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Pirates
of the Caribbean
At World's End
Cert: 12A
Starring: Johnny
Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Jack Davenport,
Chow Yun Fat
Director: Gore
Verbinski
Running Time: 168
minutes |
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The
age of piracy is under threat. Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander)
of the East India Company has gained control of the Flying Dutchman
with its vengeful Captain Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). The ship under
the command of Admiral Norrington (Jack Davenport) wanders the
seas destroying pirate ships without mercy. In an attempt to stop
Beckett’s control, the nine pirate lords of the Brethren
Court must band together, the main problem is one of them is missing!
After his encounter with the Kraken Captain Sparrow (Johnny Depp)
is trapped in Davy Jones’ locker. So it is down to Will Turner
(Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Kiera Knightley) to form an
uneasy alliance with the other pirates in an attempt to rescue
Jack Sparrow.
But even with all the pirate Lords together extra help may still
be needed for them to stand a chance, and as one betrayal follows
another it is clear that all of them have their own agenda. With
this aside each must choose an ally for the final showdown that
could change the seven seas forever.
This is a sequel many will have been waiting to see, and it takes
up from where the last movie left off. We have the welcome return
of Captain Barossa (Geoffrey Rush) a part that has really been
overlooked! While the Jack Sparrow character that Depp has given
us is entertaining it works so much better when he has this bitter
growling counter part to play against. In fact many of the characters
start to show a darker side to there nature in this movie, leaving
you wondering where their true loyalties lie. The only real problem
is the amount of different double crosses! There are so many that
at times it is difficult to keep up with the story line and starts
to lengthen the film a little too much.
Never the less it is still fun, and the special effects are up
to the usual standard as we are plunged into the world of rope
swings, swashbuc-kling, and gunfire that we expect. Its pretty
safe to say that that the fans of the other two movies wont be
disappointed. |
The
Hitcher
Cert: 15
Starring: Sean
Bean, Sophia Bush, Zachary Knighton
Director: Dave
Meyers
Running
Time: 84
minutes
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Jim
Halsey (played by Zachary Knighton) and Grace Andrews ( played
by Sophia bush), are your typical young couple taking a long
distance road trip for spring break. It is when during a rain
storm they decide to take pity on a lone hitchhiker John Ryder
(played by Sean Bean) that their pleasure trip begins turning
to a nightmare. Even when they manage to escape the madman
who is a self confessed murderer their troubles are far from
over. As they find themselves being pursued by Ryder their
problems increase when they realise that he is also leaving
increasing evidence that they are the ones respon-sible for
the murders he is committing. While now on the run from the
police they also have to find the man who is trying to kill
them to clear their names and end their nightmare.
This remake of the 80’s thriller is produced by the same
production team that also gave us the newer versions of ’The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘The Amityville Horror’.
Unfortunately it also follows those two movies in that there
is no fresh view added to them. The movie seems to be made
more from a technical point of view, and where attempts have
been made to follow a ‘typical’ horror formula
(such as the teen couple we now have rather than original movies
victim being a lone driver), and it seems to have lost its
psychological edge. The acting is up to par and Sean Bean does
give a good performance, but he lacks the psychotic menace
that Rutger Hauer conveyed in the original.
For those missing their fix on a horror/thriller film it will
fill the gap until something a little more original arrives,
but others may just prefer the original. |
Flyboys
Cert: 12A
Starring: Martin
Henderson, James Franco, Jennifer Decker, Jean
Reno, David Ellison, Mac McDonald, Tchéky
Karyo, Ian Rose
Director: Tony
Bill
Running
Time: 138
minutes
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Flyboys
is an unusual story inspired by true events, following a group
of young Americans who volunteered to fly for France as members
of Lafayette Escadrille long before the US joined WW1. A rag
tag mixture of characters such as Rawlings (James Franco) a
Texas boy looking for action after his farm forecloses, Jensen
(Philip Winchester) a kid from a military family desperate
to live up to his family name, Beagle (David Ellison) a daredevil
with a shady past, Briggs Lowery (Tyler Labine) is a rich kid
snob, Higgins (Christien Anholt) a guy flying because he believes
it’s what God wants him to do, and Skinner (Abdul Salis)
an African-American escaping racism in the US. Our mixture
of volunteers all come under watchful eye of Captain Thenault
(Jean Reno) and are guided by the cynical ace Cassidy (Martin
Howards). We watch as these beginners become hardened veterans
with all the trials and tribulations they suffer along the
way.
This movie is certainly more unusual subject matter than we
are used to of late. What could have been an intriguing story
line unfortunately it has come under too much of the Hollywood
treatment, and almost every war movie cliché is pushed
into the story line, stretching the plot and slowing the pace
of the film down. This is really a shame because there is some
talent here, it is well filmed, the actors take their roles
well and the filmmakers have gone to great length for authenticity.
It’s as if there is a
good movie in there trying to get out, and with the added bonus
of CGI with real footage it does make for some dramatic dog
fight scenes that give the movie the excitement it needs.
It may not be for everyone, but if you can forgive the fact
its rather drawn out there are some elements of this movie
that are worth a look if you fancy something a little different. |
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