It's Freakin' Gone With the Wind
It took a few days to digest my thoughts on Dead Mans Chest. My initial reaction was, rather surprisingly, not good. Now it's a few baby steps higher. No spoilers, but here is my take on the film (and a brief comparison to the first in the trilogy):
- At 2 1/2 hours, it was long for a movie designed to appeal to all ages (including restless little ones). I noticed that after an hour or so even I started to shift uncomfortably in my seat. And that wasn't from drinking too much water, but from a mild case of boredom.
- The loosely constructed plot seemed created to tie together several action scenes that were rather reminiscent of the American Gladiators tv show. Just throw the main characters (with a few expendables) into not so plausible sequences with lots of kabooms, stunts or tricky camera angles, and there you have it.
- The two younger characters, Will and Elizabeth fell nearly flat in their performances. I got alot more out of their interactions and reactions in the first film. I wanted them to end up together at the end. In this one, I didn't see the emotional depth I was expecting from them. I didn't even feel like rooting for them when they faced peril.
Apart from my thoughts, I did get alot of opinions from others, but most folk weren't enthused by the movie. From "Jack seems to have lost the sparkle in his eyes", to "my son didn't like her in this movie" to "I was so bored that I walked out". Even the CGI characters didn't escape the hairy eyeball of the average Disney movie fan, "they were done well, but maybe a little too well done, which really took away from the regular characters" (their opinion was similar to many who saw the latest Star Wars trilogy). It seems the Pirates brigade has a longer way to go for the third installment (due out in May 2007) if it wants to take back the fans it could not retain this go around.
I really, REALLY enjoyed the first movie, which made watching the second and coming away with what I felt just awful. The first movie felt innocent, fun, adventurous (and it had a good plot!), while DMC's storyline was darker in an "ick" sort of way, and washed away with the tides. But, with that, I did try to look on the bright side in terms of what I liked (scenes that were nods to the attractions, Tia Dalma's lair, and the return of an infamous captain). That made the overall impression a little easier to swallow. My rating? 3 out of 5 stars. Yo ho, turned so so, indeed.
-------------------------->^o-^<--------------------------------------
Rather melodramatically, I had turned to my friends in the theater (post DMC)
and noted that I needed to watch another movie to get my mind off of this one. Initially, I was aiming for Star Wars, but ended up home sawing logs shortly thereafter.
I did catch another movie that brought my spirits up (again). I have a good friend to thank (Kudos Mary Ann!) for a fantastic afternoon filled with good food, lots of chatter (Scotland 2007!) and plenty of saki. We ended up seeing Superman Returns (my third time, her first).
- At 2 1/2 hours, it was long for a movie designed to appeal to all ages (including restless little ones). I noticed that after an hour or so even I started to shift uncomfortably in my seat. And that wasn't from drinking too much water, but from a mild case of boredom.
- The loosely constructed plot seemed created to tie together several action scenes that were rather reminiscent of the American Gladiators tv show. Just throw the main characters (with a few expendables) into not so plausible sequences with lots of kabooms, stunts or tricky camera angles, and there you have it.
- The two younger characters, Will and Elizabeth fell nearly flat in their performances. I got alot more out of their interactions and reactions in the first film. I wanted them to end up together at the end. In this one, I didn't see the emotional depth I was expecting from them. I didn't even feel like rooting for them when they faced peril.
Apart from my thoughts, I did get alot of opinions from others, but most folk weren't enthused by the movie. From "Jack seems to have lost the sparkle in his eyes", to "my son didn't like her in this movie" to "I was so bored that I walked out". Even the CGI characters didn't escape the hairy eyeball of the average Disney movie fan, "they were done well, but maybe a little too well done, which really took away from the regular characters" (their opinion was similar to many who saw the latest Star Wars trilogy). It seems the Pirates brigade has a longer way to go for the third installment (due out in May 2007) if it wants to take back the fans it could not retain this go around.
I really, REALLY enjoyed the first movie, which made watching the second and coming away with what I felt just awful. The first movie felt innocent, fun, adventurous (and it had a good plot!), while DMC's storyline was darker in an "ick" sort of way, and washed away with the tides. But, with that, I did try to look on the bright side in terms of what I liked (scenes that were nods to the attractions, Tia Dalma's lair, and the return of an infamous captain). That made the overall impression a little easier to swallow. My rating? 3 out of 5 stars. Yo ho, turned so so, indeed.
-------------------------->^o-^<--------------------------------------
Rather melodramatically, I had turned to my friends in the theater (post DMC)
and noted that I needed to watch another movie to get my mind off of this one. Initially, I was aiming for Star Wars, but ended up home sawing logs shortly thereafter.
I did catch another movie that brought my spirits up (again). I have a good friend to thank (Kudos Mary Ann!) for a fantastic afternoon filled with good food, lots of chatter (Scotland 2007!) and plenty of saki. We ended up seeing Superman Returns (my third time, her first).
posted by Jennifer Lynn at Wednesday, July 12, 2006
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