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Capone having consumed 4 gallons of lead based paint, reviews PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Hey folks. Capone in Chicago here. For the third time in recent weeks, my complaint about a major Hollywood release remains the same: overpopulation. Following on the heels of Spider-Man 3 and Shrek 3, the newest Pirates of the Caribbean entry seems determined to cram as many characters and/or storylines in its confines as its nearly three-hour running time will contain. That being said, I enjoyed At World's End a great deal more than the previously mentioned offerings. The characters are a bit more interesting (if not partaicularly fleshed out), the various plots are better executed, and in terms of pure visual spectacle, this film blows all others (warning: pun approaching) out of the water.
Since most of At World's End was shot at the same time as Dead Man's Chest, its not as impressive that the filmmakers find ways are getting nearly every single cast member from the previous film back on screen. That being said, some of the on-screen re-appearances seem a bit pointless and obligatory. I don't want to ruin any possible suspense about who's still standing at the end of the film, but I felt as if I spent too much of the film just noticing who had returned and who was new. The much-publicized addition of Chow Yun-Fat to the lineup as the much-scarred Chinese pirate Sao Feng is going to baffle as many people as it impresses. That's all I'm going to say. And as for the worst keep secret of the film--the cameo by Keith Richards--let's just say that the guy has been entertaining folks for decades, so there no reason to think he'd do any different here. He doesn't disappoint. His very presence drops the room temperature 20 degrees, he's so cool.
Make no mistake, my body and soul belong to anything in the Pirates movies having to do with Davy Jones (once again played to perfection by Bill Nighy) and the crew of the Flying Dutchman. The saving grace of the previous film was the fact that you could shut your brain off from the confusing plot and simply give yourself over the awe-inspiring look of the undersea horror show of that ship and crew. Thankfully, Jones and company are all over At World's End (we even get a brief glimpse of what Jones looks like without the squid head), and it never gets old. Less impressive is the meeting of the pirate brethren, which includes a couple of women as well. Sure, we get to see all the world's pirate leaders gathered for this once-in-a-lifetime event, but nothing really comes of it and none of these new pirates do much more than makes scary faces and overact in each other's general direction. It's like a scene out of a Monty Python film. When the film's impressive final battle sequence takes place, it seems that all the other pirate leaders simply sit around on their vessels watching The Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman go at it while spinning around in a massive whirlpool. It looks great, but when director Gore Verbinski shows us the other pirates watching and cheering on, it's a bit anticlimactic.
I'm gone this far without mentioning any of the main characters. To be honest, I never really cared that much who Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) ended up with. I'd always assumed that if she even bothered to pick between the clean-cut Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), she'd lean toward Turner simply because a pirate with a steady girlfriend or wife kind of defeats the purpose of being a pirate. Imagine my surprise when I actually got mildly invested in how her man-plight plays out. Geoffrey Rush's Capt. Barbossa has always been one of the favorite mainstays of this franchise. I think he's funnier than Depp without relying nearly as much on a campy performance, and he really comes into his own here. That being said, screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have done something almost unfathomable with Sparrow's character: they've made him just a bit more insane. As the film opens, we see Sparrow in a kind of odd version of purgatory imagining himself captaining the Black Pearl with a crew made up entirely of versions of himself. It's a hilarious bit, and Jack seeing incarnations of himself is a recurring device throughout At World's End. There's a very funny variation of the devil on one shoulder, angel on the other. There's even a Flying Dutchman crew member-version of Sparrow that is able to remove and play with his own brain. Tasty!
Returning plot elements involving the devious East India Trading Company or the lovely and increasingly spooky Tia Dalma/Calypso (Naomie Harris) didn't really grab hold of me or play out in anything resembling an interesting manner. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about this movie is the establishment of a romantic history between Calypso and Davy Jones that goes absolutely no where. But let's face it, you don't go to a Pirates of the Caribbean film for the plot or character development. Still, after about the 15th double-cross, I simply tuned out of the story and waiting for the next special effects set piece, of which there are many. And it is absolutely possible to enjoy At World's End simply on that level. For those who demand something with a bit more depth, don't hold your breath. In all likelihood, this film is going to shatter all box office records (even recent ones set by Spider-Man 3), and I'm okay with that. Despite its admittedly nonsensical story, I was a fan of the previous Pirates film, and this latest entry is about on par with that one…just longer and with three times as many characters. My advice: Don't drink too much soda before this one begins.
Capone
As Emperor Joseph II said, "There's Simply Too Many Notes, Cut A Few Out and it's Perfect!" Send me your notes!
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+ Expand All
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to watch the first one
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I always wait for Capone's review...well done, sir. as always you do Chi-town proud...
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Thanks
Third(?), btw -
If you thought POTC 2 was confusing, you aren't qualified to review films. Sorry.
