SAFE HOUSE ****

Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds are the stars of this first-rate thriller, but the real star is Cape Town. Cameraman Oliver Wood does a superb job of capturing the spirit of the city, with stunning shots of the landscape, that catch your eye but do not intrude on the gripping story.

However, it's not just about the beauty of the city. It's about the explosive car chases in the heart of Cape Town's CBD, on the city's freeways and also a thrilling chase through the shacks of Guguletu. I have never seen the city put to better use as a movie location. The stunts the drivers pull off are truly awesome.

The story is American-based. Matt Weston (Reynolds) is a "housekeeper", which is CIA slang for an operative who lives in a "safe house", in a nondescript suburb. It is used by CIA operatives who need an anonymous hideaway in which they can be easily reached and where they can hide safely. The place looks ordinary, but within the house is an array of technology through which encrypted messages and instructions are delivered. It's the shadow side of the official US embassy.

As the film starts, Weston has almost nothing to do. He's a low-level operative and his job is to keep his eyes open and pass on messages. He's formed a relationship with a French woman (Tanit Phoenix) and although he is itching to move on to a better job in the CIA, he's toying with the idea of making their liaison more permanent.

Things change when a gang of men break into the safe house, armed and ruthless. Weston makes a run for it, but he doesn't know what they want or why they are there.

The second storyline relates to Tobin Frost (Washington), a top CIA agent who has gone rogue. Weston is charged with finding and apprehending Frost, a tough call because Frost is a skilled spy and ruthless killer.

We get the sense that Frost has identified a flaw in the organisation, but the audience is not sure whether he is doing his patriotic best or taking vengeance on an unspecified person.

During the film, Frost and Weston form an ambiguous, fragile partnership into which they are forced, simply because they don't know who else they can trust.

It is so interesting to see Washington in this role. Most of the time he's the hero, sometimes a reluctant hero, but when he steps to the dark side, he's amazing. He gives a nuanced performance and his professionalism allows Reynolds to raise his game.

They keep the film racing at a breakneck pace. There is a chase sequence shot in the huge sports stadium at Green Point that was built for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Director Daniel Espinosa does a spectacular job of capturing the chaos of the crowds during a shoot-out.

The story also takes us back to the CIA headquarters, where a group of spy-masters are watching the action evolve. Someone in that room is either lying or covering up someone else's lies.

The drama reaches its climax, no longer in Cape Town, but in a second "safe house", where another "housekeeper" is waiting for a "guest". But who will that guest be?

Accolades to the South African crew, who were obviously intent on beating Hollywood at its own game. Praise also goes to Reynolds, who no longer has to take off his shirt to make an impact.

It's a big, glossy international movie made on home turf, and it is great entertainment.

CloseUp:

We have seen many superheroes and sci-fi blockbusters over the last few years, most of them similar and predictable. That's why sci-fi fans should be interested in an independent grassroots film called Chronicle.

Filmed with a tight budget and in the "found footage" process that was first used in The Blair Witch Project (1999) and more recently in Paranormal Activity (2007), the movie was made by two young Hollywood filmmakers, director Josh Trank and writer Max Landis. The cast consists of unknown actors, headed by Dane DeHaan (left, with Michael Jordan and Alex Russell) in the role of Andrew. He lives with his bedridden mother and an alcoholic, abusive father.

He and two friends go walking in the woods, where they find a cave. As they approach it, Andrew's camera goes haywire and fades to black.

At first, there's a degree of inadvertent comedy in their exploration, but they sense an exceptional change in themselves. They have become telekinetic and can use their power to do almost anything, from lifting cars to destroying the landscape.

The question is this: what will do they do with this strength they have acquired? The answer is what every teenage games player yearns to do: they treat reality as you would the challenges in a video game.

The film offers a fresh, insolent snub to the portentous Hollywood blockbusters. It does not draw on a comic-book heritage, or on established traditions and legends. It's one of the few genuinely new, interesting angles in this genre, and it could easily become a mini-blockbuster.

• Chronicle opens on February 17.

Short Takes: Hugo ****

With 11 Oscar nominations, this richly designed and exquisitely rendered film will delight lovers of period adventure. Director Martin Scorsese takes a break from his tough crime thrillers to tell a magical story that is woven into the history of the earliest films ever made.

The setting is a vast, ornate train station. Hugo is an orphan but he cherishes memories of his father who was a master clockmaker. He lives in the roof of the station and it is his job to keep all the station's clocks properly wound. Beyond that he spies on the people in the station - the shop-owners, the waiters and especially the mechanical toy-shop, run by an old man, played by Ben Kingsley. While exploring the station's loft, Hugo finds a beautiful, mechanised automaton that needs only a heart-shaped key to make it move again.

To say more would spoil the surprises, because they are charming. If you are an old-movie buff, this movie will please you, but the whimsical tone, the glorious visuals and some astonishing 3D special effects puts Hugo in a class of its own.

Iron Lady ***

The reason to see this movie is Meryl Streep's performance, and her amazing make-up, both of which have won Oscar nominations. Not only does Streep look exactly like Maggie Thatcher, with her armour-plated hair and those prominent teeth, she also sounds exactly like her. Her director is Phyllida Lloyd, who scored a major hit with Mamma Mia!, in which Streep also won high praise. They joined forces again for this biopic but not, alas, with the same degree of success.

Maggie Thatcher was a trail-blazer for women; she dragged the Conservative Party back into power and her political battles made headlines around the world. That's what audiences are expecting to see. Instead, the film starts with her as an old woman, increasingly forgetful, losing focus on both the past and the future.

Abi Morgan's script acknowledges the various political crises with which she had to deal, but not at any length. The Falklands War, one of the toughest events in her career, is dealt with in about five minutes. Another risky ploy is that for the most of the time, Thatcher's deceased husband, Denis (Jim Broadbent) is a kind of hallucination, with whom she has conversations. We see her moving away from reality, rallying briefly to deliver a short, sharp speech, after which she drifts back into her memories. You can't fault Streep's performance but you can't overlook a script that tries to cover too much and it ends up without a sense of purpose.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 3D ***

There's not much to say about this. It was released in 1999, 13 years ago. The cultists already know everything there is to know, but if you are not a fan, this is what it's all about. The first Star Wars trilogy was released between 1977 and 1983. It told the story of Luke Skywalker who must battle Darth Vader, not knowing that this tyrant is actually his own father.

The second trilogy is a prequel to the first series. We learn about the origins of the characters and we see Ewan McGregor as the youthful Obi-Wan Kenobi and Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, who must train his pupil, the child Annakin Skywalker. Various villains appear, spectacular battles are fought and there is no doubt that a new generation of youngsters will revel in this series, and the fans will want to see it in 3D. But for many film-goers, it's very much a "been there, done that" affair.