Pirates of the Carribean III

[Moebius]

Every so often a rare movie comes along where, despite it's prodigious running length, you are so absorbed that you forget about the passage of time. Movies like The Godfather series or even The Lord of the Rings series comes to mind. Unfortunately, Pirates of the Caribbeans is not one of them. At a running length of around three hours, the movie is loooooong, and you feel every minute of it.

Like it's two predecessors, the Disney film retained it's trademark blend of action and slap stick comedy, most of which generated by a monkey, a pair of pirates, and the excellently irreverent Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp. The movie opens with a surprisingly effective music score, then proceeds with the resolution of the cliff hanger ending from the previous film. Not much has changed, and Keira Knightley is as beautiful as Orlando Bloom is wooden and one dimensional, as the protagonists attempt to save Jack by traveling to the end of the world. The Hong Kong movie legend Chow Yun Fat makes an appearance as an Asian pirate lord, complete with a Fu Man Chu mustache, bald head, a face full of scars, as the underused and poorly developed Captain Xiao Fang.

Where the movie falters is in it's pacing. This is a perfect example of a movie that would have been fast paced and extremely entertaining if only it had trimmed the fat and keep the running time at around two hours (the other would be that other recent blockbuster, Spider Man 3). Many scenes were either drawn out or does nothing to advance the narrative, which oftentimes completely ruins the momentum it builds with it's otherwise well choreographed action sequences. The most glaring example comes during the final climatic battle, which was essentially a full half an hour of shaking cameras (common among today's blockbuster films and probably the easiest way to ruin an action sequence) and trite one liners, which start to become monotonous and sleep inducing about ten minutes in. The way the film was resolved in the end was also somewhat predictable and lacked emotional resonance, in large part because we never actually get to understand or care about Orlando Bloom's William Turner (whether that's due to poor direction or the performance of Bloom himself is hard to tell).

All in all I'd have to say it was a rather disappointing end to the franchise. If you really liked the first two movie, you will probably be able to sit through this one. However if you're just a casual fan looking to be entertained, there are probably better choices than this. Personally I would probably recommend this as a rental background DVD (ie. you can probably watch this and do your taxes at the same time without missing much), but not worth shelling out bills to see in theaters.

[Cogito]

Um... Doesn't this movie come out in two days?

[JMeganSnow]

That frequently depends on where you live, and sometimes you can go to an advance "sneak preview" screening if you win tickets in a radio contest or something like that . . . it's an advertising ploy that they use to hopefully generate good word-of-mouth PR.

[Alon Tsin]

The movie premiers in Israel today (Wednesday). Spiderman 3 was also released outside the US before it premiered there...

[Moebius]

Um... Doesn't this movie come out in two days?

I currently live in Taiwan. For some reason when blockbuster movies are released simultaneously world-wide, we get it a day ahead. Between that and the time zone difference it means we get to see it approximately two days ahead of North America.

[Qwertz]

The entire franchise is schlock. One oughtn't expect anything different. I rather enjoyed it from a schlock perspective. I was particularly fond of the 2nd reel scene of Jack trying to pull the Pearl and being stalked by rocks. The scene would have been very easy to over-ham, but was well-executed. I'd have loved to have more meat (especially on the

Davy Jones / Calypso relationship

). The ending was disappointing, yes, but entirely expected given the events of Dead Man's Chest.

I think Bloom is to blame for the failures of the Will Turner character. Verbinski manages to get decent performances from the other characters (notably, though inconsistently, Knightley). Bloom has a track record of overacting one-dimensional characters.

I did make an interesting note: the ending wasn't exactly Will's choice. Jones

kills him

, leaving him no choice, and it really looked like Turner Sr. intended to

stab Jones' heart

instead. It puts a nifty spin on the ending; Will's situation at the end isn't the result of anyone's deliberate sacrifice. I don't think it's ultimately relevant, but I found it interesting.

-Q

[Groovenstein]

I just saw the first public showing here. It was okay. The music was solid, the action sequences were generally cool. The big highlight in this movie, and the first two, is Johnny Depp. He might be the best modern day actor out there. (If I was a praying man, I'd be praying he somehow gets into Atlas. The man can just flat-out act.) The other big highlight, though a far second to Depp's acting, was Keira Knightley. Not necessarily her acting. Just her. She needs to marry me.

[Mimpy]

I saw it at midnight. It wasn't worth the odd time or the $9.75. My main criticism is the movie's length: 2 hrs 45 mins. It was way too long to remember everything that had happened. There were also many new characters, and some of them

(meaning the Pirate Bretheren)

were only present for a few minutes. It was hard to keep track of everyone.

