PotC2 Movie, 'Cause it's out now Rating Options

[Arwon]

I went again tonight, and I think I actually enjoyed it more the second time. The plot seemed slightly convoluted but second time around it seemed to coalesce into a coherent whole just fine, and upon second viewing there wasn't really that complicated a plot, just a super-fast pace. Maybe it was complex by Disney-movie standards, but that's no bad thing.

Bloom was wooden as usual but did his job, Depp was surprisingly not a dominating presence and I thought it was interesting what a bastard they made him this time. Keira Knightley was excellent, they gave her a much larger and more badass role and she did it well. Well, badass aside from the rather absurd hissy-fit during the 3-way sword-fight. Meanwhile, the "curiosity" exchange on the Pearl was most pleasantly un-Disney-like...

I loved the idea of the East India Trading Company as a villain even if they were in the wrong Indies. However, the two main EITC people were stereotypical and two-dimensional even by Hollywood British Villain standards. They were actually by far the least sympathetic characters in the entire movie.

Felt really bad for Norrington. He's not a bad guy, any more than anyone else was... least of all Jack Sparrow. I hope he gets to redeem himself in the third movie in some way... acting as a Trading Company stooge the whole time won't seem fitting.

Best CG effects evar.

Overall: Really really fun movie, surprisingly substantial all things considered, and if they don't fuck up the third one we've got a trilogy worth of standing beside Indiana Jones and Back to the Future.

This post has been edited by Arwon: Jul 7 2006, 08:57 AM

[Hemlock_Martini]

Bill Nighy = acting GOD. Seriously, this guy came out of nowhere (okay, England) a couple of years back and now I want him in every movie I see. Being able to act through all the prosthetics and makeup is one thing, but to really inhabit the character and make him chillingly memorable is quite another. And I have to honestly say that this is the first movie I've ever seen where the CGI effects didn't feel cheaply transposed onto the characters--it was a perfect blend. Nothing pulled me out of the viewing experience at all, and that's a very rare thing for me.

The voodoo priestess, Tia Dalma...HAWT. Scuzzy, but HAWT. I'd be all like "bathe her, and bathe her, and then bathe her, and then scrub her down and make her floss, and bathe her, and bathe her, and THEN bring her to my tent."

Shoot the monkey again! SHOOT THE MONKEY AGAIN! I never get tired of that.

I knew...I KNEW Jack was gonna get his hat back.

Oh, and Jack Havoc...indeed.

[Aussia]

Hemlock, you make me smile

Saw it last night and it was highly enjoyable... not as good as the first and may not stand the test of time in the same way simply because there aren't as many OMG AWESOME lines and there was a bit too much gratuitous "because we can" silly. Given that I'm terrified of fish I spent quite a bit of the movie with my hands over my eyes but what I saw of the special effects was Amazing. The only thing I'm sad about was how much more of an 'adult' movie it was in comparison to the first. My coworker and I were hoping to have a pirate themed week of summer camp and take the kids, but given the level of scary/violence and the level of implied sexuality I don't think it would be appropriate. It seemed much darker than the first one, probably because there weren't any comic relief bad guys to speak of unless you count shell head and the chase for the chest but that was a small part. It left us hanging awkwardly at the end, especially with certain plot points that didn't follow through (hopefully they will in the third movie) but there's certainly lots to play with.

And finally, don't bother staying past the credits. Yes there is something but it honestly isn't worth waiting for especially since the credits are huge. If you really want to know: it's a brief clip of the dog being worshiped by the cannibal tribe with a giant bone in his mouth.

This post has been edited by Aussia: Jul 7 2006, 06:00 PM

[Mara's Revenge]

Holy fuck, that was Bill Nighy? Damn, he's good.

[Lystrodom]

I felt it dragged on a bit, although I did enjoy the action scenes. I hated the hissy-fit Knightley had at the three-way-fight, and I wished she would have showed off her sword-fighting skillz more.


Also, the end kinda sucked. I mean, Barbossa? Sure, good villian, but very dead. I hate when movies bring back old villians like that. I dunno, maybe it's got a good explanation.

I fully expected the after-credits scene to give a hint about the sequel, like the previous after-the-credits scene. Something like a humorus scene with Jack in the stomach of the Kraken. (Which I still expect to see in the third one.)

