Judging from the reviews coming in for Pirates 2, about 60-70% of critics probably wouldn’t have liked The Empire Strikes Back if it came out today. They would have called it too long, a re-make of the first film, etc.
They’re even complaining that Dead Man’s Chest “doesn’t have an ending.” So… it’s a crime that a film paying tribute to the great serial adventures films ends like a serial adventure film? This movie is clearly a “middle” episode designed to make us count the days until the concluding episode. (Have they forgotten The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers already?)
For those who enjoy good old-fashioned pirate adventures, large-scale adventure films, formidable villains, standard-setting special effects, imaginative action scenes that are designed to surprise and delight, and MIDDLE movies that give us deliciously maddening cliffhangers… I suspect you’ll end up disagreeing with the critical majority. For this lifelong adventure film fan, this is the most satisfying big-budget blockbuster since The Lord of the Rings films.
Wayne Proctor gets it, over at zheist.
I emerged from the theatre three hours after going in, exhausted, panting for breath, holding my sides… and very gratified! Seeing the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel was so much fun I could barely walk afterward. There are some uproarious sequences that will keep you glued to the screen and waiting with anticipation for the next stunt, and you will cheer as Cap’n Jack Sparrow does his cartoony best to make it through yet another gauntlet of epic, Warner Brothers-esque peril. Seriously, this is the best cartoon movie in a long time! (At least since The Incredibles…)
But for Wayne, the highlight wasn’t Jack Sparrow:
Personally, I loved the Kraken. Ever since I was a wee lad thrilling at the Disney production of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, I have loved monster squids rising up from the fathoms and with a thousand tentacles pulling down helpless frigates, freighters and Flying Dutchmans. Even so, I was totally unprepared for just how monstrous this beastie could be: Cap’n Jack has a very memorable encounter that still has me laughing.
Wayne also has an unusual choice for his favorite character — one who barely registered in the first film, but who delivers one of the most memorably comical turns this time around: Ex-commodore Norrington, played by Jack Davenport:
My favorite was Norrington, the stiff commodore from the first movie. A scene where he is caked in mud and vomit and simply standing swaying, rum bottle in hand, is priceless. Nice to see some character evolution -or, in this case, devolution.
…we don’t just want more, we want MORE. A sequel would have to take different chances, go new places, up the ante, not be afraid of taking a darker and scarier and gloomier route, not be afraid of maybe even throwing in a bummer of a cliffhanger of an ending — Jack Sparrow frozen in carbonite? — while all the while still being uniquely funny and swashbuckling-sexy and crammed with adventure and romance and all those yummy things. Anything less than that, and it’s Jack Sparrow 2: The Quickening.
…
… the charming cast carries us through the first awkward act until, suddenly, at around the 45-minute mark, everything suddenly snaps into focus, and by God, it becomes The Empire Strikes Back. And since this is a two-and-a-half-hour movie, that means we’ve got plenty of Pirates of the Caribbean Strikes Back to go. Not that those early bits of the movie are unnecessary — they set the stage and usher us along to the good stuff, and you won’t even find yourself thinking that all that early bits should have been better, because the rest of the film is so spectacular that you will forget that you’d been squirming in your seat just a moment before.
…
Once it finds its groove Dead Man’s Chest just gets it all so damn right, bouncing back and forth between out-and-out physical humor that — Disney appropriate — makes you think of amusement-park rides, makes you think that bit in particular will actually show up as a Disney World attraction, and sly wit that you almost can’t believe they managed to sneak in….
And Cheryl Eddy (San Francisco Bay Guardian) raves,
Unlike, say, flicks based on beloved comic books, Chest has no touchstones to hit or homages to pay, other than dropping in a few references to the first film. This allows director Gore Verbinski and scripters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (like sultan-of-slick producer Jerry Bruckheimer, all back from Pearl) the freedom to toss whatever they want into their Chest, which runs almost as long as Superman Returns but is infinitely more jolly, Roger. For a big-budget studio confection, there’s actually a lot of imagination at play; Nighy’s sneering performance, coupled with the special effects used to create Davy “Fishface” Jones’s slimy visage, allows for a character who’s equal parts Phantom of the Opera and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.
I don’t know if the Empire Strikes Back comparisons hold up, Jeffrey. If memory serves, Empire was not too gladly received by critics when it was first released in 1980; that critics are showing the same kind of narrow vision now as they did then is certainly valid.
But as two significantly different films, the similarity (in my feeble mind) ends there. Empire is a rich drama accompanied by fantastic set pieces and heavy character development. Christopher Null at filmcritic.com sums the movie up best when he calls it “the Hamlet of science fiction, basically because nothing good happens to the hero in the entire story.”