Also, I was hoping for a happy ending. I understand that Will had already been stabbed, so he decided to pierce Davey Jones' heart himself, but the ending was certainly not happy. Elizabeth seemed okay with what had happened, but obviously it was not the ideal situation. Apparently after the end credits they showed a clip of Will coming back after 10 years and since Elizabeth waited for him (unlike Calypso for Davey Jones), Will is free. He finds out that they have a 10 year old son. They live happily ever after. Since the movie ended at 3 in the morning, I don't think anybody in our theater stayed for that. I think it's kind of silly that they would leave that for after the end credits. Most people will miss it.

I think Depp and Bloom were excellent. Knightley did not deliver convincingly, however. Also, the fighting gets old and repetitive after a while.

[KendallJ]

The other big highlight, though a far second to Depp's acting, was Keira Knightley. Not necessarily her acting. Just her. She needs to marry me.

Back 'o the line, Bud.

[Qwertz]

Apparently after the end credits they showed a clip of Will coming back after 10 years and since Elizabeth waited for him (unlike Calypso for Davey Jones), Will is free. He finds out that they have a 10 year old son. They live happily ever after. Since the movie ended at 3 in the morning, I don't think anybody in our theater stayed for that. I think it's kind of silly that they would leave that for after the end credits. Most people will miss it.

I saw it at 8pm, so about 1/7th the audience was still around for the endpiece. Your description isn't quite accurate. Will does come back, he does have a 10 year old child, and Elizabeth is waiting for him, but there is no indication that Will is freed from his duty. The scene ends before he even reaches the shore. Interestingly, though, Elizabeth doesn't look a day older. Maybe she gets to live as long as he does, because she has his heart? That'd be nice, but there's nothing other than Elizabeth's apparent lack of aging over a single decade to substantiate that theory.

-Q

[Mimpy]

I saw it at 8pm, so about 1/7th the audience was still around for the endpiece. Your description isn't quite accurate. Will does come back, he does have a 10 year old child, and Elizabeth is waiting for him, but there is no indication that Will is freed from his duty. The scene ends before he even reaches the shore. Interestingly, though, Elizabeth doesn't look a day older. Maybe she gets to live as long as he does, because she has his heart? That'd be nice, but there's nothing other than Elizabeth's apparent lack of aging over a single decade to substantiate that theory.

Yes, there's some confusion as to whether he is freed or not.

My friend sent me this piece on Facebook, so I'm not sure where she got it. It refers to quotes from the two writers of the movie, regarding this matter. But you can read it and decide for yourself. Since I didn't actually see the end piece, I'm not sure. I think there will be plenty on the Internet analyzing and discussing this issue further.

by GhostRaider2008 1 day ago (Thu May 24 2007 05:05:35 ) Ignore this User | Report Abuse

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I know some here right now are confused on whether or not the curse was broken. But through Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio on their website WordPlayer.com they have confirmed that Will and Elizabeth have broken Calypso's curse and that was revealed with the "end of credits" scene.

Here are some Ted Elliot and Terry Roisso quotes that confirm the curse has been broken. Alot of the confusion here stems from the fact that two scenes that would have explained the curse being broken where dropped from the film much to Ted and Terry's surprise which basically screwed up the ending. But over the last couple days they have been telling us how they wrote it and they wanted it convyed to us even though that didn't happen.

__________________________________________________________________________

Here are some of the quotes you can find many more but these confirm the curse was broken with the final green flash and what the breaking of said curse entailed.

Rossio: Given the lost information, my prior post doesn't apply. You might be able to derive that the curse could be broken from the information in the film, but it would be indeed difficult.

http://www.wordplayer.com/forums/movies/index.cgi?read=98662

and Elliot: That green flash was what Terry was referring to when he said it was possible, but very difficult, to figure out from the movie that the curse was broken.

http://www.wordplayer.com/forums/movies/index.cgi?read=98679

In those two quotes they did confirm that the curse was broken with the final green flash at the end of the credits scene.

And in this post is sorta entailed what the breaking of the curse entailed:

Rossio: I don't know that I would say, "forbidden." There might be some story to be told where Elizabeth manages to make a trip to the land of the dead, with the help of someone, etc., etc., to find Will, etc.

But the basic requirement is that Will agrees captain the Flying Dutchmen (in return for what the film reveals) and that he can step on land but once every ten years, and that at any time, if he finds a love that is true (this is part of the original Flying Dutchman opera by the way) then his attachment to the ship is broken.

http://www.wordplayer.com/forums/movies/index.cgi?read=98721

Basically what all that said is that due to the fact that certain scenes were cut it is hard to tell BUT STILL POSSIBLE to discern from info given in the movie that the curse was broken. And that the signal that was given to us that said curse was broken was that final GREEN FLASH and that William is now detached from the Dutchman and can live a normal life with his family. He can stay with them as long as he likes and no longer has to to the job that was requried of the Captain of the Dutchman.

