Lisa and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to celebrate our anniversary (since getting away to see any movie that doesn't involve a "G" rating or animation takes some doing). We were both concerned about "wasting" an adult movie on this one, since the second film was such a mess. But I'm very happy to report that part III is much, much better than the awful part II. Not as good as the first, mind you, but still a keeper.
Much of the stupid slapstick that passed for humor in the second is gone this time around, and the tone is much darker. The over-used kraken makes only one appearance, and that's as bird food washed up on a beach. Chow Yun-Fat is wasted in his little screen time. The Calypso angle is never resolved (not really) and I was very ticked that a promised mass armada battle between the pirate fleet and British warships never materialize. But the ending actually surprised me--Lisa didn't like it, but going for a bittersweet, tragic resolution gave me a measure of respect for the filmmakers.
But while I'm on it, did anyone else notice all the elements lifted from other films? There are a couple of big set pieces from Disney's The Little Mermaid that should be obvious to pretty much everyone, but there were several sequences lifted whole cloth from Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Just curious is all.
Now Playing: B.B. King & Eric Clapton Riding with the King
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