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Archive for the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Category

Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) returns in the fourth film, all set for a new adventure, one that he is forced to undertake by the delectable woman from his passionate past. His former love interest, Angelica (Penelope Cruz) abducts him and forces him on to a perilous journey with her father, the vile Captain Blackbeard (Ian McShane) to find the famed fountain of youth. The pirates ship is doggedly followed by the King of England’s privateers… who else but ex-pirate Captain Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) who has his own private revenge story, spurring him on. The swordplay and the wordplay are easy for Jack to handle, but can he cope with the stirrings of love again.Jack Sparrow is in super form. This time, Johnny Depp takes the iconic character and transforms it into a total prankster who sets you smiling with everything he does, or doesn’t do. Of special note is his super ability to stay out of trouble… he’s hardly in the middle of a fight, assiduously avoids violence, prefers wordplay to swordplay and follows just one line: the least line of resistance. His entire body language, his dialogue rendition and his sassy attitude make him a mesmerizing screen presence. Of course, he’s brawny and brave too, but only when the situation desperately demands machismo

But Sparrow isn’t there alone to hold your interest. There’s Penelope Cruz who adds oomph and sparkle as the wannabe nun-turned-vixen, with a wild fire burning within. The flashy chemistry between Cruz and Depp literally makes the screen crackle and hiss. Add to this the colourful bunch of other characters — Barbosa, Blackbeard, the clergyman, the good and bad mermaids –and you have enough to keep the clock ticking.

Of course, like the rest of the films in the franchise, this one too could have been shorter and does tend to drag in places. But remember, there’s the legendary Jack Sparrow to revv up the drama whenever it slackens. A little low on action, Pirates 4 makes up with its wit and humour.

Kung Fu Panda works not only because of his bumbling ways as a martial arts hero but also because he is such a bundle of doubts, misgivings and apprehensions. Yes, he’s hardly your archetypal superhero and therein lies his super charm.

The first film was a winner because it not only traced the birth of a hero, but also had the philosophical underpinnings of the most-reader friendly self-help book. How to grow from zero to hero: that was the sweet and stirring sub-text of the film that won young and adult hearts alike with the antics of an overweight, ungainly panda who could have spent the rest of his life peddling noodles, if he hadn’t mastered himself….

Well, Po is already a hero now, nevertheless, he has his moments of weakness and his frailties which still need to be overcome before he can teach his new enemy the lesson of his life. Po must come to terms with his strange parentage: how can a panda be the son of a goose; so what, if the goose (James Hong) is the best dad in the world…. Time for some flashback and the arrival of the cutest baby panda on screen who makes you go all gooey with his baby talk.

The action sequences of the film, shot in 3D, do form the highlight of it, but there’s no undermining the friendship-and family emotional sequences. Perhaps, the most touching sequences of the film are the show of affection between the noodle-hawking goose, Mr Ping and his adopted son Po and the spontaneous touch-feely tid-bits between heavy-stuff Tigress and all-butter Po.