[daybreaker]

Did you guys see the same movie I did? Or is there maybe some second version of PotC2, and you guys got the good one that didnt drag on for 150 minutes, and I got the one that was a complete utter waste of $8?

Tentacles and organ? Lame. Cliched "stealing the keys while the person sleeps only to have them wake up and fall back asleep"? Lame. 20 minutes of round things rolling around, twice? Lame. Non-descript river location out of nowhere with cheesy-accented voodoo woman? Lame. The entire middle hour of the movie? Lame. I'll expand on this- all they did was travel around and not really accomplish anything except stick Will on Davy Jones's boat, and have everyone wind up at Tortuga eventually. See? That took me 5 seconds. Why does it take the movie a WHOLE hour? Unexplained intro to Jack as he unexpectedly breaks out of a coffin? Lame, because, how was he in there in the first place? Dont you think the people nailing it shut would kind of, you know, notice two people in there? Will's reaction to seeing his father of "oh hey, its my dad"? Lame. Risking an eternity of service with Davy Jones just to find where he keeps his key? Lame, and obvious stretch to give Will some kind of motivation that causes him to be at odds with Jack. Oh, and Will survives one Kracken attack and all of a sudden, he knows its every move? Lame.

The character of Jack in this one was kind of crap as well. All he does is spout off ridiculously long one-liners because I guess the writers thought since people liked those in the first movie, they would make that the only method with which Jack could communicate in this one. And at least in the first one, you could debate whether or not he was being an ass for the right reasons, where as in this one, he's just a self-serving ass, no doubt about it.

I thought the CGI characters of Davy Jones's crew were just cheesy. Oh look, the dude has a hermit crab head.

Probably the only good part of the movie was the end- because not only does it bring the return of Barbosa, but it meant I could finally leave the theater.

And yes, there is something after the credits. Which, if you stayed through the first 150 minutes of the movie, you may as well sit another 5 more.

Sorry guys, but I entered this movie expecting to be entertained, and this movie failed to deliver.

This post has been edited by daybreaker: Jul 7 2006, 11:54 PM

[droog]

if they don't fuck up the third one we've got a trilogy worth of standing beside Indiana Jones and Back to the Future.

How can I put this?

-No.

[No Worries]

Did you guys see the same movie I did? Or is there maybe some second version of PotC2, and you guys got the good one that didnt drag on for 150 minutes, and I got the one that was a complete utter waste of $8?

I saw this one tonight. Walked out remembering why I don't see many movies. DB nails it on the head. Worst was about two "why won't this lame movie end's" into it I realize the AC hadn't been working the whole time and that was why the room was a sauna. Got a piece of paper worth my ten bucks back, and it has Scanner Darkly written all over it.

[daybreaker]

... I realize the AC hadn't been working the whole time and that was why the room was a sauna. Got a piece of paper worth my ten bucks back, and it has Scanner Darkly written all over it.

Yeah, we did the exact same thing.

[Sialonde]

We just got back. I think it was definitely OK given it's going to be the Middle Movie. Davy Jones was not quite the villain Barbossa was, but that's OK. Most of the gags played off the original. My husband, who amazingly enough hasn't seen much of Pirates I despite the fact that my daughter and I know the script practically by heart (N. does an absolutely AMAZING rendition of Elizabeth's "vile rum" speech), didn't think so much of it. He missed the tie-ins with the first movie.

I think this was the fanboy version of the sequel. If you didn't like the first, you won't like the second. If you slavishly adored the first, you will enjoy this one, too.

The one thing I didn't get was the supposed heat between Jack and Elizabeth. It just wasn't there, any more than you bought the repressed passion between Elizabeth and Will in P1. Jack simply wasn't as intriguing this go-round. He had fewer lines, and he walked around puzzled most of the time. Given that his appeal is in his cocksure attitude, even when he's dead wrong, what seemed to have been meant as attempts to portray him as a deeper character just made him seem clueless.

The upsides? The return of Norrington. Bootstrap Bill. Elizabeth's "ghost." Biggest waste of suspenseful setup? For risking their eternal souls, Will and Bootstrap were awfully blase about that dice game. Has Orlando Bloom ever displayed passion in a role?

[Hungry Joe]

Interesting how they ended with Jack Sparrow frozen in carbonite, er...I mean trapped in 1885, no...I mean swallowed by the Kraken.

