physical extras. Of course they can’t, and Ivan Reitman’s rom com goes exactly where you would expect it to.

> More supernatural drama is on offer in The Rite, with Colin O’Donoghue centre stage as a trainee priest singled out to be trained up as an exorcist. Anthony Hopkins is the crusty old clergyman showing him the ropes, but it’s not going to make your hair stand on end.