I've got a jar of dirt!
If possible, I love Captain Jack Sparrow *even more* than I did before.
It's almost as if the writers, the director, all the actors and producers, all got together and asked themselves "What kind of sequel would really make hafital a happy happy, blithering mass of incoherent goo?" And then, went ahead and made it so.
First of all, they were *all*, every last one of them, beautiful and amazing and it was great to see them again. I even adored Orlando, who always has the tougher sell imo, but he was great and gorgeous. They all were.
I loved the beginning, with the poor, wet, drowned wedding. I nearly died of happy seeing Tom Hollander as Cutler Beckett - long been a fan, ever since Gosford Park - and how perfectly evil and effete he was! One thing PotC does very well is use stereotypes effectively.
I'll have you all know I did not squeal like a teenage girl in heat upon the first sight of Captain Jack, but it was a near thing. Luckily there were teenage girls right next to us who squealed enough for about 1/2 of the audience.
There was a lot of fun plot about Davy Jones (Bill Nighy!) and Cutler Beckett and some beating heart in a chest and 13 years contract for the Pearl, and a large, ugly ass squid, and a surprise ending which I really should have seen coming, which all, for the most part, worked rather well and ran pretty seamlessly with the original. But what I really enjoyed was seeing the characters we know and love, and watching them become even more developed and see their stories change and progress from point A to point B. They all changed, and evolved. None of them were static. PotC is not high literature, but it's excellent movie making and rather more than decent screenwriting - something lacking from 90% of films in the same category.
Something else that will always make me a happy pirate girl is a well developed triangle. I mean triangle in the literary sense, rather than the "threesome" fun sexy fic sense. They're not a threesome, yet. They are three separate individuals, tangled, being pulled in towards each other and also apart, in all different directions. Good literary triangles, of love or otherwise, make me very very happy. I even wrote papers on them and everything! And this particular (love) triangle is like candy.
I remember in one of the commentaries from the first film, I think it was Gore Verbinski talking about how Jack was the more static of the three. Both Elizabeth and Will change in the first film - they grow, they are not the same from beginning to end, but Jack doesn't change. In DMC, I think they worked on that - he is, in essentials, much like he always was (to misquote Jane Austen) but he was also very much effected by Elizabeth's comments on him being a good man and that one day he will chose to do the right thing. Which was, I might add feverishly, wonderfully brought to play and juxtaposed against her "betrayal" of both Jack and Will. It was like Jack and Elizabeth moving across each other, one being lifted and the other one sinking, just a little bit. I *loved* Jack calling her, with that gorgeous, knowing, half-smile of affection of his, "Pirate", just when her face shows all of her guilt and horror at her own actions. I can't wait to see what they do next! Fun stuff. :) :)
It shouldn't be a secret that I just adore Elizabeth. I love what they've done with her. She's young and flawed, and much more like Jack than she's comfortable with. She loves Will, but longs for something she can only find with Jack. Neither should it be a secret that the Jack/Elizabeth scenes were, for me, beautiful to behold and totally satisfactory, and not once did I feel they were out of character. I could just be blinded by the pretty pirates. :)
Also, there's Norrington, beautiful beautiful Norrington. Everybody's best stuck-up Commodore boyfriend. Norrington was probably the one part of the film that made me less happy, only because I adore him so much. I didn't really have a problem with the direction of the character, but I wish we could have seen more of how he got to be so destitute. Bitter, I can understand and see perfectly. I can also see him being hung out to dry by the Navy, but I miss a step when I see him drunk and slovenly. Even with Jack Davenport (who looked incredible, I might add. He should be scruffy and dirty more often!) playing the part perfectly. I suspect we haven't seen all the places Norrington will go, yet. I loved that, even with him angry and bitter, and clearly desolate and with out any recourse, I could still see the Norrington/Sparrow antagonism love/hate that launched a thousand fics. LOL. :) eta: Also, on further thought, it's interesting to see Norrington sink and become a pirate, becoming what he hates the most. It's something that's been touched upon in fic a lot, but rarely with such a bitter, revenge-filled impetus. Not that I think Norrington is all vengence - I think right now he's mostly vengence and retribution, but he's a better man then that. I just don't know if we'll get to see it. hm.
I can't finish without mentioning Naomi Harris as Tia Dalma, who was darn near perfect. Loved the mad little light in her eyes, and she's the only woman who can look so beautiful with black teeth. :)
I totally plan on watching it again!
