Triumph against adversity in Disney family drama

Released: October 21 (UK & Ireland)

If there is one film studio that knows how to mine real-life sporting triumph against adversity for heart-warming family drama, it's Disney.

Ice hockey (The Mighty Ducks, Miracle), winter bobsleigh (Cool Runnings), golf (The Greatest Game Ever Played), American football (Remember The Titans) and baseball (Million Dollar Arm) have all scored big.

Now it's the turn of a classic game of strategy and ruthless tactics.

Queen Of Katwe chronicles the incredible true story of a Ugandan chess prodigy, who emerged from a slum in Kampala to proudly represent her country on the international stage.

Scripted by William Wheeler and directed by Mira Nair, this joyful celebration of the human spirit deftly moves between characters, whose fates are entwined in the capital city.

The film avoids checkmate by cliches in a genuinely moving second act and doesn't overplay the sporting metaphors, even when a little girl explains the process of promoting a pawn to queen ("In chess, the small one can become the big one!") and blatantly nods to the 10-year-old heroine's journey of self-discovery.

Among the film's chief pleasures is first-time lead actress Madina Nalwanga, whose personal odyssey from a community dance class in Kampala to the red carpet of Hollywood, mirrors her protagonist's remarkable transformation from impoverished unknown to globe-trotting celebrity.

Queen Of Katwe unfolds largely in chronological order, meeting 10-year-old Phiona Mutesi (Nalwanga) in the bustle of Kampala's streets in 2007, where she sells maize with her brother Brian (Martin Kabanza).

They return home with money to keep a roof over the heads of their single mother Nakku Harriet (Lupita Nyong'o), older sister Night (Taryn 'Kay' Kyaze) and younger brother Richard (Ivan Jacobo).

By chance, Phiona and Brian meet engineer Robert Katende (David Oyelowo), who is spearheading a missionary program, which supplies porridge to local children as they learn to play chess.

Phiona demonstrates natural aptitude for the game and gradually outmanoeuvres her fellow "pioneers" including Ivan (Ronald Ssemaganda), Benjamin (Ethan Nazario Lubega) and Gloria (Nikita Waligwa).

With help from his schoolteacher wife Sara (Esther Tebandeke), Robert mentors Phiona and inspires the girl to compete at the World Chess Olympiad in Russia.

"Sometimes the place you are used to is not the place you belong," he tells his protegee.

Queen Of Katwe is distinguished by fine performances including Oscar winner Nyong'o as a proud matriarch, who fears chess might corrupt her little girl and inspire dreams beyond her child's slender grasp.

Oyelowo is a stoic mentor and director Nair and cinematographer Sean Bobbitt capture both the beauty and resolve of a nation scarred by civil war.

Nalwanga and her young co-stars are naturals in front of the camera, and footage of actors with their real-life counterparts during the end credits leaves a large lump in the throat.

:: NO SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 7.5/10

JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK (12A, 118 mins) Thriller/Action/Romance. Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger, Holt McCallany, Robert Knepper. Director: Edward Zwick.

Released: October 20 (UK & Ireland)

Solid, reliable, polished and compact - Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and its charismatic leading man, Tom Cruise, share many positive qualities.

Based on the book by Lee Child, director Edward Zwick's thriller continues the escapades of the eponymous former Major in the Military Police Corps as he exposes greed and injustice.

The opening salvo in the franchise, Jack Reacher, released in 2012, was an entertaining genre piece punctuated by smartly orchestrated action sequences, including opening scenes of a sniper taking aim at innocent bystanders that unsettled in the wake of shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The sequel, set four years later, keeps chilling reality at arm's length despite a largely predictable plot that touches upon America's military manoeuvres in the Middle East.

Cruise isn't showing his years - 54 and counting - as he performs his own death-defying stunts, including leaping from a car to a rooftop and trading blows in breathlessly choreographed fights.

There's an undeniable vicarious thrill, and a few unintentional giggles, watching his modern-day ronin square off against three or four hulking assailants at the same time, and disable them in a bone-crunching blur of punches and counterpunches.

Jack Reacher (Cruise) is living off the grid, embracing a nomadic lifestyle that allows him to move between low-rent motels as he brings down men and women in uniform who abuse their position.

En route to a face-to-face meeting with his successor, Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), Reacher discovers that she has been accused of espionage.

"She's been arrested, court-martial is pending," growls Turner's replacement, Colonel Morgan (Holt McCallany), who is suspiciously obstructive.

When associates of Turner are slain before they can testify, Reacher realises that he has stumbled upon a wider conspiracy involving overseas shipments of weaponry.

Against the odds, Reacher springs Turner from her high-security holding cell so they can expose corruption within the Army ranks, which could implicate retired General Harkness (Robert Knepper).

However, a tenacious assassin called The Hunter (Patrick Heusinger) is on their trail, flanked by violent henchmen, who will stop at nothing to silence witnesses.

In the midst of this taut game of cats and mice, Jack faces claims that a smart-talking teenager called Samantha (Danika Yarosh) is his daughter from a previous relationship.

Bullets ricochet, Jack communicates with his bloodied fists and must somehow keep Samantha out of The Hunter's gun sights.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back simmers pleasantly thanks to the on-screen chemistry between Cruise and Smulders, the latter rolling up her sleeves to inflict bruises in the accomplished action set pieces.

Yarosh is a delightfully snarky addition, and the father-daughter subplot spices up an otherwise predictable hunt for rotten apples in the Army barrel.

On this slick and efficient evidence, Reacher will be back.

:: SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 6/10