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Just a guess.
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I still completely enjoyed Dead Man's Chest and I'm totally there tomorrow night (well, technically tonight). Avast ye scurvy dogs!!! AVAST!!!!
That is all. Yar. -
There is no pent up demand for this the way Spidey had. It was only a year ago that people were tricked into going to Pirates 2 -- that bloated, busy, mindless dreck. It hasn't been long enough for people to forget Pirates 2 wasn't nearly as good as the first one.
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Could we give a fuck?
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People using their comprehension of Pirates Of The Carribean 2 (the sequel to a film based on a theme park ride) as a platform for intellectual superiority. It's enjoyable, even if on an ironic level, and it takes me back to a wonderful, more innocent time. That's right, I'm talking about those heady days of 2003, which were all about them Matrix sequels. Back then, voicing the opinion that the films were somewhat muddled would almost certainly guarantee you would be called a retard or a mouth breather or a fuckstick (or some clever combination of all three). Great times. I hope we can get more of that going with these equally messy Pirate films. People getting insulted is a vital part of the Ain't It Cool experience.
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goddamnit; "Naomie Harris playing Tia Dalma/Calypso?" Hmm, why not just put in a massive spoiler (seeing as anyone that reads AICN regularly would have read that Calypso is a big plot point, the love of Jones' life)?
Good job asshole -
maybe
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i took a gander at your pics, you look like you try to look like johnny, but you don't actually resemble him too much.
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just like Pirates2
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There have been good, even great pirate movies in the past (THE CRIMSON PIRATE, CAPTAIN BLOOD etc.), but pirates have never been as big in movies as, say, the Western..... Will the success of Pirates Of The Caribbean lead to a wave of other pirate movies?... What do you think?
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How dare you mention a plot point that most of us figured out in part two in your review of part three that has a spoiler box around it! What are you, some kind of mouth breathing retard fuckstick?Phew, this is hard. I don't normally going in for this mud-slinging business, but I thought I'd give it a try for today. I need more practice, though.Um, fuck you, cadderthegooch! What are you, like, um... a retard or somesuch? For some reason?Yes, more practice needed.
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I was hoping for some kind of pirate revival, but so far all I've seen is that Pirates porno. It's pretty good, but not really date movie material. Not unless you're Travis Bickle, anyway.P.S. You, like, suck balls and cock and whatnot.
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Disappointing,too long,a true cure for insomnia..
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no, who would go to see a movie for that? i just go for lots of explosions and confusing plots with boring characters. God Bless You, Michael Bay!
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Reactions to #2 has nothing to do with this film's box office. It's a must see for a lot of people. The reason it's unlikely to make $151M is that it has real competition (especially Shrek, but some remaining SM3, too) and doesn't have nearly the # of screens that SM3 had. It will be nearly impossible to match the $151M. If it does, hats off to Disney.
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As a huge fan of Keith and the Stones, I will see this film on opening day just for the few minutes he is on sreen. Great line Capone "His very presence drops the room temperature 20 degrees, he's so cool." I liked the other 2 movies fine but saw them on DVD.
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... about plot and character development. It's why I loved the first movie, and hated the second. I'm still trying to figure what the fuck happened in the second one, and why it makes any sense at all. Which means i'm not looking forward to nearly 3 more hours of an incomprehensible, illogical story.
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I'm also hoping for huge explosions and special effects in "Knocked Up"
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They should just make whole Pirate movie with just him and Depp... And why not throw in Mick Jagger too!
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Remeber how cool The Matrix was? And how the series devolved into a lame and confusing piece of shit? Well, its the same and exact thing. Still love the first one though. I have it on DVD. Good times back then eh?
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I'm willing to bet that this film will break all the previous records.If it doesn't I will give up my posting name on here,the one i've had since Batman and Robin. It's a great flick on alot of levels and I think the only thing that could torpedo it (pun intended) would be the fact that it's not really a family film.It's real dark in tone not how Raimi said S3 was going to be dark when it turned out to be just shit brown. I went to a screening last night and all the showings (8:00,8:15,8:30,8:40, 10:00 and midnight) were sold out completely.That same theater for the showings of S3 was not sold out.Expect it to blow every record to shreds.
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The bad taste of the Spidey 3 suck fest is finally gone.
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If you don't pay the hell attention. The fact that Pirates 3 is ostensibly an action film doesn't give you license to be intellectually lazy, and it certainly doesn't justify indicting the movie itself by inventing shortcomings.
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P3 beat the Memorial Day box office opening set by X-Men 3, but still fell short of Spidey's opening, if you'll pardon the expression, and is about $10m short of Dead Man's Chest.
Besides, The Simpsons I think will be the biggest film this year....
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