Pirates of the Caribbean review
Since I have no life other than TV and games, guess what this post is about *g*. Yep, another movie rant post. Better than ranting about getting ready for holidays and what not. Cause getting ready for the holidays is always tons of fun.
Really.
Anyways, finally got around to watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It's a popcorn movie, but the plot made me cringe.
I have NO idea how they plan to satisfactorily resolve all the loose ends they have in 2.5 hours. Seriously, at stories end you have to resolve getting Jack back, getting the Black Pearl back, going back to Port Royale to get Davy Jones' heart back, dodging the Kraken along the way, the reunion of Jack and Barbossa (should be interesting), Will saving his dad, defeating Davy Jones, oh and that pesky matter of Will and Elizabeth facing the gallows.
Oh yeah, and the resolution of the "love triangle". Blech. WHY they "needed" to add the love triangle is beyond me. It really adds very little to the plot, as most love triangles really are. In the end it only makes Will seem like the most wishy washy character on the face of the planet because he doesn't even CONFRONT her about the kiss. I don't care if you are the most forgiving person on the face of the planet, if you love someone enough to risk eternal damnation as part of the crew on Davy Jones' ship then you'd be at least a tad perturbed to witness a lust filled kiss with someone OTHER than you.
Though I DO think Will is the most wishy washy character around anyway, so it's no surprise that that only enhanced it.
I also was slightly let down that the writers kind of made the characters a little stupid. Elizabeth and Will have both dealt directly with Jack Sparrow. It's not a new thing that he lies, exaggerates, omits and stretches the truth so that people will do what he wants. He's a pirate, a manipulater, and they KNOW this. Will stupidly doing something Jack suggests without holding any cards of his own makes him look stupid. Elizabeth being enraged that Jack lied to her was just as stupid.
Sad thing is both these characters are actually SMART people. Choosing to dumb them down to make Jack Sparrow look smarter, or more dispicable is lazy writing. The audience already knows Jack Sparrow IS smart, and he is a backstabber, compromising the integrity of a character to pound this over the audiences head is disappointing.
The complete lack of resolution to ANYTHING by the end of the movie was disappointing as well. Making a movie that's completely independent on another movie is frustrating to the broader audience. It's a cheap way to sell tickets for a movie. It's a trick they DON'T have to do, considering the movies are so well recieved, and everyone KNOWS this.
You CAN end a movie on a cliffhanger (i.e. Empire Strikes Back), but at least have SOME plot lines resolved. As this movie stands, NOTHING was resolved. Sure, they found the treasure, Davy Jones' heart. But neither Elizabeth, Jack or Will HAVE said heart. So they are still exactly where they started in that respect. Jack is MIA, the Pearl is destroyed, Davy Jones will still be after them, as is everyone back at Port Royale. Nothing at all was tied up, so the third movie CAN'T work without the second movie. It's impossible.
The beauty of Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest is that they ARE stand alone. There are nods to the first in the second, but not so much that someone who hasn't seen the first won't grasp the overall plot of the second. It becomes "easter eggs" for fans of the first, and makes them happy that the writers remembered them by adding those nods.
There is no WAY Dead Man's Chest and At World's End will work without each other. They can't because they BOTH have the SAME plot. As a miniseries it would work beautifully (think V here), but as movies? Not so much.
Overally, popcorn movie. Sit down to watch decent fight scenes, fun humour, and amazing CGI characters (Bill Nighy is damn near unrecognizable, only his voice gives him away). This is DEFINITELY not a movie to watch for an amazing plot, and well rounded characters.
ETA: Kiera Knightley has the biggest head ever. Seriously, I never noticed it until this movie, her face is almost as wide as the damn TV screen!
Really.
Anyways, finally got around to watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It's a popcorn movie, but the plot made me cringe.
I have NO idea how they plan to satisfactorily resolve all the loose ends they have in 2.5 hours. Seriously, at stories end you have to resolve getting Jack back, getting the Black Pearl back, going back to Port Royale to get Davy Jones' heart back, dodging the Kraken along the way, the reunion of Jack and Barbossa (should be interesting), Will saving his dad, defeating Davy Jones, oh and that pesky matter of Will and Elizabeth facing the gallows.
Oh yeah, and the resolution of the "love triangle". Blech. WHY they "needed" to add the love triangle is beyond me. It really adds very little to the plot, as most love triangles really are. In the end it only makes Will seem like the most wishy washy character on the face of the planet because he doesn't even CONFRONT her about the kiss. I don't care if you are the most forgiving person on the face of the planet, if you love someone enough to risk eternal damnation as part of the crew on Davy Jones' ship then you'd be at least a tad perturbed to witness a lust filled kiss with someone OTHER than you.
Though I DO think Will is the most wishy washy character around anyway, so it's no surprise that that only enhanced it.
I also was slightly let down that the writers kind of made the characters a little stupid. Elizabeth and Will have both dealt directly with Jack Sparrow. It's not a new thing that he lies, exaggerates, omits and stretches the truth so that people will do what he wants. He's a pirate, a manipulater, and they KNOW this. Will stupidly doing something Jack suggests without holding any cards of his own makes him look stupid. Elizabeth being enraged that Jack lied to her was just as stupid.
Sad thing is both these characters are actually SMART people. Choosing to dumb them down to make Jack Sparrow look smarter, or more dispicable is lazy writing. The audience already knows Jack Sparrow IS smart, and he is a backstabber, compromising the integrity of a character to pound this over the audiences head is disappointing.
The complete lack of resolution to ANYTHING by the end of the movie was disappointing as well. Making a movie that's completely independent on another movie is frustrating to the broader audience. It's a cheap way to sell tickets for a movie. It's a trick they DON'T have to do, considering the movies are so well recieved, and everyone KNOWS this.
You CAN end a movie on a cliffhanger (i.e. Empire Strikes Back), but at least have SOME plot lines resolved. As this movie stands, NOTHING was resolved. Sure, they found the treasure, Davy Jones' heart. But neither Elizabeth, Jack or Will HAVE said heart. So they are still exactly where they started in that respect. Jack is MIA, the Pearl is destroyed, Davy Jones will still be after them, as is everyone back at Port Royale. Nothing at all was tied up, so the third movie CAN'T work without the second movie. It's impossible.
The beauty of Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest is that they ARE stand alone. There are nods to the first in the second, but not so much that someone who hasn't seen the first won't grasp the overall plot of the second. It becomes "easter eggs" for fans of the first, and makes them happy that the writers remembered them by adding those nods.
There is no WAY Dead Man's Chest and At World's End will work without each other. They can't because they BOTH have the SAME plot. As a miniseries it would work beautifully (think V here), but as movies? Not so much.
Overally, popcorn movie. Sit down to watch decent fight scenes, fun humour, and amazing CGI characters (Bill Nighy is damn near unrecognizable, only his voice gives him away). This is DEFINITELY not a movie to watch for an amazing plot, and well rounded characters.
ETA: Kiera Knightley has the biggest head ever. Seriously, I never noticed it until this movie, her face is almost as wide as the damn TV screen!