Catching up after almost two movie-less weeks, Jack and I liked the fourth of this series better than we expected, enjoying the jokes and fancy words between battles, Erroll Flynn-like rope swinging, and Johnny Depp's now trademark mincing walk (every time he runs with his wrists in the air, we laugh). Although 2:18 is too long by about a half hour (why won't they ask us to approve the final cut? We easily could have snipped minutes from each action sequence) we didn't yearn to leave early because there was usually something funny or a special effect coming right up. I had read that the mermaid effects would be spectacular and they are (it's a good thing, because they are discussed at much length before they finally appear). These are not mermaids such as Daryl Hannah in Splash (1982), except for one detail, but to say more would be a spoiler.
Despite the walk, Depp (after I covered him in some detail in Public Enemies, he starred in Alice in Wonderland and co-starred in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) has a slightly more dramatic role this time, as I recall the last three (POTC: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), POTC: Dead Man's Chest (2006), POTC: At World's End (2007)). In fact, he sounds less drunk than in the others, which makes his words easier to understand (way easier than in Alice). Keith Richard of the Rolling Stones reprises his role of Captain Teague from World's End in just a cameo this time, and I won't reveal his punch line, just in case you haven't seen it in the trailer. Kevin McNally and Geoffrey Rush (I wrote about Rush in Bran Neu Dae) return as Gibbs and Barbossa, respectively, from all three preceding POTC movies. Then we have Penelope Cruz (I wrote about her in Broken Embraces and Elegy, then saw her in Nine, though I didn't mention her) who is luscious as always (in fact she was pregnant during the shoot and her sister Mónica Cruz doubled for her in some long shots when it was difficult to hide the "bump." Leo was born in January and his father is Javier Bardem) as Blackbeard's daughter Angelica. The chemistry between her and Depp is nice. Ian McShane (perhaps best known as Al Swearingen on Deadwood) joins the cast as Blackbeard, and a scary villain he is. Stephen Graham's (after I wrote about him in The Damned United, he played Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire) guitar-playing character Scrum brought out one aspect of the soundtrack (more on that later). There are some jokes at the expense of religion, Bill Maher would be glad to note.
This is the first of the POTC movies not directed by Gore Verbinski. This time it's Rob Marshall (former Broadway choreographer who directed the movies Chicago (2002), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), and Nine) and the theatricality is much appreciated. From the choreographed fights to the animatronic ropes it's well put together.
And now the music. In addition to one of my heroes, Hans Zimmer (with 139 titles in his composer section I'm hard pressed to pick my favorites, so I'll list his Oscar win The Lion King (1994) and nominations Rain Man (1988), The Preacher's Wife (1996), As Good as It Gets (1997), The Prince of Egypt (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998), Gladiator (2000), Sherlock Holmes, and Inception, plus others from babetteflix, The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Angels & Demons, and It's Complicated) composing as he did in 2006-07, the Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela play quite a bit, sometimes attributed to Scrum. About five years ago I heard a DJ on our local NPR music station playing their Stairway to Heaven and I bought their self-named CD. You can listen to the whole soundtrack online by going to this link and advancing one track at a time (my favorite is #9). I love it, and if you do, too, buy it. You can listen to Rodrigo y Gabriela playing a track from the soundtrack live on The Tonight Show here, and playing Stairway to Heaven here.
Rated PG-13, it seemed a bit risqué to me for two young girls down the row from us. I wondered if they understood all the big words or the sexual innuendo and what did their dad think of the violence? As usual in these parts, except for the Gen-X audience in Thor, everyone cleared out at the beginning of the lo-ooo-ng credits. But we didn't and were rewarded with the expected bonus, promising a fifth chapter at a later date not yet determined. We saw the movie in 3-D, and recommend you do, too. It's too dark (in color) to appreciate on all but the most professional of home theatres.
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