(film review) - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

And JUST when you thought there wasn't going to be another 'Pirates of the Caribbean' film, Jack Sparrow comes back unpredictably, swashbuckling in a drunken disorderly mess, speaking in a riddling bag of nonsense that makes you think, 'Is he not going to sober up and actually start walking half normal/civil?' But it is very clear that the character Jack Sparrow, played exceptionally well by Johnny Depp, is a very different Pirate to follow and understand.

On Stranger Tides is basically a tale of a king, pirates and more pirates, searching for a "mythological" place called 'The Fountain of Youth' hinted at the end of the third film. All having their own reasons as to why they embark on this journey to seek the fountain, you would have thought it was for extended life, but for some, it is a grudge to settle.

Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) once captain of the Black Pearl, now a privateer in service to the British Navy after having lost Jack's ship, the Black Pearl, as well as his leg wants to settle an old score, whilst ruthless Blackbeard (Ian McShane), who possesses supernatural powers and practices voodoo magic wants the Fountain's power to circumvent his predestined fatal encounter with a one-legged man.
King George II (Richard Griffiths) wants Jack to guide an expedition to the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish locate it. However, things go wrong when Angelica (Penélope Cruz), Jack's former lover is caught by Jack for impersonating him and then after a escape, a sword fight and a spot of swimming, Jack wakes up aboard Blackbeards ship, Queen Anne's Revenge where he is then forced to lead Blackbeard to the Fountain.

This is no easy quest as there are a few things you need first before you can prolong your life. 1. is two silver chalices once belonging to Juan Ponce de León. 2. Water from the 'Fountain of Youth'. And last but not least, 3. A Mermaid's Tear. And to capture Ariel, the Little Mermaid is a task in itself.

This film is out NOW and should you be a fan of Johnny Depp, Ian McShane or a fan of the movies, you will like this. There is enough drunken antics from Jack Sparrow to keep you entertained and enough smart lines here and there to also make you chuckle.

Go and watch.

(film review) - The Tourist

Angelina Jolie isn't a bad actress and Johnny Depp is pretty decent as well, if not better, but having both of them in a film, TOGETHER? ergh! Not saying that they don't go together in a film, but...well, they don't go together well in a film. Well this one anyway. I didn't like his hair and fuzzy mostache. As for Angelina, well she needs to eat something and put on a touch of weight. She is too thin nowadays.

So The Tourist is about a Tourist, Frank, Johnny Depp who is happily going about his marry way to wherever he is going and an very attractive lady walks through a few carriages until she see's him and sits down and makes conversation. Before this, she is at a Cafe and several undercover police/agents are watching her closely and is following her every move. As she cops onto her followers, she loses them at the train station in which she boards a train and meet's Frank. After small talk and being told that his name is terrible, Frank is asked to ask her out to dinner by her in which he eventually does and they travel together to Venice, Italy and go out.
Later that evening, They go to a hotel and spend the night together in the same suite but with her in the bedroom and Frank on the sofa. Frank wakes up the following morning to breakfast and shortly afterwards, gunfire after realising the mysterious woman is no longer there. He makes a quick get away that end up with an "assulted" police officer.
Trying to plead his case, the detective pays him no mind until he does his own research only to realise Frank was right. Frank then gets moved from the prison, eventually bumps into ? and they are on a run from not only the Undercover officers who were chasing her, but the Mob as well who are after Frank due to her stitching him up as the guy everyone is looking for.

I won't say any more as it will only spoil the storyline which is predictable anyway, but this film was rather boring. The story didn't offer much and although the acting was fine from both Depp and Jolie, the film didn't have much to offer but a few giggles here and there and that was it. It is bad enough when you go to a cinema to watch a boring film, but even worse when its a boring film and a few other movie goers get excited at everything that Johnny Depp says or does as they are adoring fans. It makes you appreciate DVD/BluRay and watching a movie within your own environment.

Watch if you are a Jolie or Depp fan, but don't rush to see it. Not enough action, romance or jokes really and it's labelled a Thriller? Weren't anything THRILLING about it, really. Quite boring.

(film review) - Alice In Wonderland

Everyone knows the story of Alice in Wonderland! If you don't, where have you been? I mean, really? It's basically about a girl called Alice who ends up in a crazy world where a weird headed tyrant queen, who chops off heads of anyone who upsets her, a cat that floats, disappears and re-appears at will and a crazy man called the 'Mad Hatta' who is a little bit barmy. Not to mention a smoking catapilla and two dim-witted twins that are as dumb as each other. This is a crazy world where drinks make you shrink in size and food makes you grow in height.

If you know who Tim Burton is, you will know what to expect from this film. A dark, gloomy, maybe a bit twisted kind of film and well, to be honest, although it was a very colouful film, with that Tim Burton magic all over it, I got to say, I wasn't as happy with the outcome of this film as apparently, the film was labelled 'Alice in Wonderland' but was more based on all 3 novels which involves Alice. So I was fairly surprised when the Mad Hatter was, well, not as MAAAAD as I thought he was going to be. I thought he was going to be like, mad crazy and totally insane like, but he wasn't.
A lot of people liked it and well my faults with the film were that the Mad Hatter wasn't barmy enough and why wasn't it Alice's first time down the hole. They could have done that in the film or at least had shown it in the opening credits like how they did with Wolverine.

The Special Effects were good and could not be faulted. The acting was fairly decent too, but on a whole, I was just disappointed on how it was promoted to what actually happened. I felt Johnny Depp has had a better acting role in 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and i felt he was under-used due to the fact that I expected more from his character. Who stole the lime light and I thought was absolute class, was Anne Hathaway. How her character was portrayed literally had me in stitches.

This is a good film watch if you love Johnny Depp, Tim Burton films or even Matt Lucas as he is quite funny. The story isn't THAT bad and the special effects carry the film nicely. With a few note worth characters and a concept that seems to be, a girl lost in a land full of drug addicts, if you bare that in mind, you will love this film.

Out now, go watch it.