Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides

Click below to watch the Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides trailer.

Walt Disney Pictures

Rated PG-13

Running time: 136 minutes

In Walt Disney Studio's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Captain Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp, needs a ship and crew to find the Fountain of Youth. Depp runs into an old flame, Penélope Cruz, who kidnaps Depp for her father - Blackbeard the Pirate, Ian McShane.

This is a dark film, both visually and thematically. With a prophecy that Ian McShane will be killed by a one-legged man, Geoffrey Rush, McShane as the evil Blackbeard the Pirate, with his magical sword, forces Depp with his map to find the Fountain of Youth for him so McShane will stay alive. There is a question as to which side Cruz is playing for, or if she is just out for herself. Meanwhile, after finding a survivor from Ponce de León's ship, the Spanish navy goes on a quest for the Fountain of Youth as well - so England sends privateer Rush after the Fountain of Youth as well for Queen and Country. Because of a magical ritual, one of the things necessary for the Fountain of Youth to work is the tear of a mermaid - so they set out to capture a mermaid. These are not the cute typical cartoon Disney mermaids you are used to, but more like evil siren-like Harpy's with flippers and can be very beautiful and frightening.

There are a lot more religious themes in the movie than I expected, which made sense for the story - especially with the Spaniards, the Fountain of Youth becoming more important than any gold and silver treasure they might encounter. It is curious to see the professionalism of the British and Spanish navies compared to the pirates and zombie crew of McShane's ship the Queen Anne's Revenge. The cameo by rocker Keith Richards was quite good.

Rated PG-13 for violence and supernatural elements. Running time: 136 minutes. 

Pancho

All people smile in the same language.

 Pancho's Movie Reviews

THOR

Paramount Pictures

Marvel Studios

Rated PG-13

Running time: 115 minutes















Click below to watch the Thor trailer.



In Paramount Pictures Thor, the Norse Asgardian god Thor, Chris Hemsworth, is stripped of his power by Odin the All-Father, Anthony Hopkins, for being too arrogant and is banished to Earth/Midguard. After hitting Hemsworth with her car, Natalie Portman takes the strange Hemsworth home as she believes he is a key to her scientific weather research.

Based on Marvel Comics Thor, this film was much more interesting in the Asgard and other realms than while being on Earth. While Earth had all the jokes, with the main settings being in a desert and a small town, it was rather boring compared to the family dynamics between Odin, Thor, and his brother Loki, Tom Hiddleston. Not even S.H.I.E.L.D made up for a boring Earth as S.H.I.E.L.D was just portrayed as another secret government agency that takes over everything and nothing was really spectacular about it. The movie trailer made S.H.I.E.L.D seem much more sinister. Agent Clark Gregg mentioned that Thor made the S.H.I.E.L.D agents look like minimum wage mall cops which was easy to do as the agents did act like mall cops and not the elite special operations teams that they should have been. While back in Asgard, it was rather touching and sad to see a sweet young Loki turn into a bitter man jealous of his beloved brother Thor. This was a better telling of betrayal than Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader. With director Kenneth Branagh's  Shakespearean roots, this definitely helped the story which is basically a retelling of Shakespeare's Henry V.

The frost giants were much more agile than what I imagined from the comic books, so the battles between them and the Asgardians were more intense than what I expected. And it is the invasion of the frost giants during his coronation that causes Thor to be arrogant in the first place as he wants to insure the safety of Asgard by invading the frost giants realm with the Warriors Three.

As Queen Frigga, Thor's mother, Rene Russo was an unexpected addition to the movie as I recall no publicity concerning her being a part of the film. Actually I did not recognize her until I read the end credits, although I knew that she had looked familiar when I saw her. There is also a bowman amongst the S.H.I.E.L.D agents Jeremy Renner who is uncredited as the character Hawkeye.

In the spirit of Asgard and the other realms, the credits were rather cosmic. There is also a scene after the end credits which goes more into Samuel L. Jackson and S.H.I.E.L.D which, when combined with all the references in the movie, lead to possible sequels like The Avengers.

The band Foo Fighters song "Walk" is also in the film because the filmmakers thought its lyrics were strangely appropriate for the film.

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 115 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same langauge.