The annual epidemic of sequelitis continues to sweep multiplexes. No sooner have we recovered from nasty bouts of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, then along comes Shrek the Third, the latest computer-animated adventure of the jolly green ogre. Chris Miller's colourful tale of paternal angst is lazy and, in the middle act, dull enough to send parents and youngsters off to the land of nod. Sight gags seem to have been recycled from earlier films - customers milling about in the Versarchery store on the Far Far Away high street - with a smattering of pop culture references including The Sound of Music, Chorus Line and The Six Million Dollar Man.

The quality of the animation has improved in leaps and bounds: facial detail, such as wrinkles in Shrek's face when he winces, or the movement of Fiona's dress blur the boundaries between reality and imagination. However, there is a noticeable lack of breathtaking, jaw-dropping set pieces and even the film's best sequence - Donkey and Puss In Boots swapping bodies after one of Merlin's spells goes awry - feels drawn out.

When King Harold (voiced by John Cleese), the beloved ruler of Far Far Away, passes away, the realm cries out for a new ruler. The King and his wife, Queen Lillian (voiced by Julie Andrews), intend for Shrek (Mike Myers) and Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) to rule, but Shrek is unsure that the loyal subjects would take kindly to an ogre on the throne. So the rotund hero and loyal sidekicks Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas) embark on an odyssey to track down the rightful heir, Fiona's teenage cousin Prince Artie (Justin Timberlake).

Back in Far Far Away, Fiona prepares for the birth of her first children, surrounded by a gaggle of broody admirers: Cinderella (Amy Sedaris), Rapunzel (Maya Rudolph), Sleeping Beauty (Cheri Oteri) and Snow White (Amy Poehler). Meanwhile, calculating and vain Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) schemes to claim the crown for himself, aided and abetted by nefarious storybook characters including Captain Hook (Ian McShane) and wicked stepmothers and witches.

With Shrek The Third, the series has clearly run out of ideas. The eponymous ogre and his wife are the least interesting characters in the film. Apart from a dream - or rather nightmare - sequence in which Shrek imagines his hovel overrun by cute, vomit-spewing babies, he and Fiona would almost be surplus to requirements.

Donkey and Puss steal all of the laughs, the few there are, while Eric Idle is squandered as Merlin, who Artie confides "was the school's magic teacher until he had a nervous breakdown". Timberlake's vocal performance as the high school nerd who would be king is lifeless, but Sedaris, Rudolph, Oteri and Poehler have fun as the catty, bickering quartet at odds with their beatific reputations. Shrek, Fiona and co get their happy ending, but for audiences, Miller's film falls short of the greatest fairy-tale never told.

In Hostel: Part II, the grisly sequel to Eli Roth's torture fantasy, three American travellers Beth (Lauren German), Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) and Whitney (Bijou Phillips) are touring the beautiful locales of Eastern Europe when they meet the beautiful Axelle (Vera Jordanova), who introduces them to a surprisingly cheap Slovakian hostel.

As in the previous film, the building is actually a front for a despicable trade in tourist exploitation and mutilation, and soon the three friends find themselves at the mercy of wealthy businessmen like Todd (Richard Burgi) and Stuart (Roger Bart), who pay for the privilege of slaying girls.

Mohit Suri directs the Bollywood remake of the acclaimed South Korean thriller A Bittersweet Life in Awarapan. Tormented by the spectres of his past, Shivam (Emraan Hashmi) has risen through the ranks to become the most trusted employee of Hong Kong gangster boss Malik. While the kingpin is away on business, Shivam is hired to chaperone young mistress Reema (Shreya Saran), with express instructions that if she should stray with another man, she is to be killed on the spot. During a night out, Shivam discovers that Reema does indeed have a boyfriend but the assassin's own feelings for the girl threaten to cloud his judgement.