… Take care what picture you see!

Mamma Mia was good.  I didn’t think it was that spectacular as it was going along, but I couldn’t help but notice my left foot tapping to the beat, my lips mouthing the lyrics and the odd tear of happiness in my eye.

Meryl Streep was fantastic, throwing all her weight and soul into the performance.  The fun just oozed from the screen, not processed, scripted fun, but the obvious passion and enjoyment of the cast.

But the clincher for me was that I actually quite liked Pierce Brosnan.  All through his James Bond days I’ve stayed as far away from the man as possible.  I took into consideration that, when playing James Bond, he was portraying a womanising male chauvinist, and that this was most likely why he irritated me so much. But then along came Daniel Craig, and the James Bond movies became entertaining again, and against all the odds, I’m actually looking forward to Quantum of Solace later this year.

Walking into the cinema to see Mamma Mia, I cringed knowing that Pierce Brosnan would be in it.  But despite all my pre-conceived ideas, he was actually very good.  He’s not a fantastic singer, but neither am I, and I respect his throwing so much into the movie.  A brave step after playing the world famous super spy extraordinaire!

Hellboy II on the other hand…

I have never regretted spending money on a movie trip before, and likewise I have never contemplated walking out of a cinema mid performance.  But Hellboy II is a movie that inspires both regret and a swift escape!

It follows the ill thought out exploits of some “superheroes”, the main player having apparently been released from Hell itself, hence the name. He’s big, chunky, ugly and red, with a giant papier-mâché toilet roll on his arm, for some unknown reason.  The most imaginative names the writers could give this big red monster were…. you guessed it…. Red and Hellboy.

The film attempts to be a humorous romp through a world of fantasy and fairy tales, but leaves your skin creeping at their attempts at humour and what can loosely be described as romance.

Its one saving grace was the fancy, martial arts footwork of the Elf Prince, played by Luke Goss, which was quite breath taking in places, and was the one element of the movie that inclined me to remain in my seat.

As they sang in Mamma Mia…”Honey, Honey, he nearly kills me!”