Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Tara says: 

Any body who find Johnny Depp the best looking man alive will love this Pirates of the Caribbean! It has gone back to the first film where Captain Jack Sparrow is the main character, with all his humour, his funny walk and all the rum. 

This is a proper pirate film with mermaids to make it even more amazing. In this film, the pirates are looking for the fountain of youth and with characters from the last three films it was no wonder that it has been rated so highly. There was no return from Elizabeth Swan and William Turner, and I think this was one of the reasons why it was almost as good as the first PotC. There was no complicated storyline like in the last film, where I had no idea what was going on, something about the world ending... meh! This one was an easy watch and you were able just to focus one person and that was Johnny Depp. A few new characters were chucked in Angelica Malon played by Penelope Cruz and Blackbeard played by Ian McShane, these two character fitted in so well especially with the fact Angelica and Jack had a past. My favourite scene being the one where the mermaids are all swimming in to shore to attack all the pirates. I felt that it was so cleverly done and was amazing to watch how these beautiful mermaids turned so violent in a split second. 


They have definately left it open for a Pirates of the Caribbean 5... lets just hope its more about our beloved main character rather than a love scene from Will and Elizabeth. Worth a watch :)


Tara's Rating:

Reece says:


Awesome, awesome, awesome! That is how I would describe this amazing reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. I was a huge fan of The Curse of the Black Pearl but was disappointed with the 2nd and did not bother to watch At Worlds End. So I went into the cinema really hoping that they could sort things out with this 4th entry in the series and they 
did. Just when you thought the game was dead and buried, in extra time Disney came back and scored a blinder with this film. On Stranger Tides did what the 2nd and 3rd instalments failed to do and that is focus on Johnny Depps incredible character that is Jack Sparrow. Jack Sparrow (I think there should be a captain in there some where) along with some old faces and some new reignite the Pirates of the Caribbean canon with an explosive story line and some great ideas and cast additions. Ian McShane (Black beard) and Penelope Cruz (Angelica Malon) were two really good pieces of casting making great pieces of the Pirates of the Caribbean world.


On Stranger Tides had me hooked for the whole film, making me laugh and keeping me on my toes with a good amount of action and a few creepy moments. All in all the film was well balanced with plenty of classic Captain Jack moments. I also saw the film in 3D which was in my opinion well worth it, it just gives everything that little more detail and makes you feel that little more involved in the action. All in all this is one of those rare saviours for a film franchise, making me really wanting a number 5 (please Disney... pleeeeease). Granted after a long day I fell asleep in the last 2 minutes so I missed the set up for another instalment but Tara guarantees they did :)   


Reece's rating:

Mean Girls 2 (2011)

Tara says:
As good as the first one.... not at all! I was disappointed because the first one was so good. In this one the characters have become extremely cheesy and annoying. You even cringe and some of the lines they say. The plot wasn't exactly the best and no where near as funny apart from a few one liners which Reece laughed at, a lot more than I did. None of the original cast were in it except for the principal of the school, not that he had much to do with the film. It felt as though they were trying to hard to make it as good as the first one. The plot followed the new girl coming to the school and the 'plastics' making it difficult for her... blah blah blah! I kept comparing the cast from the first one.... Lindsey Lohan vs. Meaghan Martin. Lindsey's character playing a girl that has been home schooled by her parents whilst touring the world vs. Meaghan's character a tomboy who lives with her dad  who repairs cars?! I think thats right, well obviously wasn't paying that much attention... AND of course Rachel McAdams vs. Maiara Walsh... Rachel beating her character every time...All in all I thought it was a bad attempt at making a prequel when they could have made it amazing...


Tara's Rating: 

Reece says:
From the moment I first noticed the box in Tara's hands on the way to the checkout I could tell this film was going to be bad. I just had the feeling that watching this film was going to be a few hours of my life that I was never going to get back. These were all just pre-judgements though, so I sat there with an open mind trying and to be honest for the first time in a while my pre-judgements were... right! This film was truly tragic and does not deserve to have even a slight hold on the Mean Girls title. Now don't get me wrong I like chick flicks, the first Mean Girls was a good film but this was in a league of bad all on its own. The characters were weak, though credit where credits due the main character was well acted by Meaghan Martin, other than that the story was bad and the script was predictable. Granted I laughed a few times, though I felt ashamed at laughing at such a bad film so tried to hold it in so that Tara would not notice and be smug that I am laughing at a film I clearly don't like!


In comparison with the first one Mean Girls 2 just was not mean it was more lacklustre and half arsed. For any Mean Girls fan this film I am sure was a huge disappointment, so please no Mean Girls 3 unless they bring back the original cast and a mean script. So final verdict on Mean Girls 2 is an absolute shocker, a good film title dragged through dirt!


Reece's Rating: