At the End of the World, the Adventure Begins

The pirates are back in Pirate's of the Carribbean: At World's End. The third installment picks up some time down the line (we're never sure how much time has passed actually at any point) from where the second movie finished. Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) have become unlikely allies with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and the voodoo woman Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris) to find a way to bring Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) back from Davey Jones' locker, or the land of the dead as we land lubbers would call it. Why? To save the pirates from extinction at the hands of Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander) and his followers.

This film is action packed with a series of unlikely adventures and fantastical hijinks. Depp is, as always, a delight, as Jack, but with some of his weird hallucinations etc. there may actually be too much Jack. Hard to imagine, I know, but it's true. Bloom looked a little more like a pirate than the last two films, but not as much as Knightley (despite some truly atrocious costume choices by returning costume designer Penny Rose). There was also (multiple) returns of favorite characters, some too briefly, but many seemed thrown in just to make an appearance (a common problem shared by another summer sequel, Shrek the Third). I did particularly enjoy Rush's return to Barbossa; he stole his scenes in my humble opinion.

The film starts out strongly, with a dark and haunting execution scene, and your hopes are immediately lifted. My hopes continued to rise with what was the surprise cast of Chow Yun-Fat (Curse of the Golden Flower) as Captain Sao Feng. Then the (minor) inconsistancies started to throw me. Like, doesn't anyone know how long it would have taken to get from the Carribbean to Singapore in a sailing ship? And then, from Singapore to the Arctic? A lot longer than these writers seemed to realize. I was with them when they went to the land of the dead to rescue Jack, but surely they could have come up with a much more terrifing punishment for the unrepentent Sparrow? I was even with them when we see that the evil East India Trading Company (no, I'm not joking) is out to destroy all pirates with the coerced help of Davey Jones (Bill Nighy).

At World's End makes all kinds of promises to its viewers early on that it never fulfills. Sure, some of the darkness is there throughout, but it seems that the filmmakers and writers opted to see how many wacky things they could get away with rather than advancing what could have been an interesting story. Some points of the movie are so fantastical, I had a hard time concentrating on where I was in the story. There were a number of times where I could overhear the friend I'd gone with say "You've got to be kidding." Unfortunately, they weren't. What happened to the simplicity of the original? Where did the interesting dialogue and character development that surprised and delighted us go?

Whereas Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl will always be one of my guilty pleasures, this sequel, like "Dead Man's Chest," doesn't quite cut it.

Rating: 3 (out of 5)

Labels: Action, Adventure, Comedy

posted by Lisa at 11:25 a.m. |

 
Knocked Up

From the creator of "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy" and "40 Year Old Virgin", Judd Apatow, comes Knocked Up. Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl-Grey's Anatomy) has it all. She's young, beautiful, and has just received a promotion into her dream job. To celebrate, she and her sister Debbie (Leslie Mann-Stealing Harvard), go out for a night on the town to celebrate. Drunk, she picks up slacker Ben Stone (Seth Rogen-You, Me and Dupree) and takes him home. 8 weeks later, she is horrified to learn she is pregnant. The couple find themselves forced into a relationship, terrified about the upcoming baby and worried they'll turn out like Debbie and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd-Anchorman).

This film is hilarious in a funny-because-its-true kind of way. Beautifully written, I laughed from beginning to end. I'll probably have to watch it again because there were entire sequences I missed because I was still laughing at what had happened immediately before. Easily my favorite of Apatow's films, I appreciate that the humor comes from the situation and he doesn't force silliness on the audience. As the couple deals with the pregnancy and their own incompatiblities, hilarity just naturally ensues while still building relationships. One of my favorite scenes takes place in a hotel room where Pete and Ben talk about love, while high. It's incredibly funny but still moves the plot along. Kudos to Apatow for a wonderfully written comedy.

I particularly enjoyed Rogen as the unlikely romantic lead. He's sweet, charming, earnest and funny, and he gives Heigl gold in every scene. I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Rogen and Rudd. In all, I thought the film very well cast. Heigl was a great contrast with her blonde beauty to Rogen's "every day Joe" appeal. Mann and Rudd were wonderful as the bickering couple who inadvertently act as a foil to Alison and Ben's budding relationship. The wacky characters who inhabit the world of Ben and Alison are also such comedic treats (I particularly enjoyed SNL's Kristen Wiig as one of Alison's co-worker. Genius!) that you'll want seconds and thirds.

This film is a must see for singles and parents alike.

Rating: 4 (out of 5)

Labels: Comedy

posted by Lisa at 6:36 a.m. |