Pirates seem to be everywhere in my life at the moment. Having just battled the ghostly remains of a ship’s slaughtered crew in Oblivion and taken away a well-earned enchanted cutlass as a reward, I am off to see (finally) the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel with several Merrill Lynchers this evening. This round’s extraneous new “Dead Man’s Chest” subtitle is as needless as the last one; it is to everyone simply “Pirates Two”. I wonder how the experience will differ given that this time I expect to thoroughly enjoy myself whereas last time I fully wanted to hate it. To be fair, I expect this to be little more than a fun romp with Johnny Depp’s fantastic Captain Jack Sparrow, but when you love a character getting to spend a little time in their company is reward enough in itself.

French director Luc Besson, creator of now classic films like Léon and The Fifth Element, has been noticably absent for some time. Well, he’s still been active in a production capacity, being behind a host of B-movie action flicks, but he hasn’t directed anything since critics ripped to shreds The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, the biopic for which he insisted upon Milla Jovovich as the lead. Although she was perfect for the psychadelic ride of The Fifth Element, here the complexity of the role seemed to defeat her, compounded by poor script that fails to develop her character sufficiently.

In the last few weeks you may have seen stark posters for Angel-A. It marks the director’s long-awaited return and from the gorgeous cinematography he certainly seems to enjoy being behind the camera once more. The revealed plot, “a man and a woman meet in Paris…”, one can only imagine is deceptively simple. However, it allows for some thoughtful musing in its dialogue and a truly beautiful view of Paris, captured in black and white, which shows his genuine love for the city. Out on the 29th, I cannot wait to see this.

For the most part I agree with Scott Kurtz’s “review”. You leave the cinema truly believing that it’s possible for a person to fly. Again. The first action piece as Superman rescues a plane hurtling to the ground remains the film’s highlight, despite the larger scale of the finale. A welcome return it certainly is, and the effort etched on his face makes it a very powerful cinematic moment. As this Multiplex comic shows, however, discussing the film’s faults becomes somewhat problematic without divulging major spoilers. As such, I shall refrain from detailed analysis. Suffice to say that they are setting up for a trilogy and, as is so often the case, the quality of the first film depends largely on the outcome of its successors. If the next film is great, this has done its job well.

Brandon Routh steps seamlessly into the Reeves’ large red boots. As Superman the continuation is perfect, a real credit to the young actor who must have spent many a night soaking up his predecessor’s performance. As Clark he takes a subtler approach, playing him as the slightly clumsy perennial nice guy but without the slapstick upon which Reeve’s performance bordered. Lois is essentially a new character, much better suited to the modern audience. Finally, Spacey’s hotly debated performance lies somewhere in between. He has morpher Lex Luthor from Gene Hackman’s eccentric villain to a darker, more bitter character. My dad wasn’t impressed by the trailer but loved the result. I am still undecided.

One’s approach to the film largely dictates one’s feelings. It is not the action extravaganza that many might reasonably have expected. Romantic subplots are par for the course when it comes to superhero movies as it offers the audience a way to relate to an otherwise inhuman character. However this is a rare occassion when the romance could be said to be the plot, with the action of lesser importance.