Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
Directed by Rob Marshall. Starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin R. McNally, Penelope Cruz, and Ian McShane.

The release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth Pirates film, was a momentous occasion for me. In many ways, my love of these movies made me aspire to work in Hollywood and want to go to film school. Additionally, I can quote the first Pirates very nearly in its entirety, and I often rate Curse of the Black Pearl as my absolute favorite movie ever; Johnny Depp is my favorite actor; Hans Zimmer is my favorite composer... You get the idea. So, as it's been four years since At World's End, suffice it to say, I was extremely excited to see this movie.

While many will agree that the first Pirates film was genius, still more will argue that the overblown, out-of-control ambition that governed the second and third movies spoiled them. Too many mythologies, plot lines, characters, effects, and running times that were punishing (138 minutes / 150 minutes respectively), these sequels *tried to do too much.* Now, I would watch Johnny Depp in character as Captain Jack read the phone book for two hours and call it great fun, so perhaps I am biased, but I still enjoyed those films. That's not to say I don't agree that they went a bit overboard (so to speak).... This past week, I re-watched all three films to "prepare" for the fourth, and I definitely see where they lost many fans. This is all important to keep in mind going to On Stranger Tides. Even Johnny Depp was aware of it when making Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, as he told Entertainment Weekly in his recent cover story.

I've long believed that a film is what you make of it. You can control your enjoyment by crafting your expectations. If you expect Michael Bay to make an Oscar-worthy Transformers film, well, there's no two ways about it... you're going to be disappointed. Same if you expect Terrence Malick to make a fun, light, summer Blockbuster.  That said, it's a well known fact that sequels are rarely "as good as" or "better" than their parent films. And, my question is 'why should they be?' Yes, in an ideal world, it'd be great if a creative team could aspire to the same levels they reached before, but it's just not that likely in a business like the Hollywood dream factory.

If you want a film that is as good as Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, go watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Films like that are good because they are new, they tried something risky (hello Johnny Depp's portrayal of Keith Richards-inspired Jack Sparrow), they are inventive and creative, unaware of (and thus free from worries about) how they will be received, etc. Sequels aren't and simply cannot live up to those qualities. So, please, if you go watch On Stranger Tides, don't expect Curse of the Black Pearl... or you will probably be disappointed. If you go in expecting to spend two hours with the FABULOUS Jack Sparrow on another one of his crazy adventures, you'll enjoy it eversomuch more.

I really liked On Stranger Tides. I thought it was very scaled down compared to the last film -- not just because of the lack of SO SO many characters and storylines,  not just because they filmed in Hawaii instead of the Caribbean... but because this story moves faster, has fewer twists and turns, and doesn't try to do as much. This is a character driven film, driven by Jack and the audience's changing understanding of who he is. Yes, he's a rum-soaked, wobbly-legged pirate... but as we see, he might just have a heart as well. And so, Penelope Cruz is a great addition to the plot as Angelica, daughter of the fearsome pirate Blackbeard, and once-lover of dear ol' Jack. (Fun fact: ever notice that little strip of lace dangling from Johnny's left wrist as part of his Captain Jack costume? He added it in when they were filming the second film, imagining it as a trinket given to him by a lover in the past. Well...) Angelica is in many ways a female version of Jack, which is a fabulous dynamic and one that makes the film feel fresh.

Furthermore, Geoffrey Rush makes a welcome return to this film -- ever since his line that "The code's more guidelines than actual rules," I've had a special place in my heart for Barbossa. The dynamic between Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa continues to evolve, and is interesting and fun, one of my favorite parts of the film. The plot is about the race to the Fountain of Youth -- something that was brought up at the end of the last film. Barbossa, the Spanish, and Blackbeard (also a new character) are racing to be the first to get there, and Jack gets caught up in the race. In order to drink from its waters and avoid mortality, you must have a mermaid... which brings in a neat sideplot featuring these newcomers, who certainly may appear in future films. (Yes, the screenplay for the fifth Pirates was turned in recently).

Overall, with all these ingredients in place, director Rob Marshall (Gore Verbinski didn't return for this one) steers the film through new locales -- London, for example -- to familiar lush islands, off cliffs and through caves to the Fountain. I thought there were some great action sequences, plenty of laugh-out-loud lines and moments, and some great development of relationships. In short, everything that I love about a Pirates film was present. My only bone to pick with this film was that, perhaps, the stakes weren't high enough and that the finale wasn't grand enough (yes, okay, grand words after the last two films, but perhaps they skewed my expectations). The action is pretty front-loaded -- with an exciting escape sequence within the first half hour -- that it left me wanting a bit more by the end. Still, given what I've said already about problems with the last two, perhaps it's better they steered clear of anything too crazy.