There will come a moment when you have the chance to do the right thing.
I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.
It's almost as if the writers, the director, all the actors and producers, all got together and asked themselves "What kind of sequel would really make hafital a happy happy, blithering mass of incoherent goo?" And then, went ahead and made it so.
First of all, they were *all*, every last one of them, beautiful and amazing and it was great to see them again. I even adored Orlando, who always has the tougher sell imo, but he was great and gorgeous. They all were.
I loved the beginning, with the poor, wet, drowned wedding. I nearly died of happy seeing Tom Hollander as Cutler Beckett - long been a fan, ever since Gosford Park - and how perfectly evil and effete he was! One thing PotC does very well is use stereotypes effectively.
I'll have you all know I did not squeal like a teenage girl in heat upon the first sight of Captain Jack, but it was a near thing. Luckily there were teenage girls right next to us who squealed enough for about 1/2 of the audience.
There was a lot of fun plot about Davy Jones (Bill Nighy!) and Cutler Beckett and some beating heart in a chest and 13 years contract for the Pearl, and a large, ugly ass squid, and a surprise ending which I really should have seen coming, which all, for the most part, worked rather well and ran pretty seamlessly with the original. But what I really enjoyed was seeing the characters we know and love, and watching them become even more developed and see their stories change and progress from point A to point B. They all changed, and evolved. None of them were static. PotC is not high literature, but it's excellent movie making and rather more than decent screenwriting - something lacking from 90% of films in the same category.
Something else that will always make me a happy pirate girl is a well developed triangle. I mean triangle in the literary sense, rather than the "threesome" fun sexy fic sense. They're not a threesome, yet. They are three separate individuals, tangled, being pulled in towards each other and also apart, in all different directions. Good literary triangles, of love or otherwise, make me very very happy. I even wrote papers on them and everything! And this particular (love) triangle is like candy.
I remember in one of the commentaries from the first film, I think it was Gore Verbinski talking about how Jack was the more static of the three. Both Elizabeth and Will change in the first film - they grow, they are not the same from beginning to end, but Jack doesn't change. In DMC, I think they worked on that - he is, in essentials, much like he always was (to misquote Jane Austen) but he was also very much effected by Elizabeth's comments on him being a good man and that one day he will chose to do the right thing. Which was, I might add feverishly, wonderfully brought to play and juxtaposed against her "betrayal" of both Jack and Will. It was like Jack and Elizabeth moving across each other, one being lifted and the other one sinking, just a little bit. I *loved* Jack calling her, with that gorgeous, knowing, half-smile of affection of his, "Pirate", just when her face shows all of her guilt and horror at her own actions. I can't wait to see what they do next! Fun stuff. :) :)
It shouldn't be a secret that I just adore Elizabeth. I love what they've done with her. She's young and flawed, and much more like Jack than she's comfortable with. She loves Will, but longs for something she can only find with Jack. Neither should it be a secret that the Jack/Elizabeth scenes were, for me, beautiful to behold and totally satisfactory, and not once did I feel they were out of character. I could just be blinded by the pretty pirates. :)
Also, there's Norrington, beautiful beautiful Norrington. Everybody's best stuck-up Commodore boyfriend. Norrington was probably the one part of the film that made me less happy, only because I adore him so much. I didn't really have a problem with the direction of the character, but I wish we could have seen more of how he got to be so destitute. Bitter, I can understand and see perfectly. I can also see him being hung out to dry by the Navy, but I miss a step when I see him drunk and slovenly. Even with Jack Davenport (who looked incredible, I might add. He should be scruffy and dirty more often!) playing the part perfectly. I suspect we haven't seen all the places Norrington will go, yet. I loved that, even with him angry and bitter, and clearly desolate and with out any recourse, I could still see the Norrington/Sparrow antagonism love/hate that launched a thousand fics. LOL. :) eta: Also, on further thought, it's interesting to see Norrington sink and become a pirate, becoming what he hates the most. It's something that's been touched upon in fic a lot, but rarely with such a bitter, revenge-filled impetus. Not that I think Norrington is all vengence - I think right now he's mostly vengence and retribution, but he's a better man then that. I just don't know if we'll get to see it. hm.
I can't finish without mentioning Naomi Harris as Tia Dalma, who was darn near perfect. Loved the mad little light in her eyes, and she's the only woman who can look so beautiful with black teeth. :)
I totally plan on watching it again!
There will come a moment when you have the chance to do the right thing.
I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.