Pirates: At world End's end

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Why was the film almost three hours long? Because Gore said" The last film made a billion. I'm doing what ever the heck I want!" And he did.

Let's get this out of the way; the sets were fabulous. It's nice to see construction taking the forefront in a big budget film.

It probably would have helped to have seen Pirates 2 before seeing 3. I couldn't remember why Orlando hated Kiera or what the problem was between the two of them. After a while, I didn't really care. The whole film felt like a big case of what should we do next. There wasn't a lot of subtlety or logic to the plot. It was all filler between fantastic action scenes.

And the action scenes were fantastic. Great boat battles. Great ground battles in Singapore. I just wish it had been tied together better.

Depp does a great job in Davy Jone's locker. I really liked the crabs. Pirates also has the best wedding sequence ever. I would have attended.

The battle with the Endevour needed one word from the Captain and it would have been an entirely different movie. That one word was "Fire" Very bad strategy for the pirates in that situation. It was a good thing the writers were on their side.

[El Dingo]

What a glorious mess!

The trick to enjoying this movie is to just let it wash over you. The film is unhindered by plot, continuity or understandable dialog. It's just pirates, monsters and over-the-top battles aboard magnificent sailing ships.
If you find yourself trying to follow the story, quickly stop paying attention and try to find all the nods to the ride hidden in the sets and background characters.

The sets are magnificent. I could look at the pirate enclave in Shipwreck Cove for hours. The costumes are filthy, flashy and decadent. The FX are top-notch, Davy Jones' tentacles have more charisma than Johnny Depp and the scenes with Bootstrap Bill are awesome. The 'little Jack' segments look kind of cheesy but for some reason they reminded me of Harryhausen-era effects from the 60's so I ate them up.

Dee Dee and I both enjoyed it immensely.

El Dingo says go on this ride.

[Drunk Monk]

I kinda lost track of this franchise. I remember liking #1, and still haven't seen the one with Chow Yun Fat (#3?) all the way through. Tara just watched the whole franchise and found some pirate version of #5 on the web (oddly fitting). We've been watching a lot of odd stuff together - I think it's comforting for us as her move to UCSD is next week.

So #5 - didn't really know what was going on but didn't care. It was preposterous and Depp hammed it up like always. It's a lot about the children of the protagonists now, always a bit awkward, plus there's a Jack Sparrow creation tale subplot. I thought the guillotine scene was funny. I also liked Barbarosa's golden skull cabin motif. Keira pulled a Hamill: Force Awakens paycheck. Lots of CG, lots of swords but the sword fights were mediocre, overshadowed by the ridiculousness of the scenario. It needed more swordfights, not just stabbing. There's also another big Harryhausen nod. The formulaic treasure hunt is played out. It needs to get back in touch with the original ride.

Not particularly recommended - might've been better if I'd seen #4.