Pirates, Time Lords and Heroes. Oh, yes.

[owlbeer]

Take it as given that anything under a cut in this post contains spoilers.



All in all, I actually really liked it. It took me a little while to get into it (not helped by the fact that for the first few minutes the sound wasn't working properly) but in the end, it was a lot of fun and I really liked what they did.

This one didn't actually feel too long either. I mean, I knew it was, but DMC really felt it with some scenes just really going on way too long, but AWE wasn't nearly as bad, even the crazy battle scene didn't feel like it dragged.

And now I shall resort to point form:

Loved the multiple Jack's and the little dreadlock!Jack's and all his crazy head sequences.

I saw the Norrington death coming and I've seen quite a few people lamenting it, but to be honest, it didn't really bother me. I like Norrington, don't get me wrong, and like what they did with his character and would have been interested to see what they did with him if he was there at the end, but ... no, I don't know. Just not really bothered.

I heard going in the plot was confusing, and it was overly convoluted, but I think I followed most of it ... I think.

That's all they used Chow Yun-Fat for? I was expecting maybe a little more, but then there was a lot they had to get done in the movie.

Barbossa was awesome. Geoffrey Rush is so, so cool.

I also thought Tom Hollander did a pretty cool job as Becket.

Keith's cameo was so well done. I was worried it might be cringe-worthy, but it really worked and I loved the character they had him play. Also, he got to have a guitar! Keith! And at the end! So much love.

Ship!Bootstrap repeating that speech was so well done and so creepy.

World's most insane marriage ceremony. It was just ridiculous, but rather awesome because of that.

OMG Jack's face when Will got stabbed was just ... gah! I was nearly flailing in the cinema. Oh, Jack. Oh, Will. I did not think they'd go there, but I love that they did.

The scene between Elizabeth and her father was heart-breaking. Probably, and kinda strangely, the saddest moment in the movie for me.

The Calypso growing thing was just tacky really. I quite liked the sub-plot with her and Barbossa and her and Davy Jones, but I think they did kinda ruin it at the end.

I liked the little references back to the first movie (I've just come to get my effects, and 'leverage') but I think they may have overdone it slightly at the end with Barbossa taking off with his ship again, but then I suppose, what else was he going to do, he's a pirate. :p

Oh, Orlando, when you try and emote it really is kinda funny.

And of course, oh god the cast is just so pretty. Keira and Johnny in particular, but really, they are quite beautifully shot movies.

The Pirates franchise has always managed to surprise me with some of their plot choices (like Elizabeth leaving Jack at the end of DMC) and they did it here too as I just didn't see the Will thing coming, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. The whole universe they've created in fact, is really rich, and I liked the little things, like Tia Dalma being Calypso and her falling in love with Davy Jones, and the Bretheren Court and Captain Teague. Sure, they could have done things better and the writing could have been tighter, but all in all, they did pretty damn well.



Also, a random comment about the most recent Doctor Who ep I've seen.



I think this would have worked better for me had I not seen Sunshine quite so recently. The plot wasn't exactly the same, but it was a little close for comfort. However, saying that I did like it. I liked the frantic pace and the Doctor/Martha-ness and I also really loved the scenes that Martha had with Riley and the little kiss they shared. They were really cute.



And finally, I was reading yahtzee63's review of the Heroes finale and one thing she said really hit me.



11) NATHAN. When did he choose? Only hours before he flew to the rescue? Immediately after her figured out what was going on? I don't think there's any way to be sure; the story reads perfectly well both ways, and at many points in-between, and that's just beautiful to me. My guess is that Nathan had thought of this before this episode, though how long before this episode I'm not at all sure. And because Nathan does not know he is a regular on a TV show, I think that Nathan may have believed that he was sure to die in the effort -- not Peter, he can face this because he believes absolutely that Peter will live, but he himself will die -- and that a lot of the despair and doubt we've seen in him for at least the past couple of episodes isn't about Nathan trying to come to terms with New York's inevitable destruction. Instead, he's been trying to accept his own inevitable death. All the thoughts people have picked up in him (You can't stop it) -- we all assumed it was about NYC going kabloom, but what if Nathan's thinking that about his own demise?

All I know is that Nathan certainly knew what he was going to do by the moment he said to Claire, "You have to trust me." (This was the point where lynnmonster said, "He's playing a deeper game!") Had he known it for days at that point, or moments? I'm not sure we'll ever know, and I love that.

12) The thing I like best about that reading is that it makes Nathan's words to Claire -- "The future is not written in stone" -- not a discovery but an affirmation, his reaching out to her the only way he can. (Especially given that the ending does fulfill Peter's precognitive dreams.)

That did so not occur to me until I read that ... and oh, Nathan. Oh, Nathan! Also, I love the Heroes writers so much that that scene can be read like that.



Random media reactions over.

I go to Brisbane in three days! OMG!