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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Everybody knows by now to stay after the credits to see the last scene, yes?
I was totally unspoiled, and I liked it very much. Well, if "liked it" means "it left me depressed and melancholy for hours afterwards, though I found it gripping while it was actually onscreen."
Things that I liked:
--the wedding scene. Probably the best wedding in the history of film, and certainly the most appropriate to the characters. Since it also happened to be the only decent swordfighting scene, and I went to see the second movie in the theaters three times just for the swordfighting, I was guaranteed to love it.
--that absolutely surreal multiple Jacks scene when he is trapped in Davy Jones' Locker. Wow. That may be the most interesting depiction of hell I've ever seen--and very appropriate, I thought, since one version of hell (the one I've always believed most realistic) is that you're trapped with only yourself for eternity. Jack just took that in a somewhat different direction, as one might expect he would. And I love that he doesn't completely escape, since he still has little Jacks following him around.
--the way the theme of piratical corruption that was introduced in the last movie gets carried over into all the characters. Everyone's doublecrossing everyone, in this plot, some with good intentions (Will, possibly Jack), some with bad intentions (Beckett), some with mixed intentions (Norrington)--but nobody's hands end up clean. And that's fitting in a film that opens with the hanging of a child! Good grief, this film was dark.
--the way the film showed that fidelity to institutions over persons can destroy you--at least, that's how I'm choosing to read the Norrington plot. I think it's significant that he is killed by Bootstrap Bill because Bill is overcome by his literal connection to the ship, just as Norrington overcomes his own commitment to his duty to the Royal Navy to choose his loyalty/love for Elizabeth, instead. I am still not happy that he died--even if he was doing the noble thing at the time--and I really wish he had been granted a larger role in the plot--but I can see, thematically, why he died the way he did.
--I actually liked the parallels between the Jack/Elizabeth and Davy Jones/Tia Dalma stories. They went a long way toward humanizing Davy Jones, for me, and it was an interesting twist making Tia Dalma Calypso.
--I thought the whole council of pirates or whatever it was called was fairly lame, BUT I loved how the 9 "pieces of 8" were actually 9 random things people had in their pockets. Hee!
--Keith Richards was great
--The way that Barbossa got the ship but Jack got the map cracked me up, and seemed like a fitting conclusion.
--They really did get their money's worth with the special effects. My personal favorites were the maelstrom and the scene where they sailed into that icy cavern.
Things I'm conflicted about:
--Ok, I realize Norrington is supposed to be a minor character, so I should be happy they gave him as much screen time as he got, but I don't care. I wanted more Norrington; I especially wanted to see him more conflicted about the decision he made to side with Beckett. And I didn't want him to die.
--Similarly, though I can see why Governor Swann's death served the plot, and actually showed him to be the last honorable man among all the characters, I still was very sad they had killed him off.
--Speaking of deaths: I wanted Beckett's death to be more personal, and more gruesome. I think I actually wanted Davy Jones to be able to kill him, somehow, possible in the graphic way he killed his second-in-command (that I didn't really watch since I had my hands over my eyes at that point).
--The resolution of the Jack/Elizabeth plot really surprised me. Well, I kind of saw it telegraphed, so it wasn't so much the plot twist that surprised me as the fact that they actually went there. (I guess they're not planning future sequels?) I actually love the bittersweetness of it, and the fact that it allowed Jack to demonstrate he's capable of self-sacrifice--it's just the coda at the end of the film I really didn't like.
Things I disliked:
--So wait--Elizabeth was named King of the Pirates, yet at the end of the film she's become, what? A landlocked mother whose life is all about waiting for Will? I found that final scene more disturbing than hopeful, honestly--unless she's on Shipwreck Island or someplace like that actually ruling as King of the Pirates, and raising her son that way. But I found that coda unsettlingly domestic for Elizabeth Turner.
--I feel like for the little bit of screentime he got, Chow Yun-Fat was wasted in this movie.
I was totally unspoiled, and I liked it very much. Well, if "liked it" means "it left me depressed and melancholy for hours afterwards, though I found it gripping while it was actually onscreen."
Things that I liked:
--the wedding scene. Probably the best wedding in the history of film, and certainly the most appropriate to the characters. Since it also happened to be the only decent swordfighting scene, and I went to see the second movie in the theaters three times just for the swordfighting, I was guaranteed to love it.
--that absolutely surreal multiple Jacks scene when he is trapped in Davy Jones' Locker. Wow. That may be the most interesting depiction of hell I've ever seen--and very appropriate, I thought, since one version of hell (the one I've always believed most realistic) is that you're trapped with only yourself for eternity. Jack just took that in a somewhat different direction, as one might expect he would. And I love that he doesn't completely escape, since he still has little Jacks following him around.
--the way the theme of piratical corruption that was introduced in the last movie gets carried over into all the characters. Everyone's doublecrossing everyone, in this plot, some with good intentions (Will, possibly Jack), some with bad intentions (Beckett), some with mixed intentions (Norrington)--but nobody's hands end up clean. And that's fitting in a film that opens with the hanging of a child! Good grief, this film was dark.
