Pirates of the Carribean - Part 3

[thalia_seawood]

I watched the third part of POTC today. I hadn't been keen on going after reading what fate would befall my favorite character so it's due to my friends that I watched the movie at all.

Watching it was a weird experience. There were sequences which I found brilliant (Jack experiencing Davy Jones' locker) and visually stunning (the journey to the underworld and the return from it - oh, and the map was brilliant, too), yet most of the time the movie didn't draw me in at all and I felt like a slightly bored observer.


I loved part 1, was intrigued by the imagery of part 2 and rather bored by part 3. And that's such a shame, because there were all these interesting characters living in a world were realism and fantasy merged seemlessly.

IMO, part 3 simply didn't deliver. I found the plot overly complicated - part 2 had the same problem - and worst of all, very often did not get the characters' motivations.
E.g. Jack's most important goal used to be the Black Pearl, yet in part 3, he does not seem all that interested in her, instead he sets himself the new goal to gain immortality. Now you can make the point that you lose interest in things once you have obtained them, but this point is never made. It's as if Jack had simply forgotten his love for the Black Pearl.

Funnily enough, I found Barbossa the most fascinating character this time around and I hadn't liked him before at all.

Due to Jack's odd motivation, I found myself not caring for him. I didn't strongly dislike him, but neither would I have fallen in love with his character if this had been the first movie.

Elizabeth gets quite a character arc, yet somehow I rarely was drawn in by it. I don't know why, because I, in general, love sassy women characters and had come to understand her actions in part 2. Most of the time, I just did not feel the love between Elizabeth and Will. One exception to this, was their wedding scene - one of the scenes which I loved, because they don't really need anyone to perform the ceremony for them. Also how the fight is interwoven with their marriage is wonderful.

Norrington is simply wasted in this movie.
I'm used to my favorite characters dying; if there death is not pointless, I grieve, but I also accept it.
In Norrington's case, however... Sheesh, this character had so much potential and he just gets killed off?! They didn't even give him any worthwhile fights. (If he had at least taken down Mercer or Cutler Beckett...)
I'm glad that he got a final scene with Elizabeth. I'm also pleased that she wanted him to come along, that called him James and was ultimately distressed by his death.
Norrington apologizing to Elizabeth, is extremely ironic. Considering how amoral all the other characters are - constantly tricking/betrayingone another - Norrington's actions are relatively harmless. Yes, he stole Davy Jones' heart and brought it to Beckett - but he even told Jack and Will that this was what he intended to do. So to me he's the character that has done the least and gets punished the most.
Well, there's fanfiction. Thank heavens, it's quite easy to resurrect characters in POTC. :-)

I also grieve for governor Swann, although at least his death had the side affect of forcing Elizabeth to become even more independent.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I, by contrast loved the third movie (see here as to why), and Norrington's death made sense to me, but then, eye of the beholder and all that.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I'm very happy that you loved the last POTC movie. At the moment, I'm actively seeking out positive reviews of the movie in the hope that it will click for me as well. (I remember not liking Star Wars - Phantom Menace at all at first. Here reading why other people liked it made me gradually enjoy it too. By now, I see it as a vital piece of the Star Wars movies.)

It's just... after Norrington's death, the movie paled for me. That he dies, I can understand. I just couldn't get over it that his death happens so soon in the movie, that he has hardly any scenes - and why the heck, does he not fight but yet run through so easily? Why does he not grab the rope? He has previously been portrayed as an active and ressourceful character and I have a hard time of accepting him as so passive. (Yes, one can make the point that he's depressed, but still...)
Picture Elizabeth getting killed after having 10 lines and you'll know what I felt like. :-) I was constantly looking for Norrington, even when I knew he was dead.

Norrington was not only my favorite character in the POTC series, he is one my favorite characters ever. Not going to list all my reasons for loving him so much or this comment would be really long. :-)

So: Yay for resurrection fic! I've checked out the recently written fanfiction and many stories bring back Norrington.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, I get the beloved character problem, believe me. I so have issues about one series finale of one show and one entire season of another show because of that. And I do like Norrington, so I'm happy about resurrection fic - and truly, in this fandom, resurrection in various ways is canon! - as well; it's just that I never loved him, and thus did not have that emotional problem with his early death.

[berne.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed AWE, and I think that the film has still made room for some Norrington development. the_dala, for instance, wrote a fic recently where Norrington becomes part of Will's crew on The Flying Dutchman; I love that idea. I don't love that he wasn't mentioned at all after his death, but I'm hoping there'll be some deleted scenes on the DVD tackling that. I liked that Norrington freed Elizabeth which, in a round about way, saved all the pirate lords and their crews. I also liked that he stabbed Davy Jones through the chest before dying. It didn't kill him, of course, but it says a lot about his character when that was what he did with his last moments.

However, I would have loved some Jack/Norrington interaction. They play off each other so well!

And yeah, visually stunning just about covers it. I think I sat agape for the whole three hours. *g*