07-24-2006, 08:14 PM
Finally coughed up the cash and got out of the house. The crowd was better than usual. There was only one crying baby, one kid asking questions (directly behind me), and the largest, tallest people in the theater sat right in front of us.
The movie itself was better than I thought it would be. My one major grievance was there was too much swashbuckling action. The scene with the water-wheel, for example, was about fifteen minutes too long. There was a saving grace even here, though, for the slapstick was well-done, even in mid-fight. But the two-and-a-half hour movie contained only an hour and a half of...movie. A little action is good, I suppose, but (and I think I'm in the minority here) you really don't need it to be a good third of the movie. I'd MUCH rather have plot progression. And if you can't do that, just trim the scenes a little. We don't need to see them three fellas fight for nigh half an hour without actually accomplishing anything other than reminding us all of hamsters.
I found the first of the Pirates movies to be brilliant in this regard. All of the action sequences were (relatively) short, with plenty of slapstick and jokes so I did not get bored. The final scene was a bit long, but it WAS a set-up for the death of Barbosa and the crew's capture. The Water Wheel, on the other hand, didn't accomplish anything except transporting our friends back to the beach (and it took longer than the run to the water wheel's housing from the beach did), where a scene that really could have been in the forest happened. Yes, it was cool looking. For the first five, maybe ten minutes.
(Pie comments)---------->
:)
--me
The movie itself was better than I thought it would be. My one major grievance was there was too much swashbuckling action. The scene with the water-wheel, for example, was about fifteen minutes too long. There was a saving grace even here, though, for the slapstick was well-done, even in mid-fight. But the two-and-a-half hour movie contained only an hour and a half of...movie. A little action is good, I suppose, but (and I think I'm in the minority here) you really don't need it to be a good third of the movie. I'd MUCH rather have plot progression. And if you can't do that, just trim the scenes a little. We don't need to see them three fellas fight for nigh half an hour without actually accomplishing anything other than reminding us all of hamsters.
I found the first of the Pirates movies to be brilliant in this regard. All of the action sequences were (relatively) short, with plenty of slapstick and jokes so I did not get bored. The final scene was a bit long, but it WAS a set-up for the death of Barbosa and the crew's capture. The Water Wheel, on the other hand, didn't accomplish anything except transporting our friends back to the beach (and it took longer than the run to the water wheel's housing from the beach did), where a scene that really could have been in the forest happened. Yes, it was cool looking. For the first five, maybe ten minutes.
Quote:Personally I like chocolate pie, but I do think that carob bean pie rates.
(Pie comments)---------->
:)
--me