Theatrical Review: Mortdecai

Date: Friday January 23 2015
Time: 2 pm
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 3 (my mom, sister & I)

Director: David Koepp
Based on the novel "Don't Point that Thing at me" by Kyril Bonfiglioli
Type: Comedic Heist spoof

Cast:
Mortdecai- Johnny Depp
Johanna- Gwyneth Paltrow
Martland- Ewan McGregor
Jacques- Paul Bettany
Krampf-Jeff Goldblum
Georgina- Olivia Munn

Introduction and Trailers
The three of us were the only ones in the theater, but then it's not every day that the local theater has matiness on Fridays... rather strange, considering that movies come out on Fridays. I paid for the tickets, my sister paid for some Reese's Pieces... and we practically had the place to ourselves.

The two trailers were so-so.
The first was for Will Smith's new movie "Focus"... I can't even remember what it's about other than he's a bit of a gambler/player who hires a girl to get to someone he wants to steal from... I didn't even catch the name until we left the theater and saw it on one of the posters.

The second had me thinking about the sad state Adam Sandler's career has taken over the last five years... not that Will Ferrell does a lot of great movies in general... having Kevin Hart as his co-star might give "Get Hard" a boost. Supposedly, Will Ferrell plays a rich guy who is indicted and has jail time coming to him and Kevin Hart teaches him how to "survive on the inside"... why do I get the feeling he's not even going to spend jail time?

Story
Mortdecai is a rich snooty Brit who happens to be an expert in fine art. Occasionally, this allows him to be an asset to the local police. He lives with his wife, Johanna, who takes a strong stance against his new moustache, and his manservant, who takes a lot of accidental damage in the field of duty.
The plot revolves around finding a missing Goya painting.

Casting and Other Comments

This is probably the first time in a couple years I saw a movie before reading any of the reviews... somehow I get the feeling all of them will read the same after a while.

Based on the trailers, I figured this would be a decently funny movie. It's certainly in the vein of the "Pink Panther" movies. The question is whether it's better or worse than the Steve Martin versions of that brand...
I don't know what I came expecting, but the way they were selling soap for this movie... the fact Ellen said on her show that was ridiculously funny and asked how they could survive laughing between takes, I thought it'd be a LOL type of affair.
During the first half of the film, it was anything but that and I was very disappointed.

Johnny Depp is recognizable as this character about as much as his accent is well-done. In which case, it wasn't the best British accent I've ever heard. But I don't think that was the point.
The point was that he's supposed to be the protagonist yet I didn't really find him very interesting.
Gwyneth Paltrow lit up the screen as his wife and attempted to keep Mortdecai grounded as best she could...
The most interesting character was actually the manservant. Jacques suffers from a lot of accidental injuries. Heck, Mortdecai has him accidentally shot at least three times (once in a flashback that was obviously a jab at Dick Cheney's "hunting incident"). But like a good employee, Jacques does everything asked of him without question. He also has a very healthy sex life that leads to some good shenanigans.
And of course I found Ewan McGregor charming... I always find him charming. Even though he is trying to woo Johanna away from her husband (who is less than pleased with the moustache), he doesn't do it in an overbearing manner as to make him unlikable.

One could argue that Mortdecai had all the makings of a primary character. Some defined traits. Motivation. But I didn't feel like he was three-dimensional.
A lot of the other characters had the issue of not being three-dimensional... but the protagonist kinda needs that to succeed.

The editing can be jarring at times, particularly when they transition from city to city, showing the airplane travel over 3D renderings.

To their credit, the movie did get funnier when the action started coming in. The movie began with Mortdecai negotiating a price for a vase with some gangsters of Asian decent, something that goes terribly wrong. At one point, he gets kidnapped by another group of people interested in the Goya painting.
The realization that we were in Moscow, I felt like that flipped the switch and I became invested... between that and the realization that the Russian thugs were threatening to apply shock therapy to Mortdecai's nether-region... probably because they reminded me of two key interests of mine... a great chase scene followed where Mortdecai and his manservant (who somehow managed to follow his kidnappers all the way here) escape on a motorcycle and sidecar.

