Pirates of the Caribbean-Some Sort of Mass Hysteria?
Pirates of the Caribbean is one very confusing film for my little brain to understand. Why on earth is this film so popular? Usually, I get it, I may not like a given genre or obviously a given film, but for the life of me the success of this film perplexes me to no end. It is moronic, with a weak script, its not very interesting overall, the CG is really just passable considering the budget, more on that later and yet it’s a massive hit.
Apparently most already know the story, but Pirates of the Caribbean, a film based on a Disney ride–I will try to keep my summary unusually short as I don’t feel that there is much to say about the story of itself, I mean hell this thing is based on a freakin’ Disney ride. Captain Jack Sparrow, played well by Johnny Depp, wants to get his ship back ship, there are ghost pirates, ghost ships, treasure and so on. Yeah, I know it is not much of a nuts-and-bolts review, but please don’t make me go on anything further, just let me rant shortly and bitch and moan and I will send you on your merry way.
For those of you who have read my other reviews you know there are lots of films, big budget films, I like a great deal, so I am not a reviewer who just rips up anything with a big budget. In the realm of budget lies much of my irritation. $110-$120 million dollars, that was apparently the budget, which is not evident on the screen. The final product does not reflect this enormous budget. $110-$120 million roughly buys one Star Wars, almost two of the original X-Men movie, 2 of the original Shrek, or rather comically 100 or so million dollar independent feature films. I know some industry “experts” who say I am missing all sort of finer points about budgets, blah and blah and blah. Gore Verbinski has proven that he can direct entertaining movies, with The Ring for example, so I don’t think he is a hack and he did a fine job with Pirates. The problem is the script is just so sub par, yet apparently, it took NOT 2 or 3 or even 4 chaps to write this masterpiece, but 7! Seven geniuses were needed to produce this script? Its just plain weird.
If you are into pirate movies, then its your thing. If you have a kid or two, they will like it. Apparently, most people like the film and I am sure the sequel will make even more. What can I tell you, I usually have a theory to explain the success of a given film, but with Pirates...maybe the NASCAR people also like pirates wearing make-up, go figure.
Story D (It is possible the script reads better than what is translated to the screen. I believe this might be the case due to the acting talent that was attracted and ultimately attached to the film.)
Acting B+ (Weak script but Depp and crew do a really good job.)
Visuals A-
Originality/Innovation D
Enjoyability Grade C-
Home Theater/HD Factor B+ (Much of the film will look very nice on a good home theatre.)
Overall Grade C- (The script was a killer for me on this one, but I can’t give Pirates a lower score due to good visuals and some entertaining acting performances. )
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