level 7
剑侠2007
楼主
Third 'Pirates' long on spectacle, short on sense The third 'Pirates of the Caribbean' has plenty of . . . By Carina Chocano, Times Staff Writer May 23, 2007 IT'S possible that someone, somewhere, has put together a flowchart or diagram tracking the many plots, su
bp
lots, digressions, divagations and flights of whimsy in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which, depending on your tolerance for Byzantine complication for complication's sake, might have been alternately titled "At Wit's End." The third in a series that appears to be hinting at immortality in more ways than one, "Pirates 3" demands intimate knowledge of the first two installments, not to mention a sterling memory and attention span. In other words, it pays to be prepared. Seriously, this thing is a stern master — walk in casually off the street and you risk nearly three hours of very high-octane confusion. For the diligent and the faithful, however, director Gore Verbinski and screenwriters Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, laboring under the bombastic tutelage of Jerry Bruckheimer, have assembled another collection of exciting set-pieces with bellowed dialogue in between. Exciting, distracting and quite possibly permanently concentration impairing, what "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" offers is a wonderfully scenic medley of impressive action sequences so lengthy, elaborate and numerous that remembering what came before becomes a kind of test of mental focus. Me, I failed it, but then, my concentration is shot. If the following plot summary sounds clear and well-ordered, I should probably mention that I consulted secondary materials to help me make sense of what I'd just seen. Any ensuing clarity, in other words, shouldn't be taken as a reflection of my addled viewing experience. At the beginning of the film, Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), chairman of the East India Trading Co., has imposed martial law, suspended habeas corpus and begun rounding up suspected insurgents — or rather, pirates — and systematically hanging them regardless of sex, age or the condition of their teeth. Those who remember the end of the last film will recall that when we last left our growing cast of heroes, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and the crew of the Black Pearl were hiding out with the witch Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), who brought Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) back from the dead in order to lead the crew in the rescue of Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who, when we last saw him, was being swallowed by an adipose sea monster called the kraken. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Elizabeth, Will and Capt. Barbossa have traveled to Singapore to steal a navigational chart from the Chinese pirate Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat). Some intra-buccaneerial fighting ensues, but it eventually becomes apparent that they must band together with the other lords of the pirate clans to defeat Beckett and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), whose heart Beckett now possesses. It's nearly an hour before we lay eyes on Jack Sparrow, marooned on the desert island that is Davy Jones' locker, confronting various doppelgängers and muttering to himself about nosy rocks. Until now, the movie has had a stewy quality — the baroque art direction is impressive but oppressive after a while, and it's hard to see or breathe. Jack's minimalist introduction on a sun-drenched patch of sand is a respite that immediately perks things up.
2007年05月28日 11点05分
1
bp
lots, digressions, divagations and flights of whimsy in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which, depending on your tolerance for Byzantine complication for complication's sake, might have been alternately titled "At Wit's End." The third in a series that appears to be hinting at immortality in more ways than one, "Pirates 3" demands intimate knowledge of the first two installments, not to mention a sterling memory and attention span. In other words, it pays to be prepared. Seriously, this thing is a stern master — walk in casually off the street and you risk nearly three hours of very high-octane confusion. For the diligent and the faithful, however, director Gore Verbinski and screenwriters Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, laboring under the bombastic tutelage of Jerry Bruckheimer, have assembled another collection of exciting set-pieces with bellowed dialogue in between. Exciting, distracting and quite possibly permanently concentration impairing, what "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" offers is a wonderfully scenic medley of impressive action sequences so lengthy, elaborate and numerous that remembering what came before becomes a kind of test of mental focus. Me, I failed it, but then, my concentration is shot. If the following plot summary sounds clear and well-ordered, I should probably mention that I consulted secondary materials to help me make sense of what I'd just seen. Any ensuing clarity, in other words, shouldn't be taken as a reflection of my addled viewing experience. At the beginning of the film, Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), chairman of the East India Trading Co., has imposed martial law, suspended habeas corpus and begun rounding up suspected insurgents — or rather, pirates — and systematically hanging them regardless of sex, age or the condition of their teeth. Those who remember the end of the last film will recall that when we last left our growing cast of heroes, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and the crew of the Black Pearl were hiding out with the witch Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), who brought Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) back from the dead in order to lead the crew in the rescue of Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who, when we last saw him, was being swallowed by an adipose sea monster called the kraken. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Elizabeth, Will and Capt. Barbossa have traveled to Singapore to steal a navigational chart from the Chinese pirate Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat). Some intra-buccaneerial fighting ensues, but it eventually becomes apparent that they must band together with the other lords of the pirate clans to defeat Beckett and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), whose heart Beckett now possesses. It's nearly an hour before we lay eyes on Jack Sparrow, marooned on the desert island that is Davy Jones' locker, confronting various doppelgängers and muttering to himself about nosy rocks. Until now, the movie has had a stewy quality — the baroque art direction is impressive but oppressive after a while, and it's hard to see or breathe. Jack's minimalist introduction on a sun-drenched patch of sand is a respite that immediately perks things up.
