I really had no intention of writing a review for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. It’s been a week since I saw it in the theatre and it didn’t compel me in any fashion to rush home and write about it. Still, a week later I’ve decided to write down some quick thoughts for the benefit of ‘future me’----the ‘me’ in eight months, who sees the DVD on sale for $5.99 on Netflix and can’t decide if he wants to complete his collection or not. So, this isn’t really a formal review w/ intelligent discourse (because my other reviews are FULL of that) or plot synopses (it’s barely been a week and I honestly can’t remember half of it)…just whatever thoughts I have while typing.
The creators of the POTC franchise must think the audience REALLY loves these characters…not the main ones, mind you. I personally do really enjoy Captain Jack Sparrow (there may be too many of him in this film, though….yeah, I typed that right) and I can understand if fans of the film have affection towards Orlando Bloom’s Will Turner, Kiera Knightley’s Elizabeth Swann, or Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Barbosa, but the filmmakers don’t stop there. Is the fandom so large for Fat-pirate-with-bad-teeth and Wooden-eye-pirate that, not only are they back in both sequels, but their roles grow with each movie? I guess this sequel wouldn’t be able to capture the magic of the original movie if it didn’t bring back the two dim-witted, bickering navy soldiers who guarded the ship that Jack purloined in the original. This is using the charms of the original as a crutch instead of carving out a new identity for the sequels. The best sequels know that they have to tweak the dynamic a bit (Aliens is the best example I can think of this, The Mummy Returns the worse.)
Not only are all these characters back, but they all have vague agendas and, while I don’t want to say there needs to be more exposition in this film-God no!, they certainly needed to telegraph some character’s intentions a bit more. This will probably improve with a second viewing of the film---it is a complex plot for what many go in expecting to be a brainless summer blockbuster. I have no objections to an action movie that requires me to think (I’m psyched for the third Bourne movie), but at two-hours and forty-eight minutes, this one just got tiresome.
Pirates brought to light a problem I have with fantasy/magic movies---they don’t need to follow any specific logic. The first film established a set of rules w/ the Aztec treasure and stuck to them and it made for some cool twists in the third act, whereas this film had a series of things that annoyed me: most of them involving magical squid pirate Davy Jones. I guess this is why I’m a sci-fi guy, but when magic items or a character w/ magic powers is established to have certain characteristics, it annoys me when they play loose with the rules or explain an arbitrary loophole (usually another type of magic item) that exists simply to advance the plot. I fully realize that these types of ‘deus ex machina’ exist in science fiction (technobabble usually), but the script usually has to work harder to justify it—instead of ‘ooooh, it’s maaaagic.’
The film is not without its bright spots, though. The effects, as expected, are top-notch and it certainly delivers on spectacle. The actors all commit to their characters and deliver better performances than any ghost/squid/stereotype pirate movie series ever (I’m assuming-I haven’t seen a ton of that genre.) Also, the third film succeeds in actually providing an ending to the series---and it’s actually a good one. I won’t give anything away, but it serves as a sea fable as enchanting as the ones that inspired the series.
1/3 dreadful, 1/3 not-good, and 1/3 not-bad—Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End provides a satisfying conclusion to the series…after two hours of nonsense and confusion. Future Jacob, I know you’re too compulsive of a DVD collector to leave out the third part of a trilogy---just make sure you pay no more than $5.99 for it.
5/10
1 comment:
I can't tell you how many invites I've had to go see this film. I've said "no" to all of them. I didn't even see the second film and it was because I was not impressed by the first film. That film was too long if you ask me and all I read and hear from folks is that its just more of the same. Sure, Johnny Depp is great as Captain Jack, but it wasn't enough to "hook" me on this franchise. Your review only secures my belief that I've made the right choice.
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