Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
As I was preparing to see the fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, I found myself shocked to realize that it has been 14 years since the first film was released. Part of me seems like that isn’t possible, but I can remember going to see the first film when I was in the 6th grade. I had recently moved, and lived close to my aunt, who I went to a lot of movies with at the time. The first Pirates film was one we loved as soon as we saw it, and when it later came out on dvd, I watched it numerous times. The series hasn’t been perfect, but I always enjoy seeing them at least once, and enjoy coming across one of the films on tv.
I wasn’t overly excited or expecting much from this film, but left pleasantly surprised. For those excited to see Orlando Bloom’s character Will Turner return, you will be dissappointed as he only appears for about five minutes total. Will (and Kiera Knightly’s Elizabeth) are connected into this film through the appearance of their son Henry (played by Brenton Thwaites), who is determined to free his father from his curse, which sees him trapped on the Flying Dutchman forever. He partners up with Jack Sparrow (as always played by a perfectly mumbling Johnny Depp), and a young woman named Carina (Kaya Scodelario), who has a gift in understanding astrology. With Henry focused on freeing his father, and Carina on the hunt to follow the destiny she believes her father left for her, a down on one's luck Jack is focused on avoiding a villainous pirate from his past, Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem). The trio go on a search for the Trident of Poseidon, an object that will help all three of them with their individual missions.
The previews did not make me excited for the two young additions to the film, figuring they would be pretty weak attempts to be the new Will and Elizabeth, but I thought the characters were welcome and brought a needed dynamic against Captain Jack. While Henry isn’t overly interesting, Carina has spunk and brings some new aspects to the story.
As for the villains of the film, I found this group of creepy pirates quite fascinating and more on par with the original film. These again are undead pirates, but the look of them and their movements are very well done and unique. Captan Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) also reappears, with a new look and presence on the sea.
Similar to the majority of these films, I did think the film’s runtime could have been shaved down by at least 20 minutes. This would help tighten the story and keep from dragged on scenes. I did feel entertained by the film though, but fight after fight and shenanigan after shenanigan tends to mean very little at a certain point.
I would rate this higher than the previous two films in the series. The story isn’t perfect, and there are certainly cheesy moments, including some Captain Jack moments that seem overdone at this point. I still found it fun and a nice re-set in the series. I wouldn’t be devastated if this was the last Pirates film, but I did enjoy it for what it was and was happy to be back in this world for a few hours. I just don’t think I would ever feel the need to re-watch this again.
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is finally a truly solid entry into the (until now) less than impressive DC Universe of films, that have been leading up to this fall’s Justice League. This film, and character, finally instills some excitement and positivity into the domain.
The film opens on a young Diana on a beautiful island, surrounded by a group of strong women, called the Amazons, training to be warriors. While her mother is hesitant to let her train, we learn about the gods and the corrupt Ares who sought to tear the world apart. In his final moments, Zeus forged a weapon that could destroy Ares, and gave the Amazons the safety of the island. Soon, we see a grown Diana (played by a fiercely lovely Gal Gadot) growing into her powers and strength, who believes her destiny will be to bring an end to Ares once and for all. When a young pilot named Steve (Chris Pine) crashes into the bubble of the island one day, she learns of a war that is happening outside of her secluded life. Her world changes as she leaves the island to stop the war, who she believes Ares is behind.
The story itself doesn’t feel overly unique, especially since at this point there have been so many superhero origin stories, but the film flows comfortably and never gets too over-the-top. The humor is also natural and not overly contrived. Since the other DC films have been pretty devoid of humor, the generally more bright feeling in this film was very welcome.
Gal Gadot and Chris Pine’s dynamic is wonderful and works shockingly well, especially given that superhero romances tend to be pretty forced and dry. I wanted another hour or two with them because they were such a fun mixture. There really aren’t any other stand-out characters amongst the cast (except for maybe Steve’s delightful secretary Etta, played by Lucy Davis), but that just gives Wonder Woman herself more time to shine.
My favorite superhero music as of late is for Wonder Woman, and I must say my biggest disappointment was that the theme was quite underused in this film. Her music truly makes it known to the audience that she has arrived. I hope that whatever lies ahead for the Wonder Woman films, they continue to keep her strength and warmth of character front and center. Since I’m assuming in future solo films she won’t be set in the time period this film took place, I hope they can assemble a good cast around her, which I don’t think will be coming from the likes of the current Superman or Batman.
The Mummy
I truly thought that while this was going to be no masterpiece, it would be fun enough to be worth a watch, but this was quite the painful experience to sit through.
What is meant to be the first in a series of “Dark Universe” films, focusing on classic movie monsters and creatures, The Mummy sets it off to a very poor beginning. There really aren’t too many positives, ultimately because the story and characters are all quite bland. Tom Cruise is in his typical “action mode” and ultimately does not seem like a great choice for a film that should be focusing on an Egyptian mummy. He just does not fit the scenery, nor the monster itself.
The film begins with a narration from Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe), whose character is set up to act as the connection throughout this universe of films. He tells the story of Princess Ahmanet (played by a sinister Sofia Boutella), whose thirst for power leads her to murder her family. Before she is able to finish a ritual to sell her soul for ultimate control, she is mummified alive and taken to a far away tomb. We then arrive to present-day Iraq where we find Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and Chris Vail (Jake Johnson), who have left their superior using a map in the hopes of finding some treasure to make off with. Their actions here end up opening up the tomb, which awakens the mummy, setting the story in motion. Along with the help of an archaeologist named Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis, who ended up being the only person I reluctantly rooted for in the film), they board the mummy on a plane to London to be analyzed.
There are a few creepy fun moments, like when Vail turns deadly, or when Nick wakes up in a morgue. Another notable few scenes occur as Princess Ahmanet writhes around sucking the souls of humans to regain her strength (and return to human form from her grossly mummified state). These scenes aren’t cool or distinctive enough to really make the film much better as a whole though.
Something that particularly bothered me were the use of a lot of “fake-out” moments where Nick would see something or have soothing happen to him, but then he would snap out of it and it wasn’t really happening. Whenever a movie or show uses this a lot, I tend to be over it pretty quickly.
The worst part of the film for me had to be a fight between Jekyll and Nick. Jekyll turns into his alter-ego Hyde, and we see the two battle in a very stupid scene that occurs in the middle of the drama that is also taking place with Princess Ahmanet at the same time in the same building. During the showing I went with, a service dog started to get antsy in the theater at this point, and I could not blame him at all. While this movie is under two hours, it felt closer to four.
Honestly, this film and “universe” could have had potential (and maybe can if Universal works quickly to improve future plans), but it needs a more creative touch and a fresh mind behind the stories. These creatures are very old cinema classics, but why continue to re-use and re-make them if they aren’t going to put a unique spin on them. You will strangely miss Brendan Fraiser (the star of the most recent Mummy trilogy) more than you ever would have thought you would after watching this movie.
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