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Pirates of the Caribbean review 28 May, 2007, 01:08 / 38 comments


To celebrate the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World?s End, due to hit cinemas tomorrow, we?ve put a review of The Curse of the Black Pearl, with a review of the next two films to follow presently.

Contained within is a rant about Escape from Monkey Island, and gratuitous and self-indulgent excerpts from Treasure Island.

Update: page two has now been uploaded, with a look back at Dead Man's Chest. Yargh.

Update 2: Our review of At World's End has now been uploaded.
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38 Comments

  • JackShandy on 11 Jul, 2007, 06:50…
    I think,its quite ridiculous,that Ted Elliot and Terry Rosso deny to know anything about monkey island....
    It has to relate to some copyright issues
  • The Tingler on 30 May, 2007, 23:25…
    Well I saw the film again. My God that ending wasn't worth the wait.

    Anyhoo, I found that missing Monkey Island bit I'd forgotten. They both share a comedic main-mast-snapping-in-two moment. That is all.
  • Udvarnoky on 31 May, 2007, 00:50…
    Haha wow, quite true.
  • deadworm222 on 28 May, 2007, 10:35…
    I disagree with those who say it was a s good as the first one. I found the second film weak as well, though.

    The film was tedious due to the constant bickering and fighting (much like in a soap opera), there seemed to be no reason for Elizabeth and Will Turner to... do what did in the end, and in general there was just no point to the whole film. But my biggest problem was that the dialogue was pretty empty. In the end the endless battles and conflicts became downright silly.

    "-You can't do that! -Yes I can, the secret pirate code says that . -But the secret exception to the secret pirate code says that , so that means I win! -Avast ye swabs! Let's fight! Oooh, dear Elizabeth I'd have you right now but I must go and fight!"

    It wasn't as fun as the first film. But the props were pretty and effects and filming were good, you could always focus on that.
  • elTee on 28 May, 2007, 13:34…
    I agree that the whole "we have a code!" (and the bloody SIZE of the codex) was a bit ridiculous. Kind of contrary to what a pirate is supposed to be, I think.

    But obviously it's just a plot device so I won't moan about it.
  • deadworm222 on 28 May, 2007, 17:27…
    But it was such a weak plot device it made me cringe. And it wasn't just that, anything peculiar about the plot was explained away by either some mystic God or force or... whatever.
  • deadworm222 on 28 May, 2007, 10:37…
    Hmm, I tried to put some words inside tags with < and > signs, but they don't show up. Darn.
  • Jake on 28 May, 2007, 16:48…
    The site probably thought you were writing HTML.
  • deadworm222 on 28 May, 2007, 17:24…
    I figured so as well. [mutters something about sloppy coding] ;)
  • Jake on 28 May, 2007, 19:31…
    It was deliberate back in the day when Mojo's backend was written. It was at the time the easiest way to let people post images and things like strikethrough tags.
  • Jake on 28 May, 2007, 19:31…
    Dunno why I italicized "strikethrough." That was a weird choice.
  • Scummbuddy on 26 May, 2007, 00:55…
    Just got back from seeing it.

    By my count there were two Monkey Island similarities. Somewhat spoilers ahead...

    ----
    When we first meet Will Turner, we can only imagine that he has been holding his breath for at least 10 minutes.

    And the use of a code wheel to reveal secret knowledge to progress in the movie/game, well, I know I've seen that before.
  • Udvarnoky on 26 May, 2007, 04:07…
    How can I be the only one who sees Shipwreck Cove as Woodtick?
  • Jake on 26 May, 2007, 05:40…
    I saw that as well. It was most amazing though how much At World End was basically Escape From Monkey Island. Granted, no giant robots, but a talisman which lets an upstart corporate mogul control and unwillingly manipulate the most fearsome mystical pirate of the seas?
  • The Tingler on 26 May, 2007, 09:15…
    There's using a cannon to get somewhere (particularly with the monkey), but there's one definite MI moment I spotted when I watched that I just can't remember. I'll see if I can get it next time I see the film.
  • Scummbuddy on 26 May, 2007, 23:12…
    I noticed the similarity to Woodtick, but it seemed more like this was a mecha-city the way the boats were built up, compared to the few boats of Woodtick.
    --------
    And there was totally a "wheres the rum" joke in POTC3.
    I believe it was as they were trying to return to the correct world, one pirate mentions they are out of water, and then Gibbs mentions theres no rum either.
    --------
    And while talking about Gibss, where the heck was he after Sparrow loses his boat at the end. We see him in the scene before, but Sparrow is alone in his dinghy. I guess Gibbs wanted a break. Whatever.

