So beautiful! Why are the critics picking on it?!?! Rotten Tomatoes has it at 35% which is the lowest Pixar rating since the first Cars (74%). It’s the characters from the first Cars playing super spies! What’s not to love?!?
Amazing!!!! It answers almost every single question that has arisen about Jack Sparrow since discovering his delightful character in the first film. It’s practically a complete back story, but does so with a gripping narrative and a story that is as lush and vibrant as any locale we’ve seen Jack visit in his four films.
Also makes me want to pick up the junior novels that delve into Jack’s childhood to see what other gems are out there to glean about Jack Sparrow.
I also want to pick up A. C. Crispin’s other novels (she does Han Solo’s backstory!!!).
Amazing! Also a sad but amusing commentary is that the moment the credits started rolling, I turned to Laura and said – “OK I’m ready for the 5th one now!” I guess it’s just a mark of how fun, engaging and exciting these piratical tales are. Plus I can’t wait to see what Jack does next…
The Disney logo is super cool! Once again loving that with major films releases they do funky/cool things to the normal intro – although I think TRON:Legacy still holds the record as the coolest logo modification, this was still very pretty.
I miss Pintel and Raghetti (as well as Murtogg and Mullroy), but with a cadre of new characters to enjoy, you don’t miss them that much.
Laura would like to know for certain what happens to Phillip and Serena at the end and I admit I am curious as well.
Ian McShane is INCREDIBLE as Edward “Blackbeard” Teach (on a side note, I love that everybody calls Blackbeard by his real name…something of a pirates trivia factoid for people to learn as they watch the movie?).
Penélope Cruz is amazingly fun as Jack’s erstwhile love interest.
They’ve got a skeleton captain in a bed!!! Just like in the ride!!! And it’s not forced in or anything!!! It fits the story!!! Yay!
Obviously be sure to stay to the end of the credits. If you didn’t…go see it again! If you forgot to a 2nd time, shame on you. And here’s a spoiler.
Penélope Cruz has been marooned on her little island. She has removed her black vest and is sitting lonely on the beach. The tide washes in and she gazes intently at something on the beach...something that looks a lot like her father's voodoo doll of Jack Sparrow...
I’m really happy that Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio are executive producers as well as the authors of the screenplay – their master strokes on the previous films would have made this a shallow venture without them, but it’s almost like they enjoy these stories too much to give them up!
What’s this? There’s a novel/suggestion behind the bulk of the story? (stares at Wikipedia) Most intriguing! I am very much interested in procuring this “On Stranger Tides” novel by Tim Powers from my local library now….
Both Laura and I were pleased as punch to see that Directed By was one of the few things to change at the beginning of the credits. By this I mean we were happy to spot the same screenplay authors, the same costume designer, the same director of cinematography and the 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator. Really helps the film feel like the others to keep all the same people in place.
Yay for Dame Judi Dench’s cameo!!!
The music was very enjoyable – plenty of rearranged older themes, but some delightful additions (especially cool that Gabriella y Rodrigo are the featured guitarists – they do an awesome cover of Oogie Boogie’s Song from The Nightmare Before Christmas, check it out here!).
I love that Barbossa’s right hand men are Groves and Gillette from the previous films – Gillette is embarrassed by Sparrow and run over by the Endeavour in Curse of the Black Pearl and Groves has two excellent lines – “That’s got to be the best pirate I’ve ever seen” (Curse of the Black Pearl) & “Do you think he plans it all out or makes it up as he goes along?” (At World’s End).
Spoiler thingy about the plot because it’s interesting to me (highlight to see):
I was fascinated that when the Spanish marched into the Fountain of Youth, they declared that the only way to eternal life was through faith and that this pagan temple needed to be destroyed. Is this what the kingdom of Spain was like? Is this what the Inquisition was all about? Something inside of me wants to applaud their zealotry except I'm sure it will go too far...
Well none of my predictions came true with this film, but they were mere trifles in the broad scope of things. I predicted that Elizabeth would plead her belly to delay any punishment due to her piratical activities(as Anne Bonny and Mary Read did), I predicted that Barbossa would at some point captain the Wicked Wench (as he does at Disneyland) and I predicted Jack Sparrow would dispatch someone after telling them to “Give my regards to Will Turner!”. But like I said, these are just funny one-liners stemming from the results of the first three films and would have been additional geek outs in an already amazing (and geek out prone) movie.
