Black & Gold by Alia Atreides
Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]

Parley Info

New Members:
Quote of the Month:
Popular Threads:
Join the Crew!
Rules & Guidelines
Navigating Parley
FAQ
Introductions

Latest News:
Celebrating 3 Years!
Joinable Groups
"Mother's love, Jack! You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleeping. It's bad luck."

- Joshamee Gibbs, Curse of the Black Pearl

PotC 4 Pics
Pirates of the Caribbean 4
Johnny Depp
Joe Pancake
What's the Last Movie You Saw?
The Person Below Me Game
Ask a Pirate
Our Button:

Affiliates:
Avast, ye maties! We welcome you to Parley with us!

Currently, you be a guest on our ship. This means you can only see certain room on board our ship. If you join our crew, you'll be able to access crewmember-only sections, and use many crew-only features such as customizing yer profile, sending personal messages by messenger pigeon, and votin' in polls. Joinin' us is quick, free, and as painless as it can get!


Make yer mark here!


If ye be already a crew member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Locked Topic
Was I the only one totally disappointed by DMC?; I mean, Rumrunner or not...
Topic Started: Jul 8 2006, 05:09 AM (1,092 Views)
alldevilgirl
Unregistered

I feared it would happen. I knew it would happen. I hoped that against all odds it wouldn't happen. But guess what...

It happened.
I was totally and wholly disappointed with DMC. I tried to convince myself that Johnny Depp wouldn't sell out - that he would read the script and see some new and unique material that would inspire him to make a sequel... 2 sequels, actually. But no. It's like they went into my head, found out what I would detest the most in a sequel, and made it into POTC:DMC.

Financially, they played it well - it's going to reap in huge profits. But as a movie, there was so much left to be desired. The movie had half as many laughs as its predecessor... the other half seemed to either be boring banter, fights that utilized as many special effects as possible (I guess regular undead pirates weren't exactly difficult to do, so they upped the ante with some fish-like undead pirates), and some annoying soap-opera moments full of close-up shots and dewy eyes. As for the "comedy" - someone find me one joke that wasn't an exact replica of something from POTC. The rum jokes, the dog with the keys, the "you will remember this as the day you almost... Captain Jack Sparrow," hitting Will on the head with a paddle, something or other about Elizabeth's dress, fainting, getting slapped by the strumpets from Tortuga, going back to Tortuga, the apple, fighting on a moving object, blah blah blah blah blah. It was like a bad remake of POTC. It was like Cruel Intentions 2... same movie, just different placements of lines and events. Ok fine, not as bad as CI2... but close.

Then there was the music... I love the soundtrack, but I felt like it didn't fit in at all with what the characters were doing. The music they used for the ship battles in POTC was now accomodated to CJS running away. A lot.

But the worst thing (if there can be something worse than just rehashing a bunch of jokes which were hilarious when they were first written, but now just redundant in their new setting) was how shallow and different the characters seemed. CJS lost some of his charm for me, something I thought could never happen. Instead of being wily and a dichotomy and clever he just kept running away and happening upon things instead of making them happen. Will is all of a sudden the one taking control in his fancy clothes and Norrie went from slightly annoying but with the potential for good to kind of an @ss (even though he was extremely good-looking in this movie). And Elizabeth. Don't even get me started on that little... ugh. Just. No. In all, the essence of the characters were lost, and were it not for POTC, I would have probably hated all of them the way they were going on in DMC.

Although the movie had its moments, rare as they were for me (decidedly, Barbossa coming back at the end was my favorite moment), it lost most of its magic. I was bored and confused, and waiting for some new material to come up. Quotability factor? Low. Charm factor? Low. Unique factor? Well... you get the point.

I miss POTC. And I'm sad that they decided to make a sequel because, after all, it's a known fact you can't best a movie that solid to begin with.

Anyone else feel the same?
Goto Top
 
KrissXed
Unregistered

I really really really hate to say this...

