simonparker1990

I would like to begin by saying that I very rarely review films anymore, but after reading many reviews for this film by various critics I felt compelled to give my own verdict. Purely because every review I have read has been unnecessarily venomous, and simply seemed to trash the film and its two predecessors at every given opportunity. I am a fan of the Pirates trilogy, the original is by far the best, and three may have some problems with its convoluted storyline, but there is nothing wrong with Dead Man's Chest and as a trilogy they all worked very well. This fourth instalment like the others is great fun, the storyline may not be Oscar worthy stuff but neither was the storyline in the others. It is an entertaining fantasy flick that you can sit back, relax and enjoy. The idea that Johnny Depp has become bored of the character of Jack Sparrow and plays him in this film as a shadow of his former self, is simply ludicrous. Depp is on top form in this movie, brilliant for me considering following the awful performance in Alice in Wonderland I had begun doubting him somewhat. On Stranger Tides is easily the best movie since the original, and I would be more than happy to sit through another two films.

Now onto the performances. As previously mentioned Depp is simply outstanding as Jack Sparrow. By putting him to the forefront means we get to spend more time with him, though thankfully the writers hold back on having him on screen too much. His one liners, especially one involving a Spanish Convent had me in stitches. His relationship with Angelica (Penelope Cruz) really adds that extra bit of spice to the film. It also helps that Cruz and Depp have outstanding chemistry together. While the character of Angelica can be a bit complicated at times, her motives are vague at best, this can be overshadowed by the fact Cruz plays her with some real gusto. Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa for me really stole the show, and it seems the writers gave him quite a bit more storyline this time as well. The idea of moving him to the kings navy really played off, and his scenes for me were definitely a highlight of the film. Ian McShane is a great villain, while not as good as Davey Jones or Barbossa for that matter, he still has a great storyline and some really menacing moments to make him a worthy adversary.

My one major issue with this movie would be the storyline of the missionary and the mermaid. While thankfully it isn't given enough screen time to be a really annoyance, I do question its point in the first place. Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom are not remotely missed, so why try a romance replacement which just isn't that good. The mermaid action scene however is a thing to behold. As said the storyline is not amazing, the quest for the fountain of youth is entertaining and it has less betrayals than the far too long At World's End, but it isn't a story that will be winning awards. Nevertheless it maintains your interest and never feels like an excuse to get to the next action scene as it was in something like Transformers 2. The fact it is a one story arc is also a nice breath of fresh air following the second and third movies. Overall this is a great Summer movie, the kids will love it, and if you're a pirates fan you will also love it. The trashing of this film to me is slightly irritating as this is genuinely a very good film that deserves recognition. I will stand by the Pirates films until I genuinely see one that is rubbish, this film is a great Summer blockbuster and anyone that looks at it otherwise must either be deluded or trashing on it because they no longer see Pirates as "cool". I cannot recommend this film quite enough, just go out, watch it and have a great laugh, I know I did.

When I first saw the trailer for Battle: Los Angeles I was surprised at how excited I got about it. I'd heard nothing about it until I saw the trailer, and from then onwards the film became on my must see list. Working at a cinema meant I was able to see odd snippets of the film from doing screen checks, every scene I saw looked action packed and exciting so I got even more excited, Yesterday I sat down to watch the film, and after two hours I felt numb. Sure the film is action packed but in essence this is the biggest problem with the film. It's a continuous action scene that just bores you half to death by the time the credits roll. There really is no story, aliens come, try to colonise earth, humanity fights back, that really is it. Independence Day may not be a masterpiece but at least it tried to get you invested in the characters and featured some sort of plot running through it. Battle: Los Angeles is closer to a two hour video game trailer, sure I'd play the game, but watching it be played is just dull.

The performances in the film are not necessarily bad. I had to keep wondering quite way Aaron Eckhart signed up for the movie when his character has such a bland storyline. The term cliché is the best way to describe every character, when one convenient character suddenly announced she is a veterinarian you have to stifle back snickering. Anyway, Eckhart is the best thing about the movie, in one scene talking about his lost men from a previous tour in Iraq, the film actually seems to be getting somewhere in terms of character development. It's the one scene that perked my interest and then I was thrown back into the endless gunfire. Michelle Rodriguez gets to repeat her role in Avatar, though with much less enthusiasm this time. Once again it's not necessarily a bad performance, but you can't help but feel she is as bored as the audience is by this point.

The movie does feature some impressive set pieces, but unfortunately they all seem to merge with one another, by the time the finale comes about you've seen it all before. My friend who saw this actually never got bored in the movie, so maybe that means I was just in a funny mood, but I was genuinely on the verge of falling asleep at various points in the film. The CGI has its good moments at times, but the aliens themselves are a huge disappointment, and not once did I genuinely believe this alien invasion was actually happening. It's a huge shame as the trailer seemed to promise an almost realistic invasion movie, one that was on the same lines of Cloverfield but possibly more epic. What we get instead is a film I would even go as far to say is worse than Skyline. Skyline was by no means a good movie, and the ending of that film is still one of the worst I have ever seen, but Battle: Los Angeles just has nothing new, nothing interesting and nothing worth watching.

Overall this film was a huge disappointment to me, I even doubt it will get hyperactive teenagers interested by the end. If Eckhart was not in it I would have lost all interest in the film in the first fifteen minutes, luckily he makes the film that little bit better. But by no means is this a good movie, and if you want a good alien movie watch Starship Troopers or even Independence Day, not this.