Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides

[tilly]

Can't believe they asked for id today at vue.

[bevvy]

Can't believe they asked for id today at vue.

The booking page did have a special note saying that they would require a passport , driving licence or credit card as id. people aren't turned away for not having these. Did you get in ok Tilly?

[valda]

There were a few people I think who got tickets from other FMUKers, I wonder if they all got in alright?

[tilly]

Thankfully there were too many people that he didn't really look. Thanks to Deni I got tickets and thankfully he was distracted.

I went in with low expectations and came out liking the film.It was fast paced and humourous at times. I did think the film was a tad long and they could have cut it by at least 30 minutes. I also didn't think there was any need for it be in 3d though at the end it became blurry.

It had my attention until the end and love johnny depp. He plays that character so well.

7/10 from me

[Beate]

We arrived at 3.30pm and were sent up on the staircase to the right into the bar area from where we saw lots of people going up the escalators, so we joined them convinced we all had the same goal. Unfortuately, there were so many people that the queue snaked around the escalators which caused a bit of a pile up at the top as the guy in front stopped dead which made me bump into him and OH into me. Then we heard the terrifying announcement "Have your tickets and ID ready!" The one time I haven't got tickets in my name and they want ID! I feverishly thought what ejwrank would do and wavered between showing ID and when questioned, saying "You didn't say it had to match!" or coming clean, so had my purse in my hand, mind racing - then completely froze and just handed him the ticket printout. And yes, there are miracles, as he never even looked at it nor challenged the missing ID! Phew.

Despite having loads of people in front of us, we still managed to get fantastic seats in a back row and settled down nice and comfy. Got lots of adverts and trailers so the film started at around 4.10pm. The cinema was pretty full but there were still seats to be had - I had an empty one next to me and one in front, which very conveniently was broken - kaputt.

Now, bearing in mind I haven't seen numbers 1 - 3 of this franchise (funnily enough the first one starts on BBC1 in less than an hour) - I have to ask: is Jake Sparrow meant to be irritating? He speaks as if he is continuously drunk, he pulls a clown face every two minutes - what kind of pirate is he? I am afraid I couldn't take him seriously for a minute. And the story was beyond hopeless. I started giggling helplessly when the CGI fight with the mermaids started who suddenly looked like zombies flying through the air. That was beyond rubbish. And then the hot totty saves the mermaid because he has a conscience. "She has a NAME!" PurLEEZE. Geoffrey Rush was good as always but even he couldn't save this mess.

And as for the 3D - completely superfluous, if not even a hindrance. Towards the end the colours started to go really weird and I took the glasses off completely - it seemed to be better and less blurry without them. Brighter too. Really, if you can, see this one in 2D, it will be a helluva lot better. It didn't add anything, and the quality was so poor, it was a joke. When they were at the fountain of youth, skin colour started to look green!

6/10

[hopeprince]

We arrived at 3.30pm and were sent up on the staircase to the right into the bar area from where we saw lots of people going up the escalators, so we joined them convinced we all had the same goal. Unfortuately, there were so many people that the queue snaked around the escalators which caused a bit of a pile up at the top as the guy in front stopped dead which made me bump into him and OH into me. Then we heard the terrifying announcement "Have your tickets and ID ready!" The one time I haven't got tickets in my name and they want ID! I feverishly thought what ejwrank would do and wavered between showing ID and when questioned, saying "You didn't say it had to match!" or coming clean, so had my purse in my hand, mind racing - then completely froze and just handed him the ticket printout. And yes, there are miracles, as he never even looked at it nor challenged the missing ID! Phew.

They only did it to scare people, all you have to do is pretend you didnt hear them.

[Beate]

Oh yeah, and I had promised valda to bring her some popcorn so got there with a bag full (5 popcorns that was) and she never showed up, giving me some lame excuse about it raining!
OH kept telling me to give the popcorn to complete strangers but I resisted, LOL.

[shmile]

alot better than i thought though the 3d didnt really give it anything special especially towards the end when i just took it off as it wasnt helping and was just making it worse

[soonforgotten]

Wow. What a huge pile of nonsensical crap this is. There are so many plot holes, I'm left wondering if it was actually a Swiss production. What drove me nuts? Off the top of my head...
[spoiler]1. Jack, previously unmentioned father (according to my girl, I've not seen any of the first three), magically turns up at just the right moment to save his son and then just as abruptly disappears without further mention.
2. Who exactly was fooled by Penelope Cruz's costume? Did no one get a clear look at her or speak to her?
3. What exactly were Angelica's true motives? Was she really that upset to not have a father? If she's actually that blind to his betrayal of her, doesn't that make her character more pathetic than anything?
4. And was she in a convent? What?
5. Blackbeard is a voodoo witch-doctor wizard?
6. How he "zombify" people?
7. How does he shrink the ships to fit them into the bottle?
8. Wouldn't the balance of Ponce De Leon's ship been thrown off by Geoffrey Rush being there on his own waiting for Depp to turn up?
9. What kind of ridiculous crap was that? A ship lodged there for 200 years could be so easily disturbed?
10. Depp's escape from being tied to the palm tree was intelligence insulting. So the fronds... just forget about those.
11. The vampire-like mermaids? Okay, creative licence, but that who deal with the missionary, who just wouldn't die was so unnecessary.
12. And what becomes of him? How does that work? I have a feeling the scriptwriters have no idea either.
13. What was the boar about? What it a metaphor for the film? (yes, I did type bore originally, whoops)
14. Soooooooo, Jack led the English to the fountain first?
15. Somehow everyone makes it up into the spring... the English, the Spanish and Blackbeard's crew. I was waiting for the King of England, Keith Richards, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom to all turn up too.
16. Why the hell would Blackbeard's crew, consisting mainly of those involved in the mutiny, fight against the English on his behalf?
17. The entire Jack-Angelica relationship is sloppy, one gaping hole.
18. The voodoo doll just happens to wash up at Angelica's feet? Ugh.[/spoiler]

Despite the film-makers throwing everything and the kitchen sink into this mess of a plot, it still managed to be totally boring. It all looked beautiful and Geoffrey Rush was great in his role, but everything else was pretty lifeless and surprisingly unfunny. Keith Richards gets the best line and my favourite part was Jack hacking at the ground with his sword after being tripped up. Depp pretty much phones his performance in and it all feels uninspired and directionless.

Going in, I figured this wasn't going to be a cinematic masterpiece, but I thought it'd be harmless fun. Instead it's insulting in it's stupidity as it drags on and on. If I wasn't already eager for the film to end, the 3D imploded at the West End Vue and it wasn't watchable with the glasses for the final 10 minutes. Without the glasses, it looked fine, save for the fuzzy backgrounds and outreached swords. The film is another perfect example of the pointlessness of 3D, which is no surprise on that end. I am still surprised by just how bad this was. All I was hoping for was some good fun and instead I'm left wishing to have my two hours back. 5.5/10 (mostly thanks to Geoffrey Rush and the design of Blackbeard's ship)

[Celini]

Soonforgotten

I have to agree with you again!
(yeah, again as we seem to have a rather similar taste for movie... I usually consult the score you gave to a movie before deciding if yes or no it's worth my time :)
and I have to say, it works quite well )