The movie did get progressively better, but there were still a lot of goofy moments that generated awkward laughter... like how two people who planned to steal the painting from Krampf's residence poured poison randomly over the shellfish platter... whoever wrote the line in the script "It's the shellfish!" should never work in this industry again.
To make up for that, partially, vomit did have practical use in the following chase scene... something I never thought I'd get to say because I usually am very anti-vomit when it comes to movies.

Another positive that came later on was a revelation about Johanna that got her more involved with the movie... making her more than just Mortdecai's wife who might leave him in his absence because of his moustache and the fact they're steeped in debt.

...as for the rating, I thought it was a little much. There was one f-bomb (the only profanity in the entire film). There was a very brief sex scene in a flashback with no nudity to really speak of, one scene where we hear sex noises in a hotel room, and multiple references to Jacques's sex life.
They could have easily gotten away with PG13 on this... I've expressed these concerns previously about G-rated movies. One lewd reference or moment of "peril" automatically garners a PG rating. By those rules, anything that isn't direct-to-DVD and/or based off a show for elementary kids will be PG... therefore the G-rated movie is as good as dead.

Grade: B+
(The first half was worth a B, the second half an A-)

I don't think I'd recommend spending money to see this. Although my mom and sister said they enjoyed themselves as well.
It saddens me to say this as a Johnny Depp fan, but based on recent choices he's made (by that, I mean "The Lone Ranger"... I actually liked "Dark Shadows"), I don't think I can put him in the same class as some other A-list actors... not anymore.

Theatrical Review: Into the Woods

Date: Sunday. January 4. 2015

Time: 1:40 pm
Location: Cinemark Theater in Stroud Mall
Party: 2 (my mom & I)
Director: Rob Marshall (of "Chicago" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" fame)
Type: Stephen Sondheim Musical of Fairytale-retellings
Cast:
The Baker- James Corden
The Baker's wife- Emily Blunt
The Witch- Meryl Streep
Jack- Daniel Huttlestone
Jack's mother- Tracey Ullman
Cinderella- Anna Kendrick
Wicked Stepmother- Christine Baranski
Florinda- Tammy Blanchard
Lucinda- Lucy Punch
Red Riding Hood- Lilla Crawford
Cinderella's Prince- Chris Pine
Rapunzel's Prince- Billy Magnussen
Rapunzel- Mackenzie Munzy
The Wolf- Johnny Depp
The Giant- Frances De La Tour
Duration: 125 (+6 trailers)
Write-up:
Opening RemarksIt always seems like whenever we go to the mall to see a movie, it's a full house. Luckily we found a couple seats towards the back so we weren't in close range like we were with "The Judge" back in October.
Another great lively audience where laughs were in all the right places and there were even a few gasps. Possibly some tears (but that might have just been me 3-4 times).It feels only right to have a Broadway vs. Movie entry comparing this rendition of the show to the stage show starring Bernadette Peters as The Witch. But that's another time.

TrailersAnd like with "The Judge," we had a lot of trailers. Six to be exact.
1) The Minions (of "Despicable ME" fame) get their own spin-off... apparently their life's mission is to follow the most despicable being on the planet, with some unfortunately hilarious results... something tells me all these sheningans with the T-Rex, Napoleon and Dracula all happen within the first 10 minutes of the movie... either way, it was hilarious and may be worth seeing.

2) Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2- when I heard this was one of the movies/scripts leaked by the Sony hack, I thought they were kidding... who would be stupid enough to make a sequel out of this movie? Never saw the original and don't plan on seeing this. I'd sooner waste my money on "The Wedding Ringer," which looks conceivably funny compared to this... the trailer did it a favor, but we all kinda know how the reviews will pan out

3) The Age of Adaline- saw this trailer a few movies ago... I'm still not convinced this "eternal youth" cliché can be salvaged with Blake Lively of all people...

4) The Longest Ride- right away, I knew I smelled a Nicholas Sparks movie coming on- conceptually, it is intriguing. We have a young couple (the boy fancies bull-ridin') who comes across a car accident. They learn from the man inside about his life's story, particularly his own love story. We start to see parallels between the two, particularly where the girl breaks it off with the guy because he's taking too many risks.

