St. Trinian's

Okay, so I don't usually watch this type of film but after being gagged and blind folded I didn't have a choice. The first Belles of St. Trinian's was made in 1954 and to be fair to St. Trinian's 2007, it has remained close and true to the original concept. As usual, the school is threatened with closure by their bank and education board and responsibility to save the day falls on the pupils.

Gemma Arterton is the head girl, who's voice is made for Eastenders but has the presence and looks to become a big star and along with Talulah Riley as new posh girl Annabelle Fritton carry the film forwards to it's satisfying conclusion.

Rupert Everett steals the show and with a fantastic cast of quirky children and familiar faces including Colin Firth, Stephen Fry as himself, Lena Headey and our very own Jack Sparrow, Russell Brand make the film all fun.

What's nice about St. Trinian's.is that the whole cast of characters get a chance to do their bit, it's all team work, it's St. Trinian's.

Mixed views like the mixed reviews really.

Firstly this is a film for the tweenies (12-15 I would have thought) though on the night we went despite the 12a certificate there were 5 and 6 year olds there. Most of the humour was for kids, though there were enough references to amuse adults and lots of references to other films.

Everett was superb as a the headmistress, and remembering that this was slapstick, absolutely fine. Not so convinced by Colin Firth, but he was OK. Russell Brandt seemed nervous. Otherwise everone else played their roll perfectly. The young actors were splendid.

As stated, a good film for young teenagers who can identify with the schoolgirl antics, and in our cinema they were laughing from the beginning.

Not a patch on the originals? Well different. The originals were 40 to 50 years ago and they were made in a different age. I like them, but do they appeal to 12 and 15 year olds today? This is the problem with remakes, we always compare them with the "classic" and find them wanting.

Annabelle Fritton joins St Trinian's, a school for 'young ladies' that prides itself on the anarchic doctrine of free expression. Fritton struggles to fit in at first, but manages to win them over as all the girls band together to try and save the school from bankruptcy.

Okay, so 'St Trinian's' is a pretty awful film, nobody is going to argue that. It's unashamedly predictable, full of stereotypical characters and clichéd scenes and sequences. At every turn, the film gets more and more absurd, and I found myself shaking my head continuously.

But here's the thing: as awful as it is, there's something about the film which stopped me from hating it. Because, to be fair, it was made to be awful. 'St Trinian's' is a good old-fashioned British pantomime on the big screen. You have the man in drag, you have the overly-stereotyped characters, you have the completely ridiculous story where nothing makes sense. Perhaps the only thing missing were songs but, other than that, this may as well have been a panto.

More than that, though, what endears me about the movie is just how much British talent is on offer. It's like a who's who of young British actors – Talulah Riley, Tamsin Egerton, Lily Cole, Juno Temple and Gemma Arteton to name just a few – all given their time to shine and doing a good job. Egerton, in particular, is excellent as the stupid blonde, getting by with her sex appeal and sheer good luck. It's also nice to see actors like Colin Firth, Stephen Fry and Rupert Everett especially make fun of themselves.

Like I say, this is a really awful film, but it's a movie so rubbish that it's actually quite good. I'll never voluntarily choose to watch 'St Trinian's'; but get me drunk enough the night before, and this is a more than adequate Sunday hangover movie.

This film was entertaining and has something for everyone, especially if you are young at heart. There were quite a few in-jokes about certain members of the cast - one of the schools which competed against St Trinian's in the School Challenge quiz was Rupert Everett's old school (Ampleforth) and the "Another Country" comment was brilliant. There were also references to Mr Darcy and of course Colin Firth had another go at the wet-shirt scene. I was impressed by the schoolgirls, who did a good job of convincing me that they were unruly but not clueless and could organise themselves if they wanted to. I am a huge fan of Rupert Everett and he excelled in drag (always knew he would) and his interactions with Colin Firth were as much fun as in their 2 previous outings together (Another Country and Importance of Being Earnest). I was also thrilled to be watching another Ealing Comedy, since I live a stone's throw from the famous studios.

Very good adaptation, went with my family and all ages were laughing.

Rupert Evveret plays 2 very different characters and succeeds well in both.

Colin Firth is a lovely as ever fitting into a role that suits him very well and a certain scene from a Jane Austin adaptation is resurrected.

The newcomers who make up the majority of the school children are superb, not only do they achieve in acting well beyond their years. They provided as much entertainment as the other more experienced cast members.

The most surprising cast member of them all was Russell Brand. I went into the film with a despise of the man and thinking he would ruin the film for me, but he was actually pretty good.

In all I found St Trinian's to be a good film and definitely one for teenage girls to watch, but don't worry if you get dragged along to I guarantee you'll leave laughing.

Don't forget to listen the song in the credits!!!