Pirates of the Carribbean

Master Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 4404 Location: Korriban

After a discussion over in Good Thing of the Day it would seem this needs its own thread. Discuss, argue, fight, squabble, agree with one another!
_________________
Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Knight Joined: 26 Jul 2010 Posts: 198

I thought the new movie was great Smile

_________________
"laugh it up fuzzball"- Han Solo

I'll be seeing the new one on Thursday. I will report back on Friday.
_________________
All things die, Anakin Skywalker, even stars burn out.

So this is how liberty dies....with thunderous applause.

Those without swords can still die upon them

The world is a mess and I just need to rule it.

Master Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 4404 Location: Korriban

I'll look forward to reading them. Since I don't have the patience to go in depth, I was simply put it this way.

Pirates 1: Awesome. Love it.
Pirates 2: A little weird in places, but good overall.
Pirates 3: It still scares me.
_________________
All things die, Anakin Skywalker, even stars burn out.

So this is how liberty dies....with thunderous applause.

Those without swords can still die upon them

The world is a mess and I just need to rule it.

Master Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 4404 Location: Korriban

Pirates of the Carribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl: Gotta admit, I was younger when I first saw this one but it introduced me to acting as a profession and brilliance in a character performance. First time I saw it I had a lot of different thoughts on it, but it was a fun film. Orlando Bloom is an actor I hate, but he didn't bother me so much in this movie. Keira Knightly almost always bugs me due to her facial expressions. She has an underbite, it makes her look stuck up. Other than that we had decent performances from them. Geoffry Rush was definitely a favorite of mine. He is so over the top and so ridiculous as a villain that I couldn't NOT love him as Hector Barbossa. On to Johnny Depp. This was such a unique and brilliant performance. It seemed he was eccentric, drunk, and psychotic all at the same time. Jack Sparrow in this first movie is my favorite of his appearances because this is where it is just right. Its unique, its brilliant, and its yet to be topped in this franchise.

Overall I thought the storyline worked despite a few plotholes that almost anyone could catch so I won't go over them. The cursed pirates looked great and the action was exceedingly choreographed but so much fun you couldn't resist cheering for the good guys aloud. You couldn't help but love the way the Black Pearl looked or root for Johnny Depp in his request to recover it.

All in all this was a fantastic movie, and has gone down as a modern classic. As a standalone story in this series it works as the best, the one by which all others are measured. Such a good movie.
_________________
Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

I should be seeing the fourth one on Wednesday. I'll let you guys know what I think.

Master Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 4404 Location: Korriban

Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Second parts of stories can sometimes fall short, but this opening of a second story in the Pirates series led me to believe that it had a lot of potential. The visual effects were phenomenal, they really stepped it up. The Kraken was gorgeous, the design of the Flying Dutchman was perfect, and the cursed crewman looked great as well.

Davy Jones is perhaps my favorite character in the franchise. I love the tragic ones, I really do. He wasn't always a bad person, he fell in love and she hurt him. As a result he became what he is when we see him: a brutal, merciless captain who cannot die due to the loss of his heart. Because he didn't do his job he has taken the form of the sea he sails on, as has his crew. His ship is covered in barnacles that are eventually revealed to be absorbed crew members who have been on the ship a long time. Jones is my favorite due to his look, his personality, and his tragic backstory. He is the ultimate villain because he's not actually evil, he's broken inside.

Jack Sparrow was still fairly decent in this one. His quirks were pushed further though, and it worried me. He began to get a tad over the top but it was entertaining. Every scene, whether it was the cannibals or in discussion with Davy Jones, was fun with him.

Will Turner was ok. In fact he and his bride-to-be were only ok from this point on in the franchise. His whole insane chase and instant trust of Jack Sparrow without question even though he's tricked him in the past kind of bothered me. And Keira Knightly proved to be less of a good person and more of a ruthless one with her betrayal of Jack.

Cutler Beckett was ok. Not amazing, not bad, just ok.

Overall I liked this one just as good as, if not better than, the first one. Davy Jones is my favorite character and my other favorite character had a last second appearance which made the movie even better for me!
_________________
Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Master Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 4404 Location: Korriban

Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End: And now we come to the finale of the Davy Jones story. I'll get the overall opinion out of the way and say that this one was bloated, convoluted, full of plot holes, too long, and needed to be two movies. Now onto details...