Personally, I can't wait to see On Stranger Tides at least once more in theaters, and I recommend you see it if you've ever enjoyed Captain Jack Sparrow. This film will entertain you for a couple of hours, and whisk you away on the high seas for another supernatural and grand adventure. It's fun, funny, and made for the fans... proof that this franchise will likely carry on for a while longer. And, well, that's fine by me... I'm not ready to see Jack hang up his hat just yet.

Thor

Thor (2011)
Directed by Kenneth Branaugh. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Stellan Starsgard, and Anthony Hopkins.

Superhero movies are hard to review because of their sheer quantity nowadays. It's impossible to watch one without comparing it to another because they stack up so quickly in theaters. And yet, despite the fact that they are squished together into one extremely popular genre, I like to try to remember that these are still individual films.

Thor is on a particularly imaginative branch of the superhero film tree. Far more based in the realm of mythology and fantasy than the others, the hero doesn't get his powers from a spider bite or a fancy utility belt... he has them because he is the God of Thunder. Take that, Batman. In a lot of ways, this is a coming-of-age story more than one of good versus evil. Think along the lines of Peter Parker being told "With great power comes great responsibility." Thor must learn what to fight for, because from the film's opening, it's clear that he already knows how to fight -- to the point of recklessness.

Director Kenneth Branaugh, best known for film adaptations of Shakespeare plays (as well as his own acting), brings a clear vision and unusual touch to such a Blockbuster-y summer tentpole picture. The visual effects that bring Thor's to life are stunning -- in fact, I wanted to see more of his magical world than we did. And, in a dizzying display of marketing, the film does a wonderful job starting to set up The Avengers movie coming next year. (Captain America finishes off the set-up).*

So, while I enjoyed Thor, in retrospect, I think it fell a little flat. The romance was largely uninteresting -- though it was good to see Natalie Portman out of the pointe shoes. And the climactic battle, or perhaps the lead-up to it, was disappointing. In fact, I didn't realize it WAS the final battle until the credits rolled. Overall, this was a good popcorn flick. I'm glad to see a desire in the Marvel camp to be more creative, and to recruit interesting directors to make their films better, but in the end, I don't think it went above and beyond its Blockbuster status.


*I recommend that you ALWAYS stay until after the credits at Marvel movies.

Fair Game

Fair Game (2010)
Directed by Doug Liman. Starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.

I was just young enough during the George W. Bush presidency and Valarie Plame scandal that I didn't really follow the full story. This movie does an excellent job filling in those gaps for me, detailing one of the biggest scandals to rock the intelligence agencies in recent years. There are apparently many discussions online about historical accuracy and creative liberty in the film... but as the book cites Valarie Plame and Joseph Wilson's autobiographies as sources, it's clear that, at the very least, their side of the story is being told well.

The film is directed by Doug Liman, best known for his thriller spy films like The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. At times, the overly dramatic tendencies from those films show through, somewhat out-of-place in a political biopic. So, perhaps the film has some difficulty with the balance between its multiple genres. Yet, the acting is superb, and the story drives the movie with a relentless intensity. Above all, it's the mood of the film that stands out... it simmers with anger at the system, and leaves the viewer feeling similarly ticked off.

This is a smart film with a "docudrama" leaning... one that shows such a nasty side of our political system that it's hard to believe it's based in real events.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2

Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (2004)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Uma Thurman.

Perhaps there's no excuse for taking so long to see these acclaimed films by Quentin Tarantino, but in a lot of ways, I'm really glad I saw them when I did... Viewing them straight after two semesters of Film History made them all the more interesting. Plain and simple, the Kill Bill films are a cornucopia of filmic styles, cliches, and references that overwhelmed this film student's brain, but left me highly impressed. To some extent in the past, I've felt that I don't understand "the big deal" with Tarantino, but now I definitely take that back. There's no one else like him.

The two volumes of Kill Bill are highly different, but since they were originally intended to be one film, I'll talk about them together. The films are best summarized by Roger Ebert's simple explanation: "The movie is all storytelling and no story." (Source). EVERY possible style is employed at least once... from black & white to voiceover to animation to anything else you can think of. Tarantino jumps from homages to classic Hollywood with a rear-screen projected sequence to Hong Kong Kung Fu films through Gordon Liu to American and Italian Westerns and beyond with a frenzied energy that somehow holds it all together. For every source I identified, I'm sure countless references went over my head. (I mean, just glance at this "Kill Bill Reference Guide" to get a sense of the scale we're talking about).

