This week’s movie releases

Decent excuses to drag the little ones out of the sun and into the cool of the cinema have been few and far between so far this summer. But DreamWorks’ new animation How to Train Your Dragon 2 hopefully goes some way to setting things right, though its dark mix of action, comedy and drama might make it better suited to older kids. Five years after the first film, the Vikings are at peace with their former dragon foes and young hero Hiccup (voiced again by Jay Baruchel) spends his days exploring unknown lands and perfecting his skills on the back of his faithful fire-breathing pal, Toothless. But he’s forced to grow up fast after he stumbles across the crazed leader of another tribe who is assembling a dragon army. Based on the book series by Cressida Cowell – a third film is reportedly in the works – the talented voice cast features Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, Djimon Hounsou and Kit Harington.

From writer-director John Carney, the man who brought you scruffy Dublin-set Oscar-winning musical romance Once, Begin Again is a film in a similar, if lusher-looking vein. Keira Knightley plays a singer-songwriter left on her own in New York after her romantic and song-writing partner (Adam Levine of pop-rock group Maroon 5) pushes her aside after hitting the big time. Spotted playing in an East Village bar by washed-up record exec Mark Ruffalo, she initially turns his offer of a contract down, but a change of mind sees them embarking on a mutually transformative collaboration.

Adapted from Chuck Logan’s novel by none other than Sylvester Stallone, Homefront is a vehicle for British action hero Jason Statham, here playing a former DEA agent and single dad who decides to lie low with his daughter in a small town. But things take a violent turn when a local drug dealer (James Franco) discovers his law enforcement past. Winona Ryder and Kate Bosworth also star in Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead director Gary Fleder’s action thriller.

Strange attraction

A Spanish-Chilean coproduction, writer-director Isabel Ayguavives’ El árbol magnético sees Bruno (Andrés Gertrudix) arriving back to his childhood home in Chile after a long time in Europe. As his family gathers to say goodbye to their land before they sell it, a visit to local landmark “the magnetic tree” brings a host of forgotten feelings flooding back.

Shot in the Galician language and inspired by a real case that occurred in France, Xavier Bermúdez’s O ouro do tempo is a peculiar romance about a doctor who has kept the body of his beloved wife cryogenically frozen for over 40 years, hoping his medical skills might one day be able to bring her back to life. But as his health starts to fail, he’s forced to resort to the help of a young nurse.