On Stranger Tides
Saw the new Pirates movie today. What follows contains spoilers, obviously.
It was different, having only three cast members from the previous movie. It took a bit of time for them to be introduced, too. The Black Pearl was not in use, and most of the movie took place on land.
Not that that's all /bad/ stuff. I liked seeing London, and that bit of Spain. Blackbeard was a really interesting character, who could be both gentle and cruel. He had a neat ship and a neat sword. Also, he apparently knows how to imprison ships and bottles and turn people into zombies, though neither was really expounded upon.
But he was an interesting guy, and Angelica held her own as character and not just love interest. There were a few other new characters that gave it a good run too.
Oh, but it was so weird when Barbossa turned up like that, working for the king and missing a leg. Of course, I knew he'd have an ulterior motive, since there's no way he'd work for anyone out of notions of "patriotic duty". Sure enough, he's not interested in the king's orders, or even really in finding the fountain of youth anymore. He just wants revenge on Blackbeard, for his ship. (Which means the crew of that ship, including Pintel and Ragetti, were all killed. Wonder how the fandom will take that?)
I liked the part with the mermaids too; they were both truly attractive and genuinely scary. I don't think the "mermaids as monsters" take has been done since Disney had its way with the creatures. (It was also quite impressive how the topless mermaids never /quite/ showed anything R rated).
I wish we had seen a bit more of the Spanish guys, but what the did at the end was really shocking. Turns out they didn't want the fountain for themselves - they just wanted to destroy it.
But in the end, Jack and Gibbs got away, with the Pearl and a fleet besides; the girl was saved; the evil Blackbeard killed. Even Barbossa had his reward, which was nice. He's not /really/ a villain here.
So, yes, all in all, it was decidely a different flavour from the other movies, but was a good movie still. Compared with AWE, it was a bit tighter in focus, so I could usually figure who was on who's side...
The parts where Jack and Barbossa interact were, of course, the best parts.
Ah, watching a movie in theaters is always exciting no matter what it is. For a little while you forget everything else and are just caught up in the course of events. I come away feeling like writing stories of my own.
It was different, having only three cast members from the previous movie. It took a bit of time for them to be introduced, too. The Black Pearl was not in use, and most of the movie took place on land.
Not that that's all /bad/ stuff. I liked seeing London, and that bit of Spain. Blackbeard was a really interesting character, who could be both gentle and cruel. He had a neat ship and a neat sword. Also, he apparently knows how to imprison ships and bottles and turn people into zombies, though neither was really expounded upon.
But he was an interesting guy, and Angelica held her own as character and not just love interest. There were a few other new characters that gave it a good run too.
Oh, but it was so weird when Barbossa turned up like that, working for the king and missing a leg. Of course, I knew he'd have an ulterior motive, since there's no way he'd work for anyone out of notions of "patriotic duty". Sure enough, he's not interested in the king's orders, or even really in finding the fountain of youth anymore. He just wants revenge on Blackbeard, for his ship. (Which means the crew of that ship, including Pintel and Ragetti, were all killed. Wonder how the fandom will take that?)
I liked the part with the mermaids too; they were both truly attractive and genuinely scary. I don't think the "mermaids as monsters" take has been done since Disney had its way with the creatures. (It was also quite impressive how the topless mermaids never /quite/ showed anything R rated).
I wish we had seen a bit more of the Spanish guys, but what the did at the end was really shocking. Turns out they didn't want the fountain for themselves - they just wanted to destroy it.
But in the end, Jack and Gibbs got away, with the Pearl and a fleet besides; the girl was saved; the evil Blackbeard killed. Even Barbossa had his reward, which was nice. He's not /really/ a villain here.
So, yes, all in all, it was decidely a different flavour from the other movies, but was a good movie still. Compared with AWE, it was a bit tighter in focus, so I could usually figure who was on who's side...
The parts where Jack and Barbossa interact were, of course, the best parts.
Ah, watching a movie in theaters is always exciting no matter what it is. For a little while you forget everything else and are just caught up in the course of events. I come away feeling like writing stories of my own.