DVD OF THE WEEK

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Cert 12, 146 mins)

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Sally Field, Chris Cooper, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Martin Sheen, Denis Leary.

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is haunted by memories of his father Richard (Campbell Scott) and mother Mary (Embeth Davidtz), who abandoned him in the dead of night in the care of Aunt May (Sally Field).

He is also tormented by the ghost of Captain Stacy (Denis Leary), whose daughter Gwen (Emma Stone) is Peter's on-off-on-off girlfriend.

While Peter hones his superpowers, childhood friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) returns to the Big Apple to assume control of Oscorp in the wake of the death of his bullying father (Chris Cooper).

Harry's ascension coincides with an industrial accident that transforms nerdy employee and Spider-Man fanatic, Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), into an electrically-charged monster.

Consequently, Peter must risk his life to protect Gwen and Aunt May from harm.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is an action-packed sequel that suffers from villain overload.

A Russian mobster in rhinoceros-shaped armour, a maligned Oscorp employee who can shoot electricity from his fingertips and an iconic green-skinned imp with daddy issues all vie for our attention during a rough 'n' tumble 146 minutes.

Peter and Gwen's turbulent romance is the cornerstone and the film soars like the titular hero whenever they are together.

Foxx's portrayal of the pathetic bad guy is more miss than hit and we don't spend enough time with his corporate nerd before the metamorphosis into Electro.

Thankfully, DeHaan is terrifically tormented as heir to the Oscorp empire, who clings forlornly to the hope of a transfusion of Spider-Man's blood to cure his genetic woes.

A two-disc set comprising The Amazing Spider-Man and the sequel is also available.

Rating: *** 

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A Perfect Plan (Cert 15, 105 mins)

Starring: Diane Kruger, Dany Boon, Robert Plagnol, Alice Pol, Jonathan Cohen.

Isabelle (Diane Kruger) hopes to marry the man of her dreams, handsome dentist Pierre (Robert Plagnol) and settle down.

Unfortunately, all of the women in Isabelle's family fall victim to the same curse: their first marriages end in heartbreak.

Isabelle's sister Corinne (Alice Pol) concocts the perfect plan for her sibling: marry a stranger and get a divorce straightaway, thereby ensuring that her nuptials with Pierre - her second husband - end happily ever after.

Isabelle randomly chooses boorish travel editor Jean-Yves (Dany Boon), who sits next to her on a flight to Copenhagen.

He is bound for Kenya for an assignment and she follows, determined to get him to tie the knot then immediately sign divorce papers.

The madcap scheme includes a detour to Moscow, where Isabelle begins to see there is more to Jean-Yves than initially meets the eye.

A Perfect Plan is, ironically, peppered with flaws, not least Laurent Zeitoun and Yoann Gromb's script which struggles to put flesh on the bones of the characters or make us care about their romantic dalliances.

Kruger's natural likeability is a counterpoint to Boon's crass oaf, who seems to be the last person anyone with a shred of sanity would choose as a patsy to break a family curse.

Director Pascal Chaumeil previously helmed the delightful French romcom Heartbreaker starring Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis. Alas, this similarly light confection fails to seduce us like his earlier picture.

Rating: **

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NEW TO BUY ON DVD/BLU-RAY

Sons Of Anarchy - Season Six (Cert 15, 580 mins)

Jax (Charlie Hunnam) uses underhand methods to seize control of SAMCRO in 13 gripping episodes of the acclaimed US biker drama.

Also this series, Clay (Ron Perlman) survives an assassination attempt in prison, Bobby (Mark Boone Junior) actively engages new members in the Charming chapter and Tara (Maggie Siff) fakes an assault in order to get a restraining order against Gemma (Katey Sagal).

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The Honourable Woman (Cert 15, 480 mins)

Maggie Gyllenhaal headlines this taut BBC drama written and directed by Hugo Blick.

Nessa Stein (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is an Anglo-Israeli businesswoman, who inherits her father's arms company when her brother Ephra (Andrew Buchan) decides to stand down.

She struggles to come to terms with the company's illegal practices and hopes to restore honour to the Stein family name.

In the process, Nessa becomes embroiled in various personal and professional intrigues involving head of MI6 Dame Julia Walsh (Janet McTeer), close friend Atika Halibi (Lubna Azabal) and her bodyguard Nathaniel Bloom (Tobias Menzies). The three-disc set includes all eight episodes.

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Suspects - Series 1 (Cert 15, 226 mins)

Fay Ripley, Clare-Hope Ashitey and Damien Molony star in this largely improvised police procedural drama, which follows the exploits of DI Bellamy (Ripley), DS Weston (Molony) and DC Steele (Ashitey) as they investigate the night-time abduction of a young girl.