    --------
    And please do elaborate about how you think the curse has been lifted after watching the after-credits.
  • Gabez on 27 May, 2007, 00:43…
    I say apparently - what I mean is, I read it on imdb.
  • Scummbuddy on 27 May, 2007, 02:42…
    I just reread my post, and it sounded kinda jerk-ish... I was just curious about the 'breaking of the curse'. I would love for the curse to be lifted.
  • The Tingler on 25 May, 2007, 23:50…
    Very nice!

    The only review (so far) I started to read was IGN UK's, which basically began "I don't really like the other two Pirates movies, they were alright I suppose". At which point I immediately stopped reading...
  • Udvarnoky on 25 May, 2007, 08:36…
    I'm just getting back from a midnight showing of At World's End that I'd agreed to go to with some friends. (I know, that doesn't make it right, but...)

    The movie was out of control.
  • valkian on 25 May, 2007, 16:31…
    in a good way?
  • Udvarnoky on 25 May, 2007, 19:08…
    Yeah I think!
  • MrSneeze on 26 May, 2007, 02:49…
    I was disappointed with At World's End, but I'll leave it at that in order to avoid spoilers.
  • Udvarnoky on 24 May, 2007, 19:04…
    By the way my post a few days ago about Pirates 3 having good reviews was pretty far off the mark. As it turns out the two reviews I happened to read are basically the only positive reviews of the movie. Heh.

    Whatever though, the other movies weren't exactly critical darlings either. Oh and Gabez, the name of the movie is At World's End, not Edge. Unless that was some really brilliant joke that flew over my head.
  • The Tingler on 25 May, 2007, 23:47…
    And he spelled Citizen Kane wrong.
  • Gabez on 26 May, 2007, 01:18…
    Sssh!
  • Scummbuddy on 24 May, 2007, 18:13…
    Ripping on MI4? Count me in.

    Anyways, when Jack zips down the line, he is actually throwing the chain over but keeping his hands on one side; catching the chain, so it really does work. I too was confused as to how they did that, but on subsequent viewings I caught that it wasn't a movie goof. They probably should have showed a little longer of that scene to establish that.

    And Gabez, you WON'T be dissapointed with the book. It is wonderful.
  • Udvarnoky on 24 May, 2007, 16:14…
    According to Terry Rossio (one of the screenwriters for the trilogy), On Stranger Tides was a huge influence on them as well. Both writers maintain that they've never played Monkey Island.
  • JackShandy on 09 Jul, 2007, 15:59…
    Do you think,they deny the influence of Monkey Island because of Legal Issues?
  • Jake on 24 May, 2007, 18:31…
    Got a link to an interview where they mention Monkey Island? I've never actually heard that addressed by the writers, but I've always been curious. The parallels between Davy Jones/East India Trading Company in Pirates 2 and 3, and LeChuck/Ozzy in Monkey 4 are ridiculous.
  • elTee on 24 May, 2007, 19:05…
    Oh Jake, you and your getting people to contact famous screenwriters.

    "How did you get this number??"
  • Udvarnoky on 24 May, 2007, 18:40…
    They have mentioned Monkey Island, like, once. I think someone asked them about it and their response was something along the lines of "You're not the first person who's said that, but we're not familiar with those games."

    The writers have their own forums at wordplayer.com I'll try to track down what I'm referring to.
  • JackShandy on 09 Jul, 2007, 16:05…
    Ahh...thats kind of disappointing
  • Udvarnoky on 24 May, 2007, 18:53…
    Okay here we go: A thread where they're asked point-blank about Monkey Island.

    And this post is apparently by a fan who had the chance to meet Terry Rossio in person and he recommended that she read On Stranger Tides.

    There could be more than that somewhere on the internet but those are I think the sources I was thinking of.
  • Gabez on 24 May, 2007, 16:31…
    That's funny... I really must read that book.
  • valkian on 24 May, 2007, 15:52…
    Nice review G-Man. Lovely indeed.
    I saw PotC: At World's End last tuesday (http://dig.mixnmojo.com/journal/index.html#22_05_07).
    I enjoyed it, but not as much as the first one. It also seems to be the one with less Monkey Island similarities.
    But it has more pirates than the previous chapters. It's too damn long as well.
    Still, anyone who enjoyed the previous two, will enjoy this one.
  • Gabez on 24 May, 2007, 16:29…
    Last Tuesday... ooh you lucky bugger! Nice review, though.
  • valkian on 24 May, 2007, 16:58…
    I gave so much to life, I say it was about time life gave something to me.

    Heh.