John Chard

Ooh err missus. When it was announced that there was to be a modern reboot of St. Trinian’s, it was met with luke warm murmurings to say the least. Yet when it comes down to it, the old films from the 50s and 60s were hardly comedy gold anyway. Safe family fare and sometimes fun into the bargain, and with strong casts, they have never been seen as essential British comedies and untouchable by the modern era’s obsession with remakes and reimaging. St. Trinian’s 2007 style is not an improvement on the oldies, but neither is it the stinker some critics in 2007 wanted us to believe. It has enough about it to be its own animal, it’s funny, sexy and never dull. This also benefits from strong comic casting, where the likes of Rupert Everett (having the time of his life in drag), Colin Firth and Russell Brand are pitched into the femme madness headed by Gemma Arterton and Tallulah Riley. The writers err on the side of caution as far as risqué material goes, but there’s some very strong gags played out and the grouping of the girls into the various cliques (Emos, Chavs etc) is a nifty bit of writing that is mined to good effect. It was good enough and successful enough to warrant a sequel 2 years later… 6.5/10