Lets start with the bad. Calypso as Tia Dalma was ok, but her becoming a 50 foot woman who yelled in a different language and then dissolving into crabs (making her rife for STD jokes) kinda didn't do it for me. In context of the film there were just so many ways they could have done it better. Another bad thing was the length. It was about half an hour to forty five minutes to long. It should have been split into two movies: one about rescuing Sparrow, one detailing the war between the East India Trading Company and the pirates. Another thing: did anyone else catch that the movie was an attack on big business corporations vs. private business owners regardless of the fact that it was produced by Disney which is thought to be the most corrupt, offensive, immoral, and indecent company out there? Just thought that was funny.

Onto the high points.

The beginning. I was hooked. Holy freaking crap, they hung a small child in the first two minutes. Right off this was put forth to be a more hardcore and dark film than the previous two, and the second one was indeed darker than the first already.

Davy Jones is still awesome. Whether he's pining for Calypso, hiding his part in her imprisonment, attempting to maintain control of the Dutchman, or crossing blades with Jack he is still amazing as a villain. His interaction with Beckett excites me as well, it was well done. The only thing that annoyed me was that his catchphrase was overused. His saying "Do you fear death" became annoying instead of intimidating. Other than that he was perfect. His death was beautiful, he fell into Calypso's waiting arms to spend eternity for them. I'm a sucker for romance ladies and gents, what can I say.

Jack was ok. He became more cartoony and less of a unique character. Some of his appearances were ok, most were annoying. That's all I'll say.

Barbossa was awesome. Every second he was on screen outside the releasing of Calypso scene was gold, that's all I'll say about him.

The entire Davy Jone's locker segment was interesting to me. I was disappointed in how they got there and how they got out, but other than that it kept my attention. Having said that I believe that the entirety of that segment (getting the chart, getting to the locker, getting back) should have been a movie in and of itself. Incorporate the death of the Kraken into it and it would have been perfect.

In the end this is a fairly poorly executed movie, but its the way it is and despite the quality we got some top-notch performances out of it. Below in the spoiler tags are the things from the insert in the DVD. They were meant to clear up questions about the movie because of how unclear and cobbled together it felt. Hopefully it helps some of you, it did me a little and I have come to an understanding with the movie after reading some of it, while others annoy me. Judge for yourself, I'm posting all of it.

Click here to see the hidden message (It might contain spoilers)

Hope that helps. Some of it did me, some of it just ticked me off at the laziness of the Disney in thinking that instead of making a competent film they'd just make up explanations.
_________________
Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Master Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 4404 Location: Korriban

Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides: Entire review will be in spoiler tags to avoid releasing spoilers for anyone...

Click here to see the hidden message (It might contain spoilers)

This was a step in the right direction for the franchise. I could stand to see another one after this, and I was terrified of this one before seeing it.

The best part of the movie was the first 30 minutes or so. It was fun, ridiculous, and felt like old-school Pirates. Jack is beyond less annoying in this film as compared to the last one.

Story: This time it was ok. It was lifted from the Tim Powers novel of the same name, and it went ok. The Spanish appearing in the end was worthless and the look of the fountain was disappointing but the use of the mermaids in their scene was great and I loved Ponce de Leon's ship despite no explanation as to how it got up in the cliff. I will point out that the magic words to open the fountains entrance should not be in Spanish as the fountain is older and it makes no sense that it would be opened by something that came into being after the fountain did. Same thing goes for the silver chalices with Spanish writing on them, why are they required for a ritual older than they are? Seriously Disney, didn't you learn to think things through after the last movie required a paper explaining it with the DVD...?

Barbossa: He is my favorite living character, and this film didn't change that. He worried me in the beginning when he showed up with an unexplained peg leg that didn't get acknowledged and wearing makeup and a wig but after all was said and done he's more powerful than ever and everything is explained. He's still awesome as hell.

Blackbeard: Ian McShane was perfect for this part. As a smaller villain in a standalone film he did great. He was evil through and through and you could never tell if he was serious about how much he cared about his daughter. His obsession stemming from fear of death by Barbossa was cool, and his odd use of voodoo intrigued me. I loved his ships in bottles collection as well as his sword of magic and his ship. Just a fun, well done character that won't come back again. Good for a single installment.

Spaniards: Annoying. Their appearance in the end honestly ruined that scene for me. It was stupid.

