Saturday, May 21, 2011

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides


We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean IV last night. First of all, the theater was not packed. Which was weird. Most of the seats in the front of the theater were empty. Some of the seats up top were empty. It was a strange feeling for the first weekend of a movie, especially a much-anticipated movie like Pirates. It made sense though, after watching it. Pirates IV was not nearly as good as the first. Although it was better than II and III, which isn't saying much.

It started out with Jack Sparrow meeting up with a long lost friend, Angelica, played by Penelope Cruz. Don't get me wrong... I love Spanish people. I took four years of school to get a Bachelors Degree in Spanish. But... I found Penelope annoying. She's been acting in English films for years... what is it now, 15 years? She's lived in America for a long time. And yet, she still has a thick accent. This sounds rude, but one of the biggest things I learned while taking Spanish classes is that you need the accent. Get the native accent, as a show of common courtesy. And Penelope didn't, which made her lines sound like she was reading the script. It made it a bit choppy.

Anyway, the rest of the movie was your typical Pirates mold. Jack Sparrow undergoes a quest, probably for the wrong reasons. Captain Barbosa appoears and is going to be the doublecrossing villian, but ends up doing things that are for the common good of everyone. Fighting ensues between the British and the pirates (and for good measure, the Spanish are thrown into the mix). Supernatural occurances happen... like zombies who for some reason are content with not eating brains. There is a battle with mermaids (which was the coolest part of the whole movie, actually. Very awesome fight scene), and then a mermaid is captured and a priest falls in love with her (thereby filling the void of young love that Will and Elizabeth made by not being in this movie). And then Jack Sparrow does sort of the right thing in the end before turning back into a pirate.

Overall? Decent movie. Better than the last two. Had it's funny moments. Has some sort of sweet moments. But the 3D effects were brutal (way too many swords and cannons being thrust at your head in the audience). Would I watch it again? Probably on DVD when it comes out. Not in theaters.

But... Johnny Depp was amazing as always as Captain Jack Sparrow. And he truly made the movie. Yay Johnny Depp... gorgeous and talented, which is quite an unusual combination in Hollywood.

But, don't take my word for the goodness of the movie... go see it yourself. I didn't like Harry Potter either (the movies, that is, loved the books), so my opinion may not be the same as the rest of the world's. :)

Happy Saturday!

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