Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Spanks - 4

Director - Rob Marshall

Writers - Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio

Starring - Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane & Kevin McNally

Release Date - 29 April 2011

MPAA Rating - PG-13

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is the fourth chapter of the series and is loosely based on Tim Powers novel On Stranger Tides. In the film, Jack Sparrow is now searching for the Fountain of Youth. Captain Barbossa who is under orders from King George II, the Spanish, and Edward "Blackbeard" Teach are on the hunt for the fountain as well.

After the previous two sequels, I did not have my hopes that high that it would get better. On Stranger Tides, is better then both Dead Man's Chest and At Worlds End. They didn't milk all the jokes from Curse of the Black Pearl like they did in the first two sequels either. The only mentions of those other movies in the plot is Barbossa, The Black Pearl and Jack the Monkey, if you did not see any of the other films you can jump into the fun of this one and not be lost. There are a few Easter eggs for the long time fans.

The film goes back to what made the original so good. It is funny, full of swashbuckling action, complex characters you can love, hate or both and (best of all) pirates!

Thor

Spanks - 4

Director - Kenneth Branagh

Writers - Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz and Don Payne

Starring - Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings and Clark Gregg

Release Date - 6 May 2011

MPAA Rating - PG-13

Thor is the first of two films released by Marvel Studios this summer. It is the origin story of the superhero Thor. It begins on Thor's home world of Asgard and tells why he came to Earth and how he became one of the heroes of Earth. It also introduces Jane Foster and how she got thrown into Thor's life.

The movie has some really good action scenes with Thor kicking ass. Kat Dennings does a great job as the comic relief playing Jane Foster's intern. The people who designed and created Asgard did a fantastic job "building" that world.

If you are a fan of comic book character movies, you will enjoy this film. I am looking forward to a possible confrontation between Thor and Iron Man in next summers Avengers film.

Fast Five

Spanks - 4

Director - Justin Lin

Writers - Ben Ripley

Starring - Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Elsa Pataky, Tyrese Gibson and Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges

Release Date - 29 April 2011

MPAA Rating - PG-13

There are only two words to describe Fast Five. Absolutely ridiculous. In a movie based in reality, the main characters are more invincible then superman and physics are thrown out the window of a Ford GT40. The film is hilarious too, but I am not sure it was written to be funny. One example; in the opening sequence, Vin Diesel's character is broken out of the prison bus by having it flip over end over end (multiple times) using a sports car while both are driving at high speeds. Everyone on the bus survives and there is not a scratch on the sports car. The screenwriters also wrote a screenplay full of plot holes. If they needed something to happen to fit their story it just did without logic or explanation.

After Dom is freed from going to prison by Brian and Mia, the trio escape to Rio de Janeiro. Once there Dom decides they should do one last job to be set for life. To pull if off they bring in everyone who has helped Dom and Brian in the previous four movies. The DEA send special agent Hobbs and his team to apprehend Dom and his gang and crime lord Hernan Reyes don't make the heist easier.

Despite everything wrong with Fast Five, the film is entertaining, only because of the ridiculousness. It is not an award winning film except for maybe an MTV Movie Award. If you have a crappy rainy afternoon, this could be a good two hour escape for you.