THE LOST CITY OF Z (15, 141 mins) Drama/Romance. Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, Angus Macfadyen, Edward Ashley, Ian McDiarmid. Director: James Gray.

Released: March 24 (UK & Ireland)

A sprawling true story of discovery at the turn of the 20th century informs writer-director James Gray's ambitious journey into the heart of darkness.

Based on author David Grann's nonfiction bestseller, The Lost City Of Z charts the battle between globe-trotting cartographer Percy Fawcett and the scientific establishment, who dismissed indigenous tribes of South America as "savages".

In order to prove the snobbish academics wrong and anchor his place in history, Percy sacrifices relationships with his wife and children, and risks the safety of men in his care as he traces the Rio Verde upriver to its source.

"What kind of fool am I to leave my family for this place?" Percy ponders aloud, questioning the sanity of his grand expedition.

It's a question that Gray's film never fully answers, despite a buttock-numbing 141-minute running time and thrilling sequences set in the heart of the rainforest where pottery shards seem to verify the existence of a lost city in Amazonia that predates the supposedly cultured British.

The search for answers begins in 1905.

British artillery officer Colonel Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) has been "rather unfortunate in his choice of ancestors".

Sir George Goldie (Ian McDiarmid), president of the Royal Geographical Society, offers Percy a chance at redemption by mapping uncharted territory in Bolivia with the help of local tribesmen.

Percy accepts and abandons his wife Nina (Sienna Miller) to venture into the unknown with aide-de-camp Corporal Henry Costin (Robert Pattinson).

Their son Jack (Tom Holland) is born is his father's absence and Percy returns home with a strong conviction that he has stumbled upon proof of a lost civilisation - which he calls Z - that will astound the academic elite.

"I do believe we are ready to tear down their narrow-minded convictions!" he tells Nina.

A second expedition in the company of wealthy adventurer James Murray (Angus Macfadyen) teeters on the brink of disaster, but Percy pushes forward, terrified of the consequences of failure and haunted by the words of a palm reader, who prophecies, "Your soul can never be quiet until you find this place."

Shot on location in the Colombian rainforest, where cast and crew faced snakes and bouts of dengue fever, The Lost City Of Z is a handsome tribute to one man's struggle against himself and Mother Nature.

Hunnam delivers one of the strongest performances of his career against a lush backdrop.

Pattinson is reserved in support, while Miller embodies an endlessly supportive spouse, who encourages her husband to chase his impossible dream by pontificating, "a man's reach should exceed his grasp".

Unquestionably, Gray suffers from acute jungle fever expecting us to retain focus for almost two-and-a-half meandering hours.

At least 20 minutes could have been cleaved from the film's bloated frame and tossed to piranhas that swarm during one terrifying sequence.

:: SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 6/10

LIFE (15, 104 mins) Sci-Fi/Horror/Thriller. Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson, Ariyon Bakare, Hiroyuki Sanada, Olga Dihovichnaya. Director: Daniel Espinosa.

Released: March 24 (UK & Ireland)

If cinema's most exquisite killing machine - the acid-blooded alien from Ridley Scott's seminal 1979 sci-fi horror - had been unleashed on stricken Sandra Bullock in her disintegrating Gravity space station, the resulting carnage would bear more than a passing resemblance to Life.

Daniel Espinosa's otherworldly thriller unfolds almost entirely just above Earth's orbit, where six plucky scientists encounter a terrifying extra-terrestrial threat in claustrophobic confines.

For a film which shamelessly references genre classics, Life wants to be both pithily knowing and woefully naive.

Thus one of the ill-fated crew stares out at an approaching probe from Mars, carrying soil samples from the red planet, and beams without irony, "I have a good feeling about this."

Moments later, his wise-cracking colleague compares their nurturing of a multi-tentacle beastie to Stuart Gordon's cult 1985 horror fantasy Re-Animator.

"That's an obscure reference," scolds a female colleague, speaking for the majority of the audience.

"Not if you're a nerd," chime the men in unison.

Director Espinosa opens with an eye-catching unbroken single take which floats along various arms of the International Space Station (ISS), meeting nervy protagonists in cramped conditions.

It's a beautifully choreographed sequence, almost balletic in execution with cast gliding and pirouetting around each other as they push buttons, swipe screens and stare out of windows into the inky void.

