Pirates

I'm finally getting around to posting my take on Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Janice, Joel & I went opening ight - last Thursday - the theatre was full - a few were there in pirate regalia.

A few random oberservations:

• It's long... and then you sit through 10minutes of credits before the final scene.
  
• Keith Richards actually looks better as a pirate than he does normally [whatever normal is for Keith Richards]
• There is a wonderful line, said in reference to Jack: "Do you think he plans this... or just makes up as he goes along?"...According to IMDB trivia: They started filming without a finished script.
• Jack the Monkey is one of the best characters.
• The battles scenes are long... & tedious... & boring after a while
  
• Christianity Today commenting on the ton of money people will spend...
  But that may be fool's gold they're spending. Not even a dozen Captain Jack Sparrows can save this overstuffed ship from sinking. If less really is more, Verbinski must have missed the memo. (In last summer's Dead Man's Chest, he proved that excess can be a good thing; it's hard to have too much fun with slapstick sequences as inspired as those. But here, it's just chaotic action, a lot of shooting and swordplay without character development to give it gravity.)
• Rotten Tomatoes ranks it at 47%
• Barbara Nicolosi writes:
  It's just a mess of a film. Impossible story. Too many characters. Half the dialogue unintelligible because of bad accents or inconvenient costumes/makeup. Depp's usual delightful characterization has grown stale and without surprises. Keira Knightly pouts her way annoyingly through yet another film....
  
  The only pluses in film are the stunning visuals. It's really a showcase of what is possible with the latest CGI effects.
  
  But that isn't enough to justify sitting through three hours of tedium. Wait for the coffee table book. Judging by the unrestrained marketing connected with this franchise, I'm sure a cofeetable book must be forthcoming.
  
  Pass, matey. A thousand bottles of rum couldn't obscure this movie's flaws.
• The music is great.
  

David Letterman's Top Ten Signs You're Watching A Bad Pirate Movie
10. Parrot infects entire cast with deadly Bird Flu
9. The swashbuckling lead character is named "Gilligan"
8. Pirate wears eye patch because of nasty racquetball injury
7. "Ship" is a 1992 Toyota Corolla
6. It stars Johnny Depp's cousin, Carl Depp
5. Long discussions about which is the best over-the-counter seasickness remedy
4. It chronicles the hero's attempt to open a Long John Silver's franchise
3. Instead of hook, pirate's missing hand replaced by giant "We're #1" foam finger
2. Pirates square off against those hilarious Geico cavemen
1. It's basically "Brokeback Mountain" on a boat

So did we like it...
I'm glad I had free tickets...
It was ok... but it's not on my list to see again or recommend.