Pirates 4

So much for posting more than once in a single week. Alas, life always seems to get in the way. I promised a Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides blog, and here it is. I may be late, but I usually come through.

I had pretty low expectations for Pirates 4. I loooove Curse of the Black Pearl, didn’t mind whatever 2 was called, and really didn’t like 3 and thought it was confusing and a waste of my time. I can’t even tell you what happened in the second and third movies of this series. I just know I wasn’t taken with them, and therefore predicted that I wouldn’t be taken with this one. I really only went because Jenn had invited me and I had nothing else to do with my Sunday night.

I arrived at the theatre on time, and expected Jenn to be pacing around, freaking out because I wasn’t early enough (Jenn insists upon being at least 40 minutes early for any movie. She is ridiculous). However, she and David had yet to arrive, so I went over to the Chapters beside Strawberry Hill and perused the literary fiction. I came across a follow up to Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which I promptly bought before heading over to meet my friendies.

I met up with Dave and Jenn, and the three of us met up with Jenn’s friend Anne (who is very lovely). We then bought hot dogs and pop and nachos for dinner before proceeding towards the theatre. I was very very excited, because I loves me some movie themed hot dogs. After Jenn got impatient with me for taking too long putting on my condiments (I am strongly against leaving ketchup packets under theatre seats), we finally made it to the theatre.

I know it was the May long weekend, but I still expected a Sunday 7:00 showing of any movie to be completely dead. Not so with the Pirates crowd, who are super intense and will follow Johnny Depp into any number of strange viewing times. Basically, I was surprised to find a fairly full theatre even though we were insanely early.

Jenn had chosen to buy tickets for the 3D showing of this film. I was wary because the only films I’ve ever seen in 3D are Toy Story 3 and Step Up: 3D. Toy Story 3 was obviously animated, so seeing it in 3D was really cool, but Step Up: 3D was live action AND a poorly conceived film. Let’s just say that the only thing it had going for it was that it was 3D, and they made a point of showcasing it. In the process, they kind of ruined any hope of it being an enjoyable movie experience because the 3D was so in your face that it wasn’t believable at all. In short, I don’t trust live action 3D as a rule.

Pirates 4 was quite a bit different. The 3D was a little intense in the very beginning, but once it started rolling along, it was less showy and kind of just enhanced the graphics. It was actually really really cool to watch this movie in 3D.

As far as the actual film goes, I quite liked it. The story was easy to follow but still interesting, they had some new characters but kept some of the old favorites (Minus Orlando Bloom though. Which obviously makes sense but was sad just the same, seeing as I loved him in my youth and you know how I love to get my nostalgia on). The music was amazing, as per usual with a film scored by the great Hans Zimmer, who just so happens to be my favorite contemporary composer. And of course, Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow was mesmerizing. All in all, my expectations were wildly exceeded.

I think that’s the key to movies sometimes. I was so excited to see Bridesmaids that I felt disappointed by it, and I have no hopes for this movie and was pleasantly surprised. I think I’m on to something here. Perhaps I’ve unlocked the secret to Jenn’s love of EVERY movie no matter how bad it is. I’ll have to test it out, but I think there’s something to it.