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Guess what I just saw.... Pirates of the Caribbean!!
What a fabulous movie. It's not perfect, of course, but it was wholly entertaining, well-made, exciting, and way funnier than I expected. Great dialogue.
First of all, this movie was All.About.Depp. Johnny Depp ruled this movie. Orlando Bloom did his part-- he was gorgeous and in-character and good with his sword-- but Johnny Depp just stole each scene, and relished in his thievery. His Jack Sparrow is a wonderful character: shallow, noble, smart, stupid, shameless, wiley, but not without a sense of fairness. He somehow manages to be both duplicitous and profoundly loyal at the same time. Above all, he's a great pirate. Slightly mad perhaps, but a great pirate. And he's really, really fun to watch. He never tired of hearing himself talk, and I never got tired of him talking. I especially loved his constant irritation when people forgot the "captain."
Orlando Bloom's character, Will, is quite different--- he has some of Jack's flair, but for the most part is the total straight man. Or at least, desperately tries to be. So it seems like he might simply disappear into the deck next to the flamboyant and lavishly loud Sparrow, but surprisingly he manages to hold his own. Johnny Depp steals the scenes, but Orlando just has to open those big fawn-brown eyes and clench his jaw and suddenly I'm in his camp again. He didn't, also surprisingly, remind me of Legolas at all. I can't think of who he reminded me of, but it wasn't Legolas. And that's a neat trick which says his acting was, if not at Depp's level, certainly decent enough that I believed his character.
I loved Sparrow's entrance scene, getting to the dock. I won't spoil it for others, but you know what I'm talking about. He stands tall, the pirate flag waves with the rising music, and then... ::chuckle::
I loved the ways the song was incorporated, especially the drunken/fire scene. That was great. Speaking of, I liked the girl here. She was very pretty, and never annoyed me once as a damsel in distress. She was entertaining too.
I found the fight scenes, especially the first in the smithery, to be beautifully choreographed. Very clever. More entertaining to me than the fights in Mask of Zorro, which until now had been my previous favorite popcorn movie of sword-fighting nature.
Thinking about it, there were several scenes they couyld have cut, and made the movie shorter. And yet, I'm glad they didn't. Because they'd have taken out all the fun of it. Some of the extraneous scenes were the really funny ones, that made you love the characters. I can't wait to see what they put on the DVD.
Watching this movie, I looked at Orlando Bloom and I thought, "Movie making gold." That smile, those pretty eyes, that earnest-sincere look, that nice set of shoulders... ladies, we have a winner and he's going to be a winner for quite a while. Lord of the Rings introduced him (and probably gave him enough money to be picky about his projects), and it's movies like this that are getting his permanent recognition. Johnny Depp already is a star, and probably did this movie for fun. And he did look like he was having it.
( spoilery commentary on a few things )
This movie was cute. This movie was funny. This movie was witty and clever and visually spectacular. This movie was filled with hot guys and hot girls and dead monkey bones. Go see this movie.
What a fabulous movie. It's not perfect, of course, but it was wholly entertaining, well-made, exciting, and way funnier than I expected. Great dialogue.
First of all, this movie was All.About.Depp. Johnny Depp ruled this movie. Orlando Bloom did his part-- he was gorgeous and in-character and good with his sword-- but Johnny Depp just stole each scene, and relished in his thievery. His Jack Sparrow is a wonderful character: shallow, noble, smart, stupid, shameless, wiley, but not without a sense of fairness. He somehow manages to be both duplicitous and profoundly loyal at the same time. Above all, he's a great pirate. Slightly mad perhaps, but a great pirate. And he's really, really fun to watch. He never tired of hearing himself talk, and I never got tired of him talking. I especially loved his constant irritation when people forgot the "captain."
Orlando Bloom's character, Will, is quite different--- he has some of Jack's flair, but for the most part is the total straight man. Or at least, desperately tries to be. So it seems like he might simply disappear into the deck next to the flamboyant and lavishly loud Sparrow, but surprisingly he manages to hold his own. Johnny Depp steals the scenes, but Orlando just has to open those big fawn-brown eyes and clench his jaw and suddenly I'm in his camp again. He didn't, also surprisingly, remind me of Legolas at all. I can't think of who he reminded me of, but it wasn't Legolas. And that's a neat trick which says his acting was, if not at Depp's level, certainly decent enough that I believed his character.
I loved Sparrow's entrance scene, getting to the dock. I won't spoil it for others, but you know what I'm talking about. He stands tall, the pirate flag waves with the rising music, and then... ::chuckle::
I loved the ways the song was incorporated, especially the drunken/fire scene. That was great. Speaking of, I liked the girl here. She was very pretty, and never annoyed me once as a damsel in distress. She was entertaining too.
I found the fight scenes, especially the first in the smithery, to be beautifully choreographed. Very clever. More entertaining to me than the fights in Mask of Zorro, which until now had been my previous favorite popcorn movie of sword-fighting nature.
Thinking about it, there were several scenes they couyld have cut, and made the movie shorter. And yet, I'm glad they didn't. Because they'd have taken out all the fun of it. Some of the extraneous scenes were the really funny ones, that made you love the characters. I can't wait to see what they put on the DVD.
Watching this movie, I looked at Orlando Bloom and I thought, "Movie making gold." That smile, those pretty eyes, that earnest-sincere look, that nice set of shoulders... ladies, we have a winner and he's going to be a winner for quite a while. Lord of the Rings introduced him (and probably gave him enough money to be picky about his projects), and it's movies like this that are getting his permanent recognition. Johnny Depp already is a star, and probably did this movie for fun. And he did look like he was having it.
( spoilery commentary on a few things )
This movie was cute. This movie was funny. This movie was witty and clever and visually spectacular. This movie was filled with hot guys and hot girls and dead monkey bones. Go see this movie.