Edited May 25, 2007 by Mimpy

[Qwertz]

If that's the case, then critical information was indeed cut from the picture. The endpiece is quite ambiguous. I remember the movie telling me that the

green flash happens when someone returns from the land of the dead

, but then why was there a

green flash when Will first left as captain of the Dutchman

? Presumably when

he entered the land of the dead

? I'd bet good money the writers initially had a happy ending planned (and the necessary scenes were probably shot), but that Disney execs were worried devoted fans would reject such an ending as too happy. General audiences prefer happy endings, but I've noticed that fans of non-children's blockbuster franchises prefer bittersweet endings. The philosophy and psychology of such a preference, if it exists, would be an interesting avenue for investigation.

-Q

[JASKN]

Saw it.

The special effects were very, very good (even improving on the last movie), and a couple moments during the action sequences were, like, "Woah."

Unfortunately, the story wasn't so great, confusing a lot of the time, and the characters, while amusing a little on their own, didn't make convincing cases for relations with each other. Also the movie was 3 hours long, and felt it.

When I see a "mixed-bag" movie like this, my final judgment call is whether I thought my time and money were wasted; in this case, no, it wasn't a waste and made for a mostly entertaining experience.

[DarkWaters]

Also, the fighting gets old and repetitive after a while.

Absolutely not!

[hunterrose]

I liked it; if I had to give a rating, I'd give it 3 out of 4 stars.

I'd seen the first Pirates, but haven't the second, and I had no problem understanding things.

In my eyes, you could tell that they were trying to make this EPIC. In doing so, they expanded the Pirates mythology (good), increased the characters (s'okay), continued to double-cross each other (always good) etc.

I think they left a few plot threads less than tight, and it probably was too long for what it did - though IMO the length wouldn't have been a problem if the movie had e.g. developed the additional characters better.

Depp was again (and again) good.

For what it's worth, I thought Pirates was the best of the Big 3 summer movies.

[Moebius]

One of my favorite part about the second Pirates was the intense chemistry between Depp and Knightley, which has all but evaporated in the third one.

On top of that, by introducing the best part of the film --Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow-- thirty minutes into the film, it sapped a lot of momentum out of the movie. Other than a few dubious solo sequences, Depp's presence was largely marginalized in the third movie -- which is a shame.

To be honest, I actually think that Orlando Bloom has improved as an actor and made William Turner into a more three dimensional character. However the difference is slight and subtle, hard to pick up especially in a movie that's so full of sound and fury.

Davy Jones was a slight disappointment as well. He was great as the villain in the last film, and outright menacing at times. However in the third feature his character is deflated, and far less intimidating without his deep sea leviathan (or whatever).

Veteran actor Geoffrey Rush was extremely entertaining as Captain Barbosa. However given his copious amount of talent, this is a role in which he could pretty much sleep walk through.

Chow Yun Fat, the legendary Hong Kong actor, was completely and utterly underused. I still don't understand what the point of his character was, other than to add appeal to the international market. There were a few scenes where it looked like Chow was really actually acting while everyone else just sort of stood around looking confused.

[Olex]

I absolutely loved the theme of the movie. Whatever the plot and character flaws at times, the theme rocked so much, it almost didn't matter. It's quite rare to see a movie that can really portray a romantic, life-reaffirming feel. Some parts were just awesome: such as the meeting between Tia Dalma and Davy Jones, while Tia was inpreasoned (speech lines were romantically awesome and boosted by sci-fi effects). (Granted the plot went haywire after that, but still the makers managed to create that moment anyway, but they didn't have the skills/knowledge to make a logical piece of a whole.)

And, man, Captain Jack Sparrow definitely rocked the house. The weird (drunken-like) run after his ship that was carried away by stone ( ) crabs was pure awesomeness. Whoever created his character was brilliant, and actor's play made it a gem.

I'd give it 4/5 for awesome moments, but lacking a plot that matches up to those moments. It make me think like the movie was made by 2 teams. One brilliantly worked on short moments here and there, while another made a complete mess with proceeding plot events. Pity.

EDIT: spelling and clarifications

Edited June 19, 2007 by Olex

[Neeky]

what are you all going on about it was GREAT i love the pirates movies

a lot of you are saying it is to long to stand but i was compleatly gutted when it did finish