Pirates of Caribbean: Salazars Revenge. A review... of sorts... kinda...
So, I just watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge. Or Dead Men Tell No Tales, as it's also been called.
If you've followed me for a while, you'd know this is actually a bit of a big deal for me. I've been a HUGE fan of the Pirates movies for years, was quite active in the fandom for a couple of years there to. Until the fourth movie came out, On Stranger Tides. And, OK. I admit. The only redeeming quality in that one was Ian McShane. Dude. He is making a CONVINCING villain, just saying. But the rest of the movie was shit. So I usually try to ignore it's existence. Also, it killed my joy of the fandom. So I stopped participating in the fandom totally after that.
And hey, On Stranger Tides didn't have my favorite character at all. Cursed Captain Will Turner. In this it did. Pretty hands on. Since we now have a new generation of pirates. Elisabeth's and Will's son, Henry Turner... Dead set on finding a way to free his father. We even see him risking his life to go visit his father on The Flying Dutchman as a kid... Bet Elisabeth wasn't to happy about that, poor woman. Both being a mother to a wild kid AND keeping track of Willl's heart... Do not envy her.
This movie, however, was really good. It brought back the darkness and sense of humor from the first three, which I TRULY enjoyed. It didn't quite reach up to the awesome of those movies, but DAMN did it get close!
I don't know really where to start with this about what I liked and didn't with this, because true to the other movies, the story is... somewhat all over the place. *LOL* One thing with the story that I DID enjoy though is that it did a wonderful tieback to the earlier movies. What with Henry being deadset on helping his father be free of the curse of The Flying Dutchman and needing Captain Jack to succeed with that... Sounds familiar? Yep. That's what Will Turner tried to do to, saving his father from The Flying Dutchman... It could have been done badly that tieback, but it wasn't. It was done really well. And the guy playing Henry Turner, Brenton Thwaites, did a WONDERFUL job playing Will and Elisabeth's son. He even has so much resemblance it's even very believable! GOOD CASTING!
The pretty girl of the movie, because there has to be one, has one thing in common with Elisabeth... She is really kicking ASS!!! And she is very very smart to, being an educated girl. Which puts her in trouble, because she's being accused of being a witch. Not easy having the smarts as a young woman during the age of sail... There's even a WONDERFUL secret that she carries, without knowing, that works so VERY well and also ties into that tieback in a way that's a whole new generation taking over... VERY cleverly done, script writers! I should have seen that one coming, but I will admit... I didn't.
I also always love Love LOVE seeing Geoffrey Rush playing Captain Hector Barbossa! He is SO over the top with EVERYTHING! :-D He is a true enjoyer of all life has to offer, over the top. As much gold as the ship can carry... as much food as possible... live music on the ship... the finest clothes... a golden pegleg... You get the picture. And it WORKS! I don't know how Rush makes it work, but despite all that, Barbossa can be a very scary pirate as well! I loved seeing him again, and I loved seeing more dept to him, so awesome! He is a great character for sure! And his interactions with Captain Jack Sparrow, is just... LOVE so much love! They play off each other perfectly!
The villian of the play was Captain Salazar, and Javier Bardem played him to PERFECTION! About as creepy as Ian McShane was in the fourth (failure) movie, with a hint of humor as well. In an interview I saw in the extras he compares the living Salazar as a matador and the undead Salazar as a wounded bull... And I can totally see that! In a flashback we get to see the proud and focused Captain Salazar of the spanish fleet hunting pirates. A man with a mission and knowledge in his own abilities. What you'd expect from a successful captain. As an undead, you see only focused revenge, hunched over from old wounds (half the back of his head is gone), walking sticking his head out first as if he wants to kill his enemies with just his stare... Really creepy. Wonderful performance by Bardem! He was brilliant!
