(no subject)

[merelyn]

Okay, so I started getting the feeling months back that it was going to suck, and read nothing but bad reviews of it beforehand in EW and the Post. (On a random tangent, if either had published a positive review of the film I wouldn't have read them. For some reason I only like reading negative reviews of movies I'm invested in before I see them. If there are really good reviews for a movie, I'd rather go in and find out all the good stuff for myself. On the other hand, if it's gonna be bad, I'd rather know off the bat what I should prepare myself for. This is also why I'm an SGA spoiler whore. *cheap shot*)

That said: I checked my brain at the door. That said: I liked it. Or, at least, I was entertained. Sure the plot was a mess, and the first hour was slow, but once it got going it carried me along with it, and I laughed and gasped and clapped along with the rest of the teenagers/college kids in the movie theatre with us (it was very interesting, demographically speaking). The utterly improbably/ridiculous swordfight! The amazing CGI Kraken! Elizabeth not sucking! Also, Johnny Depp was, as usual, fabulous, and seldom uninteresting to watch.

That said: OMG YOU BASTARDS WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY FAVORITE CHARACTER????? It was like, let's ignore his whole character, make him drunk and scruffy and lost to the true meaning of the word honor. And then (mwahaha) let's put Mr. Collins from the new P&P in as a replacement Norrington character only without the whole decent person, charming smile thing Norrington had going for him. And then, you know how in the first movie you thought he was kind of a cold, stuck-up prig, but then the whole point of his character arc was that you learned that he was more than that? No, every last suspicion you ever had about him is true. He really is as evil as those people thought who got flamed back in the day by the ye old Norrington Defense League. Grr. And really, I wouldn't have minded so much if they hadn't just asked you to buy this complete 180 degree turnaround of his character right off the bat without showing the lead up or revealing it later.

Whatever. He's still got a whole movie to redeem himself. I am treating this turn of events as a hiccup. *denial* Besides it means that he can officially go on my list of pompous misguided screw-ups. Right below Percy Weasley.

ETA On Second Viewing: I'm a little more reconciled to the whole thing. Because really, Norrington doesn't act any better or worse than everyone else in the film (except Will. Oh Will.) in terms of grasping self-centered behavior- because everyone is out for themselves in this movie- but I always thought he was better. Um, that was kind of the point of his character. Did we forget the "remembering I serve others" line, ahem? Maybe though, it's part of an interesting commentary on how the New World is no longer a place for pirates, because it's this nihilistic place where nothing works out as it should and everyone acts like a pirate anyway. (Except Will. Oh Will.)

And thinking about it, I can see how maybe Norrington would get there, after losing Elizabeth, and then the hurricane and losing all his men (except for the lietenants because lalaalala that didn't happen at all), and his comission, which was kind of all he had left. I can see how maybe he'd reach a point of eff all this shit and just give up and finally give in to ever human, wallowing, petty feeling he's never allowed himself to indulge in, because being noble and a gentleman sure as hell didn't get him anywhere.

You can kind of see that in the threeway fight scene when he pushes Will over and kicks sand in his face like some bully from a Charles Atlas ad. Because you know, even in the midst of the lovely "where your heart truly lies" bit from the first film, the human, miserable part of him had to be wanting to just punch Will and make him leave his girlfriend alone, holy crap. And if you look at it this way, you can see that some part of this is rather liberating for him, even though he's all sad and broken. *hugs*

Comments

[lillianloop.livejournal.com]

Dude, Muffin-head Mr. Collins was totally unnecessary. AND I KNOW!!! I can't believe he gave him the plot device!! (Although, I must admit, when he first showed up in the bar in Tortuga, I was like, "OMG, he is going to rape kill Jack. THIS WILL BE UST FILLED AND HAWTSOME!" ... AND THEN HE WAS A DRUNK DOOFUS!! Graagh. However, the "you smell bad" line- priceless. However, tame the facial hair (ie- get rid of it) and you got one hot pirate there. Mmm. Cut me off a piece of Scruffington. (Also, Elizabeth is a ho, and bravo on him calling her on it.)

[lillianloop.livejournal.com]

Also, I am totally going to go read old school Sparrington fic right now. (Omg the implausible beach fight in fandom would have resulted in some tasty threesome.)

[merelyn.livejournal.com]

Hehe. You should link me if you re-stumble on anything good. It's been awhile.

[merelyn.livejournal.com]

Also, agreed. Elizabeth, you were back stabbing dirty hor, and I rather liked you like that, but dude: at least own up to it.

Actually, I think everyone was a backstabbing dirty horr in this one. Except for Will, bless him. (It was kind of a darker film, I thought? The first one was all about honor and what makes a good man blah blah blah, this one, not so much.)

[lillianloop.livejournal.com]

I was thinking that too! Poor Will. What a goober. We were all like "Quit making stupid promises, asshead!! Oh, that boy's dumber than a sack of hair." I suppose this is Gore Verbinski's version of the Empire Strikes Back? (Really, the movie seemed like a big angsty blooper reel. Hilarity, hilarity, hilarity, angst. Hilarity, hilarity, hilarity, angst. Hilarity, hilarity, hilarity, angst.) And really, I'm just reading Wren fics.