But I'm totally with you. I was so dissapointed. What WAS funny though, was that there were parts of the movie where I was the only one laughing because they were jokes that you will only understand after having seen the first one a gazillion times. Like the Goat being shoved at Norrington in Tortuga... that was priceless... hahaha...

But yeah. I second ADG...
Goto Top
 
lor524
Member Avatar
Wretch
Yeah...I think I'm with you.

We went to the 10am showing this morning and I...kept waiting for the story to start. There was so much contrived stuff that didn't move the story forward. All the rolling objects...what was up with that?

We've lived with these characters for three years, so we feel we know them...yet who are these people on screen? Depp took Sparrow from an enigma to a buffoon. Falling down the stairs? Please...that was painful to watch. That isn't Sparrow, that's a clown. Will, James, and Jack wouldn't have had a three-way fight like that. It's totally out-of-character. Why are Pintell and Ragetti, who appeared to hate Jack in the first movie, suddenly all soppy and willing to sail to the ends of the earth to rescue him at the end of this one? Of all the characters, Liz is the one who is most like herself.

And, too, I'm disappointed that this movie is not a complete, self-contained story. It's like the second Star Wars movie.

There are some cute moments that echo back to the first film, but that's all they are. Cute moments.

But..... http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/?page=open&p=.htm DMC's opening day beat Revenge of the Sith's opening day by $5 million.

:palm:
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
ID4EVER
Member Avatar
Rogue
Lor, by second Star Wars movie, do you mean The Empire Strikes Back or Attack of the Clones?
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
lor524
Member Avatar
Wretch
Hey Will. I mean Empire Strikes Back...the second Star Wars movie ever made. I can see where it's confusing, since the time period covered in the second three movies take place before the first three. But I'm referring, especially, to how Han Solo is taken off, frozen, and the story is left unresolved.
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
Venus
Unregistered

Quote:
 
Depp took Sparrow from an enigma to a buffoon. Falling down the stairs? Please...that was painful to watch. That isn't Sparrow, that's a clown

Keep in mind, he was fearing for his life and soul through the whole thing. He was acting very much like his very cool self until the whole Black Spot thing. You have to keep the circumstances in mind when referring to how the characters are acting.

I was NOT disappointed. I found it extremely entertaining. The characters have grown & gotten deeper & more interesting. And the humor was non-stop for me.
Goto Top
 
ID4EVER
Member Avatar
Rogue
I can see where you are coming from, but I wasn't disappointed.

My mom, the other big POTC fan in the family, was DEEPLY disappointed though.
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
AlvildaBonneyOMalley
Member Avatar
Smuggler
Also some cast and crew were saying that DMC is suppose to be darker than the first one,which would cause them to act differently.
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
alldevilgirl
Unregistered

Everyone keeps giving excuses for why this movie was... disappointing... reasons that made this movie "different" from the other one - but I'm not upset because it's darker, nor am I not taking this movie for what it is. I'm not opposed to going in a darker direction - I thought the Harry Potter books got better and better as they moved further and further away from the children's book it first was. And I don't expect this movie to have some sort of deep message - I understand this is a summer blockbuster, but for me, it didn't do its job. And the problem was that it wasn't different... at least not in the way it should have been.
Like Lor said - I kept waiting for the story to start. I yawned... yawned! I've watched POTC countless times, and never once have I yawned. I was checking my watch in the theater to see how much longer I had... because I wanted it to end, not continue.
Of course people are going to act differently in certain circumstances, but that doesn't change who they are. Jack was up against Barbossa and an entire crew of undead pirates who hated him and deserted him on a forsaken spit of land. But he desired the Pearl... and he went to any lengths to get it. But in this movie - he was a caricature of a character who was already so over-the-top - but who made sense. Who seemed like the worst pirate you'd ever seen, but who really was cunning and knew exactly what he was doing. And who, even though he used people as a means to his own selfish ends, he never abandoned them in the end. In this movie he not only seems completely incompetent and like he's never faced any sort of trial before, but he's completely self-centered. He made no attempt to get Will back... he was willing to leave him there, along with 99 other souls in exchange for his own. When he left Will with Barbossa, his plan all along was to help Will ultimately escape. In this movie, had Bootstrap not saved Will, he'd be condemned to an eternity on Davy Jones' ship. It was that side of Jack that was always so endearing... that sneakiness and that underlying side of him that showed he cared. As for Elizabeth, I felt like she changed too - she was usually honorable, she fought for Will and she fought for Jack, even though it may have cost her everything. Here she seduces him and chains him to a ship to die? Whereas the flirtation in the first movie was frivilous and fun, in this movie it looked as if it were turning into something serious.
And the laughs? It's like each rehashed joke was a nod to the first movie... but there's no reason for it! We've all seen POTC hundreds of times, we know the jokes, so why continue to bring them all back again? It's pointless - it's like they had absolutely nothing new to say. We get it... the rum's always gone, yes, Elizabeth burns the rum so hide it from her, oh look Bootstrap has some rum. Great. It's redundant, and it's no longer funny because it's not unique. I just... ugh. I didn't like it. And I wish, I really wish I did.
Goto Top
 