--the way the film showed that fidelity to institutions over persons can destroy you--at least, that's how I'm choosing to read the Norrington plot. I think it's significant that he is killed by Bootstrap Bill because Bill is overcome by his literal connection to the ship, just as Norrington overcomes his own commitment to his duty to the Royal Navy to choose his loyalty/love for Elizabeth, instead. I am still not happy that he died--even if he was doing the noble thing at the time--and I really wish he had been granted a larger role in the plot--but I can see, thematically, why he died the way he did.
--I actually liked the parallels between the Jack/Elizabeth and Davy Jones/Tia Dalma stories. They went a long way toward humanizing Davy Jones, for me, and it was an interesting twist making Tia Dalma Calypso.
--I thought the whole council of pirates or whatever it was called was fairly lame, BUT I loved how the 9 "pieces of 8" were actually 9 random things people had in their pockets. Hee!
--Keith Richards was great
--The way that Barbossa got the ship but Jack got the map cracked me up, and seemed like a fitting conclusion.
--They really did get their money's worth with the special effects. My personal favorites were the maelstrom and the scene where they sailed into that icy cavern.
Things I'm conflicted about:
--Ok, I realize Norrington is supposed to be a minor character, so I should be happy they gave him as much screen time as he got, but I don't care. I wanted more Norrington; I especially wanted to see him more conflicted about the decision he made to side with Beckett. And I didn't want him to die.
--Similarly, though I can see why Governor Swann's death served the plot, and actually showed him to be the last honorable man among all the characters, I still was very sad they had killed him off.
--Speaking of deaths: I wanted Beckett's death to be more personal, and more gruesome. I think I actually wanted Davy Jones to be able to kill him, somehow, possible in the graphic way he killed his second-in-command (that I didn't really watch since I had my hands over my eyes at that point).
--The resolution of the Jack/Elizabeth plot really surprised me. Well, I kind of saw it telegraphed, so it wasn't so much the plot twist that surprised me as the fact that they actually went there. (I guess they're not planning future sequels?) I actually love the bittersweetness of it, and the fact that it allowed Jack to demonstrate he's capable of self-sacrifice--it's just the coda at the end of the film I really didn't like.
Things I disliked:
--So wait--Elizabeth was named King of the Pirates, yet at the end of the film she's become, what? A landlocked mother whose life is all about waiting for Will? I found that final scene more disturbing than hopeful, honestly--unless she's on Shipwreck Island or someplace like that actually ruling as King of the Pirates, and raising her son that way. But I found that coda unsettlingly domestic for Elizabeth Turner.
--I feel like for the little bit of screentime he got, Chow Yun-Fat was wasted in this movie.
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Loved all the Jacks! I was sitting next to some younger girls in the theatre, and at the end of that scene, one of them said "I want to be on *that* boat!" :D
The end scene, now that you mention it, does seem a little weird for Elizabeth, but I'm still counting on more sequels! Hopefully she got in some more pirating before settling, or maybe they're only back on the island to meet Will again.
I do have one question for you about the ending (since you're better at analysis than me :P ) - at one community, they were saying that since Elizabeth waited and was faithful to Will, his curse is done (proven by the green flash) and they can be together 4eva, etc. But I thought that the Dutchman needed a captain, no matter what, so how would that work? Or were they just crazy?
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According to the writers of the film, apparently there *used* to be dialogue in the film that spelled out that if Elizabeth was faithful for 10 years, Will would be freed (though I don't know who would have to take over as captain). There is some discussion of that and links to the writers' comments here (http://rawles.livejournal.com/251789.html).
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The wedding scene was definitely FTW and there should have been more swordfighting overall.
I TOTALLY wanted more Norrington. I feel like the second and third movies departed severely from the first. In the first Norrington was a key player and I feel like he got shelved. *pouts*
Elizabeth was named King of the Pirates, yet at the end of the film she's become, what? A landlocked mother whose life is all about waiting for Will?
Yeah, see, one of the reasons I DON'T go deep on Pirates is the fact that Elizabeth and the double standard on her character drives me batshit insane. I see it as a case of the creators wanting to have it both ways--wanting her to be a brave new-age 'feminist' hero as well as a traditional heroine. And they end up pulling off neither well. She grates and so I ignore her.
Chow Yun-Fat was COMPLETELY wasted and the pirates council was daft--though yes, the nine-pieces-of-stuff-in-our-pockets was a cute twist.
Meh. Pirates is not what I would have it be, but it was spectacular on the big screen so I still enjoyed it.
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I definitely agree with you about the double standard for this character. I don't hate Elizabeth as much as you (I remember us talking about this when the second movie came out), but I definitely agree that they cheat a lot with her character.
And I also agree that Norrington basically got shafted, though it's not surprising considering how huge the cast was, this time around.
I *am* glad to have seen it on the big screen, though--it was definitely gorgeous.
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Same! Perhaps your influence made me more tolerant of her this time around. I enjoyed her in boyish mode, though being made King of the Pirates stretched my credulity somewhat. I know some of my dislike comes down to Keira too. At least her ribs weren't showing quite so badly this time round...
it was definitely gorgeous
Mmm, yeah I sat there dreaming of vidding it... though I have zero real motivation to do so because I couldn't be bothered engaging with it that much. But it was purty! ;-)
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