The Pirates of the Caribbean are back, and in piratey style they are going to try to lift a whole lot of your money out of the multiplex this weekend. Do they deserve it? Plus: Bridesmaids, Batman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lars Von Trier, and the role of Mamo in the realm of your listener feedback.
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Tom Hardy should come out to “Real American” during his first scene.
POTC:OST looks like $100m this weekend. Any less, and there’s trouble in toontown.
@Gord – Or “Vader Time”. Joking aside, he does look pretty bad-ass!
Was Penelope Cruz really that bad? Perhaps I was blinded from her hotness but I thought she did fine. I actually quite enjoyed PotC4 even if I agree with most of your criticisms. Though, to be fair, PotC3 suffered from a lot of the same problems yet you guys liked that one.
I am perhaps blinded by the degree to which I find Penelope Cruz unappealing. I don’t necessarily even think it’s fair to criticize her acting skills in this case (although we did), as her role is so terribly written and poorly conceived.
To be further fair, Pirates 3 gets to play by a vastly different rulebook than Pirates 4. Pirates 3 was the conclusion of a series of stories and could shorthand (and longhand) some character relationships and exposition. Pirates 4, though, is trying to establish a new franchise and doesn’t have the same storehouse of plot points to pay off that its predecessor did. Everything (except Jack) needs to be set up new, and I feel Pirates 4 does an exceedingly lazy job of creating an interesting, stand-alone story frame.
If Pirates 4 was the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, would there ever have been another?
And in case it escaped anyone’s attention, my full review of POTC4 is here:
http://www.rowthree.com/2011/05/19/review-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides/
“Pirates 3 was the conclusion of a series of stories and could shorthand (and longhand) some character relationships and exposition.”
Great point. I guess all the exposition didn’t bother me because I come to expect it in a PotC film, even if it’s the start of a new arc.
“If Pirates 4 was the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, would there ever have been another?”
If it was the 1st, it wouldn’t be the same film you saw. It’s the 4th and that’s how the filmmakers approached it.
Also, did you really think Beckett was all that developed?
I think Beckett was as developed as he needed to be, given that he wasn’t the main antagonist of the piece. Davey Jones has a much more interesting backstory and set of goals than any of the villains in Stranger Tides. (As did Barbossa in Pirates 1.)
The Finkster is, as of now, calling POTC4′s weekend gross at a soft-ish $89M domestic:
http://www.deadline.com/2011/05/pirates-of-caribbean-4-opens-huge-abroad/
Maybe I read it wrong, but I always thought Beckett was the big bad with Davy Jones being subservient for like 4/5ths of the movie. I mean, Beckett friggin took down The Kraken.
And for the record, I love PotC 2-4. Part 1 I could take or leave.
As most folk know, we focus on the domestic tally in the box office contest and in the show. But it’s worth noting that however soft this domestic tally might be, the film is already well into the middle of the $300Ms in its global take.
I think the Indy IV comparison will be a safe one – look for this film to do an easy $750M or more worldwide. POTC5 to set sail any day?
The Dark Knight Rises could make 2 billion dollars without a single 3D theatre and I imagine executives will only say: “we could have made another half a billion if it had been in 3D”. I really think movie execs see non-3D films as leaving money on the table.
This past week I tried to explain to people at work why I hated 3D films and would rather see them in 2D and it was like I was talking in an alien language. They were all so much for 3D films that it took them a while to understand my complaints. I fear it’s just a matter of time before a 3D release will be in 3D theatres only.
Wow… so even if you seek out a 2D showing, it may end up looking bad thanks to theatres leaving the 3D lenses on the projectors:
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2011/05/22/misuse_of_3_d_digital_lens_leaves_2_d_movies_in_the_dark/
I’m curious how often this problem is happening up in here in Canada. Still, it boggles the mind that this kind of garbage is happening.
I would argue this phenomenon was certainly in effect when I went to see Thor in 2-D at the Scotiamount last week, though I suppose I will have to wait for the blu-ray to be sure.
Encouragingly, though, less than half of Pirates’ weekend take came from 3-D screens.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pirates_of_the_caribbean_on_stranger_tides/news/1922814/box_office_guru_wrapup_pirates_attacks_with_huge_global_debut/