It doesn't seem enough to call these films "good" -- because they're really not good or bad... they're more in the category of "damn impressive." Sure, the violence is intense, but it's made bearable by Uma Thurman's unyielding determination and stoicism. She's a fascinating heroine. Plus, it's a revenge story, so for every bad guy hacked apart by that amazing sword of hers, you can't help but cheer. Overall, I think everyone should see these films... They're a crash course in film studies in four hours or less. They're proof that filmmaker master artists still exist in an industry where the Michael Bay of the world are slowly taking over. They're classics, less than 10 years after they were released.

The Hangover

The Hangover (2009)
Directed by Todd Phillips. Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zack Galifianakas, Ken Jeong, and Justin Bartha

This is the ultimate high-concept film. A high-concept plot or pitch refers to a storyline that can easily and succinctly be summarized. A classic example is: Jaws - "what if a shark attacks?" High-concept movies have become more and more basic... Speed can be described as "Die Hard on a bus," while for movies like Snakes On A Plane and Cowboys & Aliens, well, it's all in the title. The Hangover is similar to these last to examples. The entire film's plot revolves around the hilarious consequences of a drunk night in Vegas -- the whole film is about a hangover.

This simplicity isn't a bad thing -- and there's no denying that this is a very funny movie. In fact, having such a simple idea at the base of this movie allows the plot to "get out of the way." This, in turn, enables the zany antics of the three main stars to take over and to be as hilarious as they are. The Hangover was the first thing I turned to when my summer vacation started, and as a mindless, ridiculous, over-the-top comedy, it certainly delivered. The central conceit, though actually explained by the end of the film, is that these three friends cannot remember what happened to them during the previous wild night. Thus, among other things, they cannot explain why their fourth friend, who is due at his own wedding very soon, is missing. They also don't know why they have a baby and a tiger in their hotel room, and why one of them is missing a tooth and wearing a wedding ring. (All this is in the trailer -- as I've said, it's really not the plot that matters, so it's not something I can "spoil.")

Though this movie is well on its way to becoming a franchise with the sequel that was released earlier this year, this was by no means a typical Hollywood comedy that was assured success. The three actors main actors were basically unknowns (though now of course, they're big stars)... and R-rated comedies without the name Judd Apatow attached to them typically stay small. So, I think it's safe to say that it was a big surprise when this went on to be the highest grossing R-rated film of all time.

Many movies in today's film industryare becoming increasingly complex... which is great! Films like Inception cannot easily be boiled down to a one-sentence pitch, which makes them interesting to watch. Still, balance in Hollywood is key, so a film that's so unabashedly basic... "what if three men wake up with the worst hangover ever?" yet still creative and comedic is a real gem.

State of Play

State of Play (2009)
Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Starring Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Afflek, and Helen Mirren.

State of Play was a solid and satisfying thriller. Based on a British miniseries, and bearing hints of All the President's Men, and other political scandal stories, this is a smart film, well in tune with the world we live in. To my delight, it even managed to surprise me at several twists and turns (something that I find happens less and less as I see more and more movies). The cast is as good as it gets... with leading man Russell Crowe proving that he still has that irresistible ability to command the screen and pull audience's along heart and soul through a treacherous story.

The plot is only a mere step removed from reality... in many ways, it could be ripped from the headlines. Cal (Crowe) plays a dying breed of journalist... one who seeps his stories in research and facts, who pounds out copy for a print newspaper on a computer that looks 10 year too old, and who turns up his nose at Rachel McAdams' character, a lowly blogger who doesn't know what real reporting is. When a young woman is killed on the Metro in an apparent suicide, not only does Cal start investigating whether this was in fact murder, but he also becomes wrapped up in the drama of a college friend. It turns out the young woman was the mistress of Senator Collins (Ben Affleck)... and a whole web of intrigue involving a mercenary company with ties in the Middle East. (Like I said, the film takes many cues from the real world).

Despite the connections to the political climate around us, the films is entertaining -- it's not so "real" that it becomes bleak, and it still manages to raise interesting questions about human nature. As the screenwriter of the original miniseries noted, it's a "story about whether or not someone is justified in doing a pretty awful thing, if they themselves are doing great things in other areas of their life." (Source) It's essentially a question of good and evil, and the many, many shades of gray in between.

I recommend this film as one most people probably missed, and one that the average intelligent adult aware of politics and current events will most likely enjoy.