oh, honey

[veronica_rich]

Reading comments from Elizabeth (POTC) fans on public forums complaining that it seems like the character is being slighted by reviewers of the new movie, in favor of the Penelope Cruz character, Angelica. (Even Geoffrey Rush made some comment about Jack Sparrow finally having a female match in this movie or some such; I don't remember his exact quote.)


Take a page from the Will fans, who've gotten used to bashing of our favorite character by reviewers and other fans for eight years: Get over it and enjoy what you like. It's not personal! It's just their preference! Why should you care? :-)

Comments

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

OK, so I was finally curious enough to read reviews. I'm surprised to see the Tomato-meter so low on it! Everything I've heard in preview fandom hails it almost as the second coming of the franchise. (A couple of reviews actually expressed regret that Will and Elizabeth weren't still there. They must've been fairly desperate to stop bashing Bloom long enough to give him a smidge of credit. Boy, I feel sorry for the new kid.)

I thought by this point I'd have stopped being resentful of the women who ruined my good time in fandom, but a little still lingers. Yadda yadda, first-world problems and all that...

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, a lot of the reviewers feel that the absence of the Elizabeth and Will Turner characters are part of the problem. There is no moral equivalent, so you have a bunch of pirates being, well, pirate-y. Again, the key question in CoBP was if a pirate could be a good man. Having not seen it, I can't make any snap judgments, but it seems that on a lot of levels the producers have yet again missed the point of what made the first movie so special. And sure, we had undead pirates, and Rush chewing up the scenery, and a couple of cool swordfights, but like all really successful movies, it asked (and answered) some important questions about the protagonist, Jack Sparrow. Certainly movies 2 and 3 didn't even come close. It was all about fights and action. Which is EXACTLY what this movie sounds like. Stupid summer fare.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Yes, if it was just a standalone action movie with new characters, I could probably enjoy it simply for action and dumb gags. But they're using established characters I've come to love a certain way to tell what should probably be a standalone story.

The bluntest (and maybe the most refreshing) review I read was here: http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/05/16/movie-review-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-is-shit (and I didn't embed the link because - that's the actual title of the review itself).

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much on par with what I've read, although this guy sums up a lot of comments from reviewers into one really neat, absolutely scathing package.

Um, given that we were among the outcasts who dared to challenge the brilliance of movie two, what in the HELL would make you trust the squee of the fangirls?

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Oh, probably benefit of the doubt. I'm tired of my visceral reaction upon seeing Depp's face, to instead be picturing all those usernames of fans who got me to the point where I sneer when I see the guy's face.

Although, just on Depp himself, I do think he's sold out for easy money at this point. When other actors glom onto a stagnant franchise, I don't usually have an opinion because I figure it's a job, and everybody likes job security - but we're talking about a guy who exhaustedly went out of his way to protest formula on film and the packaging of himself as a product. I wish some interviewer would ask him what the difference is between Fox and Cannell doing it to him 20 years ago, and Disney doing it to him now - other than the fact he personally is profiting more from it now.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Well, my irritation with him has nothing to do with the fangirls that swoon over him. I've swooned over him! It's precisely what you said in paragraph two. How come it was so easy for him to stick to his principles when he didn't have two cents to his name, and now he's a billionaire he's doing this crap? Is he terrified that they'll cast someone else? I can't tell you with what relief I saw Helena Bonham-Carter in the King's Speech actually acting. These Tim Burton fantasies have limitations and it's reached a point where these actors aren't acting anymore. They are his cartoon characters. Johnny needs to step back and do a few no-name indies, working for peanuts, maybe even working for free. It's depressing seeing him squander his gifts this way for THESE people.

A Tale of Two Actors

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I've subtitled this, but it won't be that long a reply.

In some ways, I see Tom Cruise as Johnny's antithesis. In one way, I think they're equally talented. (We are talking only about their careers here, not personal lives - that's my disclaimer.) They're about the same age, Cruise may have started acting a little earlier - and I've always thought maybe the only other white actor who could've played Sparrow as well would have been Cruise (yes, even from the beginning). He IS capable of interpreting characters colorfully - not the same way, of course, but I'd love to know what his Sparrow would've been like.

(Have you seen "Tropic Thunder?" It took me 2/3 of the movie to figure out that was Cruise parodying the Bruckheimer-type producer.)

Here's the antithesis part: If Cruise were doing POTC movie after movie, I wouldn't be surprised. He's never seemed to disdain big franchises or pretend to want to be anything other than universally paid and stared at. His philosophy seems to be opposite of what Depp has said his has always been, but Cruise also occasionally still goes in for smaller films - for fun, for credibility, for business goodwill, I don't know. I guess at this point I'm more impressed with Cruise professionally? Not sure.

Re: A Tale of Two Actors

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

I've never understood Tom Cruise's appeal. I saw Jerry McGuire and it didn't move me one bit, and I couldn't understand the hype. I've seen the two Mission Impossibles and sort of got his appeal. There is an intensity about him that is unique. I've heard that he does a fantastic job in The Last Samurai, and I keep meaning to rent it.