Huh?

[matril]

So last night we had an honest-to-goodness date, and we had to scrounge around for a movie to see. We narrowed it down to the part 3's, since everything else looked pretty wretched, but even then, we really weren't too over-the-moon about any of them. We loved the original Shrek, but the sequel seemed less than stellar (though its box-office status indicates that our opinion was quite in the minority!). Spiderman - meh, we didn't bother seeing either of the first two in the theater. We can wait for this one, so I'll be able to fast-forward through the gag-inducing scenes with the red-headed bimbo. So that left Pirates. The first one was decent, an entertaining bit of fluff. The second one was fun but had a number of elements that made me pull my hair out. However, from what I had heard the third one was less frustrating in those arenas. So we were willing to give it a try.


It was good for a night's diversion, overall. Very, very long, but this one was almost all plot, rather than the prolonged chase/fight sequences in the second that were purely for laughs, so the length wasn't quite as frustrating. Rather over-complicated, so that at times it seemed about to collapse from its own weight, but somehow it held up. I was glad to see the love triangle eradicated in moments, and relieved that Will still played a major role in the plot even when Jack Sparrow fandom has completely plowed him over in popularity. And the action and special effects were quite fun to watch.

What annoyed me? Rather than letting myself go off on multiple rants, I'll limit myself to two main concepts. The first is that the character of Elizabeth has changed so utterly from the first film that she's virtually unrecognizable. And much as characters need to grow and develop for them to hold my interest, I don't particularly care for the direction she went. She was likable in the first film, a governor's daughter who's thrown into a terrifying fantastic world and is scared as she has every right to be, yet somehow finds the courage to endure it and return to her own world again, stronger and wiser than she was at the start. The relationship between her and Will was sweet, shy and unspoken, coming to a nice fruition. But I suppose she wasn't Girl Power enough, so they had to evolve her into a ultracool Pirate King. :rolls eyes: When she was pulling out all her hidden weapons in Singapore, and out comes the gigantic one from her back, my husband leaned over and asked, "Where in the world was she hiding that?" I replied, "Somewhere in the bloated Mary-Suedness of her character." Good grief. So over the course of one movie or so, she becomes an expert swordswoman and gains enough knowledge of seafaring to captain an entire vessel?? She's not quite human anymore, and it's hard for me to keep caring about someone so exaggerated.

My other big annoyance: Yes, I'm aware that this is a pirate movie, and pirates are ever so cool, and I really shouldn't take it so seriously, but come on. Pirates are cutthroats and brigands. By definition. They don't have codes of honor or ethics, they're not noble, and they're not the good guys! Most of the pirates in the first film were the bad guys, remember? But thanks to this bizarre love affair that Americans have for roguish figures, I find myself watching a movie that's essentially a paean to piracy. They make sure we see how heroic they are by presenting the Armada as cruel, double-crossing, tyrannical baddies who hang crowds upon crowds of bedraggled downtrodden men, women and children. Please. Pirates don't just fight against The Evil Armada, they prey on innocents. That's their work. Oh, and they chose it too; they're not a race of people being discriminated against for the way they were born. "Pirate" is a profession, not an ethnic group or a religion. Pfaw. Elizabeth's big grand speech as they're about to fight the Armada - blech, like she's freaking William Wallace or something. My husband and I did a whole lot of quiet ribbing during that particular scene.

Ah, but in the end I can sit back and say, "It's just a silly story based on a Disenyland ride with animatronic pirates. It's okay if it doesn't make any sense. Just enjoy the ride." And we did. Just as long as I didn't think too hard about it....

Comments

[sreya.livejournal.com]

When she was pulling out all her hidden weapons in Singapore, and out comes the gigantic one from her back, my husband leaned over and asked, "Where in the world was she hiding that?"

Maybe it was just me, but I laughed so hard at that one - reminded me of Jack on the island talking about hiding a mast and sails in her bodice. :~p

[matril.livejournal.com]

It was a pretty funny moment, but just a little absurd for my tastes. I know, I know, a movie with people made of starfish and barnacles is bound to be absurd....but still. ;)