X-Men: First Class gets top marks

Set during the Cold War, the story follows Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), a geeky Oxford biologist, and the brooding Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), a tortured soul with a dark past, as they meet and work together to recruit fellow mutants and help the CIA to prevent a nuclear war with the Soviets. As in the previous films, villainous mutants, most notably the sinister Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), try to thwart the heroes’ efforts to aid the non-mutant humans.

While neither Xavier, the future Professor X, nor Lehnsherr, the would-be Magneto, had particularly happy childhoods, Erik’s experiences in the Nazi concentration camp have, understandably, warped him. The skilled actors portray both Xavier and Lehnsherr’s emotions beautifully as Xavier tries desperately to save his tormented friend from his past.

The film also gives viewers an interesting look into the sixties – complete with tiny miniskirts, loud wall-paper and footage of President Kennedy. Again, detailed make-up and stunning CGI transform normal humans into fantastical beings – the highlight being the winged mutant Angel (Zoë Kravitz – three guesses whose daughter she is!).

Speaking of beautiful creatures, on a more superficial level, the cast provided a smorgasbord for the eyes – for the ladies, either McAvoy or the multilingual Irish-German Fassbender will appeal, and plucky newcomer Jennifer Lawrence as Raven, later Mystique, and Rose Byrne as the gutsy CIA agent Moria MacTaggert will provide some visual stimulation for the guys.

The themes that run through all the films in the series – that of dealing with being different and, of course, how one treats people who are different are remain pertinent in a world filled with xenophobia, racism and prejudices of every kind. The film also addresses the notion of letting go of past experiences instead of letting them consume one.

The only small complaint I have with this film is that it features an event, which I will not give away for fear of spoiling the story, that does that does not tie up with the chronology of the rest of the series. It's a minor niggle (in my humble opinion) and something I would not have realised had I not seen X-Men: The Last Stand a few days after viewing First Class.

Having not seen Wolverine – soon to be addressed (!) – I believe this to be the best installment in the X-Men series behind the first film. The storyline provides just the right combination of drama, comedy and explosive action – a definite must-see for the big screen.

PotC: On Stranger Tides: time to sail away into the sunset?

The fourth installment in Jerry Bruckheimer’s popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, On Stranger Tides, represents a marked improvement on the last film in the series, At World’s End, but also disappointed in places.

On Stranger Tides was far more action-packed than its predecessor, with hardly any dull moments in between the bouts of swordplay and fight scenes, but this also proved the film’s downfall – both the plots and subplots had the same aim, and lacked the depth of the first film, which, in my opinion, was the best out of the four.

This is essentially a stand-alone film, as hardly any reference is made to the three previous films. The characters Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) also don’t make an appearance. That said, the popular Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) again dominates the screen, and the witty banter between him and the sultry Angelica (Penélope Cruz), offers more than a few laughs.

The plot follows Captain Jack and his fellow buccaneers from London across the seas and through a jungle on a quest to find the Fountain of Youth. Highlights of the film included a brief yet highly amusing cameo by a famous actress, Jack’s sardonic and pun-filled one-liners and the adventurers’ encounter with a group of vicious mermaids.

I did not watch this film in 3-D so I can’t comment on those effects, but the 2-D experience was very satisfying, with the oceanic panoramas, steamy jungles and the eerie special effects providing an ample visual feast.

In short, it's an enjoyable, frivolous night out, and if you go for Captain Jack, you'll get just that, but I think the film relies too heavily on Depp's brilliant improvisations. It's been fun, but it's time for this franchise to be retired while it can still go out with a bang.

Machete: a Texan goref(i)est(a)

Take some ridiculously explicit violence (as the title suggests) and black humour à la Tarantino. Add a desert location and nude female flesh, and you end up with a movie out of the exploitation genre. Directors Ethan Maniquis and Robert Rodriguez’s previous work includes titles like Sin City, Once Upon A Time in Mexico and From Dusk Til Dawn, and if you enjoyed those, chances are you’ll love this film too. It is a bloody thrill-ride about a former Mexican policeman who finds himself embroiled in a battle between border police, crooked US senators (Is there any other kind?) and Mexican gangsters.

The unmistakable Danny Trejo, whom you may remember from the director-duo’s previous films, stars as the titular character, a former cop hellbent on revenge after his partner is killed. Michelle Rodriguez, of Fast and the Furious, Lost and Avatar fame, plays woman with sympathies for the immigrants who flock to the US every year. Jeff Fahey, who is mostly known for his TV roles, oozes his way across the screen as the despicable villain. Robert de Niro portrays the caricature of the US senator. An insipid, if sultry, Jessica Alba stars as the FBI agent investigating the presence of illegal immigrants on the border. The other actress with questionable acting skills in this movie is Lindsay Lohan, who was seemingly portraying herself. But don’t worry about it, the ample nude shots distract from the mediocre acting. (If the crass objectification of women offends you, this, like most of the directors’ films, is definitely one to avoid.)

The film does raise some interesting questions about Mexican immigrants in the United States, and what their role should be in that society, but this is an exploitation flick, and no one watches a title like that actually looking for some serious answers to, well, anything. If you’re in the mood for decapitation, served with a helping of nudity and sprinkled with a very liberal dose of black humour, this is one for you.

Plot and script – expendable?

Actions films have changed, I realised as the handbag-clutching, middle-aged woman next to me cringed and gasped every time a baddie was ripped to shreds or slashed to death in some gruesome manner.

While Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action films in the eighties and nineties did exhibit their fair share of skiet, skop en donner, none of it compared to that exhibited in Sylvester Stallone’s newest offering, The Expendables. CGI has allowed Sly to wow audiences with highly realistic renderings of gratuitous gore. Obviously the violence is not on par with what you’d see in a Tarantino flick, but if you’re a member of the older generation hoping to be reacquainted with your favourite action stars, you may be in for a nasty surprise.

The film features a host of mostly aging action stars, including Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham and Jet Li. The trailer would have you believe that Schwarzenegger and Willis also have major roles, when in fact they only have about four minutes of screen-time.

The plot is relatively straight-forward: Stallone plays the leader of a band of highly-trained mercenaries who are called in to assassinate a drug-lord in a fictional South American country reminiscent of Cuba. The result is a fast-paced, thinly-plotted sequence of explosions, shooting, car chases, martial arts and bouncing (covered) boobies...

Yes, boys, that is literally all the hot damsel-in-distress action you’re getting out of this movie. The films’ female characters – Charisma Carpenter of Angel fame and Mexican beauty Giselle Itié – did little more than tease. Speaking of an anti-climax, the film also just fizzled out towards the end, leaving yours truly rather unsatisfied, too.

Like most of Stallone’s films, this one is quite devoid of humour – a few one-liners got a chuckle from the audience, and the sheer ridiculousness of some of the violence did elicit sniggers, but I can’t help making the comparison with Schwarzenegger’s older films and Willis’ Die Hard series, which offered more in the form of witty dialogue and a somewhat more developed plot.

So, if you’re looking for some slick camerawork that showcases over-the-top violence, massive explosions and bone-crunching hand-to-hand combat scenes well, give it a watch, but don’t go in expecting anything more...