Nothing from Shakespeare leaps to mind in connection to Dead Man’s Chest. Does this movie have a hero? I don’t know that any of the characters are developed enough to answer that question. The closest thing to a hero here might be Elizabeth, since she comes the closest of anyone to doing anything heroic.
A comparable sequel to me is The Matrix Reloaded. Both movies have huge, riveting action sequences, shallow characters, questionable motives on all sides (it seems like everyone in Zion just wants to rave), and pseudo-relevant themes (machine vs man and freedom vs profit).
Don’t get me wrong: Dead Man’s Chest is certainly more fun than the second Matrix movie, and it doesn’t pretend to be teaching audiences anything. Empire is not guilty of pretension either, yet of the the three, it is the only one that can truly be called a story.
“Dead Man’s Chest” has its drawbacks. But there is plenty of storytelling going on here.
You want a hero? Captain Jack struggles with his “moral compass” throughout the film, ready to sell his friends to gain an edge on his enemy. But in the end, as he runs for his life, a coward through and through, that compass keeps nudging him. He turns that little rowboat around. He comes back to give his friends a chance.
And Will Turner, who risks his life for Elizabeth, ends up on Davey Jones’s ship, where he now discovers his father enslaved to the devil. Without hesitation, he puts his life on the line to save his father and his beloved. Bloom may not be the most engaging and inspiring actor, but that’s heroic, all the same.
And Elizabeth? She’s been self-righteous from the beginning, taunting and sneering at pirates. But in the end, to ensure her own safety, she chains Jack to a sinking ship. She compromises. She’s tarnished now, and plagued with guilt. I find that to be a very intriguing twist, one that tells us her story is far from over.
Time will tell what these characters learn in the end, but I see at least three interesting character arcs going on… arcs that remind me of Han Solo’s struggle between self-preservation and sacrifice, Luke Skywalker’s struggle between hasty heroism and maturity, and Leia’s struggle with pride.
This is the stuff myths are made of. Sure, it’s dressed up in sound and fury, but there’s enough character development here to have me hooked. It’s not as masterfully crafted as “The Empire Strikes Back,” but it’s a heck of a lot closer than just about any other original adventure series going on since then.
(I disqualify The Lord of the Rings, because it was crafted as literature, rather than being written for the screen. Compared to Tolkien’s epic, all others come up short.)
I will ponder “that little rowboat” further… but to me Elizabeth is far more heroic than you make her out to be. Then again, as you so rightly point out, we know her story isn’t over. The story isn’t over for any of the characters, which fills me with anticipation for the third episode… what’s it called, “At World’s End” or somesuch? By that token, I have already begun praying that, while comparing Dead Man’s Chest to Empire Strikes Back is currently in vogue, please let us not see a comparibility third time around to Return of the Jedi. After all, small furry bears would not do well on the open seas.
Dead Man’s Chest wasn’t a bad movie, but I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t buy the premise that the East India Company would go after Davey Jones’ locker because it holds the key to ultimate power. That’s no pirate yarn. It’s more like something out of Dr. Strangelove.
And this movie was way too dark for my tastes. I saw it compared to “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” an apt comparison, I think. Let’s hope #3 puts the fun back into the series.
Of course, rumour is that MySpace will be canning that feature sometime fairly quickly, so enjoy it while you can….
My heart wells whenever Kermit sings a song. I mean in; I’m wellin’ now. Wellin’ right up to almost bein’ emotional. I might just have to hug you.
I know exactly what you mean. That really has been the “theme song to my life” in a way, even though the lyrics are rather wishy-washy in that Jim Henson way.
I feel the same way about “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday,” the song Gonzo sings by the fireside in the very same movie. Now THAT’S a song with profound lyrics. Seriously. In fact, I wrote about that song in “Through a Screen Darkly,” describing the moments when movies have suddenly leapt from entertainng to transcendant.
I’ll hug you in August at the Glen.
Oh you guys, I thought I was the only one who cried when I listened to the Muppets soundtrack! I still have it on vinyl. I remember listening to “I’m going to go back there some day” and understanding that sense of painful nostalgia even as a child. I heart my Glen brothers from another mother.
That playlist feature is so awesome (except for the annoying interface at the projectplaylist site). I’m doing it.
Thanks Jeffrey. I’ve been enjoying your music mix. Some of my old faves and some great stuff that’s new to me too.
You probably have it already, but just in case, you can find a 22M video clip here http://www.mahnahmahna.net/
My fave Innocence Mission is “Where Does the Time Go”. The answer, of course, is trying to keep up with reading your blog!