The biggest lesson to be learned from the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy is never end a film on a cliffhanger if it means the next film has to spend an hour fixing what that cliffhanger set in motion. As you may remember, the last film, Dead Man's Chest, ended with Captain Jack Sparrow meeting his demise at the jaws of the Kraken. We all knew Jack wouldn't stay dead for long, but unfortunately he still stays dead for longer than we'd like. For about an hour we have to wait for our heroes to rescue Jack from Davy Jones's Locker before they get back on track and resume the story of the last film. This opening hour is so dull that the film is unable to recover. By the time it finally does start to get interesting, you've kind of already lost interest.
There are about as many unfulfilled opportunities in this film as there are fish in the sea. While I've found myself to be in the minority, I really liked where Dead Man's Chest was leading us and was expecting this film to deliver on everything the last one promised. Instead this film kind of shrugs off certain stories set up by the last film. Perhaps my favorite element of DMC was Norrington's character arc. I fully expected him to play a big part in the ending, but instead all that character development is thrown out and he gets about five minutes of screen time. Why set him up so perfectly in one film if you don't intend to utilize him in the payoff? It's things like this that will irk viewers, who will certainly walk out of this film wondering "That's it?" It all kind of stumbles to a close instead of racing to one.
Perhaps the one thing to be thankful for, though, was the return to form for Johnny Depp's Jack. The last film really underused him, but here he is his inspired self again. Of particular enjoyment was his descent into madness while all alone in Davy Jones's locker. Not faring quite as well is Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa. He was so well fleshed out in the first film, yet his reappearance here feels wasted. He's neither very funny nor threatening. We never get a real sense why he has been resurrected, nor why he is so chummy with the people he once tried to murder. His addition also helps underline a major problem with the film: we are never sure who is on whose side at any given moment. Every character has their own hidden agendas, and it seems they each are working with both the good guys and the bad guys at some point in the film. It's very confusing, and you are never sure who you should be routing for, so you ultimately don't care who wins in the end.
Still, if you liked the last two films, you'll enjoy moments, especially Johnny Depp. But in the end it all feels like a wasted opportunity. And I suspect a lot of fans will be both confused and angry by how the Will/Elizabeth story is resolved. If I understood it correctly, it was pretty dark, and not something you'd expect from a breezy summer blockbuster.
There are about as many unfulfilled opportunities in this film as there are fish in the sea. While I've found myself to be in the minority, I really liked where Dead Man's Chest was leading us and was expecting this film to deliver on everything the last one promised. Instead this film kind of shrugs off certain stories set up by the last film. Perhaps my favorite element of DMC was Norrington's character arc. I fully expected him to play a big part in the ending, but instead all that character development is thrown out and he gets about five minutes of screen time. Why set him up so perfectly in one film if you don't intend to utilize him in the payoff? It's things like this that will irk viewers, who will certainly walk out of this film wondering "That's it?" It all kind of stumbles to a close instead of racing to one.
Perhaps the one thing to be thankful for, though, was the return to form for Johnny Depp's Jack. The last film really underused him, but here he is his inspired self again. Of particular enjoyment was his descent into madness while all alone in Davy Jones's locker. Not faring quite as well is Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa. He was so well fleshed out in the first film, yet his reappearance here feels wasted. He's neither very funny nor threatening. We never get a real sense why he has been resurrected, nor why he is so chummy with the people he once tried to murder. His addition also helps underline a major problem with the film: we are never sure who is on whose side at any given moment. Every character has their own hidden agendas, and it seems they each are working with both the good guys and the bad guys at some point in the film. It's very confusing, and you are never sure who you should be routing for, so you ultimately don't care who wins in the end.
Still, if you liked the last two films, you'll enjoy moments, especially Johnny Depp. But in the end it all feels like a wasted opportunity. And I suspect a lot of fans will be both confused and angry by how the Will/Elizabeth story is resolved. If I understood it correctly, it was pretty dark, and not something you'd expect from a breezy summer blockbuster.
