Pirates of the Caribbean
angharad and I watched the premiere of the third movie after I returned from my camping trip on Thursday. This is a great movie -- full of all sorts of typical Hollywood action stuff, but also at times genuinely beautiful. Furthermore, the characters are nicely rounded out; there are moments (at least half of the movie, actually) when the viewer has no idea who is on whose side, who is trustworthy, what people are planning. In fact, the movie has themes of trust and betrayal and redemption running throughout, perhaps not as seriously taken as they could be, but far moreso in the context of a summer blockbuster than was at all required, and that impresses me all the more. Neither of us particularly liked the ending; it was not unbelievable, but we kept wondering why it did not go differently (and, perhaps, more believably). It was not a bad end, though. The film was also remarkable in its being considerably darker than either of its predecessors, which runs against the standard dictum of having the third part of the trilogy be the darkest. Overall, wow.