The Other Guys (Cert 12, 103 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment). Starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Damon Wayans Jr, Samuel L Jackson, Dwayne Johnson ***

Explosive action sequences collide with polished one-liners in an intentionally-ludicrous buddy cop movie that gets good mileage from several running jokes. Detectives Highsmith (Jackson) and Danson (Johnson) are the golden boys of the NYPD with their gung-ho antics, but when they are sidelined, hot-headed Hoitz (Wahlberg) and mild-mannered Gamble (Ferrell) vie to lead the team. They are desperate to be included on a case involving a multi-millionaire (Coogan), but when their pleas fall on deaf ears, they go into the field with only a wooden replica gun for protection.

Devil (Cert 15, 77 mins, Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd). Starring Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green, Geoffrey Arend, Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O’Hara **

Based on a story by M Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense), this is a supernatural thriller about a group of apparent strangers stuck in a lift, who discover that one of their number is Satan. The plot threatens to crash to terra firma well before the elevator ever moves, underpinned by religious mumbo jumbo about atonement and sin. Director John Erick Dowdle cranks up the tension within the cramped, static central location, allowing his camera to prowl the lift shaft where the nightmare unfolds. Characterisation is weak so there is never any threat that viewers will be chewing nails.

Jackboots On Whitehall (Cert 12, 87 mins, Sony Pictures Home Enter-tainment). Starring Alan Cumming, Timothy Spall, Ewan McGregor, Richard E Grant, Rosamund Pike ***

There’s a very different outcome to the Second World War in this satirical yarn made with puppets, with an all-star cast giving voice to zany characters. Hitler (Cumming) and his Nazi army invade England while Churchill (Spall) and his government bluster in the corridors of power. Out in the countryside, handsome hero Chris (McGregor) and the demented local vicar (Grant) might just have a secret weapon to repel the German hordes. As the invaders move in on the capital, Churchill and co are forced to head north and retreat behind Hadrian’s Wall.

Zen (Cert 15, 270 mins, BBC DVD). Starring Rufus Sewell, Caterina Murino ***

Adapted from the novels by Michael Dibdin, this three-part series is set in modern Rome. Detective Aurelio Zen (Sewell) despairs at the state of affairs in the capital, with its corrupt politicians and gangsters. A sexually charged encounter with Tania (Murino) sparks Zen’s first case, which complicates his tangled love life. Features the episodes Vendetta, Cabal and Ratking.