As the team questions friends and family of the missing child, the police sense the case could be far more complicated than they originally thought.

Thomas & Friends: Tale Of The Brave (The Movie) (Cert U, 63 mins, HIT Entertainment, DVD £12.99, Animation/Children) The plucky blue tank engine (voiced by Ben Small) and his locomotive friends overcome their fears in this feature-length animation set on the Island of Sodor. A monstrous storm looms over the island and the trains discover some strange footprints. Thomas and Percy (Keith Wickham) decide to investigate and learn where the footprints came from.

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Killers (Cert 18, 135 mins)

Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto directs this thriller, about two rivals, who engage in a sick and twisted competition for notoriety.

As a child, Nomura Shuhei (Kazuki Kitamura) witnessed his father abusing his sister.

He is now a charismatic businessman but this is just a front for his true passion: killing unsuspecting victims and posting their grisly demises as recordings on the internet.

Crusading journalist Bayu Aditya (Oka Antara) becomes intrigued by Nomura and decides to embark on his own journey to hell.

He becomes a killer and also uploads horrific video footage to the internet.

A rivalry develops as the two serial killers attempt to outdo one another.

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A Touch Of Cloth III (Cert 15, 108 mins)

Hard-drinking DCI Jack Cloth (John Hannah), whose wife perished in mysterious circumstances, and his impatient colleague DC Anne Oldman (Suranne Jones) pursue a psychopathic killer in the Sky 1 comedy drama, which pokes fun at the conventions of the detective genre.

ACC Tom Boss (Julian Rhind-Tutt) relentlessly harangues Cloth and Oldman, desperate for results.

A three-disc box set comprising all three series is also available.

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Warrior King 2 (Cert 15, 104 mins, Entertainment One, DVD £12.99)

Tony Jaa reprises his role as Thai master Kham in Prachya Pinkaew's straight-to-DVD sequel to his 2005 action thriller.

Kham is framed for the murder of a Thai trader and comes under attack from the dead man's vengeful nieces, Ping Ping (JeeJa Yanin) and Sue Sue (Theerada Kittisiriprasert).

The true culprits escape without punishment. Desperate to clear his name, Kham joins forces with an Interpol agent working in Thailand to unmask the real killers and bring them to justice.

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Mr Morgan's Last Love (Cert 15, 116 mins)

Based on the novel La Douceur Assassine by Francoise Dorner, Sandra Nettelbeck's heart-warming comedy drama charts an unlikely friendship between two people across the age and social divide.

Matthew Morgan (Sir Michael Caine) is a retired teacher, who lives in Paris and has almost turned his back on the possibility of forging new human connections.

As he gets on the bus one day, Matthew is lent a helping hand by Pauline (Clemence Poesy), whose unwavering optimism and vivacity are just the tonic he needs.

They enjoy walks through the French capital and share lunches in the park, discussing events that have shaped and, in Matthew's case, scarred them.

In the process, Pauline realises that she must radically adjust her concept of a family and Matthew finds a way to reconnect with his estranged son, Miles (Justin Kirk).

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Next Goal Wins (Cert 15, 98 mins)

As the UK domestic football season gets under way, documentary filmmakers Steve Jamison and Mike Brett celebrate the efforts of American Samoa's football team, who haven't won a single game for 10 years and have become an international laughing stock.

Maverick Dutch football coach Thomas Rongen accepts the challenge to whip the players into shape for their World Cup 2014 qualifying matches.

When he arrives, the team is in disarray and he faces a seemingly impossible task to mould his players into a cohesive unit.

But what the American Samoans lack in skill and fitness they make up for in fighting spirit and pride, and Rongen slowly realises he has the raw materials to face seemingly insurmountable odds and show rival squads what it means to be a true winner in life.

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TOP 10 DVD RETAIL

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2.  Frozen

3. Mrs. Doubtfire 

4. Divergent

5. The Lego Movie

6. The Love Punch 

7. Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred

8. How To Train Your Dragon

9. Sons of Anarchy: Season 6

10. Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie

(Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk/DVD)

TOP 10 DVD RENTAL

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2. Divergent

3. Frozen

4. The Amazing Spider-Man

5. Noah

6. Rio 2 

7. Good Will Hunting

8. The Grand Budapest Hotel

9. The Raid 2

10. Guardians Of The Galaxy

(Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk/DVD)

TOP 10 FILM STREAMING

1. Red 2

2. Ted

3. Total Recall

4. The Bourne Legacy

5. Horrible Bosses

6. Now You See Me

7. 2 Guns

8.  Escape

9. Life As We Know It

10. The Lucky One

(Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk/DVD)