Pirates of the Caribbean: Past, Present & Future

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And the numbers are in: $55.5 million, biggest single day gross.

Good for Johnny, his star is going to be out-of-this-world. I didn't love his performance, but thought the movie was great, and not nearly as slow as Superman.

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I was just about to post that! I'm excited for them. I saw the movied and really liked it. I know a lot of people are going to go see it this weekend and some of the showing are already sold out. They think it will break spider-man 2's record.

[Witchie]

I liked it. My friend was bored with it. But I didn't go into it looking for some Oscar powerhouse. I went for Johnny and I got him.

[laconicchick]

I have mixed feelings about this movie. It was way, way too long. It should have been half that length, tops. There is no need for a nearly three-hour pirate movie, regardless of how good it may or may not be. I think they should have cut the cannibals out entirely -- what purpose did they serve? -- and severely cut down the action sequences that went on and on. There is no need for the "Oh, he's got it! Oh no, an obstacle! Oh, he's got it! Oh, another obstacle! Oh, now he's really got it! Ack, another obstacle! Yay, he's got it! Oh no, yet another obstacle!" sort of thing they were doing in every single freaking action sequence. That is just boring and annoying, not suspenseful.

That said, I enjoyed it. I liked the swinging cages, but that was all that I enjoyed in the cannibal section. The rest was pretty useless.

I thought Davy Jones' servants looked way too fake, silly and over-the-top. I guess they become <<more more sea-creature-like the more they're in servitude, like the guy who was basically absorbed into the ship, but why was Will's dad the only one who wasn't totally sea-creatured? None of them looked very human at all, and I find it highly unlikely that they all were enslaved at the same time, so they should be at different levels of sea-creatureness (for lack of a better term).>>

I did not see any chemistry between Elizabeth and Will. They are blah. On the other hand, <<Elizabeth/Jack was HOT. Seriously, that was much hotter than I was expecting. I don't care that she tricked him and I don't have a problem with it; he was kind of a bastard (yeah yeah, "pirate") and deserved to go down with the ship, whereas the crew didn't, because they really had nothing to do with it. So in conclusion, that was hot and I totally think they should make out again in the next movie. Mmmmmm.>>

I liked the wheel fight scene, although I thought it was way too contrived for them to end up in the mill or whatever anyway. Why on earth would they go up the stairs? Yeah, back yourself into a corner on top of a building. Good plan! I especially liked when the story was focused on secondary characters and the wheel rolled by in the background. Hee! It reminded me of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.

I have to admit I did not see the ending coming at all. I'm not sure how they plan to explain that logically -- <<did the swamp chick raise him from the dead or something?>>

Did anyone stay after the credits? There was a little ending scene (of course).

<<They showed the cannibals singing and dancing and worshipping and whatnot, and then panned over to where the little key dog was sitting on the throne as the new king/god. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be "better" than if we hadn't seen that scene, because if they try to release his soul as they did to Jack, he's still going to be eaten.>>

Elizabeth was way too tanned. I guess maybe she had been out on ships for a few days by the end, but it was just weird.

Poor LaconicDude was scared of and disgusted by the <<kraken. He has a bit of a phobia of octopuses, squid, and jellyfish, so he knew going in that this movie might be a bit of an ordeal. But he seems okay now.>>

The people in my theatre cheered for <<Barbosa at the end.>> It just pissed me off. No one cares what you think of the characters.

Why did Jack make a deal with <<Davy Jones>> in the first place? Was that discussed and I forgot?

I read a review that said we would find out why Will was floating in the water as a child. Did I miss this?

Interesting. PoTC II is at 52 per cent at Rotten Tomatoes (43 per cent in Cream of the Crop), whereas the much-maligned Superman Returns is at 75 per cent (73 per cent Cream of the Crop).

[huntergrayson]

That's interesting because the main negative thing being tossed at this movie is that it's "bloated and too long" which certainly applies to Superman - the pacing here is MUCH better at the end. Plus, give me too long with a charming, awesome overall cast anyday.

Critics aside - the audience reaction to this is much better than Superman - when the audience CHEERS as soon as Johnny Depp shows up? That's an icon, that's a superhero.

I am not surprised at all that it broke records - I bought tickets online for the 4 o clock show but my friend wanted to go earlier so we showed up at 12:30 to see if we could exchange them for the one in an hour - already a line, already at capacity. Tons of kids, too and a very diverse crowd overall. This was at the Grove, which is allegedly the top-grossing theatre in the country. So probably a good-indicator. My prediction was just at/under 175 million and it seems possible.