5) Tomorrowland- a teaser trailer, really- a girl who just got out of Juvie gets her things but doesn't recognize a button. When she touches it, she's transported into a cornfield that the narrator explains is "another tomorrow"... considering it was Disney, I knew then it was the "Tomorrowland" movie they'd been planning for a couple years.
Not sure how much George Clooney screentime it'll have, but obviously he's there to give it some credibility :P

6) Cinderella- of course this is the perfect tie-in :P I hadn't seen "Maleficent" yet but since I'd already seen plenty of fairytale retellings in recent years, I most likely will see this one too... and begrudge all the changes and differences along the way.

Personal History:
This was the high school musical we did during my senior year. It was probably the year I begrudged the most for a number of reasons.
One of those was the fact there'd be no company in "Into the Woods." I either had to get a role or be forced to view it as an audience member.


I auditioned for Cinderella and thought I had a great audition. Yet I didn't even get a callback, something I will forever believe came down to the fact I didn't deliver "On the Steps of the Palace" with the right attitude. How was I to know without seeing it that it was meant to be sarcastic and flighty?

My mom and I went to see it on the night my friend Drew was playing The Baker.

The Story:


Once upon a time, in a far-off kingdom, there was a childless baker and his wife, Cinderella and Jack and his mother. All of these characters wished for different things. The baker and his wife wanted a baby. Cinderella wanted to go to the ball. Jack wanted adventure and his mother wanted him to sell the cow because she no longer gave milk. We also meet Little Red Riding Hood who visits the Baker's house for bread to bring her sick grandmother.

The most elaborate story comes with The Baker and his wife. The witch pays them a visit asking if they wish to reverse the curse she'd placed on their house. Supposedly, she'd done it after The Baker's father stole from her garden for his wife, and taking their 2nd child (who became Rapunzel).
The items required for this potion include:

• cow as white as milk
• cape as red as blood
• hair as yellow as corn
• slipper as pure as gold

and they ultimately get these items from our other well-known fairytale characters.

They trade the cow from Jack for some magic beans.
Red Riding Hood runs into the wolf in the woods, gets eaten by him at granny's and The Baker saves them both.
Cinderella goes to the festival each of the three nights and each time she runs away... for whatever reason, I guess because she isn't sure if she wants to be with him or stay in her current miserable life with her stepmother and stepsisters.


Meanwhile, one Prince pursues Cinderella and the other discovers Rapunzel.

Soon enough, everyone gets their happy ending, leaving the final third of the movie to explain what happens after the "happily ever after."

Casting News:
Other than some of the edits/exclusions and the fact it got a PG rating (when a PG13 would have been warranted... don't get me started on why G-rated movies are a dying breed), the biggest grievance following "Into The Woods" was casting Sophie Grace as Red Riding Hood.
Lilla Crawford (who apparently played "Annie" on Broadway) came in a week after filming because Sophie Grace's parents decided she was too young to play the role.

Really dodged bullet with that one... lots of people were threatening to boycott if she was in this movie...I doubt I would have, but this recasting is a HUGE relief... Sophie Grace and Rosie have to outgrow those princess outfits some time...Another recasting I completely forgot about involved Rapunzel's prince... originally, he was to be played by Jake Gyllenhaal as Cinderella's prince... but Jake pulled out in favor of "Nighcrawler" (might be a good thing, it got plenty of accolades).

Actors:

Tread Lightly, Spoilers Ahead

While I'm not sure if the Golden Globe nominations are completely warranted, all of the actors did a great job in this. The only singing voice I kinda took issue with was Chris Pine... but then, I take a lot of issue with his character.
Ironically, I kept casting his interviews on the talks shows :P
I should take a quick moment to address Johnny Depp. Yeah, The Wolf is a creepy character. His solo number "Hello Little Girl" had some innuendos (those that verged on pedophilia) edited out. And it's ridiculous to mention him in all the trailers when we know he gets killed early into the movie.
But I was having major "Sweeny Todd" flashbacks hearing him sing again... kinda funny his next onscreen singing gig is for another Sondheim musical.

Meryl Streep, again, I will mention was cast to give this movie credibility... and also give the Academy another excuse to nominate her (I swear, who've is behind her getting these nominated roles, they need to give RDJ some of that mojo)...
But I was much more pleased with her as The Witch than I was with her in "Mamma Mia." The vocal range fit her much better here. She played a pretty good baddie, not to mention an unhinged one when the moments called for it.


...maybe that's worth a Broadway vs. Hollywood entry as well...