The more I watch all the movies, the more I want some prequels including but not limited to: how does Jack coerce Davy Jones to raise the Black Pearl from the depths? Why does Barbossa (a pirate lord in his own right) subjugate himself to Jack Sparrow (another pirate lord)…is it just for the treasure on Isla De La Muerta? Jack and Hector have been through a lot and it would be fun to see some of those stories instead of just hearing them. I would also like a little more information on what the rest of Mrs. Elizabeth Turner’s life is like…does she inherit her father’s estate? How does that whole thing at the end of “At World’s End” play out for the Caribbean? You can’t just commandeer an armada there and then give up…can you? Eh whatever…I just like to rant and rave sometimes. Probably just because we did a mini-movie marathon before seeing this one and they’re all bouncing around in my head…
All in all a fantastic sequel worthy of it’s predecessor’s and I hope this franchise lives on! I’m also really hoping for comic books, but I’ll take whatever Disney will give me. 
I don’t see what everyone is bitching about – this film was beautiful.
Chris Hemsworth looks absolutely incredible as Thor. I mean he really bulked up for the role and it looks awesome (we last saw him as George Kirk in J.J. Abram’s phenomenal Star Trek reboot).
I love that Kenneth Branagh directed the film – especially after reading interviews with him where he talks about growing up in Ireland reading the Thor comic books and enjoying them!
Side Notes: In the lobby we noticed a display for Puss In Boots, which just makes me roll my eyes that they’re taking anything vaguely Shrek and giving it it’s own movie. Also there was a HUGE 3-panel display for Cars 2 with so much pretty that we stood there for about 10 minutes analyzing all the little details. I am so very excited with what Pixar has accomplished just with this display (the tiniest details of the architecture have automotive highlights and there’s a billboard featuring a Lotso product) which means the bar is even higher for the actual film! It’s absolutely incredible.
Update (5/20/2011): saw the film in 3-D and didn’t mind it – Asgard was beautiful as was the credits sequence. Other than that, it’s still a solid film the 2nd time around.
This film is absolutely phenomenal! We first became aware of this film as a series of posters in the theatre lobby when Laura and I went to see Green Hornet, and it looked like fun (sexy girls with advanced weaponry in fantasy/sci-fi environments). Then we watched the trailer and I was completely blown away and couldn’t wait to see it. Actually I desperately wanted to know more about it, but luckily my wife was able to curb my need for spoilers. And of course seeing that it was a Zack Snyder production automatically made it a definitely-worth-seeing flick (based on my appreciation for his handling of 300 and Watchmen – I can’t WAIT to see what he and Christopher Nolan cook up for Superman). Apparently this is based on an original story by Zack Snyder, which makes this all the more interesting – we’ve seen how he handles other comic book material, now let’s see how he handles his own material.
I absolutely LOVE the character names.
It was also interesting trying to figure out the time period of the movie – if I had to guess I would say mid to late 50s. The costume design was absolutely gorgeous.
The cast is phenomenal. Carla Gugino (Dr. Vera Gorski) is a nice little holdover from Watchmen. I couldn’t remember where I’d seen Rocket (Jena Malone) before, but then IMDB just flooded details back to me and I was like – oh yeah! Vanessa Hudgens (Blondie)?!?! When did she grow up to adult movie roles? Just kidding. Yay for Scott Glenn as the Wise Man! Oscar Isaac is absolutely phenomenal as the chief antagonist, Blue Jones. And he sings too! Jon Hamm “guest stars” as the mysterious High Roller.
The music was awesome. I only recognized one of the songs (well technically two because Queen’s “We Will Rock You” is snippited) from the first fantasy sequence and only because Blue Man Group performs it (“White Rabbit”).
I need to go and see the movie one more time. Not just for the amazing action sequences, but for the opening and closing monologues – they are very heavily layered with the purpose of the film, why it was created, what it represents, etc.
Here is a lovely article/interview with Zack Snyder talking about the film which just makes me laugh out loud.
I have an idea about a part of what the fantasy sequences represent. It is strictly opinion. It revolves around the aircraft used in the three major fantasy sequences representing the global conflicts that America has been involved with: we started with World War I (or The Great War) flying ace biplanes; then we moved on to World War II bombers; then we ended with choppers (symbolizing a mish-mosh of jungle and desert missions a la Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf Wars).
Be sure to stay all the way through the credits to enjoy the full out musical number which I hope is in it’s unedited form on the home release (it’s so PURDY!!!!).
This book was an amazingly and engrossingly phenomenal read. Picked up at random from the Westminster Public Library in a pile of books claiming to be related to U.S. Presidents, the decadently detailed book jacket and description demanded that I take the book home and enjoy it thoroughly, which I promptly did.
Charles Carter is a prominent magician at the height of Warren Harding’s presidency in the late 1920s. When President Harding is found dead in his hotel room mere hours after participating in Carter’s breathtaking final act, the Secret Service immediately try to track the magician down for questioning – which is much easier said than done. After thoroughly gripping us with this overture, author Glen David Gold* launches us down the serpentine path that led a young Charles Carter to where he is today while weaving a mysterious plot of intrigue and assassination rich with characters both fictional and real that we come to care about deeply. His revelations about how some magic illusions work are amazingly in-depth while honoring the magician’s code of never revealing too much.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in magic, the 1920s or adventure/romance. An excellent read.
