At Easter there are only so many egg hunts and chocolate-eating sessions kids can take over one bank holiday. And while there are heaps of activities for kids happening, you can't go wrong with a trip to the movies. From pesky rabbits to battling superheroes, operatic fairy tales to time-travelling fantasy, this holiday there’s a bumper crop of new family-friendly film releases to keep kids of all ages occupied during the school break.
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A warm and innocent movie version of Wolfie Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’, this is the best introduction for kids to opera and gloomy Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Happily, Bergo is on cheery, whimsical form here – enjoy young lovers, scary sorcerers and charming effects with nary a Grim Reaper in sight.
From March 16.
Beatrix Potter’s rascally rabbit is brought to life by the ubiquitous James Corden. Expect lots of laughs, Domhnall Gleeson from ‘The Last Jedi’ as Peter’s nemesis Mr McGregor and an all-star cast (Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie) voicing Peter’s friends (nothing to do with the old Kenneth Branagh film).
From March 16.
Lara Croft returns in the shape of Oscar winner Alicia Vikander. There’s plenty of derring-do in dimly lit caves as Lara jumps through caverns and plot holes in search of her long-lost father.
From March 16
The sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 mechas (Jaegers) v monsters (Kaiju) epic is even kid-friendlier than the original. It’s more colourful (less rain, brighter palette), it features a pint-sized Jaeger named Scrapper (the perfect toy tie-in?) and it centres on a squad of young cadets (led by Cailee Spaeny) saving the world. Like CBeebies but with a bigger budget and more robot-bashing.
From March 23
Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 novel sees a young girl, Meg Murry (Storm Reid), go on a quest to find her father – hang on, isn’t that ‘Tomb Raider’? – who is being held captive on a distant planet. She is helped by astral travellers played by Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling. The Democrats should have them run for office in 2020.
From March 23
Steven Spielberg returns to blockbusters with this tale of youngsters gaming together to save a virtual-reality world called the Oasis (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation) from the hands of corporate drones. There are huge action set-pieces, a great cast (Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance) and more ’80s references than you can shake a DeLorean at.
From March 29
Wes Anderson’s second adventure in stop-motion is about a gang of quarantined dogs in a future Japan who help a boy find his missing mutt. Voiced by Jeff Goldblum, Greta Gerwig and Bill Murray, among other big names, it’s part dogumentary, part caninanimation, part prestige poochture… we’ll stop now.
From March 30
Based on the novel by ‘Hugo’ author Brian Selznick, this charts the parallel stories of a girl (Millicent Simmonds) in 1920s New Jersey and a boy (Oakes Fegley) in ’70s Minnesota and the ties that bind them. Although it features an animated bit with dolls, it’s one for older kids.
From April 6
The biggest Marvel film to date has the Avengers teaming up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin) collecting the Infinity Stones for the Infinity Gauntlet (to wear in an infinity pool?) that will allow him to warp reality to his will. Obvs.
From April 27
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