I also considered that Christine Baranski was cast because of her Meryl Streep connection (they did "Mamma Mia" together). But she'd also worked with Rob Marshall before on "Chicago." Either way, she played a good wicked stepmother, however much screentime she got.
I couldn't help but wonder if Lucy Punch is suffering from the cruel Hollywood joke of typecasting. I saw her as an evil stepsister in "Ella Enchanted." Which made her comeuppance (along with her sister's) even sweeter.
And between this and "Harry Potter," you'd think Frances De La Tour was typecast as a giant (even stranger is the fact she's only 5' 7"... taller than I am, but I wouldn't think that's enough to warrant two goes as a giant).

One nitpick I had before seeing the movie was the casting of The Baker. I kept asking myself why they didn't cast someone I'd at least heard of. James Corden isn't a newbie to the acting scene, but he's not one I knew before this. I'm still not entirely convinced he stood out compared to all of the strong female presences, but I was pleased with his performance. Not a bad singing voice either.

Daniel Huttlestone is clearly gifted for musicals. This is his second role after "Les Miserables" (where he played the young boy, Gavroche). He played a great Jack.

Mackenzie Mauzy, who plays Rapunzel, has a lot of soap opera credits to her name. And she also played the former girlfriend of the protagonist in "Forever"... she has a great range, which is required of this role, but she isn't given a lot of material to work with as far as making this character three-dimensional.
But I did choked in two of her scenes. The aftermath of The Witch's solo "Stay with me" and when she reunites with her prince and her tears gave him back his sight. Especially during the latter because it was a beautiful moment.

Which just leaves the two leading ladies on the side of good.
Emily Blunt, I'd always enjoyed on screen and this is no exception. Great voice, has a lot of heart and she had great chemistry with James Corden.
During her final appearance, which was a bittersweet moment in the show (between her circumstances and the fact it was towards the very end), I got very teary-eyed.
Maybe that alone IS enough to earn her that Golden Globe nomination.

The moment Anna Kendrick was cast as Cinderella was the moment I decided I HAD to see this movie... next to the fact it was our high school musical, of course.
Her vocal range was REALLY put to the test and she passed with flying colors. She wasn't just an active Cinderella who trekked into the woods to go to the festival, but she portrays her as someone all young women can relate to... one that can talk to birds, but nonetheless... she finds a way out of her circumstances at home and even chooses her own happiness over the prince in the end.

Other highlights and lowlights

Probably the biggest lowlight for me... going back to Cinderella's Prince... I really did not like him... the reason by he cheated on Cinderella was never fully explained... he just felt like messing around with another woman in the woods... who happens to be The Baker's wife.

But to add to that, the "Agony" number between the Princes. Too bad you can't nominate scenes from movies for Razzies because that was terrible :P It looked like something out of a cheesy perfume commercial. Splashing around in a creek, ripping open their shirts as if put their raging hormones on display for us to perceive beyond their voices.
The whole theater roared with laughter, something I doubt was the intention.

The only other big negative I can derive, while keeping my feelings about the original out of the argument, is that the final act felt rushed... it got really dark really quickly (another reason why that PG13 rating would have been a good time).

Considering the vastness of the woods, this is definitely something worth seeing on the big screen. And when the giant is on the loose in the final third of the movie... you felt the tremors, making those scenes all the more intimidating and startling.

Speaking briefly about the production I'm well versed with, I was concerned that the blatant sarcasm would be lost in the translation from the stage to the screen... on most accounts, I was not disappointed. Emily Blunt could have put more effort into the line "I pulled it [it being the yellow hair for the spell] from a girl in a tower," but Lilla Crawford played Red Riding Hood with the right amount of sarcasm required for that character.Clearly, everyone in the theater had fun with this movie and periodically, that showed.
Whether you know the play or not, I'd absolutely recommend going out to theaters to see this one for the overall experience.


