THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  ** (136 minutes) M
In what appears to be an attempt to redefine movie mediocrity, the Spider-Man saga comes in for a half-hearted retelling so pedestrian it often has trouble distinguishing itself from the 2002 Sam Raimi film we're all supposed to have forgotten about. Sullen British actor Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker, the high school student imbued with super powers after being bitten by a spider in a science lab; a listless Emma Stone (The Help) plays his love interest; Rhys Ifans is the scientist whose good sense becomes overwhelmed by the transformative powers of his DNA research. The film takes a full hour laboriously going over the Spider-Man legend involving Parker's uncle (Martin Sheen), who tells him how responsibility comes with power, and how doing good is a moral obligation, not a choice. Once the action finally gets going, Spider-Man simply looks like every other digitally enhanced comic-book action film we've seen in the past few years, with frenetically cut sequences in which one blur does battle with another blur. This big-budget blandness is due, no doubt, to the inexperience of director Marc Webb, whose only previous feature film was the flinty 2009 teen romance (500) Days of Summer. Visually, the film does not contain a single memorable image - there's not even a decent kiss. It certainly pales in comparison to the underrated Spider-Man 3 (2007), in which Raimi maintained a cracking pace and staged several magnificent set-pieces. Compounding the film's lack of energy and conviction are the largely flat performances from Garfield, 28, and Stone, 23, who are meant to be playing teenagers. They just don't sound it or look it, especially when a double is used to perform Parker's skate-boarding stunts. Designed more as a marketing exercise than a cinematic experience, The Amazing Spider-Man is merely more of the same, and a symptom of the grand lack of originality presently ruling Hollywood. (See our list of New Hollywood Rules).

  
TED **** (106 minutes) MA
From Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane comes a very solid, very naughty, very adult comedy about the over-dependent relationship between John (Mark Wahlberg) and his walking, talking, swear-happy, bong-smoking teddy bear (voiced by MacFarlane). His girlfriend (Mila Kunis, aka the voice of FG's Meg) is unhappy with Ted's disruptive influence and john has to make the uncomfortable decision about having to grow up. Rude as hell, funny as hell, the film nonetheless has real feeling. While merrily delivering all the coarse anti-PC humour the Family Guy fanbase have a right to expect, the best thing about Ted is also its biggest surprise - it has real heart. In lesser hands this could so easily have been a throwaway one-joke movie, yet Ted actually develops into a full-bodied tale about friendship as MacFarlane actually makes you care about the relationship between John and his boyhood bear. The film's top-shelf visual effects go a long way to making the premise work, but what ultimately sells it is the quality of the direction. Despite the fact that he's a stuffed toy he's actually more credible than the cardboard characters that populate most rom-coms. Beneath all the naughty jokes and signature pop culture references - just watch the sales of Flash Gordon DVDs skyrocket! - you really care for this bear. (See our Top Ten Movie Teddy Bears)

A HAPPY EVENT **1/2 (105 minutes; subtitled) MA
In what is turning out to be the year of pregnancy movies, this likeable but unremarkable French number from director Remi Bezancon goes through the motions about the travails of the months leading up to, and following, childbirth. Barbara (Louise Bourgoin) is an attractive PhD student partnered with Nicolas, a man-child (Pio Marmai) who spends an inordinate amount of time playing video games when he should be helping Barbara throw up. With Barbara's lightly sarcastic voice-over, the tale alternates between whimsy and realism a little too much - would any woman really tolerate a man as lazy as Nicolas? - but is pleasant, passable viewing.

KATY PERRY: PART OF ME *** (97 minutes) PG
The contrast between the cartoony, fantasy-loving stage image of songstress Katy Perry and the rigours of a relentless world tour give what could otherwise have been a puffy, throwaway pseudo-documentary some real grist. Designed as an eye-opener for her legions of fans (many of them little girls), Perry pulls focus on her very religious upbringing and her struggles to get traction in the music industry. The collapse of her marriage to comedian Russell Brand is inevitably covered, though one wonders how Brand would feel about the slightly villainous way he is portrayed. Given the film was shot in 3D, the quality of the concert footage is a little disappointing as well as being too brief. There's no reason fans wouldn't happily sit through full-length versions of her hits. All-in-all, though, a good fan-friendly film that even non-fans can appreciate.

I AM ELEVEN *** (90 minutes; part-subtitled) G
A beautifully made, insightful, unusual documentary about growing up in which Melbourne filmmaker Genevieve Bailey trots across the world speaking to children in 15 countries about the joys, pains and awkwardness that define being on the verge of becoming a teenager. Clearly, some kids mature much faster than others, and it's the constant snap shots of contrast that keep the heart of this celebratory film beating. A film festival favourite and made on a very low budget, it screens exclusively at the Nova.

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