If you haven’t heard of the Pirates franchise you must have been living in a rock. The first three films were some of the highest grossing movies ever. Johnny Depp has gone from underground and weird to overground and still a bit weird.
The plot of this instalment is a lot easier to understand than the last two films. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this film could be viewed as a self-contained entity, which is rare praise for a blockbuster in the past five years. It is left open for a squeal but there doesn’t have to be one for it to make sense.
Basically, there is a race to find the fountain of youth and everyone has their motivations. Geoffery Rush is Captain Barbossa and is amazing, as is Ian McShane as Blackbeard. Johnny Depp’s portrayal as Captain Jack is even more over the top and quite predictable but that’s okay because Captain Jack is fantastic. As a side note, I was very impressed by Keith Richards’ acting chops in his brief cameo.
What I found most disappointing about the film is the typical portrayal of the damsel in distress. As the story of Grainne O Malley shows, a strong woman pirate isn’t too far fetched but Penelope Cruz’s character fails to live up to expectations.
However, all in all this is an exciting swashbuckling adventure. And what else would you expect when you go to see a pirate movie.
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Chalet Girl – A Review
British comedy- why does it work so well on TV but not in film? There are the rare gems of The Life of Brian and Withnail and I, but all in all British comedy films have been a poor lot. Kevin and Perry go Large anyone?
Chalet Girl is the tale of a working class girl (Felicity Jones) who is living in an upper class world. This upper class world is home to a rather dashing chap ( Ed Westwick). Could romance ensue? Of course it could, this story has been played out so many times.
The 97 minutes could have been cut down to one montage of snowboarding and kissing. Then letting the obligatory happy ending play out in full to give us that fuzzy feeling.
I can’t even think who would enjoy this film, the only possibility is some one who came down in the last shower and doesn’t have a concept of tired or clichéd.
Avoid at all costs.
Chalet Girl is the tale of a working class girl (Felicity Jones) who is living in an upper class world. This upper class world is home to a rather dashing chap ( Ed Westwick). Could romance ensue? Of course it could, this story has been played out so many times.
The 97 minutes could have been cut down to one montage of snowboarding and kissing. Then letting the obligatory happy ending play out in full to give us that fuzzy feeling.
I can’t even think who would enjoy this film, the only possibility is some one who came down in the last shower and doesn’t have a concept of tired or clichéd.
Avoid at all costs.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud- A Review
Zac Efron is best known for his role in High School Musical. The Death and Life.. is his star vehicle. The plot centres on Charlie St Cloud (Efron) and his relationship with his dead brother, Sam (Charlie Tahan). Yes that’s right, his dead brother. If this sounds a little strange, that is because it is. This movie is weird. Weird can be good, like Donnie Darko, but this is just the bad kind of weird. About 30 minutes into the movie you start to hope that some one refers the poor chap to a professional psychologist.
Other plot points thrown in are; sailing, St. Jude, High School rivalry, and graveyard geese.
The 100 minutes feel like 100 days. 100 long days. The acting is only saved by the love interest Amanda Crew and a brief appearance by Ray Liotta. Kim Bassinger stars as Efron’s mother, briefly.
The main problems with The Death and Life... are the questionable acting and bizarre premise. Teenage girls might enjoy this because Efron is topless for a large portion of the movie, and not to mention brooding. Brooding is very in right now.
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud in one word: wtf?
Other plot points thrown in are; sailing, St. Jude, High School rivalry, and graveyard geese.
The 100 minutes feel like 100 days. 100 long days. The acting is only saved by the love interest Amanda Crew and a brief appearance by Ray Liotta. Kim Bassinger stars as Efron’s mother, briefly.
The main problems with The Death and Life... are the questionable acting and bizarre premise. Teenage girls might enjoy this because Efron is topless for a large portion of the movie, and not to mention brooding. Brooding is very in right now.
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud in one word: wtf?
Sunday, August 1, 2010
The Rebound- A Review
When a movie starts with an idiotic continuity mistake then you know you’re in for a rough ride. To be honest I went in with low expectations. I can’t even remember the last movie that Catherine Zeta-Jones was in (Death Defying Acts-for anyone who cares) let alone that I enjoyed. That’s not forgetting the male lead is that guy from The Hangover, not Bradley Cooper.
The movie starts with Sandy (Catherine Zeta-Jones) leaving her kids at school in a silver SUV. On her drive home in a red SUV she sings along to Meredith Brook’s Bitch. Oh, you see that’s to show that she is not your regular suburban mum. She’s a little cool and she likes sports as we will see later in a very unnecessary, lengthy exploration of her working life.
Long story short, and this movie is long, her husband is cheating on her so she moves to Manhattan, blah Blah Blah finds herself attracted to the much younger male babysitter, Aram (Justin Bartha).
The movie continues in the most conventional manner possible. They took the latest trend of cougars and threw in some stereotypes and references to MILF’s. Oh, it is hilarious to see the differences between younger people and older people. Don’t forget to throw in some very annoying kids who are the greatest example of what is wrong with youth today- bratty and uncontrollable.
I’m not really sure why this movie made it to cinemas. It is perfect for gaggles of middle aged women swilling down a bottle of wine each per hour in front of their flat screen TV on their ‘girls night in’, thinking what it is like to have their very own toy boy.
Avoid this disaster at all costs. However, saying that, it does deserve one award- the longest, most pointless montage in movie history. Congratulations makers of The Rebound.
The movie starts with Sandy (Catherine Zeta-Jones) leaving her kids at school in a silver SUV. On her drive home in a red SUV she sings along to Meredith Brook’s Bitch. Oh, you see that’s to show that she is not your regular suburban mum. She’s a little cool and she likes sports as we will see later in a very unnecessary, lengthy exploration of her working life.
Long story short, and this movie is long, her husband is cheating on her so she moves to Manhattan, blah Blah Blah finds herself attracted to the much younger male babysitter, Aram (Justin Bartha).
The movie continues in the most conventional manner possible. They took the latest trend of cougars and threw in some stereotypes and references to MILF’s. Oh, it is hilarious to see the differences between younger people and older people. Don’t forget to throw in some very annoying kids who are the greatest example of what is wrong with youth today- bratty and uncontrollable.
I’m not really sure why this movie made it to cinemas. It is perfect for gaggles of middle aged women swilling down a bottle of wine each per hour in front of their flat screen TV on their ‘girls night in’, thinking what it is like to have their very own toy boy.
Avoid this disaster at all costs. However, saying that, it does deserve one award- the longest, most pointless montage in movie history. Congratulations makers of The Rebound.
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