Grade: A

54. Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Code-name: Joanna

Type: Musical, Drama, Horror
Director: Tim Burton
Music (and lyrics): Stephen Sondheim

Notable Awards & Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Art Direction
nomination- OSCAR- Best Actor- Johnny Depp
nomination- OSCAR- Best Costume- Colleen Atwood
Golden Globe- Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)- Johnny Depp
Golden Globe- Best Picture (Comedy/Musical)
nomination- Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)- Helena Bonham Carter
nomination- Best Director- Tim Burton
nomination- Grammy- Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture

Cast:
Sweeny Todd- Johnny Depp
Mrs. Lovett- Helena Bonham Carter
Anthony- Jamie Campbell Bower
Joanna- Jayne Wisener
Toby- Edward Sanders
Judge Turpin- Alan Rickman
Beadle -Timothy Spall
Mr. Pirelli- Sacha Baron Cohen
Crazy Begger Woman- Laura Michelle Kelly

Write-Up:

Opening Remarks

Around this time last year, I was watching the movie (as I generally do around Halloween) and thought that I could NOT do this list without including it.

I don't know exactly when or how I was introduced to the killer combination of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. But this is probably my favorite collaboration.
The first time I saw it, it was during my college's weekly movie night. Every Thursday, they'd play movies just weeks away from coming out on DVD.

Everything about it blew me away.
First and foremost, I didn't know Johnny Depp could sing. Certainly not like THAT. I'm a bit of a sucker for actors who can also sing.
Second of all, I really hate horror movies. Blood, gore and all that. The story of "Sweeny Todd" and the overall look of Tim Burton's directing made that accessible to me. It was handled in such a way that I respected it. Whatever gross factor there was, it made sense in the context of the story.

I haven't seen any other version of this musical (and I'm not counting that episode of "The Office" where Andy was playing the role of Anthony :-P) and I'm not sure if I want to. Why shop around when I am so pleased with one specific interpretation? Especially when it comes to the title role.

Johnny Depp was great as Sweeny Todd because, while the man was teetering on the brink of madness, he made the character sympathetic and more of an anti-hero than a villain.
In my view (as well as Tim Burton's), Benjamin Barker was a good person that bad things have happened to and by going to the dark side, adopting the persona of "Sweeny Todd", he wants to exact revenge on humanity.
Two people in particular, though, are his key motivation.

The Story

Some spoilers a head...
The backstory is told in the opening number "There's no place like London", but this is the abridged version:

There was a barber [Benjamin Barker] and his wife [Lucy]. And she was beautiful.
There was another man [Judge Turpin] who saw that she was beautiful. A pious vulture of the law who... removed the barber from his plate.

In a way (I made this connection the first time I saw it and am just remembering now), this is another take on "The Count of Monte Cristo". A man in power had a man falsely imprisoned so he could steal away his lover.

15 years later, Sweeny Todd returns to London to pick up the pieces from the life that had been ripped away from him.
He goes to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop and after recognizing him, tells him what happened.

After failing to woo Lucy, the Judge invited her to a masquerade party where he raped her.
She poisoned herself with arsenic and the Judge took her (and Barker's) daughter Joanna, raising her as his ward.

Sweeny sets up shop above Mrs. Lovett's on Fleet Street. When they're in town, she "introduces" him to Pirelli, "king of barbers, barber of kings"... he's on grandstand with his assistant, Toby, promoting his miracle hair growth elixir.
Sweeny debunks him as a fraud, the elixir is nothing more of a concoction of piss & ink. Spotting the Beadle (who's under employment of the Judge) in the crowd, he stages a contest for which barber can do the quickest, smoothest shave.

Sweeny wins by a landslide. (But to be fair, if Pirelli didn't go into a long operatic solo in the middle of his song, he probably could have won).
Obviously impressed, the Beadle says he'll be by Fleet Street before the week is out.

There's also a subplot involving young sailor Anthony and Joanna, whom he falls madly in love with upon seeing her (and hearing her singing) through her bedroom window.
The judge, upon noticing him (Anthony singing about "Joanna" didn't exactly help matters), gives him explicit warning to stay away.... the "or else" goes without saying.

A number of circumstances come together and blow up in Sweeny Todd's face. In response, he and Mrs. Lovett get a devilish idea.
When a person (preferably, someone with no one to miss him) comes to him for a shave, Sweeny slits their throats and they end up as meat in Mrs. Lovett's pies.

The first victim is Mr. Pirelli, who recognized Sweeny Todd from "the old days" when he apprenticed at his shop and threatened to blackmail him.
This also results in Mrs. Lovett adopting Toby, further leading her to believe the three of them can live together as a family one day.

Also not to be taken for granted is a crazy old woman we see throughout the show.

