"This is a jar of dirt."
Sometimes conventional wisdom is correct and sequels are a bit rubbish. This isn't the worst film ever made (that would be There's Something About Mary), but it's a bit pants.
It's too damn long, for a start. But this film, unlike the last, is utterly devoid of charm, relying on special effects and spectacle at the expense of charismatic characters or a decently structured script. The previous film had all of these faults to an extent, but this time they are all much worse. So much so, in fact, that even Johnny Depp can't save the film.
So, is there anything interesting to say about a film that offers very little but the worst of Jerry Bruckheimer bangs and noises? I suppose the vaguely racist scenes with the tribe on Tortuga are slightly entertaining. And we have a mythology fleshed out for Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman, albeit one with very little basis in actual folklore. At least the kraken scenes look good.
But nothing can save this film; even Jack's death is muted in its impact due to the general rubbishness. Worse still, the film ends by threatening a sequel. God help us...
I don't what your thoughts are on the later films but man, they really should have just left it at three. The fifth at least doesn't feel quite so lifeless as the woeful fourth film - but man, the spark is just gone, isn't it? In DMC and AWE, I feel like everybody's heart is still in it, the performances are lively, the characters are memorable, the action is creative and grandiose and the stakes feel real.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the fifth film, I think it is by far Depp's worst go-round in the series. I'm not sure if it's his performance or actually the way the character was pitched this time around (maybe they were actively going for him being sort of washed-up and past his prime?). But man, Jack Sparrow is just sad to watch in the fifth film. He was always a bit off-kilter but in this one he just feels like a bumbling incompetent loser. And drunk. I mean, I know he's always a bit drunk, but man, he seemed absolutely sloshed for the entire duration of the film. In the past ones, even in OST, you always got the sense that beneath that layer of rum, he was sharp, smart, on top of things, always trying to work an angle or manipulate things to his advantage or improvise his way out of a sticky spot at a moment's notice. I get none of that out of him by film 5, and as someone for whom Jack Sparrow was legitimately one of my silver screen heroes growing up, it's honestly kind of depressing to see him so off his game there.