Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales has some compelling ideas woven into its text.
There's a strong woman of science boldly using her brain to discover truths unbeknownst as of yet to humankind.
Astronomical insights are cartographically applied to exonerate the supernatural as a matter of practical paternal romance.
A comical misunderstanding of a highly technical term leads to jocular confusion blended with righteous incapacitation.
The mythological and the religious are conjugally contrasted, perhaps to subconsciously juxtapose alternative attitudes acculturatively adopted as one travels through youth to age.
The monkey's back.
So's Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally).
But Gibbs doesn't have the striking supportive role he endearingly cultivated in Dead Men's predecessors, as he's shortsightedly reduced to more of a decorative ornament.
It's much more comedic than the other films, the swashbuckling seriousness that held them together sacrificed for generally flat tomfoolery.
Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) and Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) replace William Turner and Elizabeth Swann but they're no Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom.
The action's steady and the confusing political threads that abstrusely adorned some of the sequels are absent, but don't let the barrage of buffoonery distract you from the fact that robust characters have transmutated into stock representations.
For instance, Jack's drinking has commandeered his wit and the mesmerizing incomparable lovingly brilliant captain is more like a bewildered wildebeest.
Johnny Depp should have won an oscar for his performance in The Curse of the Black Pearl. The apotheosis of his genius, which has recently fallen upon troubled times.
It may be my favourite performance ever, to appropriately apply an adolescent designation.
Did he ever make a film with Robert Downey Jr.? In a small town? Co-starring Emma Stone, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Ryan Reynolds?
Plus Mayor Orlando Bloom and Schoolmistress Keira Knightley?
It's actually a great idea, having a washed-up Jack Sparrow circumventing at the helm.
He has aged considerably while drinking recklessly, so toning him down a notch adds an instructive realistic touch.
However, to tone down Jack Sparrow, or to transform his cheeky inspiration into reflexive knee-jerk contractions is to forget why Pirates of the Caribbean films are so appealing, and made me think, this is definitely take 5.
With the classic "everything imaginable is perfect" ending, apart from a significant loss (although I imagine they may resurface for part 6).
Said and done, I almost shed tears to see them back together.
But the significance was still diluted by the humour.
A critique of postmodern sincerity?
Showing posts with label Pirates of the Caribbean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pirates of the Caribbean. Show all posts
Friday, June 2, 2017
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Femme fatales emerged to watch this creature fair.
Savvy?
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise continues with its fourth instalment, On Stranger Tides. Its narrative starts fresh, reintroducing old characters and situating them within a redesigned filmscape. It took me awhile to get used to the new cast and storyline, but after examining the retooled schematic, I did enjoy the film superficially, but had problems with some of its internal mechanizations.
The playful dynamics are a lot of fun. Penélope Cruz (Angelica) mischievously stands in for Keira Knightley and her relationship with Captain Jack is somewhat more seductive. The quest for the fountain of youth creates an adventurous mythical dimension which duels with the quadrilogy's first overt religious focus. Captain Jack swashbuckles and alliterates his way through another consistently mercurial performance, attempting to break up would be battles with enumerical misgivings, and trying to ensure that his heroic acts are kept alive as part of an oral tradition. Also enjoyed how Blackbeard (Ian McShane) decides to fight Barbossa thereby flipping fate the bird, and Barbossa's character is strong (after his introduction) and he's given spirited linguistic room to maneuver.
An excuse to eat popcorn from the special edition Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides bucket has been established.
At the same time, the degree to which you must suspend your disbelief at times is troublesome, some of the acting, while encouraged to be either wooden or excessively flamboyant in order to support the narrative's larger-than-life characteristics, is frustrating (notably Richard Griffiths), Blackbeard rarely establishes himself as a captivating focus as his principle strengths are simply being in charge and a magical sword, Scrum's (Stephen Graham) character entertains but doesn't function as a substantial substitute for Pintel, Ragetti, and Cotton, and the harmonies maintained between the competing elements, so smoothly orchestrated by Gore Verbinski in The Curse of the Black Pearl at least, each scene sweetly flowing into the next, are somewhat disjointed as Rob Marshall conducts, and there are occasional pitfalls.
And is On Stranger Tides's narrative supportive of an anti-feminist framework designed exclusively for patriarchal ambitions?
Even though I'm not sure as of yet, you can still cue the hangperson.
You see, independent women are a problem for the patriarchy and it uses its control over manners of representation to vilify them consequently. Thus feminists become amazonian jungle beasts, or, in the case of On Stranger Tides, man-eating mermaids, when depicted by the patriarchy artistically. On patriarchal terms, the women are thought to be obsessed with a stereotypical definition of the male in the same way that the patriarchy is obsessed with the sweet, servile female, and only a man who embodies this stereotypical conception can win their affections.
