The Telegraph

Proper Spider-Man films – the ones that embrace the character’s particular qualities and foibles – should be proper New York movies too. Brand New Day, basking in the sun as it rises over the Manhattan skyline, is both.

Nolan and his collaborators have constructed a strange, fearsome and trailblazing machine of a movie – by some distance, the best of the year so far. Its creator is known for playing tricks with time, and this may be his grandest yet: turning one of the oldest stories in literature into a vote of confidence in blockbuster cinema’s future.

By the time that viewers reach the end of this gushingly reverential and wholly uncritical account of someone who can state, unblushingly, that he wishes to “carve out the purpose he is here for”, they might be forgiven for asking whether that purpose is entirely admirable.

If the result still just about passes the time, it is only because the source material did the hard work in advance.

You may guess where this situation is headed, but not what happens when it gets there. The more The Invite settles, the more Rogen’s rendition of the furious, defeated, pathetic Joe steals the show.

Craig Gillespie, who previously directed Cruella and I, Tonya, does contrive one or two dynamic CG brawls. And his flashbacks to Krypton and Earth – obligatory franchise infill that they are – provide a bit of welcome variation. The rest, though, is a chore: like watching an endless orangey-grey rehash of scenes from Mad Max and Star Wars.

While Toy Story 5 may fall short of essential, in an age in which children’s entertainment routinely panders to its audience, there is something quietly radical about a film that is willing to worry for them.

With its ruminations on everything from responsible government to humanity’s innate religious drive, Disclosure Day is unquestionably a big swing. But with Spielberg, big swings should be a given, and this one only glancingly connects.

Sweary, a bit lairy, occasionally teary, this isn’t the romcom of anyone’s dreams. But for a fun and frivolous evening on the sofa, Office Romance’s charms are undeniable.

There are duels à la Thackeray. There are classical snippets borrowed from sundry Kubrick soundtracks for added pomp. But, unfortunately, there’s never a real reason to stay this grim film’s course.