Journal #1

For this assignment, I chose to use Scott Weinberg's review of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. I found his review on Rotton Tomatoes. I chose to use Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End because it's one of my favorite movies and I've seen it more times that I can count. Like Weinberg, I was hesitant to see the Pirates movies. I didn't become obsessed until my friends forced me to see the second installment in theaters. After about 5 minutes into the movie, I was hooked.

Note: This review was penned by an unapologetic Pirates of the Caribbean lunatic. (I expected the first movie to STINK, and I ended up adoring the thing. I expected Part 2 to be a tired rehash, and it was anything but.) While that certainly doesn't mean I walked into the flick INTENT on giving it a good review, the simple truth is that these movies speak directly to the ravenous 12-year-old movie geek who (fortunately) still holds residence inside my soul. The flick is far from perfect, indeed it's bottom-heavy and swollen to bursting with wriggling plot threads, but damn if I didn't have a good time tagging along on this third adventure with all my old Pirates pals. Having said that, let's move on...

After reading that, I thought Weinberg and I would be on the same page. Compared to other movies, I thought that the first two Pirates movies had a lot more storylines that any I had ever seen. However, it made it more enjoyable for me. I think that each main character (Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann) each really did need their own sub-plot because all three had very critical and vital parts to each movie. These movies are known for their intense fighting scenes. But even for me, the scenes without swords were still pretty enjoyable.

As it stands: Yes, Pirates 3 has a few more plot-threads than it really needs. And yes, it's probably a bit longer (168 minutes) than it really needs to be -- but the bottom line is this: Once again, the Pirates series delivers the goods. In style and color, in character and adventure, in wit and weirdness ... this movie delivers. I'll make it even simpler: If you enjoyed Part 1 but thought Part 2 was over-plotted, overlong and over-kinetic, then you'll feel the exact same way about Part 3. As an outspoken and very geeky fan of the first two chapters, however, I was pretty much dazzled by what World's End has to offer, and I'm not just talking about the action, the effects and the mayhem. And if the flick's got just a little too much fat on the bones, oh well. A bit too much is always better than not enough, if it's me you're asking.

Personally, I disagree with his opinion of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. I know I said before that each character deserved their own plot line, which is true. However, in the third installment, I felt that every character had their own background and separate storyline and with that, it all seemed like it was too much. I couldn't stand to sit in a theater for 3 hours, no matter how great of a movie it was. The actors are all well-known mainstreamers. Johnny Depp has yet another great preformance, along with Orlando Bloom. I thought Keira Knightley was a bit lacking compared to the other two movies. The scenes and background are amazing. All the fight scenes are planned perfectly, however, the final fight scene lasts way too long in my opinion. Overall, I'd agree with Weinberg's review. He enjoyed the movie as much as I did and we shared the same viewpoints.