Box office behemoth Pearl Harbor premiered ![]){href='javascript
(197,500,348)' }in London to huge crowds, though the event was somewhat low-key compared to the film’s extravagant Stateside event. English actress Kate Beckinsale dazzled as she swept into Leicester Square alongside her mum, but while the reception was less grandiose than the lavish US affair aboard a warship in Pearl Harbor itself, the actress found herself more nervous on her home-turf. “This is much noisier and scarier than it was in Hawaii,” she said, “because it’s Britain and my friends and family are all here.” While the film has torn through the American box office, US critics have (unfairly) slammed the film for it’s sentimentality and accused it of attempting to cash in on Titanic’s success. “You’re not really making movies for critics, you’re making movies for the people who go to the cinema and those people are really enjoying it,” said Beckinsale. “It’s doing really, really well and everyone’s coming out and saying they’re loving it and that’s really the whole point. It’s a novelty for me because you know, normally the critics love it but nobody goes to see it.” Co-star Josh Hartnett was equally nonplussed by the critical drubbing, “I don’t really read the reviews. My parents get really upset by it and just say don’t worry about it because if people like it then that’s the biggest thing.” Joining the pair at the event were Scottish star Ewan Bremner and uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer who were both vociferous in their support of the film. Pearl Harbor has certainly taken its share of critical mortar shells overseas and now British guns are being brought to bear. While Michael Bay’s epic falls under fire yet again, Empire Online feels compelled to shake its head and sigh. All we can say is don’t put too much stock in its cynical detractors. Go and see the film, it won’t change your life but you won’t walk away disappointed either.
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