*I was surprised/pleased to find out that the author attended UCI (ZOT!).
A very intriguing discussion about family, generational relationships, expectations and other emotional hockey pucks served up during nice Sunday meals at Grandma’s house…in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Talking with one of the actors afterwards (Derek Rubiano), he said something very poignant – that you can take something away from the show no matter where you are in life. And it’s true. I am newly married and took away certain things, but with 6 different back stories to pick from, I imagine anybody can take anything away from this play with very little difficulty.
Favorite line (as I vaguely remember it):
Emma (one of the grandmothers) talked about how their children and grandchildren had higher expectations from life then they did resulting in a different life…not necessarily better, just different.
Very intriguing use of a “pop-up” space, the Torrance Theatre Company found a space for rent in Old Torrance and turned it into a perfectly lovely black box theatre. While it was unusually cold that night, there were blankets available free-of-charge and this freakish California weather can only last so long, right?
All in all a phenomenal production.
It was almost perfect. The number of times Seth Rogen’s character was a stubborn jackass was ALMOST proportional to the number of times he got his butt whooped…but who’s counting.
This was definitely a very fun and enjoyable movie. It was nice to see Cameron Diaz again…feels like she’s been absent from my movie screen unless I watch The Mask again. ;-)
The definitely amazing thing to come out of this movie is Jay Chou – he kicks butt, he’s funny and he sings! Be sure to stick around through the end credits to hear him rapping it up!
I was almost unsure how I was supposed to fell about this movie thanks to the webcomic The Gutters, but I’m glad I went. Seth Rogen does look like he put in some physical training labor (not to mention the scripting and producing credits) and got into a slightly less dough-y shape in order to play this part which pleases me even though I’m not that familiar with the source material.
All in all a very satisfying flick.
Very cute. Bernie Pollack provided Harrison’s clothes (and presumably socks) – costume designer from Indy 4!!! Rachel McAdams is adorable as always.
AMAZING! Loved the sneaking into the ministry scene and the dance in the tent.
Very intriguing film. Yay Captain Kirk (was that a vague reference to Kirk hanging off of stuff?)! Yay Ethan Suplee!
So cute and beautiful and perfect! John Lasseter obliterates the 3D/2D line by declaring Tangled to be Walt Disney’s 50th full length feature animation. Zack Levi and Mandy Moore are perfect as the prince and princess. Intriguing to hear Jeffrey Tambor in “I’ve Got A Dream” – the timbre of his voice sounds higher than I remember from Hellboy which makes me doubt it’s him, but it’s so beautiful. Favorite Disney song ever! Or at least until the next one.
Hook Hand Thug: Go. Live your dream.
Flynn: I will.
Hook Hand Thug: Your dream stinks, I was talking to her.
Flynn: Frankly I’m too scared to ask about the frog.
Rapunzel: Chameleon.
Flynn: Nuance.
Some intriguing compression of the islands for adaptation. Green mist a little overplayed as the primary villain, but the book kind of doesn’t really have a goal beyond that originally anyways – humans and Reepicheep (voice now provided by Shaun of the Dead…intriguing office politics?) to Aslan’s country where the sea meets the sky, right? Eustace was absolutely brilliant though – I look forward to watching him in the Silver Chair (I also love the reference at the end, that Jill from next door has come over to play). Was Andrew Adamson involved at all? Could have sworn I saw a credit reference to him…oh well. Weird to add the swords as the key to beat back the green mist, but it kind of makes sense from a studio standpoint. Total Ghostbusters moment at the final battle (don’t think of anything…uh oh). We’re not really in a territory where they need to finish the films before anyone else dies or grows up too much, so I guess I’ll just look forward to the next one.
Scottish Smee! Silly ass! Tinkerbell thinks that Peter Pan is her man. Was the orgasmic death scene really necessary?!?!
Love, love, LOVE what they did with the story here. Where is ENCOM HQ located (city/state/province)? It’s very pretty. When the movie started, the only title I ever saw was just Tron, not Tron: Legacy. Yay Cillian Murphy as the son of Ed Dillinger…kind of wish he could have played a bigger role, but the story went another, just as fun and exciting direction. Kevin Flynn as a hippy was a little weird and Dude-esque, but ok. I LOVE how they keep tweaking the Disney castle based on the film it is introducing, but this one was BY FAR my favorite yet. The music was brilliant – I hate to be such a hypocrite and have such enthusiasm about Daft Punk now that they’re mainstream but…oh well! ;-) While I would love to see a sequel, it would be interesting what story they chose to tell after this one. Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund were brilliant. I LOVE how well they integrated the universes of the original and this film. LOVE some of the costumes, especially the user cloaks with their light-up trim that reminded me of the cloaks worn by Jedi generals during the Clone Wars.