And then, of course, there's Captain Jack Sparrow. I mean, yeah OK... say what you will about Johnny Depp, but I don't think anyone else could have done Jack Sparrow. To say that character is memorable would be an understatement. In all the movies, that character just owns every scene he is in. There's just not much else to say about him, is it? :-) He plays off of everyone with perfection, he really does. Either infuriating them... or making them love him (few). It's a good thing he has his best first mate Master Johsmee Gibbs who has his back, ALMOST all the time... *lol* Or he'd be doomed. His reaction to Henry revealing who is, is just hilarious! X-D Also, we all knew Keith Richards was Jacks dad, Captain Teague... But who knew Paul McCartney was his uncle??? X-D Uncle Jack Teague, apparently! *LOL* Hilarious! And Paul really looked like he had a grand old time playing an old pirate! So fun!
My favorite though, as his been since the second film, was Captain Will Turner! Oh, my heart... I nearly jumped out off the couch seeing him right in the beginning of the movie. He was about to go down Captain Jones road there, all barnacles and stuff... No wonder Henry wanted to save him! Even if Will told him not to find him again... Bless his heart, he'd come running to save him every time he jumped into the oceans I bet, not able to help himself... I bet Henry knew that to. My favorite part with all Pirates movies is the whole myth around The Flying Dutchman and it's crew. And from what little we saw off it, it does seem as if Will has a hard time keeping his crew in check... VERY interesting that... He didn't want them to see he had a living person onboard, his son, for what little time he was there. Hence he hurried him off and dived with the Dutchman. I wonder why? That's a mystery I'd REALLY like to get the answer to!!!
I won't spoil the movie, but yeah. It was a joy to see Will again!
It felt like they tied up a lot of lose ends, and even though there IS an opening for more movies, as per usual, I wouldn't say it's a certainty. This one felt more finished than the others, you know? It was a good ending to them all. And for gawds sake, IF they decide to make another one? Bring back to the two viking directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg from Norway to do the job, because they did a GREAT job!!! As did the screenwriter Jeff Nathanson! Of course there was plotholes, when aren't there in a Pirates movie, but they were easier to overlook in this one than in the fourth (horrible) movie. :-)
So in conclusion I can say, if you like pirates? Watch this one! It's well worth your time! :-D
Maybe I should start reading Pirates fic again... Hmm...
This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
If you've followed me for a while, you'd know this is actually a bit of a big deal for me. I've been a HUGE fan of the Pirates movies for years, was quite active in the fandom for a couple of years there to. Until the fourth movie came out, On Stranger Tides. And, OK. I admit. The only redeeming quality in that one was Ian McShane. Dude. He is making a CONVINCING villain, just saying. But the rest of the movie was shit. So I usually try to ignore it's existence. Also, it killed my joy of the fandom. So I stopped participating in the fandom totally after that.
And hey, On Stranger Tides didn't have my favorite character at all. Cursed Captain Will Turner. In this it did. Pretty hands on. Since we now have a new generation of pirates. Elisabeth's and Will's son, Henry Turner... Dead set on finding a way to free his father. We even see him risking his life to go visit his father on The Flying Dutchman as a kid... Bet Elisabeth wasn't to happy about that, poor woman. Both being a mother to a wild kid AND keeping track of Willl's heart... Do not envy her.
This movie, however, was really good. It brought back the darkness and sense of humor from the first three, which I TRULY enjoyed. It didn't quite reach up to the awesome of those movies, but DAMN did it get close!
I don't know really where to start with this about what I liked and didn't with this, because true to the other movies, the story is... somewhat all over the place. *LOL* One thing with the story that I DID enjoy though is that it did a wonderful tieback to the earlier movies. What with Henry being deadset on helping his father be free of the curse of The Flying Dutchman and needing Captain Jack to succeed with that... Sounds familiar? Yep. That's what Will Turner tried to do to, saving his father from The Flying Dutchman... It could have been done badly that tieback, but it wasn't. It was done really well. And the guy playing Henry Turner, Brenton Thwaites, did a WONDERFUL job playing Will and Elisabeth's son. He even has so much resemblance it's even very believable! GOOD CASTING!
