Pirates!

I second the love for scruffy Norrington. One of the fun things about the movie is that a couple of times I thought, "This new character is fine, but I do kind of miss so-and-so from the first one." And then so-and-so would appear!

I think Rossio & Elliott may have outlined this the same way Raiders was done -- where they just thought of all their favorite movie scenes/stunts, and wrote a plot where they could do them. Or outdo them. I think it's actually more linear than the first one; maybe they figured that was only fair since there's quite a cliffhanger ending. It does barrel along, so I only realized it was about to end about 2 minutes before it did. I'll think of more later, but at the moment my favorite throwaway moment is the discussion of how "kraken" is pronounced. Oh, and the prisoners reaching through the bars for Elizabeth instead of the keys. It seems a bit more... I want to say "violent" but that's not it, because, duh. I guess in the first movie people who get killed in the battles are kind of redshirts, and they mostly just get run through and fall down dead. This one gets a little more gruesome.

My only mild disappointment was that the fishy pirates just aren't as intrinsically cool as zombie pirates were.

Bring teenage girl repellant. A bunch sat in the row behind me. I think I lasted 20 minutes before I moved to the third row to get away from them. Oh, as expected, you should stay through the credits. Or you can go out, visit the bathroom, run into a friend you haven't seen in ages, catch up on everything you've done for the past decade, and then go back to catch the end of the credits. They're long, is what I'm saying.

I saw Down in the Valley a while ago, and didn't like it. I didn't hate it like the people I was with hated it, but I didn't like it. It was interesting and whatever, but really slow and then really over the top. Like a western, apparently? Also, I couldn't get over my age-gap squick.

Lee, I went alone. Wouldn't have missed it just to go with other people. Plus, I totally want to see it again.

Oh, and there is something at the end of the credits. . . so wait 'til the bitter end.

YAY. That's what I going to do tomorrow then.

eta: or maybe I'll go see it with Hec and JZ, now that I've read my email.

I just got back from PotC. It was so much fun. My favorite scene was the threeway fight between Norrington, Jack, and Will.

This one gets a little more gruesome.

I agree. I was quite surprised. There was a little kid sitting behind me and I was a little worried he'd get frightened. He seemed okay though.

Scruffy Norrington is very hot. He's already being refered to as Scruffington. Is it wrong that I wanted a foursome between Norrington, Elizabeth, Jack, and Will? I also really wanted to giveGovernor Swann a hug.

Arrrr! You people are killing me! It doesn't open here until the 24th, and I'll be in another country then!

But after I get back, I'm totally hiring a babysitter.

Question: Did they have shout-outs to the ride like the first one?

Raq -- Yes. One's a riff on something in the first movie, and there's at least one new location that is from the ride. (There's probably more, but it's been quite a few years, so those are the ones I caught.)

There was a little kid sitting behind me and I was a little worried he'd get frightened. He seemed okay though.

Yeah, I don't think it's really gorier, just... feels less cartoony. I think it struck me when the second ball/cage of pirates falls into the chasm.

I forgot to mention the part where the cannibal pops out at Will. I knew something like that was about to happen, but yikes. It was fun to feel the whole audience jump, though.

I thought the fishy pirates ROCKED. The effects and general art direction were pretty outstanding--except, sadly, for the kraken where I felt that whole water tension thing that makes the scale differences more apparent. But I really really liked Davy's face, and the way it all heaved and moved. I didn't get as much chance to look at all of the rest of the posse, and came away with different favourites like the echidna guy from the friend I saw the movie with (he said something about a pirate whose head came out back...I have no idea... crack of some sort might have been involved). I also appreciated the decline of Bootstrap Bill.

Coolness.

Dave and I went to see PotC last night with Victor and Myainsel. We tried to get into the 9:30 showing, and couldn't get in until 11:00. It was worth the wait. I loved it. I thought that the fishy pirates were so well done and realistic looking, except for the starfish on Bootstrap Bill, which was just kind of lame. I loved how there seemed to be different stages of fishiness depending how long they had served under Davy Jones. I loved scruffy, nothing left to lose, Norrington. I loved everything about the three-way fight, including how over the top it was and Elizabeth throwing a tantrum about it and being ignored. I thought the dramatic scenes were more dramatic than the first one and that the comedic scenes were more over the top than the first one as well. I missed the lady pirate from the first film. There was clapping in our theatre when Geoffrey Rush's character appeared. Dave totally called what the after the credits scene was going to be as we were waiting for the endless credits to end.