Last night, I finally saw Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End. I was dubious about seeing it after Dead Man's Chest and after the mixed reviews I got from friends. After Tim saw it, he opined that there was too much story and that it felt muddled. On the other hand, I had Jon and Trav bouncing and making inarticulate happy noises and, when coherence finally returned, much stating that it was made of awesome. And I found that everyone was right.
As always, the music was exquisite, the acting superb, the camera work flawless, the direction strong and the dialogue clever and funny and poignant. The CG wasn't as sound as it was in the earlier films but it held up okay. And Orlando Bloom looked... mmm... in his pirate costumes.... Everything worked well together.
Except for the actual narrative structure.
There really was too much story for the one movie, to the point where nothing was really covered in the depth it deserved and things happened too fast. And it felt very muddled at the beginning, as though they knew where the wanted to be but weren't too sure how to get there from the end of the second film. But once they got there... just... wow. The story itself is very strong, when you have it all lined up, but really not suited to the medium, I think. Dead Man's Chest needed to end where it did for the sake of the story structure but there really wasn't enough story to fill a movie. At World's End had the opposite problem: too much story, too little time.
Trying not to offer too many spoliers, for the sake of those who haven't seen it, but... I was a little disappointed in the unbinding of Calypso - the whole growth thing, with the ropes around her, gave me a Gulliver's Travels moment which was very wrong - and the multiple Jacks thing was very peculiar and didn't seem to serve any kind of purpose (though I loved barnacled Jack in the Flying Dutchman saying, "Nobody move. I've dropped me brain." ;p). And the scene of Beckett's death was sooo corny, though his body landing on the East India trading Co. flag was exactly right and the Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl flanking his ship was just brilliant. But the interaction between Tia Dalma and Davy Jones was beautifully done as was the Locker itself. And the final combat scenes - the two ships sailing into the maelstrom, the two spiralling closer, the combat on both ships and Will... oh, Will! - was truly extraordinary. As was the restoration of the Flying Dutchman and it's crew: even the ship restored to a state of... almost purity. The ending was a little too drawn out with tying up everything for all the major characters but it would have been difficult to avoid that and it was still very shiny. And the references to the other films, especially the first one, were just right, funny and poignant by turns and never overdone.
All in all, I enjoyed it and I'd recommend that anyone who hasn't seen it do so, preferably after re-watching the first two films. Next on the list, Tranformers!
As always, the music was exquisite, the acting superb, the camera work flawless, the direction strong and the dialogue clever and funny and poignant. The CG wasn't as sound as it was in the earlier films but it held up okay. And Orlando Bloom looked... mmm... in his pirate costumes.... Everything worked well together.
Except for the actual narrative structure.
There really was too much story for the one movie, to the point where nothing was really covered in the depth it deserved and things happened too fast. And it felt very muddled at the beginning, as though they knew where the wanted to be but weren't too sure how to get there from the end of the second film. But once they got there... just... wow. The story itself is very strong, when you have it all lined up, but really not suited to the medium, I think. Dead Man's Chest needed to end where it did for the sake of the story structure but there really wasn't enough story to fill a movie. At World's End had the opposite problem: too much story, too little time.
Trying not to offer too many spoliers, for the sake of those who haven't seen it, but... I was a little disappointed in the unbinding of Calypso - the whole growth thing, with the ropes around her, gave me a Gulliver's Travels moment which was very wrong - and the multiple Jacks thing was very peculiar and didn't seem to serve any kind of purpose (though I loved barnacled Jack in the Flying Dutchman saying, "Nobody move. I've dropped me brain." ;p). And the scene of Beckett's death was sooo corny, though his body landing on the East India trading Co. flag was exactly right and the Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl flanking his ship was just brilliant. But the interaction between Tia Dalma and Davy Jones was beautifully done as was the Locker itself. And the final combat scenes - the two ships sailing into the maelstrom, the two spiralling closer, the combat on both ships and Will... oh, Will! - was truly extraordinary. As was the restoration of the Flying Dutchman and it's crew: even the ship restored to a state of... almost purity. The ending was a little too drawn out with tying up everything for all the major characters but it would have been difficult to avoid that and it was still very shiny. And the references to the other films, especially the first one, were just right, funny and poignant by turns and never overdone.
All in all, I enjoyed it and I'd recommend that anyone who hasn't seen it do so, preferably after re-watching the first two films. Next on the list, Tranformers!
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