1917 (2019, dir. Sam Mendes)

Two soldiers are given orders to deliver an urgent message to prevent a massacre. Works better as a race-against-time action movie than as an anti-war flick, but sustains itself impeccably and looks great throughout. The single-shot/more-or-less real-time aesthetic just about justifies itself, though can be distracting in quieter moments.

Mary Poppins Returns (2018, dir. Rob Marshall)

A generation after the events of Mary Poppins, the magical nanny returns to the Banks family, this time to help them save their home. Despite care and affection for the original, this is a reprise rather than a sequel. Emily Blunt lacks the lightness of touch of Julie Andrews, and the songs tend to the unmemorable.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014, dir. Matthew Vaughn)

A cockney youth is inducted into an elite British secret agency. Confident spy comedy from the graphic novel series, both spoofing and celebrating Bond and The Avengers in equal measure. Stylised and violent; not for everyone in its laddish glee. A sequel, expanding the universe, soon followed.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018, dir. Ol Parker)

In 1979, a student has romantic adventures in the Med; this links with the present. Both sequel and prequel to Mamma Mia!, this ABBA-based jukebox musical is part-reprise, part deconstruction. More fun than the first, and as impermeable to criticism as its predecessor. You’ll either love it, or be baffled.

Kursk: The Last Mission [AKA The Command; AKA Kursk] (2018, dir. Thomas Vinterberg)

A sombre retelling of the 2000 Kursk submarine disaster. Okay drama-documentary that takes some liberties with the actual timeline, and which struggles to make the inevitable dramatic, despite good performances. The usual points made.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017, dir. Matthew Vaughn)

Kingsmen join with their American equivalent to battle a virus-wielding drug lord. Gleeful but over-stuffed, overlong and indulgent sequel, magnifying the first film‘s good points and its issues. Some fun to be had, tho, and Mark Strong gets a crowning moment of awesome.