the Dalaverse

So I'm rewatching the trilogy and had some Thoughts, as I tend to do.




--To begin with in the atmospheric opening sequence: all the costuming kudos. Elizabeth's wedding gown is so gorgeous, and Weatherby's outfit, and oh my Will's entire piratical look.

--Elizabeth and Will snapping "Captain!" in unison warms my little OT3 loving heart

--Can we just skip the entire Pelegostos sequence? It's so cartoonish, the bloodthirsty natives trope is so very outdated, and Jack's wackiness goes completely over the top for far too long. Though I will admit to giggling at the bone-cages swinging across the sky to the calliope music.

--Really, the first forty minutes or so (baring that delicious scene of a righteous Elizabeth holding Beckett at gunpoint) are a complete wash. Once Tia Dalma hits the screen, it's like a different movie. Naomie Harris is very captivating. It's fun watching her hone in on Will after we know what his "touch of destiny" is. Also? Syphilis reference FTW.

--It's the Dutchman! Still love Catholic Sailor Guy. "I'll take my chances, sir."

--The effects for the rest of the crew are pretty dated, but Davy Jones is still an impressive creation. The design has real weight and depth to it, and Bill Nighy's voicework does a lot of heavy lifting. I never forget I'm watching CGI with the Dutchman's crew or the kraken (or the CoBP pirates for that matter) but I do with Jones, especially in close-up.

--The "Two Hornpipes" theme is so good! More of this and less of the BRAAAAAAHHHHing in your future work, please, Mr. Zimmer.

--Oh, James. What has the world done to you? It breaks my heart but I do like his whole fall-redemption arc. It's not the story I would have written (and did write, so many times), but it's a good story well told. They could've just not brought him back at all, you know. Instead he gets to snark and fight and die a noble pretty death. I'm wondering now why I didn't write a single Norrington fic between DMC and AWE; there's actually a lot of good material there. I was just so fixated on the Will/Elizabeth angst. And what lovely angst it was, but still, what was wrong with me?

--I said it then and I'll say it now: BOOTSTRAP FUCKS EVERYTHING UP. Although he did give us a sexy flogging scene, so there's that. Only five lashes? You got off easy, Turner(s). Will being all clever and badass is always enjoyable, though, and it's a pretty decent daddy issues storyline.

--I don't ship it without Will in the middle, but damn, Johnny and Keira had some fucking amazing chemistry. I get why they wrote so much of the trilogy around them sharing scenes. Even in the first movie, the best deleted material is theirs.

--With the caveat that father/daughter stories are my weakness, I love everything that Jonathan Pryce brings to the role of Governor Swann.

--Oh dear, the kraken effects have REALLY not aged well. Though I do like that sound effect of the tentacles slithering around the ship

--Every time someone says "marriage," substitute "fucking." Like "playing chess" in XM:FC.

--I have fond memories of the icon I had of the four of them standing on the beach around the chest <3 Everything works about this sequence, visually speaking - the three-way swordfight, Elizabeth hamming it up, Pintel and Ragetti scampering off in the background. The wheel bit gets a little stupid but I still enjoy it. If you're going to do a too-long action setpiece, this is how you stage it. Hint: it involves a lot of good stuntwork and not just CGI, PETER JACKSON.

--What would we do without Pintel and Ragetti along to spout exposition and summarize important plot points? I honestly love them. It's a mythological creature, I can calls it what I wants.

--How hot is Will taking charge during the kraken attack? SO hot. And favorite extra #2: the pirate who despairing cries "Oh my god!" when they load the rum.

--Such a gorgeous shot of Jack when he comes back, with that perfect corona of sunlight. The cinematography of these films doesn't get near enough credit.

--This is where Johnny earns his keep - when he channels the non-wacky side of Jack Sparrow. Canny and competent and a little dark. His delivery of "She's only a ship, mate" kills me every time. Jack Sparrow is a fully realized character, not a caricature. That's something all his other makeup-heavy characters have lacked in the years since, and that's really why they don't work like Jack does, I think.

--Have to watch the scene of Elizabeth betraying Jack twice. God, it's so freaking good. "Pirate." Please make another movie together, Johnny and Keira.

--Ahhh, the creative use of lamp oil. That's got to be a fandom shoutout, right?

--It still hurts my heart to watch the Pearl go down. Same with the Enterprise in "Seach for Spock."

--Lovelovelove that beautiful scene of the people in the swamp mourning Jack. "And already the world seems a bit less bright."

--Everybody saying "aye" to rescuing Jack except for ELizabeth who says "yes."

--And then Barbossa saunters in! Friends who saw this with me at Disney, do you remember how we lost our shit? And they didn't tell the cast that it was Geoffrey so their reactions are genuine - I love that. Apparently they also didn't tell Orlando about Elizabeth kissing Jack prior to filming. Tricking your actors is sometimes a fruitful policy.

In conclusion: this is the first time I've watched DMC in...I dunno, probably five or six years. And fuck the haters, I still think it's great (with the exception of the island crap in the beginning). Seeing it for the first time with a bunch of pirate friends on a Disney vacations is one of my favorite memories, which doesn't hurt. CoBP is basically perfect and AWE has a tighter plot, but DMC is all right by me.