"Death can't stop true love. It can only delay it for a while."
by Cleolinda
Okay, this is my entry on how much I loved Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and this is the second time I've written it because my computer deleted it the first time.
But first I want to say that I now have a job, and I can work from home, and I want to give a big thank-you to Angela for letting me stay with her and being so nice to me and taking me to so many cool places to eat. Thank you! I had fun!
Now, Pirates. I will start out by saying that I wasn't sure I was going to like this movie because I'd heard such mixed things about it. By the day before I went to see it, I was sure i was going to like it, but nobody else I knew was going to. The night before I went, I read the spoilers on Cleolinda's journal, and I was reminded of why I sometimes need spoilers in my life. Because had I not read them, I would most likely have gone, "AAAAAH WHY IS HE WHAT DOES HE THINK HE IS DOING MAKE HIM STOP THAT RIGHT NOW ARRRRRGH!" Out loud. In the theater. And I would have been too traumatized for enjoyment. I like being prepared for these kinds of things. And I am so glad I know that it really all does end happily. The rest will be cut for spoilers although, if you haven't seen it yet, what's wrong with you?
First of all, I am so, so happy knowing that after the first ten years the curse is lifted and Will can spend the rest of his life with Elizabeth and their adorable son, who I have decided is named William Weatherby Turner. I decided this before I knew he even actually existed, back when I saw DMC and realized, Hee, that's such a cool name. And the best part is, at that point, Will and Elizabeth are only about 32, so they have their whole lives to spend together and probably have more babies and all kinds of fun things.
I loved the opening sequence, probably because I'm a big fan of dramatic musicals and also because I like the song "Hoist the Colours" so much. It's really all about the Brethren Court and Calypso if you pay attention to the lyrics.
I also loved Singapore, and it's all the more fun to watch Elizabeth's first scenes bearing in mind that this woman carrying approximately a bajillion weapons and dressed in a very short robe and nothing else was not so long ago the overcorseted young lady who wore the fancy dresses and was used to playing the part of the Governor's Daughter, little as she enjoyed it.
The distance between Will and Elizabeth was heartwrenching, even though I knew it would be there, and the fact that they still care about each other more than anything else is just so cool. Then, when Will finally knows the truth, his confrontation with her made me so happy and so miserable at the same time. He says, "Why didn't you tell me?" and she replies, "It was my burden to bear," and I knew it, I knew she would be thinking like that, but oh man, it's so sad. And then it about broke my heart when he asks how he can trust her, and she just says, "You can't." It's so true ("Pirate!") and yet so sad.
And then, when Weatherby showed up with the dead souls, and he told Elizabeth he was dead, and she didn't believe it at first, and she started begging him to come back with them, all hysterical... I admit, I cried a little bit. Because that's her dad. He's probably the only parent she's ever known. He doted on her, he loved her above all else, and the way I see their relationship... Okay, I'm going to share with you a little bit of a thing I wrote about a year ago from Elizabeth's point of view: "[He] dedicated himself to the task of raising me to be the perfect lady my mother was, to do credit to her memory and to him. I am afraid I was a terrible disappointment to him. I could never match his concern for convention and propriety; something in me always rebelled against it, try as I most wholeheartedly did to please him. I wanted so much at times to be the daughter my father deserved, but I believe I lacked the capacity." And so when he says to her, "I'm so proud of you, Elizabeth"... it's just perfect, that's all. So moving.
Norrington's death is very sad, too. Here is a true testamant to James Norrington's character: Most men, seeing Elizabeth again, especially had they once been engaged to her, at that time, would have claimed no acquaintance. She is decked in Oriental garb, her hair has been bleached by the sun, her skin is sunburned and windburned, he knows that she has been in the custody and company of pirates for months... Most men would see a disgraced woman, all claim to virtue gone, damaged goods, a harlot and a criminal, and they would have met her with disgust and disdain. Not James Norrington. He treats Elizabeth like a lady, still. To him, she is still Miss Elizabeth Swann, and he still genuinely cares about her. He sacrifices himself for her when he knows her side is the right one. Also, I thought it was pretty funny when she breaks it to him that Governor Swann is dead. "No... He went back to England!" "Did Cutler Beckett tell you that?" I half expected her to add, "(sigh) Did you believe him when he told you that he sent your dog to live on a farm, too?" "What? No! Not like Mr. Wiggles!" The poor man does look like someone has killed his puppy at that point. Aw.
I absolutely loved Calypso-Elizabeth. I loved Pirate King Elizabeth even more. I think her speech before the final battle (and Cleolinda is right, the girls almost never get to make this speech, and she rocks it) bears reprinting:
"Then what shall we die for? You will listen to me. Listen! The Brethren will still be looking here, to us, to the Black Pearl, to lead. And what will they see? Frightened bilge rats aboard a derelict ship? No. No, they will see free men! And freedom! And what the enemy will see is the flash of our cannons. They will hear the ring of our swords, and they will know what we can do! By the sweat of our brows, and the strength of our backs... and the courage of our hearts! Gentlemen! Hoist the colours." Whooooo! I told you all along that these movies, this story is about Elizabeth. It is about her desire for freedom, and freedom is what she is fighting for. It is awesome.
She fights in perfect tandem with Will, and he asks her to marry him, and it is oh so romantic, and he tells her to make a choice, and she says, "Captain Barbossa!" and Will is all, "huh?" "MARRY US!" Yay! And I loved the marriage ceremony in the middle of the battle. The battle itself is really good, too.
Then Will gets stabbed by Davy Jones, and that startled me. Poor, poor Elizabeth, thinking that she's lost absolutely everything. But, as we've learned from another pirate, "Death can't stop true love. It can only delay it for a while."
Of course Will has to stab the heart (with Jack's help, because Jack is a good man) to save his life. And then he takes his one day on shore, and Elizabeth finally gets her day of sexing. I loved the crossed swords on the beach. And I loved Will's last line, "Keep a weather eye on the horizon." How romantic is that? He says it in DMC, too, when he has to leave her in the gaol. Awwww.
And then Bootstrap and Will get to spend some quality father-son time. And Jack breaks up with Scarlett and Giselle, because he doesn't love either of them as much as he loves the Pearl. And Mr. Gibbs has a teddy bear. And the crew of the Pearl is feeling uneasy, and they ask Barbossa for details of their destination, and because he has apparently learned nothing, Barbossa is about to give them, but Jack has stolen the charts. Because he is a pirate. Ha ha!
Davy Jones and Calypso were awesome.
Murtog and Mulroy were back! I missed them! And they turned pirate! Hooray! Also, Ragetti was absolutely great.
The episode with Jack in the Locker was a bit long.
And, I'll admit, it took me a second viewing to finally understand what the hell Will was up to throughout the whole thing. He makes a deal with the EITC (and by the way, seems I was right about Lord Cutler "Mr. Collins" Beckett's intentions toward Elizabeth. Did you catch tha scene where Jack is like, "What do you want with her?" and Beckett's all, "..."?) because they have the heart and Will wants to stab the heart. But Elizabeth gets him back on her side because she knows that's the only reason he was with them and she can still trust him.
The movie has some great lines: "Well, that's just maddeningly unhelpful." "What were they supposed to call them, the Nince Pieces of Whatever We Happened To Have In Our Pockets At The Time?"
"I once knew a pirate who'd lost both arms and part of an eye." "What'd you call him?" "Larry."
So, yeah, I loved it, and I have some very definite Ideas about what happens in the ten-year interval, which I will share at a later date.