PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END [2007] review

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END brings a successful close to the Pirates trilogy, saving it from being just spectacle as is what the second installment brought it to. I didn’t notice the long running time at all, save for realizing the length of the final battle sequence. The length of it really draws the viewer into the action, making the viewers feel a bit as exhausted as the characters must. The pacing was excellent, virtually no scenes dragged (save maybe a little Jack’s on screen introduction).

There are many spectacular scenes in the film, which is what one goes to an action adventure film for. To feel like one is on top of the world along with the character, unstoppable. The ludicrous factor is down again after spiking in the second film. The seemingly separate agendas of every main character and how they may or may not end up in opposition or cooperation mirrors the cleverness and surprises of the first installment’s script. The dialogue is much sharper and much funnier this time around. One sequence that made me laugh in particular was when people first called for Captain Barbossa’s to be shot, then they said cut out his tongue, and finally Jack chimes in with, “shoot him and cut out his tongue and then shoot his tongue.”

Keira Knightley is feisty and more from beginning to end, which worked almost all the time. Orlando Bloom was still kind of an anchor, though he served his purposes. And Johnny Depp was allowed to let Captain Jack go on as he does but also with a purpose that grounds the insanity keeping it from just being nonsensical slapstick.

There were quite a few references to the Disney World ride of the same name. Having been on it at least 5 or more times in my life, I appreciated seeing them getting some screen time.

I found the ending to be quite satisfying and offer a bit of symmetry. And since I stay until the very end of the credits for every movie I watch, I got to see one last surprise.

CASINO ROYALE [2006] review

I was prepared to give CASINO ROYALE a glowing review and declare it one of the most bad-ass pieces of entertainment I’ve ever seen. The opening foot chase seen up cranes through walls and into an embassy was totally badass. … But then the whole film came to a screeching halt in the Casino Royale. Suddenly, it turned into a poker game, which has to be one of the most boring activities ever to somehow get popular and get televised (right up there in boredom with parades). … I was counting on the dealer to tell me who won each time because when they showed their cards I had no idea.

And they could have done a better job of choosing the first girl Bond pounds to not look so much like Eva Green, who I consider the single most beautiful woman on the planet. At first I was like, why did they make Eva look so trashy?

…The aforementioned poker game that must have gone on at least 30 minutes of film time was ludicrous. If that bleeding eye guy was so good at poker then why not just play poker full time to make a living?

…But then the real excruciating part of the movie started….the supposed romance and falling in love between Bond and Vesper. … Anyone who has seen the incredible French film, THE DREAMERS, will no she can ooze chemistry and sensuality with the right co-stars and right director. It was hard to stop myself from “HA-ing” out loud, but finally when Bond said he loved her, I let out an audible “F!”

And then some bad guy we haven’t seen all movie comes out of nowhere to take the money and the girl. … The ultimate bad guy was some old guy we saw in the very beginning, but who cares about him?

…It’s just as soon as James stopped running and jumping off stuff like a doped up gymnast that the movie came to a grinding halt. And if I ever make a movie or TV show, there will NOT be a single cell phone in it. … I guess my beloved X-Files are to blame, as I am pretty sure Mulder and Scully started the cell phone trend.

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