The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement - Film Mini Review

Mini Review

Princess Mia is now 21 and has just graduated from education. Now, she is going to live in Genovia and learn how to be Queen from her grandmother. But there is a notorious plot to ruin her plans when it is announced that unless she marries, another will take the throne of Genovia away from her.

Good:

• Chris Pine. Need I say more?
• Much better outfits than the first one, and it's much less contemporary.
• So much less teenage strops and angst and so much more mature handling of the role.
• Is that Stan Lee in that scene with Julie Andrews before the wedding? It totally is!
• Lessons Learnt: Practically the opposite of last time, sometimes you have to do what's right by you instead of what other people think you should do.
• Some cute moments at the end, as well as a really nice coronation scene.

Bad:

• The clumsiness thing is a bit overdone.
• Story-wise, it's very rushed at the beginning.
• The sleepover and the singing really doesn't work with the rest of the film, it gets really cliche and a bit boring to be honest!
• Is it me, or is it trying too hard to still be relevant to teens by adding Raven in there?
• You feel so sorry for Andrew, the guy she's basically being forced to marry.

Overall thoughts:

Much better than the first one in terms of moaning and hissy fits, a bit more mature and works it's way well into an older audience (which is exactly what the teens who loved the original would have been). Man candy in the form of Chris Pine is always good in my book.

Kyra_x

Rise of the Guardians - Film

I am hugely aware that this film came out aaages ago, however, I have just seen it and want to tell you all about it..

This Dreamworks animation is the story of the Guardians (ie; Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman) fighting evil. This particular evil is the Boogeymen (otherwise known as Pitch Black), and he has a really nasty plan to get rid of the Guardians forever. What he doesn't know is that the moon has chosen a new Guardian, and quite an unlikely one at that; Jack Frost.

Jack is the protagonist in the story, and he is very unwilling to become a Guardian. But as time passes and he teams up with the slapdash band of make-believe characters, he finds that he is actually enjoying himself. Each character has had a bit of a makeover to how they usually appear: The Tooth Fairy is based upon a hummingbird, and her fairies look even more like them, Santa has tattoos and a |Russian accent, the Sandman appears to be entirely made out of golden sand and the Easter Bunny is an Australian, complete with boomerang... and he's about 6 feet tall. Jack Frost is a white-haired man-boy; it is almost impossible to guess his age.

The plot is fast-going, full of action and amusement, which is just perfect for its intended audience (children). However, this is a family film, and so even adults will be able to enjoy the amusing parts. They may even be more amused than the kids! What is actually quite nice about the story is that there is a sub-plot going on. Jack Frost has no memories of his life before he became magical, and he has always wanted to know whether he was loved, or if he had a family. He also has a fear of never being seen. Here's the thing about the Guardians; kids believe in them and so they can see them, but no-one believes that there is a Jack Frost.

Not only does it have a good plot, but the voice acting isn't half bad either. It boasts the vocal talents of Chris Pine (Jack Frost), Alec Baldwin (Santa), Hugh Jackman (our Australian Easter Bunny), Isla Fisher (Tooth Fairy) and Jude Law (Pitch). Together that have created some memorable personalities and some brilliant rapport. They bounce off eachother to great effect.

This is a really lovely film that has a powerful feeling of hope, belief and fun about it. It is very enjoyable to watch and well worth the money if you want to see your kids smile and laugh. 10/10, seriously. It is difficult to find a fault.

You can find Rise of the Guardians for £7.00 at Tesco.

Star Trek: Into Darkness - Film

In the second film from the reboot of this classic Sci-fi franchise, we pick up as we left off with Captain James T Kirk getting into all kinds of trouble, and almost getting members of his crew killed.. again. The first scene delves straight into the action with a mission going slightly awry for the crew of the Enterprise. Then the story really begins. A disgruntled Starfleet officer by the name of John Harrison attacks Starfleet and then flees into Klingon territory, knowing full-well that it could cause a war if someone from earth were to follow him there.

It keeps getting better. There are a couple of lovely twists, especially for those of you who have seen the previous films and series. Some may not like this take, but I guarantee that if you liked the first reboot, you'll love this. It carries on in the same vein of the first film; it's full of action, great effects, interesting landscapes, a well-thought-through plot and a few laughs too. The way that the crew have been swapped about a bit and put out of their comfort zones is really clever. Sulu's turn at being captain is a priceless moment. The fact that the entire cast seem to have come back is also brilliant. It wouldn't be the same without Anton Yelkin's Russian accent or Karl Urban's cynical eyebrows.

Speaking of actors, there are so many that stood out. Some in good ways, some not so good. Chris Pine, in one particular scene, brings tears to the eyes, while Benedict Cumberbatch's superhuman villain is pure genius. The character suits him down to the ground. He's clever, sneaky, and he fights, too! His evil acting was perfect. Sometimes people can overdo the evil. Take the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz: The Great and Powerful, for example, whose laugh was so forced you wondered how she wasn't coughing after every cackle. Zachary Quinto has always been a favourite too. It's amazing how likeable Spock is, given that he hardly shows any emotion. Still, Benedict Cumberbatch wins the acting trophy hands-down.

There are some amazing effect moments; red vegetation and weird white crusty-looking indigenous species are there from the first scene. I also loved the warp dust that you get at the beginning as the title comes up. But really it's the climax where the best parts are. A free-falling spaceship anyone? Or perhaps you'd prefer a fight that ends up about 50 feet in the air with futuristic buildings all around? Maybe the aliens are more your thing. If so, look out for a lot of strange-looking people. My favourite is the one that looks rather a lot like Data, with a computer in the back of his head, bright blue eyes and a robotic voice.

So that is probably enough gushing. This film is well worth a watch, even if you've never watched the like of this before. You'll quickly get into the action and laugh with the rest of us at a few comments. It is, however, recommended that you watch the first film before this one. Should I give it a 10 out of 10? I think I will. It's the best film I've seen for a few months.

Image from renegadecinema.com