Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Bill Nighy, and Chow-Yun Fat
Directed by Gore Verbinski
At World's End picks up soon where Dead Man's Chest left off, continuing many of the same storylines revolving around pirates Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), and Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and their attempts to stave off the onslaughts of both the "evil" British Navy and man-fish hybrid Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). Honestly, I can't even begin to detail what's actually happening in this flick. Characters backstab others nearly every ten minutes, allegiances change at the drop of a hat, and no action occurs until the film's final forty minutes battle (after a never-ending talky two hours prior to that) during which it's near impossible to tell what's going on because every single person and every single ship looks exactly the same -- muddied and dank-looking.
Much moreso than in the past movies, mysticism and magic play a big role and it's not for the better. By the end, the screenwriters abandoned any sense of cohesive story. I'd even go so far as to say they threw up the middle finger to the viewers by abandoning all logic and essentially saying "screw you" to loyal fans. In an attempt to feel very epic in scope and story, they just made a very uninteresting and unappealing conclusion to what was expected to be the final chapter of a trilogy. Here's opening the fourth flick can revive a bit of adventure, excitement, and humor of the second flick.
The RyMickey Rating: D
I remember seeing the first film with my dad and had an absolute blast. Fuck. I was like 13...but 80 percent of the series charm stems from this movie because who honestly thought it would be as good & entertaining as it was and introduce an iconic character? This movie felt fresh and it had the right tone. On a critical standpoint it could of cut 10 minutes, I agree
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing the second film with my parents and it was a lot like seeing Indiana Jones 4. There were things I loved, liked, shook my head at, cursed at, cheered at, hated, etc. I just didn't know what to really think. DMC has its moments but I hated the slide into mythical shit and pirate mythology but doing it in over the top manners. It was just ridiculous. Excuse for CGI. All that Davy Jones shit looked great on a technical level but it was too much. The first was grounded in reality for the most part with a nice blend of fantasy elements. Skeleton pirates? Cool! Jack's character takes a massive hit in this because they chose to "explain and explore" his past. No writers, I want to have my own interpretations. It was rad that he had that compass and it didn't point north with no explanation. Mystery enhances all characters. That was his charm in a lot of ways but they go and give it a stupid purpose as a plot device. The mystery of Bootstrap Bill was cool too and then he's this pathetic barnacle guy. Weak!
I remember seeing the third film and at some point I found myself staring at the floor for long periods of time.
I have insanely little interest in this 4th one and the reviews so far aren't helping. Only confirming my original thoughts...all about da $$$ Also I'm just bored with Jack Sparrow. They killed so much of his original appeal and delight. It's sad more then anything but it feels forced and stale now.
/endepicpost
DMC did slide into mysticism, but it wasn't as egregious to me as in AWE. That whole scene where the boat tips over is what did me in. Once that happened, I was checked out of the entire movie. I just plain didn't get it. I can live with ghosts and fish-men and even the concept of the search for Davy Jones's heart, but when Jack Sparrow flipped the boat over, the film just was not going to be able to redeem itself.
ReplyDeleteCouple that with the Salvador Dali-esque crazy (or perhaps "crazier") Jack sequences in which he's talking to multiples of himself and walking through the desert alone which, while at least visually interesting (darn close to the only moments in this movie that weren't bathed in mud-like browns and grays) and mildly amusing, went on for much too long with not enough payoff and AWE is just dismal.
I'm so out of the loop that I honestly don't even think I've seen a trailer for the 4th installment and it's not even really on my radar, but I figured I might as well at least watch the first three. If it's any consolation, the 4th one is at least the shortest of the bunch clocking in at 137 minutes...which is still WAY too long.
So everybody in the movie said number 3 would be the last I thought, but it didn’t take long for Disney to see this is a gold mine, and Johnny Depp still wants in on the cash. I saw Geoffrey Rush on Craig Ferguson and he is nothing like his character Barbossa. He’s shy and soft spoken. I (and everyone else) has the opportunity to watch a lot of movies right now (and I do) because I got a 3 month free Blockbuster membership with my new DISH Network employee account. Honestly I should slow down because I’m not getting anything else done these days, like mowing the grass. Pretty soon my toddler won’t be able to be seen in it any more.
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