Penelope Cruz: We get it, you're Latin and feisty. What is your purpose other than that? Oh wait, you don't have one? Gotcha

Zombies: These weren't really zombies, they were just creepy/hard to kill people. They are there to replace the fish people from the last two as malformed crewmen and serve no other purpose. I'd have rather done without them or had them have more of a purpose or better backstory. Maybe be more like zombies, something more at least.

Missionary/Mermaid: Possibly the most interesting side story. The awesome mermaid sequence led to this and I honestly like both characters. I think the missionary plugged his viewpoint rather well and the mermaid came off as lovable as well as deadly. She was the only true sympathetic character actually. Some wonder what happened when she drug him to the depths, but I don't care because I'm an optimist so I think they lived happily ever after.

There you have it people, I've obsessively typed out a huge review. Enjoy

I prefer this one having its standalone status, it allows it to be fun instead of heavy like the last two

_________________
Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Will be seeing it, hopefully, at the weekend, so I hope you'll forgive me if I don't read your last post at another date Wink

On the whole, I agree with you about the films, though on a few points I disagree. I never stopped liking Jack as a character. I remember one scene in particular - in Dead Man's Chest - where there's a pause in the three-way fight (so many crossing sword jokes crossed my mind that I was grinning like an idiot for days after!), and he looks at the other two as if to say 'what am I doing here?'.

As to the third, I thought it was okay. Not as good as the first, but for some strange reason I understand convoluted stories. They speak to me. But, yeah, the way some of the characters behaved just had me crying, 'but you could have done this instead!'

as to Calypso, as I've said, the only thing that bothered me was her becoming an Amazon woman. I - er - am not attracted to taller women... Rolling Eyes

_________________
I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it. These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

I loved the first two (especially Dead Man's Chest), but the third one left me so disappointed that I haven't watched the movies in a couple years. Recently I re-watched them and I was reminded of the awesomness of the first two. Jack Sparrow (classic performance by my favourite actor), James Norrington (so wasted in At World's End) and Davy Jones (totally agree, Caedus, about him being a great tragic figure). I haven't seen the new one yet. I'm cautiously optimistic.

At World's End had a few great moments but it was a trainwreck on the whole. The whole air of freedom was gone. For a movie that is practically about freedom, it had none of it. It was bogged down completely with subplots. It didn't even feel like a pirate movie. The whole thing was so over the top. The first movie had skeletons, the second had Davy Jones and his crew, but had a mostly realistic setting. Not so in this movie. I didn't believe any of it. The humour that was so great in the first two was ridiculous in this one- a pale imitation of what it once was. The whole idea of being able to bring characters back from the dead was absurd. It took away the consequences of character's deaths. And it was so bloody easy to get to the World's End! Seriously- how many people dies along the way? One or two. Why don't they just go and get everyone everytime someone dies. *headdesk*
_________________

Where sky and water meet,
Where the waves grow sweet,
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek,
There is the utter east.

Master Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 4404 Location: Korriban

Reep I think you die and stay that way, but Jack was specifically taken to Davy Jone's locker so there was a chance. And it took a goddess to revive Barbossa, and she only did i to get released from her human bonds. I don't think that you can just revive anyone, they couldn't save Elizabeth's father.

Having said that I think it was all ridiculous anyway. I think Jack going to and returning from the Locker could have been awesome but it needed work.
_________________
Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Okay. I guess that makes sense. It was still a remarkably easy trip. Weird, but easy.

One more thing I forgot to mention was the randomness of At World's End. There's Calypso coming out of nowhere of course and the random killing of two major characters. First there was the Kraken. The Kraken is the most powerful force at sea and it is commanded by Davy Jones so what would possess Beckett, who controls Jones, to have it destroyed? Then there was Norrington. A major character in the last two movies who was given a couple brief scenes and then killed just when he'd decided to change sides. It's like the film-makers just decided there wasn't enough room for these characters in this already-convoluted story so they just killed them. Wha..?
_________________

Where sky and water meet,
Where the waves grow sweet,
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek,
There is the utter east.

With the Kraken, I think Beckett had Jones kill it after Jones disobeyed him. He had to find a good way to punish him without stabbing the heart.

Page 1 of 3		All times are GMT - 5 Hours Goto page 1, 2, 3 Next