Reviews

When I think of going to the movies, I think action, or horror, or whatever has a woman in leather with guns/swords/pointy shooty things. I would have never gone to the movies for a movie like this.

I totally missed out.

First off, you have to understand that, despite the title, this is not a movie about magical pants, or anything along that whimsy. The movie is about 4 girls played by young and incredibly talented actresses (who have since faded into relative obscurity, God knows why) who all, over a Summer's vacation, find themselves in uncomfortable situations that force them to grow as people. I'll break it down a bit.

First we have Tibby, played by Amber Tamblyn, probably known as Joan from Joan of Arcadia, who takes on the stereotypical role of a rebellious and apathetic teenager. She is fixated on her camera and spends her summer working to afford better equipment. Along the way, she meets a little girl that, from then on, proceeds to act as a zit upon the chin of our dear Tibby. Said girl, however, eventually ends up changing Tibby for the better in a predictable, yet still heart-warming way.

Next is Lena, played by Gilmore Girl Alexis Bledel, who is an almost complete introvert and artist to boot. Her vacation is spent in Greece with her grandparents and about 100 cousins. Lena has a hard time taking chances, and finds herself pleasantly thrust into a situation that forces her to let loose, greatly motivated by a major Greek hotty.

Then we have Carmen, played by America, who is desperately seeking a relationship with her father who, after leaving Carmen's mother, has found a new family. Carmen spends some of her summer with her father, trying to build a bond, before giving up. She later comes to a realization that the problem isn't only her father.

Last but not least is Bridget, played by Blake Lively who, far as I know, is pretty new to the scene. Her issues center around her mother, who was mentally ill and committed suicide, and her father who has a hard time showing affection, thus leading her down a sad path of seeking out men for the wrong reasons. Her role in the story is the most adult and probably why this scored a PG rating.

So there you have it. A movie based almost entirely around stereotypes and clichés yet still manages to work oh so well! I not only enjoyed this movie as a rental, I'll be purchasing it for future viewing as well.

Oh, and you can't forget America's wonderful line: "They're like the sunshine twins on uppers!" buahaha...

Because it's usually what most people want to know about, I'll get it out of the way right now; Paris Hilton dies a horrible death, and it's exciting, because she does it well. Yep, I'll admit it; for her first film she did a good job. No grammy, but she did a better job than some of the other cast members in making her death and the events that lead to it believable and fun. She runs, she fights back, and her character was supposedly **Major Spoiler** pregnant, so when she dies it's even more of a shame.

That said, Paris is annoying in her indifference and pompous attitude...

There, conscience cleared.

Anyway, this movie received a lot of crap but I found it enjoyable. In fact, part of the reason I liked it so much is probably because I was expecting so little. I honestly just wanted to watch people die, but a couple of the victims' deaths were surprisingly upsetting to me. Especially Dalton, who grew on me in an odd, annoying way I cannot explain. Like fungus.

Unfortunately, this movie wasn't all great; everything was predictable. From the beginning I predicted who would live and die and in what order. Imagine that, I got it right! I managed to figure out the ending before the bad guys were even dead, which is really bad considering the ending is supposed to surprise. I also found the main character, Carly, just plain annoying. I can't explain why, so maybe it wasn't the fault of the actress, but I still desperately wanted her to die. Oh well.

In any case, the movie was fun and enjoyable, not to mention plenty gory, even if some of the gore didn't make a large amount of sense, i.e., Wade being encased in wax yet his eyes suffered no dry ickyness because of being unable to blink. It's the little things you notice...

Would I have paid to watch this in the theatre? Probably not, but as a rental I didn't regret my decision.