The only complaints I really have about it is that it takes too long for them to tell us what exactly everyone is after, and it had one story thread too many woven into the plot. Norrington's whole thing seemed tacked on. I mean, the threeway swordfight was cool, but did we need the East India Company's Norrington II, as well? At the end of the movie, Norrington's with the EIC, so what was the point?

Oh, edited to say that when Jack steals one of the rings from dirty/hot Caribbean woman, I think you see a pendant or something of a heart that looks a lot like the music box that Davy Jones has...I suspect she might be the woman in question?


This post has been edited by Hungry Joe: Jul 8 2006, 03:45 PM

[Davenport]

The first movie was kind of forgettable and mediocre with one really fantastic character that made it worth watching. Is this the same way? And is Orlando Bloom kind of obnoxious in this one, too? Not really obnoxious, just kind of.

[Skatie]

Saw this yesterday and enjoyed it.

Was it too long? Yes. Someone needs to remind Gore Verbinski that PotC is a popcorn movie trilogy, not high art. Also that Jack does better with SHORT one liners. East India Trading Company dude could've gotten less pontificating time too.

But, overall, I enjoyed it. I even liked Elizabeth's hissy fit while the men were fighting just because I've been THAT FED UP with men. You DO want to throw things at them and yell sometimes.

I'm okay with Barbossa coming back. I'm going with him only being MOSTLY dead at the end of the first movie. Tia Dalma probably fixed him right up with some magic.

Speaking of Tia Dalma, I noticed the similarity of her heart necklace to the lock on Davy Jones' chest. I can easily see her being the one who broke his wee little heart. When cleaned up (see H_M's method) she'd be gorgeous and a gorgeous magic woman will only bring pain and suffering to a pirate. I think it's a law.

The curiosity exchange between Jack and Elizabeth was great. It's also about the only time she had chemistry with either of the two men in this one.

Orlando is pretty good at the swashing and buckling. The acting? He's not so good at that. But watching him channel Errol Flynn was great.

[Hungry Joe]

If you wanna see her cleaned up, just rent 28 Days Later.

[Arwon]

Was Tia Dalma supposed to have tattooed lips?

[Vergeot]

One thing:

Is anyone else reminded of the Douglas Adam's quote about deadlines by Jack's line about chances to do the right thing?

[Roup]

The movie had great, fun action sequences, but the plot was an absolute mess (see previous complaints) there to bridge you from one to the next. The plot should drive the action, not vice versa. What was that whole cannibal villagers bit about? It had nothing to do with the story except to provide half an hour additional running about lifted from Indiana Jones, descending into slapstick.

[Bookwyrm]

I thought it was decent, but not great, which was to be expected. With a movie where there weren't expectations, there's a level of "oh what the hell." The first movie had it in spades. This movie, each of the actors was trying for what they easily achieved in the first movie.

Specific things I noted:
-Several instances of referring to the really popular oft-mentioned bits of the first movie: "The rum is gone"/"Hide the rum", the eunuch reference w/ the cannibals, the dog with the keys. This, to me, came across less as an in-joke, and more as fanservice.
-Either the hampster balls or the millwheel fight would have been funny. Both clash a little.
-Random empty grave in the middle of knowhere ruined church yard. WTF?

This movie tried to have more whackiness, more drama, more romance, more angst, more mystery, more honor, more dishonor than the first. No movie can manage that.

[annui]

Yeah, I wasn't too fond of it. If you want to see it, I would just wait until the third one comes out and watch both, this is just too frustrating on its own.

Like everyone else said, what was the cannibal village for? There are a million shorter ways to set up what they did.

And I didn't need to see an eyeball hanging out of a crow's mouth or hear the removal process, thanks.

[RedTwo]

According to Cinematical, which didn't seem to cite any sources other than IMDb title pages, Pirates 2 has beaten all records for opening weekend. Like, first movie to make $100 million in two days, biggest opening weekend ever, biggest one-day take ever, etc.

Depp and Verbinski have both said they'll keep making these as long as Disney keeps greenlighting them. Given the way this'll make money, I think we'll all be discussing the relative merits of Pirates 5 in a few years.

[Mara's Revenge]

Went to it again, and the bit at the end where Jack gets eaten by the beastie? I saw the pose he struck, and as the creature engulfed him the only thing I could think was, "Hey, Beastie...got a little Captain in you?"

Not to mention the inevitable Monkees puns my brain kept making.