Without giving too much away, let's just say the body count is substantial... though not to the extreme brought by Quentin Tarantino... and nearly all of the storylines find resolution.

The Highlights

Most of the highlights, I could easily list as song titles.

I was smitten with Jamie Campbell Bower (as well as his tenor voice... I'm a sucker for a good tenor) right away. Within the first bar, I knew "Joanna" would be my favorite track. At least the performance of it :-P
For the overall, I love "My Friends." Sweeny Todd rejoices at being reunited with his razors, which Mrs. Lovett had kept for him since his arrest. Johnny Depp said it was the first song he sang publicly... again, wow... if he made more of a habit of it, he would give RDJ a run for his money.

Say what you will about Helena Bonham Carter and how Tim Burton always seems to cast her (his actual wife) in his movies... personally, I find it fascinating that their characters always seem to be in the same situation (her character being in love with him and he never returns those feelings)... she really worked hard to make this role her own. Maybe not the strongest voice on set, but then again, it is a difficult part to play. She deserves a lot of credit.

Jayne Wisener (Joanna) and Ed Sanders (Toby) are newcomers. Jayne was in a production of "West Side Story" run by Musical Theater 4 Youth (which is a stepping stone for aspiring young performers) when she was spotted by a casting director.
Joanna has only one song, "Green Finch and Linnet Bird." My experience in high school concert choir tells me that that role demands the voice of a high soprano. (The correct term might be mezzo-soprano, but I'm not positive).

It's pretty cool that several of the cast members, I knew as characters from the "Harry Potter" series.
Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) is truly the villain here... one I find extremely repulsive. Never mind the fact he's a corrupt politician who thinks he's entitled to everything... the fact he wants to marry Joanna so that no other men will lay eyes on her, when she's only 15... EWWWWWW!!!
True to form, Wormtail (Timothy Spall) plays the toady of the villain, though with much less screen time.

With the exception of Charlie's mum in "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory," Mrs. Lovett is one of the most normal characters Helena Bonham Carter has played. Quite a relief, considering how sadistic (sometimes even terrifying in a very unhinged way) Bellatrix Lestrange is.

This movie, most likely, is also the reason why she and Sacha Baron Cohen were cast alongside each other in "Les Miz".
I'd never seen, nor do I intend to see, "Borat," "Bruno" or any of Cohen's strange movies... I think the dude's too much of a weirdo. But you gotta give him props, he can sing pretty well.

One thing I particularly enjoy about it is when the sense of humor comes into play.

• Sweeny Todd complaining about the Beadle not coming by. "Before the week is out, that's what he said"... Mrs. Lovett responds "who said the week is out? it's only Tuesday"
• After Sweeny's exclamation in the song "Epiphany" where he's on his knees "I'm alive at last and I'm full of JOY!!!"... Mrs. Lovett disrupts the mood, saying "that's all very well, but what about him [referring to Mr. Pirelli's corpse]?"
• The entire number "By the Sea" is just laughable on Johnny Depp's facial expressions alone... plus the fact the scenes shown here are so bright and colorful, it just contradicts the look of the rest of the movie.

The art direction and Colleen Atwood's costuming are definitely worthy of note. You really do feel like you're in Victorian England, just by the way everything looks. The nerd in me has no choice but to rejoice 8-)

Overall, the only drawback this movie has is that it gets a little slow in the third act. After thinking about it for a bit, the same can be said about a lot of other movies.
But it all pays off rather well.

Actually, it felt like a well-played horror movie thriller... the first time I saw it, it felt like the greatest plot twist since "The Sixth Sense".
It is tragic and, for me, always a bit of a tearjerker. Both because it's a sad ending and also because I hated for the movie to end.

One last thing...

It's not often I take issue with the ending of a movie.... okay that's a total lie... it's happening more frequently since 2011.
The body count I could live with... but I didn't like the fact they never gave resolution to Anthony and Joanna's storyline. As planned previously, he leaves her at Sweeny's barber shop while he runs to get a getaway carriage for them. She witnesses one of his murders and almost ends up a victim until he's called away by other matters.
We're lead to assume that she and Anthony will run away together and live happily ever after... I just wish they'd thought to SHOW that in the movie :(

Jamie Campbell Bower, interestingly, goes on to assay roles in the "Harry Potter" (young Grindelwald) and "Twilight" (Caius of The Volturi) franchises... and, assuming they'll make any sequels, "The Mortal Instruments" (Jace Wayland).
It was pretty cool watching this the other day, seeing him and thinking about how great it'll be to see him play Jace... after reading the first three "Mortal Instruments" books.

