Pirates of the Caribbean franchise

I dunno what it is about Jack Sparrow but I love watching him. As long as they give him suitably funny lines I'm in. And Penelope Cruz might provide some interesting fireworks; the one thing the first three movies didn't have was a credible love interest for Jack.

I wasn't going to give this a shot after the confused mess that was At World's End, but then when I watched the trailer and found out that the film was going to be TOTALLY AWESOME i decided to give it another shot

edited 15th Dec '10 8:15:59 AM by Roundy210

^^^ I don't know, this IS Captain Jack Sparrow we're talking about. The man has so many ranks in Speech that he can talk his way out of a box. He looked Davy Jones dead in the eye and was able to buy more time from him by sheer virtue of his conversational skills.

The man has a tendency to win any situation the moment he opens his mouth, despite everyone already knowing he's going to try and do that.

edited 15th Dec '10 8:27:02 AM by TobiasDrake

You're all missing a very salient point: Ianfrikkin'Mcshane as Blackbeard! That alone would sell me.

I'm with you on that one. Ian McShane is just so good as a charismatic (and sometimes downright friendly) villain who at the same time seems incredibly dangerous despite never (at first) overtly demonstrating how dangerous he is.

I'm all for it. They messed around with the Black Pearl and its plot for far too long, but this looks fresh.

I'm optimistic. Moar Jack Sparrow, Moar Barbossa, no more 'HAY GUIZE LET'S DRAG OUT THE SAEM PLOOT FOR 3 MOVIES LAWL', no more Will and Elizabeth, and overall it looks like it's going back to the elements that made the first one so memorable. I'm hoping for at least Dead Man's Chest (had it's moments and overall an alright film) in terms of quality.

But hell, I'd see this movie just for more hot Jack action.

Does this take place after At World's End? If it does, the title "At World's End" doesn't have as much meaning.

edited 18th Dec '10 1:50:46 PM by EgregiousEric

Not really, since at least part of At World's End's title involved the characters literally sailing past the end of the world to save Jack's soul. And as far as I know, On Stranger Tides does take place later (note Barbossa's pegleg in the trailer, when he had two normal legs before- obviously, something's happened to him since).

...also, there's the fact that At World's End ends with Jack Sparrow revealing a map to the fountain of youth.

edited 18th Dec '10 7:32:50 PM by LizardBite

I stand at cautiously optimistic. I mean, Shrek 4 was, I hear, better than Shrek 3, so why can't these guys pull the same thing off?

Spiderman was just irreversibly horrible though.

I thought Shrek Forever After was worse (and this is coming from someone who liked Shrek the Third and didn't see any issues with it). The plot wasn't even advanced (and Arthur got Brother Chucked), the villain was weak (What happened to the Farquuad's ghost rumors?) and whatever was introduced felt like a bad attempt to reboot the series (and did Jon Hamm and Craig Robinson really need the money that bad?). And despite the claims that it's the last film, you can tell that they will do a fifth one.

Hoping it's good. I enjoyed the whole series and argue they're just fun.

Blackbeard reaches the Fountain of Youth in some way, allowing a magical in-universe explanation of his famous Rasputinian Death.

Maybe he just drinks from the fountain too much and reverts back into a baby in a womb?

edited 19th Dec '10 2:00:33 AM by Legionnaire

@Buscemi: To many, Arthur was seen as a scrappy, so the brother chucking was probably more of an Author's Saving Throw.

also, there's the fact that At World's End ends with Jack Sparrow revealing a map to the fountain of youth.

Ah. I only saw the first hour - bad DVD.

On a semi-related note, I'm kinda tired of hearing the Pirates of the Carribean theme in my nearest Games Workshop store. For some reason it's on the store's music playlist, and while a good song, it doesn't fit in with all the raw brutality of 40k.

One can't yell "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!" while the POTC theme plays; just ends up making one look foolish.

I'm having trouble thinking of a situation where shouting that would NOT look foolish. ;)

Presumably in a situation where everyone is shouting it. At least then you wouldn't look individually foolish.

Rum for the Rum God!

I'm cautiously optimistic for this. After the needlessly convoluted mess of AWE, a "back to basics" approach is just what this franchise needed.

I think the biggest mistake with the sequels was trying to fit this material into a massive continuity-obsessed epic when it didn't need to be one. The trailer almost feels like the real sequel to TCOFTBP—just another fun, breezy, no-frills stand-alone adventure with Sparrow, Barbossa and Co., and that's just the way I want it.

The biggest mistake of the sequels was trying to cram more of Will and Elizabeth where it ought not to be. Really, look at Elizabeth's character arc through the second and third movie. It begins to feel like her life's being moved for her, and she's just being dragged along for the ride.

"You're marrying Will." "That's what I've always want—" "No, wait, now you're a prisoner." "Oh. That sucks." "Now you're a pirate!" "Well, that's not so unusual—" "You killed Jack Sparrow!" "I did what now?" "I THINK YOU'RE GOD!" "Hold on just a minute—" "YOU ARE KING OF ALL PIRATES!!! ALL HAIL THE KING!!!" "HOW THE BLOODY HELL DID THAT HAPPEN?!" "Swordfight wedding?" "SURE, WHY NOT! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! WHY NOT MAKE WILL THE GRIM REAPER TOO, WHILE YOU'RE AT IT! THIS SHIT IS BANANAS!!!"

edited 29th Dec '10 2:24:54 PM by TobiasDrake

Well, Jack was always a secondary character to Will and Elizabeth, you know. He is one hell of an Ensemble Dark Horse but the film was always about them.

Maybe though the above reason is the reason why we won't be getting them in the sequel, although the introduction of Blackbeard? Interesting. And Ian Mcshane (Who I remember now was Tai Lung in Kung-fu Panda) as him? Sounds fun.

I hope this crosses over into One Piece now with the introduction of 'Blackbeard'. I know Blackbeard was a real life pirate, but it's rare to see him in anything.

Not enough focus is on him.

Will and Elizabeth's story is over. Either they'll keep meeting every ten years or he's been released from his service on the Flying Dutchman and they'll live out their lives together. (I'm not really clear on the mythology used in the films.)

But Captain Jack is an adventurer — he'll never stop doing interesting stuff until he dies. So it makes sense to concentrate on him (and the other pirate side characters) from here on out.

Will and Elizabeth's story is over. Either they'll keep meeting every ten years or he's been released from his service on the Flying Dutchman and they'll live out their lives together. (I'm not really clear on the mythology used in the films.)

Or she'll get a boat.

That ending is trying to be sadder than it actually is.

edited 29th Dec '10 2:52:39 PM by TobiasDrake