Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Director: Rob Marshall
Writers: Ted Elliott et al
Stars: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane
X-Men: First Class
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Bryan Singer, Ashley Miller et al
Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence
They say the best things come in pairs so this time I opted to do something different and actually review and face-off a couple of films in one go. The reason is two-fold: I watched both films within a couple days of each other and it just so happens that they do have a lot in common.
You see, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (from here on simply referred to as "Pirates") and X-Men: First Class ("X-Men") are sequels. In fact, they are both part IV, following trilogy enders that were noticeably weaker than the first two, and at the same time both represent a reboot of sorts on their respective franchises.
I believe the Pirates movie makers opted to go for a more "back to basics" approach. Certainly the special effects seemed to be a bit more subdued and the story feels a lot more classic maritime fare and less outrageous. Fellow Johnny Depp fans will be happy to hear that he once again steals the show but this is due, in equal parts, to his quality as an actor and the perfunctory nature of just about everyone that has surrounded Jack Sparrow from the beginning of the saga (like Keira Knightley and Penélope Cruz characters). Speaking of Jack, though his shenanigans are still enjoyable it has to be said that his quirks have by now lost a lot of their freshness and will begin to grate some people.
The matter isn't helped by the fact that the story and quest as a whole is not really that interesting, making the film follow a sequence of fairly generic set pieces the only really exciting section of it being the capture of the mermaid. On the character front things aren't much better, I'm sorry to say, what with the relationships between the main characters ranging from ambiguous to downright inscrutable: even now I haven't figured out where Jack and Penélope Cruz' Angelica stood, romantically speaking!
Talk of relationships leads us nicely to the X-Men movie, as character development is probably the strongest differentiator between the two. Those familiar with the initial trilogy know already that Professor X and his long time nemesis Magneto (originally played by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen) aren't outright enemies, they simply do not share each other's approach to defending the Mutant cause. The new X-Men: First Class film sets out to establish not only the origin of the X-Men team but, above all, these two characters uneasy relation. Like any superhero movie, acting is patchy across the veritable menagerie of heroes (some of the kid X-Men are particular hokum) but James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender really do a great and at times heartfelt job as the young adult versions of the two mutant leaders. When these two are onscreen the film rating goes up a notch.
The screenplay itself will not set the world on fire, the action sequences are never as exciting as on the X2 movie, but the way the story interweaves Sebastian Shaw's (the fairly generic main baddie, slightly overplayed by Kevin Bacon) mad plan with real life events like World War II and the Cuban Missile Crisis is smart and worthy of note.
From all this it's easy to see that neither film is a classic and, particularly in the action stakes, they both could have done a bit better. They both are better than the previous instalment and not up to the best in their respective series.
Having said that, I firmly believe X-Men: First Class is the better film because you get two strong characters (rather than just Jack Sparrow) living through a fairly well concocted "what if" alternate historic scenario. If for nothing else, these things will make you remember the mutant saga for a much longer time.
My score (Pirates of the Caribbean): 6.0 / 10
My score (X-Men): 7.0 / 10
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