Awesome surprise ending, but I totally recognize the WTF factor - not just the ending, but overall. There's a couple things that are never quite clearly explained well enough and then you just have to accept once the movie shifts into action mode. But man, once it does, what awesome action. I heart bad-ass, petulant Keira. And wheel-fights. And take-charge Orlando (who knew he was capable?) Pretty much everything. It's just so...audacious, in a way - the wheel-fight, in particular - that you have to love it.

[laconicchick]

Yeah, we got there two hours before showtime and were the second group in line for the 9:45 showing on Friday night (so there were already two people waiting when we got there). The line was huge by one hour before showtime.

There were only about three scattered, half-assed cheers for Johnny at my theatre. People did dress up, though.

Orlando really endeared himself to me when he was taking charge of the ships. And climbing up the rigging. Mmm.

[speciousreasoning]

If I recall correctly, the first Pirates movie was totally panned by the critics too. Apparently critics have forgotten that sometimes people want to have fun at movies, not to "learn" or be bored shitless (I may be projecting a bit after the last critically acclaimed movie I saw... Eww). But that's just me and my wanting to go to movies and have a good time...

That said, I enjoyed this movie. Not as much as the first one, but it was still tons of fun. Johnny Depp, totally having fun being "Captain Jack Sparrow". It was a little "draggy" at parts, but so was the first one.
I actually screamed out loud at the end with the guy (how's that for non specific? - I don't know how to do spoilers). I'll be seeing the last one, that's for sure. When is it coming out?
Again, I enjoyed the movie. I was entertained and had lots of laughs. But I'm dumb like that.

[huntergrayson]

POTC 3: At World's End drops Memorial Day, 2007. Mere weeks after Spidey! The box-office will EXPLODE!

I hope Naomie Harris returns and has more to do. I dig her.

specious - Do color=beige around spoiler text if your post's background is pink and color=white if the background's white for spoilers. It's complicated but makes me feel like I can accomplish stuff.

My favorite critic loved the first one - saying that most action movies are graded on the curve and it's "so almost-good that it doesn't deserve the insult of being graded on the curve." But this one was labeled "bloated." I could've done with the action and plot being trimmed and maybe some more quiet character moments, true. But I adored the cute callbacks and silly stuff like that that I didn't care. Oh, including when Keira overdramatically fake-fainted to get the boys to stop fighting...and looks to see none of them are paying attention to her. Priceless.

laconicchick - Yeah, my show *was* a little cheer-heavy. But we had pirates, too! I just mean I could feel the audience excitement in a way I didn't for Superman. There it seemed like you had the fanboys and, well, everyone else was just...there. Here everyone was really, really jazzed. The air's different in the theatre. It's just something you feel. It's how I knew Chicago would be a hit.

The movie really made me crave an East India Cocktail #1. The semi-unofficial drink of POTC2! Double the recipe and use dark rum, like Myer's.

[jazz]

I guess I never saw the appeal of pirates but whatever. I saw no lines in my theaters area but there were quite a few people. My friend insisted on Superman Returns and that went 2 and half hours of my life I can never get back. I almost fell asleep after an hour.

I must be one fo the very few who did not like POTC. I finally saw it on TV a few months ago and I literally cringe at Depp's portrayal. And I usually like him. Orlando Bloom? Never saw anything about him nor did his acting inspired me so I turned the channel off after a half hour.
Good that it is making money but I have no interest in it.

[franticjoy]

Just saw it, and was surprised at how much I loved it. I liked the first one well enough and even occasionally quote it (although I refuse to ever say, "Why is the rum gone?", even when it is in fact gone), but I had low-ish expectations going into the sequel. I was just hoping the Kraken would be cool. I wound up laughing harder at a movie than I have in years. I laughed so hard at the hamster-ball scene, with the guys swinging it back and forth while jaunty circus music played that I had tears running down my cheeks.

Orlando Bloom, of whom I have never been a fan, has suddenly won my admiration for his performance in this movie. Particularly for the scene spoilered above, but also for the scene where the three men are fighting on the roof and Norrington (whose first appearance also made me laugh like a madman, with his wig all drunken-crazy and poofy) is about to kill Jack. Jack says, "Blahblahblah I'm not the one who really ruined your life, Will's the one who set me free and did your girlfriend," and from behind Norrington Will does this guilty "Whaaat?" head swivel that is absolutely perfect.

Also, I didn't read any spoilers or even go to imdb to check out the info beforehand, so the fact that Davy Jones was played by Bill Nighy startled me. I was all, "I know that facial twitch. It's Bill fucking Nighy. He's in EVERYTHING."