The pretty girl of the movie, because there has to be one, has one thing in common with Elisabeth... She is really kicking ASS!!! And she is very very smart to, being an educated girl. Which puts her in trouble, because she's being accused of being a witch. Not easy having the smarts as a young woman during the age of sail... There's even a WONDERFUL secret that she carries, without knowing, that works so VERY well and also ties into that tieback in a way that's a whole new generation taking over... VERY cleverly done, script writers! I should have seen that one coming, but I will admit... I didn't.
I also always love Love LOVE seeing Geoffrey Rush playing Captain Hector Barbossa! He is SO over the top with EVERYTHING! :-D He is a true enjoyer of all life has to offer, over the top. As much gold as the ship can carry... as much food as possible... live music on the ship... the finest clothes... a golden pegleg... You get the picture. And it WORKS! I don't know how Rush makes it work, but despite all that, Barbossa can be a very scary pirate as well! I loved seeing him again, and I loved seeing more dept to him, so awesome! He is a great character for sure! And his interactions with Captain Jack Sparrow, is just... LOVE so much love! They play off each other perfectly!
The villian of the play was Captain Salazar, and Javier Bardem played him to PERFECTION! About as creepy as Ian McShane was in the fourth (failure) movie, with a hint of humor as well. In an interview I saw in the extras he compares the living Salazar as a matador and the undead Salazar as a wounded bull... And I can totally see that! In a flashback we get to see the proud and focused Captain Salazar of the spanish fleet hunting pirates. A man with a mission and knowledge in his own abilities. What you'd expect from a successful captain. As an undead, you see only focused revenge, hunched over from old wounds (half the back of his head is gone), walking sticking his head out first as if he wants to kill his enemies with just his stare... Really creepy. Wonderful performance by Bardem! He was brilliant!
And then, of course, there's Captain Jack Sparrow. I mean, yeah OK... say what you will about Johnny Depp, but I don't think anyone else could have done Jack Sparrow. To say that character is memorable would be an understatement. In all the movies, that character just owns every scene he is in. There's just not much else to say about him, is it? :-) He plays off of everyone with perfection, he really does. Either infuriating them... or making them love him (few). It's a good thing he has his best first mate Master Johsmee Gibbs who has his back, ALMOST all the time... *lol* Or he'd be doomed. His reaction to Henry revealing who is, is just hilarious! X-D Also, we all knew Keith Richards was Jacks dad, Captain Teague... But who knew Paul McCartney was his uncle??? X-D Uncle Jack Teague, apparently! *LOL* Hilarious! And Paul really looked like he had a grand old time playing an old pirate! So fun!
My favorite though, as his been since the second film, was Captain Will Turner! Oh, my heart... I nearly jumped out off the couch seeing him right in the beginning of the movie. He was about to go down Captain Jones road there, all barnacles and stuff... No wonder Henry wanted to save him! Even if Will told him not to find him again... Bless his heart, he'd come running to save him every time he jumped into the oceans I bet, not able to help himself... I bet Henry knew that to. My favorite part with all Pirates movies is the whole myth around The Flying Dutchman and it's crew. And from what little we saw off it, it does seem as if Will has a hard time keeping his crew in check... VERY interesting that... He didn't want them to see he had a living person onboard, his son, for what little time he was there. Hence he hurried him off and dived with the Dutchman. I wonder why? That's a mystery I'd REALLY like to get the answer to!!!
I won't spoil the movie, but yeah. It was a joy to see Will again!
It felt like they tied up a lot of lose ends, and even though there IS an opening for more movies, as per usual, I wouldn't say it's a certainty. This one felt more finished than the others, you know? It was a good ending to them all. And for gawds sake, IF they decide to make another one? Bring back to the two viking directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg from Norway to do the job, because they did a GREAT job!!! As did the screenwriter Jeff Nathanson! Of course there was plotholes, when aren't there in a Pirates movie, but they were easier to overlook in this one than in the fourth (horrible) movie. :-)
So in conclusion I can say, if you like pirates? Watch this one! It's well worth your time! :-D
Maybe I should start reading Pirates fic again... Hmm...
This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.