will_k_williams
Member Avatar
Miscreant
I'm the opposite, despite its many, many flaws I did enjoy this film. It could and should have been much better. I don't think they did enough to make it different from the first film. I know it's nice to have all the cast back together again but couldn't it have been a better film if they'd gone in a different direction entirely.

Getting Jack, Will and Elizabeth in the same place at the same time took up too much time. The entire cannibal island chapter should have been cut. The in jokes were too many and too obvious (apart from the green bananas of Tortuga, I liked that) and the slapstick element was just not funny.

I know they were taking the characters in a different direction but I think that they should have checked to make sure they were still using the same characters. I know I mentioned this before but I realised how much quicker than I originally thought happened the destruction of Norrington.

I believe DMC is supposed to take place a year after COTBP, in that time Jack and the Black Pearl escape and Norrington enters pursuit. Norrington chases them around the Caribbean for a bit (during which time the Isla de Muerta sinks without a trace) then across the Atlantic. Now, even optimistically, that's about 3 months. After going through a hurricane Norrington made his way back to the Caribbean either in a severely damaged and undermanned ship or on board another vessel, either way this would take more time. He then goes to Port Royal and resigns his commission and makes his way to Tortuga. That's the best part of six months gone. Then six months from gentleman to derelict? He still would have had some money, could have set himself up in Port Royal as a merchant sailor but no, bitter, alcoholic hobo was the way to go!

I liked this film, it was fun but they should have made it a completely different film, losing a couple of characters and not relying on recurring jokes and plot devices from COTBP as the basis of this film.

One last shot, the lack of any real ending to the piece was deeply annoying and whilst I know it's only the first half of the story this is not Lord Of The Rings, They at least covered what was in each volume of the book in the corresponding film. I don't like paying full price to see half a film, make the film longer or give it at least some resolution. Every thread has been left open, this is fine on television but is unacceptable when charging £6.80 per person to view it.

Again, I liked the film.

Will
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
Choccie
Member Avatar
Smuggler
I did like it. And it kind of grew on me as well- now, looking back, I think it was better than I thought it was walking out the cinema (when I still thought it was great). It didn't live up to COTBP, but I wasn't expecting it to- the first one was a unique masterpiece. I don't think it could ever be bested. One thing which I didn't like so much, however, was that I thought Jack didn't seem to have as much screentime, or maybe it just wasn't noticible enough because there wasn't so much of the Jack we know and loved. After all he has become a hunted man, he did seem slightly unhinged to me :lol: (well more than usual, anyway!). That may seem like an excuse for the film, I'm not sure, but it does seem to be the reason to me.

There was something else...Okay this isn't it, but also, I think that for the second in a trilogy, it was pretty damn good. They always seem to be fillers for me, and I never enjoy them as much- they're just the space between the beginning and the end. But I liked this one, even though everything seems to have been left open.