Edit: They didn't do any sequels of the movie and recast it entirely for a new TV series. They took a lot of liberties, but I still enjoy it a lot. I just wish Jace still had a British accent because that's how it read to me in the books. I read him having an accent and Alec and Isabelle being American English. Damn them for wanting to be consistent just because they grew up together

61. Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Code-name: Parlay
[definition: according to the pirates' code, if you utter "parlay" upon capture, you can't be harmed until your last request is fulfilled]

Director: Gore Verbinski
Type: action/adventure, comedy, fantasy

Cast:
Captain Jack Sparrow- Johnny Depp
Elizabeth Swann- Keira Knightley
Will Turner- Orlando Bloom
Captain Barbossa- Geoffrey Rush
Gibbs- Kevin McNally
[Commodore] Norrington- Jack Davenport
Governor Swann- Jonathan Pryce

Notable Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Actor- Johnny Depp
OSCAR- Best Sound Mixing
OSCAR- Best Sound Editing
OSCAR- Best Makeup
OSCAR- Best Visual Effects
Golden Globe- Best Actor (comedy/musical)- Johnny Depp

Write-up:

If I remember right, I was among the skeptics who thought a movie based on a Disney park ride wouldn't pan out.
Yet, here we are, three sequels later.

While I'm on that franchise...

Unfortunately, it seems that the 5th movie has been pushed back yet again. This time, due to script disputes.
And most believe the franchise hasn't been consistently good.

Personally, I loved "Dead Man's Chest." In some places, I enjoy it more than the original, but in others, not so much.
"World's End," I think I saw twice and just found it WAY too long. Plus, the ending was pretty sucky. You spend the whole franchise wanting Elizabeth and Will to end happily ever after... and thanks to the pirate world, they are unable to. So, why did we waste all this time with the movies? I dunno... that's just my personal gripe.

Introductions...

This was the movie where I was first introduced to some actors I enjoy watching from time to time. Some more than others.
Although "introduced" might not be the right way to put it.
I have seen Orlando Bloom (although I didn't recognize him as Legolas from "Lord of the Rings" for some time... must be the wig), and I have seen Johnny Depp in "Edward Scissorhands"

I think Johnny Depp was among those actors that my mom had pointed out to me in some movies or in conversation about certain movies... but I never had a face to go with the name. Or I just never put 2 and 2 together until the day the names of actors stuck with me to the point I can name what movies I saw them in.

Let's just say after this performance, I'd never forget Johnny Depp again.

It really was the first time I saw Keira Knightley (great actress name, by the way) and Geoffrey Rush (who I found super compelling in "The King's Speech").

The Story

Elizabeth Swann is the daughter of the governor of Port Royal. [I thought it was located in Louisiana or Florida, but it's in southeastern Jamaica].

In the prologue, we see her on a ship with her father and the navy when they encounter a shipwreck. Its only survivor is a young boy. Elizabeth finds a medallion on him and, afraid it meant he was a pirate, she takes it and hides it.

Roughly ten years later (Wikipedia says 8, but there was no distinction in the movie), she is being romantically pursued by Commodore Norrington. At the same time, Will Turner (the boy from the shipwreck) is the apprentice of a blacksmith and harboring affections for Elizabeth.

After these introductions, we meet our anti-hero (as much as I hate to say it, you really can't call a pirate a hero. That would be an oxymoron, wouldn't it?), Captain Jack Sparrow.
Probably one of the greatest, and most hilarious, introductions of any character on film. The music is gracious and regal as he stands tall with horizon at his back... then we see he's on a small boat that's sinking.
Yes, he may be the worst pirate anyone has ever seen, but you gotta love him because he is just SO quirky. Nobody but Johnny Depp would be able to do this part and make this character so recognizable and memorable. You forget he's technically not a good guy, but you want to believe he has it in him.

As the Commodore attempts to propose to Elizabeth, her tight corset makes it impossible for her to breathe and she falls backwards into the ocean.
(yeah dude, that's such a great place to propose...).
Lucky for her, Captain Jack Sparrow is there to save her, but not before the medallion she's wearing sends a pulse into the ocean.

