Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

I've seen At World's End a couple of times now, and I think the best way to go about talking about it is just to do a simple list of likes and dislikes. It feels pretty review-proof; meaning that no matter what I say, you've probably already made up your mind whether or not you're seeing it. But a list might start some interesting discussion, so if you've seen it already, read on...

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW

What I didn't care for so much (in no particular order)

  • Some of the switching alliances and motivations were hard to keep track of, but I might have had less problems if I'd watched Dead Man's Chest recently.
  • I'm not exactly sure why Will's heart had to be cut out to replace Davy Jones'. Didn't Davy Jones cut his out specifically because his love for Calypso and betrayal by her hurt too much? What does that have to do with captaining the Flying Dutchman?
  • I get that Lord Beckett is a businessman and not necessarily a competent military commander, but the defeat of the Endeavor played out much too much like "We're running long; we'd better wrap this up quickly."
  • As much screen time as Norrington got in Dead Man's Chest, I would've liked to have seen him get more in this movie. And I'm not sure that I'm convinced about his final change of heart, but I need to see Dead Man's Chest again before I claim that it was out of character.
  • The sea turtles joke isn't funny anymore.
  • I'd rather have seen Elizabeth continue her pirate career at the end of the movie, but maybe that's just me.
What I Liked (in no particular order)

  • An appropriate alternate title might have been Pirates of the Caribbean: Keira's Legs.
  • Geoffrey Rush as Barbosa. I was thrilled to see him at the end of Dead Man's Chest and he damn near stole this movie.
  • Except, of course, that that's impossible to do when Johnny Depp is playing Captain Jack Sparrow in it.
  • But still, Barbosa's accent alone is everything a pirate is supposed to be.
  • This trilogy has totally killed any lingering interest in writing a pirate novel any time soon. Why would I when the perfect pirate story has now been told?
  • Chow Yun Fat. He makes everything better just by being in it.
  • Elizabeth's becoming the Pirate King made me even more attracted to her. Didn't think that was possible.
  • And then her shouting orders and motivating men in the sea battle? Even hotter.
  • Keith Richards' cameo was a gazillion times more awesome than I'd dreamed it would be. I think I had pretty low expectations though.
  • I didn't think I'd like Will Turner as the new Davy Jones, but I really really do. The scene where the Flying Dutchman surfaces to save the day with Turner at the helm was freaking awesome. And how cool was that bandana? He's finally embraced his inner pirate. I've been growing to like him more and more as the trilogy progressed and that capped it off right there.
  • Even since Dead Man's Chest I've had a hard time getting a grasp on who Tia Dalma is and now I understand why. I totally get her now. Davy Jones was a fool to cross her, but an even bigger fool for falling in love with her in the first place.
  • And I like that about him, too.
  • Davy's change of expression when he realized that his heart had been brought back on board. From sadness to rage in two seconds and wonderfully acted by Bill Nighy, mostly just with his eyes.
  • My heart's being broken by Elizabeth's helpless grief at seeing her father amongst the dead and not being able to save him.
  • Jack the Monkey. I swear he's been taking acting lessons.
  • The Song's being sung at the beginning.
  • Ragetti's releasing Calypso from her human form.
  • The reason Ragetti's been chasing that wooden eye around for three movies.
  • Elizabeth and Will's wedding.
  • Jack and Barbosa's battles of the spyglasses.
  • "It must be a little bitty thing somewhere behind the Pearl."
  • "Shoot him, cut out his tongue, then shoot his tongue!"
  • "Wonder what would happen if we were to drop a cannon ball on them."
  • "The Nine Pieces of Whatever We Happen to Have in Our Pockets at the Time."
  • "Larry."
  • "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?"
  • "Keep telling yourself that, darling."

3 comments:

West said...

I felt similarly about the movie.

Anonymous said...

I'm not exactly sure why Will's heart had to be cut out to replace Davy Jones'. Didn't Davy Jones cut his out specifically because his love for Calypso and betrayal by her hurt too much? What does that have to do with captaining the Flying Dutchman?


Because it came with the curse. Because Elizabeth faithfully waited for Will, the curse was eventually broken after 10 years.


I'd rather have seen Elizabeth continue her pirate career at the end of the movie, but maybe that's just me.

What makes you believe that Elizabeth didn’t continue her pirate career? Are you assuming that because she is a female, she assummed the traditional role of mother and wife . . . ONLY? From what I have learned, Elizabeth DID continue her role as Pirate King.

Michael May said...

Her being a woman has nothing to do with it. If it were Will instead of her who got left there and then we saw him ten years later in the same spot with his son, I'd make the same assumption. It's all about what we were shown in the movie vs. what we're asked to fill in ourselves.

I've read the interview (and probably have the link around here somewhere) about how you're supposed to be able to tell that the curse was lifted from what's in the movie, but I don't see it. I think you can imagine that it was (and believe that it would've been clearer had certain parts of the movie not been cut), just like you can imagine that Elizabeth continued her pirate career, but that's asking the audience to fill in blanks.

Which if absolutely fair from a storytelling standpoint. All I was trying to say is that I wished that they had shown Elizabeth continuing as a pirate, rather than my imagining it or learning about it outside the movie from an interview.

At World's End's big flaw is that it tried to cram too much into one movie and ended up cutting out some stuff that I would've liked to have seen. I'd rather have sat through another hour and gotten more of the details.

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