Pirates of the Caribbean: The (British) Empire Strikes Back!

[abbandono]

I haven't read anything at all about the new Pirates movie, no reviews and no blogs, so if this seems unoriginal to you, chalk it up to the innately obvious nature of what I am about to reveal, because I discovered it without any outside assistance.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest *IS* The Empire Strikes Back.

All the elements are there, albeit in somewhat modified form.

- Romantically-linked hero and heroine...Check!
- Love triangle formed by swashbuckling, morally ambiguous anti-hero...Check!
- Hero confronts knowledge that his father has been turned to the service of evil...Check!
- Betrayal by seemingly loyal cohort (the Commodore)...Check!
- Empire gathering power for an as-yet unknown sinister plan...Check!
- Film ends on somber note, with anti-hero seemingly dead...Check!

Jack Sparrow pulled into the murky depths is the same bloody thing as Han Solo encased in carbonite.

And I'd be OK with that, but there's just one thing wrong...

While the film is a rollicking good adventure up to the point Jack meets the kraken, beyond that point it misses the high mark set by The Empire Strikes Back.  The tone is completely off.  Where Empire felt unfinished in a satisfying way, Pirates 2 feels unfinished in an unsettling way.  Empire ended with a perfect balance of resolved conflict and unresolved tension, while Pirates 2 feels utterly unresolved in every way. 

The whole third-act moral ambiguity of Elizabeth is especially annoying, because we see a momentous act and know nothing at all of its consequences.

I hope the next movie ties everything up neatly, but meanwhile I'm left with a year of being annoyed at it.

Kudos to the casting team, though.  They tapped several of my favorite character actors, including Bill Nighy as Davy Jones, Stellan Skarsgard as Bootstrap Bill, Mackenzie Cross (Gareth from The Office!) reprising as the surprisingly literate Ragetti, and of course the return of Jack Davenport (Steve from Coupling!) as Norrington.

All of the above gave performances well worth my matinee $6, notwithstanding my annoyance problems with the third act.  So in spite of myself, I'll be looking forward to the third installment.

Comments

[greycat.livejournal.com]

I think you were far more entertained by the film than i was. About half way through I was ready to leave. But i stayed and Alec and i laughed mightily at the obvious referance to the Sarlac in Jedi when Sparrow went into the Cracken's mouth.

I can see your parallels, but it's almost sacrilege to compare it to a brilliant and emotional film like Empire. But i will see the next one because i want to know what happens.

BTW, did you stay through the credits?

[hangingfire.livejournal.com]

...That was Steve? Hah.

Gareth (yes, I know, but in my mind he's always Gareth, I'm afraid) was in the first movie, but had a lot less to do -- I enjoyed seeing him get to play around here. And Bill Nighy is always a welcome sight.

[greycat.livejournal.com]

I was very happy to see Steve again. :)

What i was surprised about, in an odd way, was Tom Hollander playing Lord Cutler Beckett. I had just watched "Pride and Prejudice" (with K. Knightly) a few nights before and he looked so familliar. Well, i figured it out a bit through the movie that he was Mister Collins - who, in all honesty, i thought was much more handsome than what i envision Mr. Collins to look like.

[pretty-words28.livejournal.com]

The whole third-act moral ambiguity of Elizabeth is especially annoying, because we see a momentous act and know nothing at all of its consequences.

Yes! That scene may have actually ruined the movie to me. I know they could have handled the act in a much less "soap opera"-ish way, but they failed. The way it came off was almost cliche, I thought.