A chase scene soon follows as the police race to jail Captain Jack Sparrow for piracy (not to mention he threatened to take Elizabeth as a hostage to elude capture).
This eventually leads him to the blacksmith's where he finds himself in a sword fight with Will Turner, who is actually really good.
Captain Jack Sparrow does get captured, but as with the earlier scene where he's presenting the sword to the Commodore, the credit goes to his boss rather than him.

When night falls, pirates arrive at Port Royal from their vessel, The Black Pearl. They find Elizabeth, who invokes "parlay" so she can't be harmed until after she's brought to their captain. She also happens to identify herself as "Elizabeth Turner," something that catches their interest more than the fact she's the governor's daughter.

So comes the main plot:
Captain Barbossa and the crew of The Black Pearl are under a curse. They stole a chest of Azetc gold. After doing so, Barbossa led a mutiny against Jack Sparrow, leaving him marooned on a "god-forsaken island" with only a "pistol with one shot." One member of the crew, Bootstrap Bill Turner didn't approve of the mutiny and sent one piece of the gold to his son Will... because if all of the 883 pieces of gold aren't together, the curse can't be lifted. This curse ensures that those pirates who came in contact with the gold could not die.

Elizabeth sees when the moon comes out the pirates are nothing but bones, to which Barbossa says "you best be believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!"

Much of the movie revolves around rescuing Elizabeth (and later Will, who is taken by the pirates since his blood is needed to lift the curse), and lifting the curse of the Aztec gold.

How makes it memorable

You have the storyline of the developing romance between Elizabeth and Will, somewhat of a forbidden love because they come from different classes.

But mainly, Captain Jack Sparrow is what makes it memorable. HIs quest is to retake his ship from Barbossa, which leads to him having to free the pirates from the curse.
Just watching Johnny Depp is in this role makes it worth it every time. He is hilarious without even trying sometimes. All of it owes to his sense of humor and sarcasm in the places where it counts.

My favorite scene is where the pirates of the Black Pearl maroon Elizabeth and Jack on an island after kidnapping Will. Elizabeth asks him how he survived on the island and how he got away. Supposedly, he go off using sea turtles, but he survived because he had rum.
Jack reveals a secret nook on the island full of rum and gets to drinking. While she's in disbelief about this, he says "welcome to the Caribbean, love." 
It seems at nightfall that she's getting along with him because she started drinking as well, but in the morning, all of it gets torched in a bonfire she's using as a smoke signal.

Despite her explanations, Jack keeps asking, "but why is the rum gone?!"

I also can't go any further without giving a big nod to Klaus Badelt for writing the memorable score for this movie. I believe the triumphant theme played throughout the movie IS called "He's a Pirate." Does it get a little repetitive? Yeah, but I could care less. This movie wouldn't be quite complete without this score in the background during all the action sequences, whether they're chase scenes or sword fights.

Then there're also the scenes early on where Jack (along with Will) is working with Gibbs to get a crew together and he keeps getting slapped by women.
His responses include:
1) "not sure if I deserved that"
2) "I think I might have deserved that"
3) "yeah, that one I deserved"

What can I say? The man gets around. His comment immediately after freeing Elizabeth from the corset, "clearly you haven't been to Singapore."

Where it lacks...

Maybe it's the fact this movie runs a little over two hours, gets slow at some points or almost every time I'd seen it, it's at night...
I have trouble staying awake for this movie. I cannot think of a single occasion where I saw it in its entirety without falling asleep.

Not the best way to sell a movie, I know, but that's just me adding my two cents to it.

And aside from Captain Jack Sparrow and, perhaps Elizabeth to an extent, none of the characters are well developed. They don't have a lot of layers to them.

Barbossa is guided by the one motivation, which is to lift the curse.
Will spends most of the movie being the heroic archetype, driven by his adoration of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth goes from being the governor's daughter and very feminine to much more than that .She grew as a person as she spent time with the pirates and even traded in her dresses for pirates garb in the sequels. Let's just say she isn't entirely prim and proper by the time we get through with her.

Simply put, leave it to Dsiney to make piracy look appealing. You know Captain Jack Sparrow isn't all good or bad, but they just make him look so good 8-)