Boarding the ship of nostalgia: going backwards through Pirates of the Caribbean...
So I'm going backwards through the "Pirates" franchise at present. Having re-watched number 5 recently, I thought "you know what, I can't even remember the fourth film except that I wasn't much into it when I first saw it, so let's try it again". Fortunately having Disney+ at the moment means I've got immediate access to all these films so I whacked PotC4 on the tube last night.
And blow me, I enjoyed it. It totally wastes Blackbeard, I have to say; I mean, that guy should have had the same kind of impact as Davy Jones, exploding onto the screen in epic proportions, as he's like the most famous pirate ever?? But he's not got any "hit" to him really, and all the "cool" stuff you hear about him - such as him capturing the Black Pearl and its crew - is simply told as a backstory by Barbossa rather than shown as a visual flashback. And though Barbossa's measured but emotive telling of the tale is effective enough in many ways, it sounds like, had we actually seen this scene, it probably would have given Blackbeard that edge and clout that he needed.
Also, unfortunately, unless I missed something, we aren't given any clue or hint as to why Blackbeard can control his ship with his sword, or why it has mahoosive fire cannons on its hull; and some magic is lost because there's zero context to any of this. Big shame. Ian Mcshane doesn't seem to quite have enough charisma to grow into the role either; when you have the likes of Depp, Rush and Nighy to follow who have already given extravagant but well-measured performances in previous films, it was always going to be a hard act to follow to be able to match-up to that.
But there's one thing I can't believe I didn't roll with, whenever it was I first saw this film (and I literally can't remember if I saw it in the cinema or not, I'm guessing not, but I haven't a clue!). And what's this? It's that Barbossa becomes even more of a badass in this instalment than he already was. I mean, though initially the film tries to wrong-foot you into thinking that Barbossa has joined the English Navy, is serving the king, and has completely betrayed his character's roots and morals (or lack of), you ultimately find that Hector's simply doing everything and all that he needs to in order to retrieve his ship and have revenge on the pirate who took it from him; and when Barbs and Jack Sparrow are captured by the Spanish, Barbossa relates his tale in full to Jack. We come to understand that Hector has cut his own damn leg off in order to escape death or imprisonment at Blackbeard's hands. The story goes that when the Pearl turned against them and his leg was caught up in the rigging, the ship being possessed by Blackbeard, Hector elected to not to become a victim of his own ship or of another pirate, and cut off his leg in order to gain freedom.
Let me run that by myself again whilst I try to understand what planet my brain was on when I first saw this to not be overjoyed at the fact that Hector was ultimately the best and bravest pirate in this film: this dude cut his own leg off?? I mean, what does it take to be able to do that? (Did he manage this with a sword or something else? How sharp and resilient was this fucking weapon? How did he not die from blood loss or faint from pain? I don't know how he managed it. I have many questions.)
But pedantic realism aside, this is another level of bad-assery that lifts ol' Hector onto a higher pedestal than those around him. And it is probably because of this rather gruesome tale that we are not given a flashback scene - though I think it could have been done well, with any limb-lopping done off-screen or following a timely cut. (They achieve this well in "At World's End", for example, when Will's father goes to cut out Will's heart, and the scene cuts as the blade flashes. Nice.)
Anyway, moving on; when ultimately the quoted prophecy of the film - about a one-legged man killing Blackbeard - is fulfilled, it's a relief and satisfying to see that the hard-edged pirate that is the original Barbossa returns, casting off his cover-up as a Navy privateer as he runs Blackbeard through with a set, steely face. He then deftly commandeers Blackbeard's remaining crew and steels his sword and ship.
And at the end of the film, there is a scene which I now realise has big resonance for Barbossa's character in the fifth instalment; we see Jack at the end rush to fetch some water from the dying Fountain of Youth in order that he might save Angelica, his sort-of love interest, who has been cut by a poisoned blade. Angelica though would rather sacrifice herself to save her father, Blackbeard, who lays dying next to her. As Jack brings a pair of chalices over - one holding water that will give life, the other water that will take - Blackbeard makes the predictably selfish choice to live whilst his daughter dies, seizing the chalice with life-giving water. But Sparrow being Sparrow, he has secretly switched the chalices so Blackbeard ends up drinking from the chalice of death whilst Angelica is saved.
Despite Angelica's anger, as she had wished to save her father, Jack stands by his belief that Blackbeard's death was justified as Blackbeard should have been willing to die for his daughter.
And in the final Pirates film, we revisit this theme again, but in a clearly contrasted echo of this as ultimately Barbossa gives up his own life for that of his daughter. And thus, if we hold to Jack's sentiments in the previous film, Hector dies as a somewhat honourable rogue; still a pirate and a bad-ass, a pillager and a thief, but also a father who makes the right choice at the end to save his child rather than himself.
Initially, I thought this character arc was unfit for the likes of Barbossa, that black-hearted beast we saw in "Curse of the Black Pearl", yet it does now seem to make an element of sense, and I am seeing Hector clearly now for the first time in years - he's a selfish criminal and a rogue, aye, but one who when his past comes back to haunt him, takes full responsibility and accepts death when he knows that, at last, it is due. What a dude.
God I miss my Pirate fan days. What a lark.