To think that a studio had enough faith to grrenlight a project based on an amusement park ride itself is quite dumbfounding. Somehow that bulb that went on in some studio exec's head is turning out to be one of the largest grossing franshices of all time.
The movie is an absolute thrill ride and the critics trying to look for flaws in the storyline and improper characted development can all go kick/kiss their own asses. I mean its supposed to be a fantasy tale and I think sometimes they are so engulfed in their supposed expert knowledge of films that they deceive themselves glaringly.
When a studio and director make a movie, they obviously have some objective in mind. Not every movie is made with its purpose being to achieve blockbuster status. Some are made purely from an awards perspective. Some are made for creative satisfaction. Heck some are even made cos the director is the producer's girl's husband's brother's son.
The purpose of this movie is to earn as many dollars as possible. Far too many movies are into futuristic action and mind blowing stunts. So lets do something diff. Lets go back and do something no one expects .. a pirate movie which has so much scope for old fashioned action .... smart men, smart-alec women, dirty fat men, some weird sea creatures, some crazy ass ships ... add a touch of expected turns in a movie such as this like cannibalism, myths about Davy Jones' etc etc. Now lets get an A-list star cast and see what happens.
Well the first pirate movie was a blockbuster in its own right and definitely made a ton of money. And I think Johnny Depp deserves full credit for that. His take on a weird crazy cowardly pirate was jus brilliant. And for someone familiar with his body of work, he performed as expected and showed all the sceptics too why he should be considered one of the finest acting talents we have.
He has always had the guts to do very diff movies .. I don't think any one of his movies was similar to anything else. And he has the talent to pick out characters so quirky, even their names are screwed up. This is a gist .... Gilbert Grape, Don Juan De Marco, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Donnie Brasco, Ichabod Crane, Sands, Sir James Matthew Barrie, Willy Wonka ... and now Jack Sparrow. One of his rumored movies for 2008 will puch the boundaries even further .... Shantaram.
But this one was pure magic all the way through. Pure high octane action with weird characters, magic ships, crazy sea animals, Davy Jones himself and finally he gets to kiss the girl.
Somehow I can't put it in words why this movie is so excellent, but maybe this write up was bang on the money.
http://www99.epinions.com/content_242914987652
All I can say is that go watch it, enjoy it and wait eagerly for the next one due out next summer.
Cheers.
M.
