POTC III....spoiler free until the cut...
Okay, so hubby and I finally got to see POTC today. For about 95% of the film I would say I was in total awe and squee. The visuals were AMAZING...good gravy, all the scenes on the ships, the effects, Davey Jones' locker and all...incredible. Not to mention the individual frames of our heros/anti-heroes marching across sand bars and all, decked out in finest pirate regalia...it all gave me chills. Keira rocked hard in this. I always have a bit of a love/hate thing with her but there's no faulting her spirit and the way she attacked this role. Brava for Pirate Girls everywhere.
The movie was packed to the gills with every character we know and love, and there were lots of connections all the way back to the first movie which was great. Nice when they don't forget where they've come from, you know? I hate sequels that seem as if the writers never read the first installment's script! Definitely not the case here; everything comes full circle.
Like the second movie, and hell, the first, there is a LOT to absorb. The plot spins and spins and spins and honestly you need a flow chart to figure out who exactly did what to whom and how that affected the others...but as with the others you can just float along on the waters and just let it carry you away on the joyride of it all.
This was more angsty and more passionate than the last film, however, and I think every character got to have a richer plotline. Johnny was in top form again--I thought he'd been a bit slighted last time out, but in this film he is golden.
And of course my beautiful boy Orlando. There is just no one more gorgeous or graceful than him...he's just glowing up there and he was so so so SO made to be a pirate. *fans self* He's draped so lovingly in poofy shirts and big belts and buckles and sexy boots and he's so ridiculously tan and flowing-haired and dark-eyed and *gurgles*
_ded_
He's also wonderfully dashing and brave and it's fun to see how his character has matured since the first film. So much more command and a tougher, puffed-out chest approach to things. Rowrr. But sometimes it's not so fun, as the world has changed him and hardened him and made him almost as morally ambiguous as the rest.
Far be it for me to dissuade you from seeing this fine film. It's extraordinary, the visuals are stunning and breathtaking, and all the actors kick big huge awesome ass. That said, I must confess that the ending did upset me a bit. And the very end, the little kicker after the credits, I think actually enraged me. Heh. It's possible I'm just in the wrong mood, and maybe I'll see things better later on, but I felt that for the four year investment we've put in as viewers...well. Not exactly what I was hoping for. I'm interested to hear what others have thought!
****Seriously, now, BIG SPOILERS ahead.*****
So yeah, after Matrix, and Serenity, and now this, I'm starting to feel like ripping your fans' hearts out is the new black, as fashionistas would say. At least with Matrix, I could buy an overriding theme that called for the sort of ending it had and it felt legitimate. This one, though, this one pissed me off and not largely for the reason you might expect.
Firstly, not exactly thrilled at Elizabeth's father and Norrington getting killed off. Norrington did get his nice noble end and the kiss was lovely, but really...I wasn't convinced he couldn't have just followed Lizzy and cut the rope after them. How much time did he really buy them? I dunno. I guess there wasn't room for all the Lizzy lovers on the other ship...heh.
But that aside, the Will/Liz ending? Devastated me on Will's side and angered me no end on Lizzie's side. Will is our hero, and while obviously he's no longer the innocent boy we started out with, for him to meet with such an end does not sit well with me as a hero's end of voyage. Sure he looks dead sexy with the scar and Dead Captain pirate scarf (*wibble*), but he finally gets the girl of his dreams and he only gets to see her maybe four or five times before she dies? If that? Oh joy!
And Lizzie, the Pirate King. Now she gets to be a single mother who runs to the shore every ten years to see her beloved for one freakin' day. Which means she only gets to shag once every ten years. Oh wait, she brought their child, so forget the shagging part. *begins to see fiery red* Never mind that he'll always look the same and she'll be ten years older each time. I mean, what the hell? Or does he age, too? I don't even know.
Unless they're planning subsequent films, I can not by any stretch of imagination see how this was supposed to be a satisfying ending. Especially as this film is marketed to children and teens (which I still think it's WAY too dark for small children and no, the PG-13 rating doesn't keep the parents from bringing them anyway.)
I guess we're just supposed to think that it's better that she gets to see him a few times instead of him dying. And that Jack actually did something noble for once and gave up eternal life for Will. And that the Captain of the ship has always been a heartsick creature. Although I thought Davey Jones cut out his heart himself, not that it was a requirement, so I'm a bit dodgy on that part anyway. *sigh*
I kept waiting for some loophole, some sort of twist that would make it all right. But no, we were just supposed to have our hearts swell at the end that Liz was good and true and showed up at the appointed spot ten years later, and ohhh, look, they have a child!!! Now she's a true woman, heck with that pirate-y stuff!
I dunno, maybe I'm just being too sensitive. I know the first time I saw Gladiator I got enraged, because I was sick of every single movie starting with a woman being dead and the guy using that as an excuse to kill lots of people. Those are the two roles for women--whore, and dead wife.
It just kills me that I honestly was thinking in the middle of the movie that Pirates was so progressive, that there were women in positions of power, kicking ass all over the place and earning respect. And then it's like the only way you could get away with that was for her to take her proper woman's place at the end. Grrr. It's kind of like the huge percentage of films with gay characters end up with at least one person dying. You can be as progressive as you want as long as there are consequences, apparently.
So, anyway, those are my thoughts. I'm going to poke around now and see if there are more reviews. I know at least one or two people felt like I did.
As I said all the way above, I DID think it was a fantastic movie and I was riveted from beginning to end. I don't want to take away from it all the amazing things that it WAS. I just know that the end was just as sharp as that stab of Norrington's blade. Gah.
So what did you all think?
ETA: Good grief, you can tell how hyped up I am. I forgot to mention the leg nuzzling. Oh. My. God. The sliding off of the boot and the leg nuzzling and OH MY GODfljdsagnflagnlsgj;agnggnngnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!
*gjdnfansg;g;ghg;g&!@@$#@$!!*
So yeah. Forgot to mention that. *smolders*
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