Ah yes! That was my point!- I wasn't sure about the way that some of the jokes were rejurgatated, but thinking about it now, I can see how it works. If Jack, when he has got out of some situation, always tries his "You will almost remember this as the day..." line, then it serves him right for getting interrupted for be so cocky. :lol: And there were some new jokes- Jack running along the beach, the whole kebab thing, etc, and he did have some more of his little Jackisms- for example "My other hand's as good as ever, just so you know" (I hope that's what he said). I loved that line, made me chuckle.

Anyway, I can see where you're coming form, I guess. As I hope you could see where I'm coming from. But anyway, I think I've decided this film is like the marmite saying (hope you guys know what that is! Although it's mainly an English thing, I think...)- you either love it, or you hate it! :lol:
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
will_k_williams
Member Avatar
Miscreant
The kebab thing just wasn't funny to me, it was yet another way of saying 'look how stupid and lucky Jack is'. The only funny part of that entire escape was when he came out of the shack. From 'Oh bugger' to seasoning. The rest of it was just too daft for words.

As for being the second film of a trilogy, that's not a good enough reason. They should be making individual films that have their own self-contained plots but fit into an overall whole, this gave us half of a plot now split across two films. Don't charge the audience for half a film.

The other thing is I think I've just pinpointed the reason I laughed in one particular scene and no one else did. During the first visit to Tia Dalma's cabin when Jack shows the black spot I could have sworn he said:

'my eyesight's as good as ever just so you know.'

Now it's probably my notoriously perverted imagination but combined with the hairs on the palm of his hand I found that very funny. I would normally just excuse that as my poor hearing but I have seen the film 3 times and always heard it the same way.

Will
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
Choccie
Member Avatar
Smuggler
Ah, so it's EYESIGHT... Not the other hand? Right... :lol:
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
alldevilgirl
Unregistered

See for me, thinking about DMC in retrospect, coupled with thinking about COTBP at the same time, just makes me realize how bad it really was. There was so much brilliance in the original - so many great lines for Jack, apart from the ones that are mentioned (like what the Pearl really is, Elizabeth is, in fact, a woman, etc.), just moments like him trying to figure out the word Parley, his moustache-twisting on the island, his all-knowing smirks...
This movie was really just a way to profit off of the surprise success of its predecessor. Leaving the story open-ended was a way to ensure similar success for the 3rd and last (hopefully) movie. They didn't do it because they had more to say, something different to say. All they could do, then, was twist the characters into some mangled version of themselves, and supply them with the same jokes because the best original thing they could come up with was making Jack into a Jackebob.
And frankly, I'm just :confused:

Oh, as a side note. The eyesight comment was pretty funny, but that's probably because it's something that JD adlibbed, something which usually creates some of Jack's better moments.
Goto Top
 
Brookworm
Member Avatar
Wretch
I can see both sides of this discussion, and I am still processing my own thoughts on the matter. What I can say right now is this...I love both films the way I would love two people...I can't say which I like better because they are different. It's like choosing between Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. I like both but for different reasons.

In DMC, I adore Will's character arc, his development as a man. I also like Norrie's fall from honor. I think both actors did a marvelous job. I was disappointed in the fact that CJS isn't the god we know from the COTBP, but honestly I still like him so much that I can overlook it. The final scene with him is just...divine.

Lizzie's character wasn't as grand as the others, in fact I would rather have seen her with less confidence, to offset her piratism.

The new characters absolutley blew me away. Davy Jones is incredible, I love that squid face. Tia Dalma...her accent is so tantalizing, as is her demeanor. Bootstrap was perfect as a father and prisoner. Cutler Beckett...well not so much as the rest but he'll do. He's rather short, isn't he?

I'd love to talk to the actors and see how they felt about this movie as opposed to the first.

That's my present thoughts on the film. I can honestly say that it satisfied me the nite I saw it. After reading many, many opinions I think mine changed. The way I view a film is how I feel after the end, and the ending was so good that I sat in the theater and just soaked in the feeling. I'm ready for it to come out on DVD.
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Old Threads · Next Topic »
Locked Topic



Layouts designed for compatibility with Mozilla Firefox.