Pirates of the Caribbean: The Meta
First up, here is a really interesting meta essay by kaellana about the post-credits scene in PotC: AWE, and what it means for the people involved. Spoilery, obviously, if you haven't already seen the movie.
Secondly, herein are my thoughts, not particularly organised.
So.
The Bad:
1) Norrington was wasted, and in being wasted, it sent an unfortunate message about the movie. He clearly needed redemption, after his actions of the second movie - in which he basically hands Cutler Beckett the keys to domination of the sea - and he's clearly unhappy with his role as the military puppet of a mercantile army. As cupiscent suggests, he was in a perfect position to earn that redemption by righting his previous wrong - either by destroying the heart, or by disempowering Beckett (arresting him, or, more likely, killing him).
Either solution would have been a good use of the character. The latter would have saved the innocent sailors of the Endeavour and given Beckett something to do in his useless final moments. The former would have been nothing short of awesome, charging Norrington with the duty of ferrying the dead souls - which he would have to do forever, because his true love does not love him - and he would be noble and steadfast for eternity. Not to mention Sparrow would have to spend a long time trying to chase Norrington down and kill him so that he (that is, Sparrow) can be the immortal one, instead. Hijinks ensue.
Instead, he throws his life away saving the woman who is largely responsible for his current predicament, and dies an insignificant death, seen only from a distance. What a bloody WASTE.
2) Calypso was also wasted. Her desire for freedom was the cause of Barbossa's resurrection and Jack's rescue, and freeing her was the reason Sao Feng passed on his captaincy to Elizabeth, thereby changing the course of pirate history. And yet when she is freed, she yells incomprehensibly for a bit, then turns into a pile of crabs and scuttles away. She makes one little maelstrom and that's it; no great acts of god(dess) striking people down in revenge and anger, no nothing. She felt very under-used, and I hope there's a director's cut DVD.
The Good:
1) Will. Finally Will smartens up and starts acting appropriately for the world in which he lives - and whaddya know, it works. He sells everyone out, left right and centre, including his dearly beloved. Which seems only appropriate for the kind of relationship they have, really.
Tangent: it's interesting that Will and Elizabeth have pretty much nothing but selfishness in their soul; they will both destroy anything and anyone in their path when they're set on a goal. Even Jack, the tricksiest bastard of them all, gave up his shot at living forever to save Will. Were the situations reversed, I do not think Will would give up his life's dream to save a friend, and Elizabeth certainly wouldn't.
2) Sparrow. I cannot burble enough about how much I love Captain Jack, from his insanity to his thin vein of nobility. Even his shoulder angel and shoulder demon are mini-Jacks! I did find it interesting that he's much less in control in this movie - the first movie is all about Jack's plots and plans, and everyone else gets carried along for the ride like flotsam in the wake of the Pearl, but AWE reverses that and Jack is largely a spectator following in the trail of Barbossa, Elizabeth and Will (who all want wildly different things, and still end up in the same place)
[I cannot be the only fangirl who squirmed with delight at the thought of a whole boat-ful of Jacks, right?]
3) Tia Dalma and Davy Jones, and the tragedy of their love story. They doomed each other: he betrayed her to the pirates and told them how to bind her, and her inconstancy cursed him to remain as the Captain when he did not need to. And what they did to each other winds around everyone else's stories in DMC and AWE, shaping everyone else's tragedies too.
Despite the fact that I list more bads than goods, I really did enjoy the movie. There were some pacing issues, but overall I had a great time, and I really hope that Johnny Depp gets his wish of playing Jack Sparrow again.
Secondly, herein are my thoughts, not particularly organised.
So.
The Bad:
1) Norrington was wasted, and in being wasted, it sent an unfortunate message about the movie. He clearly needed redemption, after his actions of the second movie - in which he basically hands Cutler Beckett the keys to domination of the sea - and he's clearly unhappy with his role as the military puppet of a mercantile army. As cupiscent suggests, he was in a perfect position to earn that redemption by righting his previous wrong - either by destroying the heart, or by disempowering Beckett (arresting him, or, more likely, killing him).
Either solution would have been a good use of the character. The latter would have saved the innocent sailors of the Endeavour and given Beckett something to do in his useless final moments. The former would have been nothing short of awesome, charging Norrington with the duty of ferrying the dead souls - which he would have to do forever, because his true love does not love him - and he would be noble and steadfast for eternity. Not to mention Sparrow would have to spend a long time trying to chase Norrington down and kill him so that he (that is, Sparrow) can be the immortal one, instead. Hijinks ensue.
Instead, he throws his life away saving the woman who is largely responsible for his current predicament, and dies an insignificant death, seen only from a distance. What a bloody WASTE.
2) Calypso was also wasted. Her desire for freedom was the cause of Barbossa's resurrection and Jack's rescue, and freeing her was the reason Sao Feng passed on his captaincy to Elizabeth, thereby changing the course of pirate history. And yet when she is freed, she yells incomprehensibly for a bit, then turns into a pile of crabs and scuttles away. She makes one little maelstrom and that's it; no great acts of god(dess) striking people down in revenge and anger, no nothing. She felt very under-used, and I hope there's a director's cut DVD.
The Good:
1) Will. Finally Will smartens up and starts acting appropriately for the world in which he lives - and whaddya know, it works. He sells everyone out, left right and centre, including his dearly beloved. Which seems only appropriate for the kind of relationship they have, really.
Tangent: it's interesting that Will and Elizabeth have pretty much nothing but selfishness in their soul; they will both destroy anything and anyone in their path when they're set on a goal. Even Jack, the tricksiest bastard of them all, gave up his shot at living forever to save Will. Were the situations reversed, I do not think Will would give up his life's dream to save a friend, and Elizabeth certainly wouldn't.
2) Sparrow. I cannot burble enough about how much I love Captain Jack, from his insanity to his thin vein of nobility. Even his shoulder angel and shoulder demon are mini-Jacks! I did find it interesting that he's much less in control in this movie - the first movie is all about Jack's plots and plans, and everyone else gets carried along for the ride like flotsam in the wake of the Pearl, but AWE reverses that and Jack is largely a spectator following in the trail of Barbossa, Elizabeth and Will (who all want wildly different things, and still end up in the same place)
[I cannot be the only fangirl who squirmed with delight at the thought of a whole boat-ful of Jacks, right?]
3) Tia Dalma and Davy Jones, and the tragedy of their love story. They doomed each other: he betrayed her to the pirates and told them how to bind her, and her inconstancy cursed him to remain as the Captain when he did not need to. And what they did to each other winds around everyone else's stories in DMC and AWE, shaping everyone else's tragedies too.
Despite the fact that I list more bads than goods, I really did enjoy the movie. There were some pacing issues, but overall I had a great time, and I really hope that Johnny Depp gets his wish of playing Jack Sparrow again.