In On Stranger Tides, the religious figure Philip Swift (Sam Claflin) captures the heart of the mermaid he accidentally helps capture (Syrena played by Astrid Berges-Frisbey), due to the undeniable purity of his own heart.
A mermaid's tear must be placed in one of two chalices and mixed with water from the fountain of youth in order to extend life, the person drinking the chalice with the tear having their life extended by the number of years lived and left to live by the person drinking the tearless chalice.
A mermaid's kiss can revitalize if you ask for her help, meaning, in patriarchal terms, that if you embody the stereotype cherished by the feminist, she can save you if you are fatally injured (how she goes about doing this is unclear), as you will be since your personality destabilizes the chauvinistic ideal supported by the patriarchy (which they seek to convince women to love without question).
Syrena (feminist mythology) kisses Philip (the individual religious figure) after he is fatally wounded. The Spanish (institutionalized religion) destroy the fountain of youth (mythology) around the same time. When religion is institutionalized it becomes capable of destroying its concrete mythological enemies but can never defeat those who embody their pre-institutional ethos who in turn can find refuge in the arms of that which the patriarchy is incapable of destroying, although it attempts to through recourse to belittling manners of representation, its night of the world, as it were.
Femme fatales emerged to watch this creature fair.
Savvy?
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise continues with its fourth instalment, On Stranger Tides. Its narrative starts fresh, reintroducing old characters and situating them within a redesigned filmscape. It took me awhile to get used to the new cast and storyline, but after examining the retooled schematic, I did enjoy the film superficially, but had problems with some of its internal mechanizations.
The playful dynamics are a lot of fun. Penélope Cruz (Angelica) mischievously stands in for Keira Knightley and her relationship with Captain Jack is somewhat more seductive. The quest for the fountain of youth creates an adventurous mythical dimension which duels with the quadrilogy's first overt religious focus. Captain Jack swashbuckles and alliterates his way through another consistently mercurial performance, attempting to break up would be battles with enumerical misgivings, and trying to ensure that his heroic acts are kept alive as part of an oral tradition. Also enjoyed how Blackbeard (Ian McShane) decides to fight Barbossa thereby flipping fate the bird, and Barbossa's character is strong (after his introduction) and he's given spirited linguistic room to maneuver.
An excuse to eat popcorn from the special edition Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides bucket has been established.
At the same time, the degree to which you must suspend your disbelief at times is troublesome, some of the acting, while encouraged to be either wooden or excessively flamboyant in order to support the narrative's larger-than-life characteristics, is frustrating (notably Richard Griffiths), Blackbeard rarely establishes himself as a captivating focus as his principle strengths are simply being in charge and a magical sword, Scrum's (Stephen Graham) character entertains but doesn't function as a substantial substitute for Pintel, Ragetti, and Cotton, and the harmonies maintained between the competing elements, so smoothly orchestrated by Gore Verbinski in The Curse of the Black Pearl at least, each scene sweetly flowing into the next, are somewhat disjointed as Rob Marshall conducts, and there are occasional pitfalls.
And is On Stranger Tides's narrative supportive of an anti-feminist framework designed exclusively for patriarchal ambitions?
Even though I'm not sure as of yet, you can still cue the hangperson.
You see, independent women are a problem for the patriarchy and it uses its control over manners of representation to vilify them consequently. Thus feminists become amazonian jungle beasts, or, in the case of On Stranger Tides, man-eating mermaids, when depicted by the patriarchy artistically. On patriarchal terms, the women are thought to be obsessed with a stereotypical definition of the male in the same way that the patriarchy is obsessed with the sweet, servile female, and only a man who embodies this stereotypical conception can win their affections.
In On Stranger Tides, the religious figure Philip Swift (Sam Claflin) captures the heart of the mermaid he accidentally helps capture (Syrena played by Astrid Berges-Frisbey), due to the undeniable purity of his own heart.
A mermaid's tear must be placed in one of two chalices and mixed with water from the fountain of youth in order to extend life, the person drinking the chalice with the tear having their life extended by the number of years lived and left to live by the person drinking the tearless chalice.
A mermaid's kiss can revitalize if you ask for her help, meaning, in patriarchal terms, that if you embody the stereotype cherished by the feminist, she can save you if you are fatally injured (how she goes about doing this is unclear), as you will be since your personality destabilizes the chauvinistic ideal supported by the patriarchy (which they seek to convince women to love without question).
Syrena (feminist mythology) kisses Philip (the individual religious figure) after he is fatally wounded. The Spanish (institutionalized religion) destroy the fountain of youth (mythology) around the same time. When religion is institutionalized it becomes capable of destroying its concrete mythological enemies but can never defeat those who embody their pre-institutional ethos who in turn can find refuge in the arms of that which the patriarchy is incapable of destroying, although it attempts to through recourse to belittling manners of representation, its night of the world, as it were.
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