Russian commander Katerina Golovkin (Olga Dihovichnaya) leads this six-strong international team of the Mars Pilgrim 7 Mission.

Her colleagues include chief medical officer Dr David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), exobiologist Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare), mission specialist Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds), systems engineer Sho Kendo (Hiroyuki Sanada) and quarantine expert Dr Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One soil sample from Mars contains a single-celled lifeform - affectionately christened Calvin - which responds to stimulation by glucose.

"We're looking at the first incontrovertible proof of life beyond Earth!" whoops Hugh.

He devotes every waking minute to raising Calvin and other crew become unsettled by Hugh's fixation.

"You're drunk on this - wake up!" scolds Rory.

Alas, Calvin grows in size at a ferocious rate and eventually attacks one astronaut.

Alarm bells sound and remaining crew pool resources to exterminate Calvin before the fully grown creature can escape the space station and descend on the all-you-can-eat buffet of planet Earth.

Life is a formulaic, yet entertaining, battle for survival that slaughters cast one by one as Calvin demonstrates he is smarter than the average xenomorph.

Gyllenhaal, Reynolds et all look by turns sweat-drenched and defiant in their space suits as they search for ingenious methods to flush out a merciless predator.

One narrative twist is a bit of a cheat and ends up being clearly signposted by virtue of the deception.

The crew might not see what is hurtling towards them, but we certainly can.

:: SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 6/10

POWER RANGERS (12A, 124mins) Fantasy/Action/Adventure/Romance. Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston and the voice of Bill Hader. Director: Dean Israelite.

Released: March 24 (UK & Ireland)

In the 1990s, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers became a delightfully camp staple of children's TV, introducing young audiences (and excitable parents) to colour-coded teenage heroes from the sleepy California community of Angel Grove.

This fast-paced reboot invites a good-looking and ethnically diverse new cast to suit up and revisit the origins of the titular characters.

Power Rangers is a rollicking romp that falls short of the narrative sophistication of the Marvel and DC Comics film adaptations, but Dean Israelite's family-friendly fantasy is a blast during its overinflated set pieces as the eponymous squad faces off against a wicked witch and her army of stone golems.

Israelite traversed similar territory in his previous film, Project Almanac, and he injects nervous energy into every frame.

A police chase is shot in a single take through the lens of a perpetually rotating camera inside the lead vehicle as it skids through traffic.

Touchstones of the series are present and largely correct: character names, robot sidekick Alpha 5's exclamation of excitement "Ai yi yiiii", and the Go Go Power Rangers earworm that roars as Rangers gallop into battle inside their monstrous mechanical Zords.

The script moves with the times by adding LGBQT issues to the characters' growing pains and pointedly addresses racial stereotyping when Alpha 5 surveys the cast and quips, "Different colours, different kids - different coloured kids!"

Diabolical sorceress Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) was once the Green Ranger, but she betrayed her friends and has been frozen in time for 65 million years in her quest to locate the powerful Zeo Crystal.

In order to protect the universe from a newly reanimated Rita, the next generation of Power Rangers must come forth.

A ragtag group of spunky, authority-flouting teenagers, comprising star quarterback Jason (Dacre Montgomery), cheerleader Kimberly (Naomi Scott), science nerd Billy (RJ Cyler), new girl Trini (Becky G) and devoted son Zack (Ludi Lin), is chosen to wear the costumes of the Red, Pink, Blue, Yellow and Black Ranger respectively.

Guided by their holographic mentor Zordon (Bryan Cranston) and his robotic assistant Alpha 5 (voiced by Bill Hader), the Power Rangers hone their abilities as they prepare for intergalactic war in between finishing class assignments and chores.

Power Rangers is too simplistic to curry favour with savvy teenagers, who bow down at the altars of The Avengers and Guardians Of The Galaxy, but for the young, it's a hyperkinetic joyride augmented with solid digital effects.

Banks savours her moments of pantomime villainy and sinks her teeth into the shameless product placement of baked goods that hopefully accounted for a decent slice of the picture's rumoured 100 million US dollar budget.

Ai yi yiiii indeed.

A bonus scene, fashionably secreted in the end credits, tees up the arrival of another Ranger in a sequel.

:: SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 5.5/10