High School Musical 3, Righteous Kill, Taken and CSI (1)

High School Musical 3: Senior Year – ­Extended Edition (pictured)

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IF you’re in that exquisite limbo zone between childhood and understanding what to do about confusing sexy feelings, then the High School Musical brand is your personal cinematic catnip. Non-threatening, exuberant, loud, proud, alive, colourful. No kissing, no grown-up troubles, everything clean, day-glo and ­Disney. Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) figure out whether they want to be singers or dancers or basketball players. It’s Mamma Mia! for kids and, umm, loads better than the second High School Musical which – tsch! – was all over the place, tone wise.

Righteous Kill

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AL PACINO and Robert De Niro, eh? Sit back and watch the critical acclaim and box-office bucks pour in, right? No. Shouting Al and Whispering Bob phone in displays as a pair of NY cops hunting a Dexter-like killer of killers. Twisted moral ambiguity? Muscular acting? No. Just a by-numbers thriller that promises much, but delivers a comically predictable twist propped up by an off-the-peg shoot-out.

Taken: Extended Harder Cut

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AS that Blumenthal bloke would agree, unusual ingredients can make for surprisingly tasty dishes. Here, Liam Neeson – yes, Liam Neeson – is a hoot as an ex-spy hunting down the Euro-scum who have kidnapped his daughter. Cue blaring shoot-outs, car chases, torture, 24-like dialogue, nose-wrinkling flashes of comedy xenophobia and an oddly moving climax. Hardly The Bourne Ultimatum, but loads better than Quantum of Solace.

CSI Season 8 Part 2

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THE shortest season so far (writers’ strike) isn’t without the odd spike of pleasure for stalwarts, but the limited premise has forced producers to shoehorn in more soap opera-style shark-jumpers to woo the Lost/Heroes/Dexter floaters (including the old chestnut of a key character being kidnapped by the murderer). Like a familiar old jumper, CSI has clearly had its day but is still curiously comforting to return to when there’s nothing else on.

Andy Lowe is Digital ­Editor of totalfilm.com