azurite | The Shores of Tortuga

Just came back from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest over at the Winnetka 21.

FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC movie. I liked the last one enough, this one was... OOOOH! Man! Yes! One of those kind of movies. You don't get those often. They did make this to please, and please they did. And so, a spoileriffic post, so if you haven't seen it, please, spare your virgin eyes.

Unlike the last movie, which technically could have just ended as it was (assuming you didn't watch the cut scene after the credits and yes, this movie had one too-- though it was much lamer- this one ended on a VERY open note. Since this post is entirely meant for people who have seen it, let's go over the loose ends, shall we?

At the end of the last movie, Commodore Norrington would have Jack Sparrow hanged for treason, pirating, etc. etc. Will saved him -risking his own life and freedom- and Jack escaped back to the Black Pearl. Commodore Norrington "excused" Will for what was most certainly treason, and Elizabeth for helping them, too. In turn, he was essentially a traitor himself.

Back at the Isle de Muerta (prior to the hurricane), that evil monkey stole one piece of Aztec gold, ~~effectively reinstating the curse on Barbossa and the other pirates. That means that either Barbossa alone or Barbossa and the rest of the mutinied Black Pearl crew are back to being immortal~~ (maybe not. Apparently someone has to physically touch the gold to be cursed-- which is why Jack, Elizabeth, and Will never were cursed. Only Jack the monkey is cursed, and unless the monkey put the gold into Barbossa's hand after he died... I don't even know if that would work, so that means Tia Dalma had something to do with bringing Barbossa back after he died -and he DID die at the end of PoTC1).

(1) Jack-- did he die? I think not (all the people on IMDB think he's dead and that Will/Elizabeth et. al. will have to go to "the end of the world"/Hell to bring back a devoured-up Jack. I doubt it. I bet either the Kraken swallowed him whole or he managed to escape somehow). The Kraken may have been after him, but for the purpose of getting either Davy Jones' heart back (which Jack discovered he didn't have after all) or 99 souls (which Jack obviously did not have). If anything, Jack's a survivor. His goal now is to find Davy Jones' heart and use it to bargain with Jones-- to restore the Pearl, grant him his freedom from his debt, and if he's a NICE, HONEST, GOOD MAN (like Elizabeth wishes), he'll also throw in Bootstrap Bill Turner's freedom.

(2) "Commodore" Norrington. You knew from the minute he ran to "save" Elizabeth, Will, and Jack that he had something-- not just the papers from Beckett that would pardon him (which Jack would never really want/use), but the heart of Davy Jones' that he stole from the "jar of dirt" that Jack had. Jack had stolen the keys to Davy Jones' chest from Will, who got them with the help of his father (while aboard the Flying Dutchman). He opened the chest, took the heart, closed the chest (while the crew of Davy Jones thought the heart was still inside, as did the devilish duo), and ran off. He made it to the beach with the boat, but Norrington and Will were still fighting while Elizabeth wanted them to stop. They had to get away to escape Davy Jones' crew, so Norrington provided that escape-- and with Will knocked out, no one would notice if he took the heart. So he did, and he later ended up getting found by an East India Company ship... with papers and heart intact. To restore his honor, he'd need a pardon AND a job-- both things Beckett could provide him with.

-Why does Beckett want the Heart of Davy Jones? The simple reason is the same reason why Jack wanted it-- as a bargaining chip. If he gets it, he can essentially control Davy Jones, and with it, the Kraken. With the Kraken, he can destroy any ships that threaten to break the East India Trading Company's control over the waters.

(3) Will made many bargains-- with Beckett, to get the compass (to find the chest with the heart), and with Davy Jones', to bring back Jack (to settle the debt), and with his own father (to rescue him from the "curse" as a member of Davy Jones' crew). Since Norrington brought Beckett what he wanted, Beckett has no need of the compass, and Will probably doesn't care too much for Jack anymore -or at least, even less than he did before. Thus, his only standing debt is to his father-- to stab Davy Jones' heart with the blade his father gave him.

(4) Governor Swann-- he made a bargain to be loyal to Beckett and give up his governorship, so long as Elizabeth is pardoned. This may actually mean tricking Elizabeth, especially if it lands Jack and/or Will in jail/on the gallows.

(5) Elizabeth and Jack. Throughout the movie there was tension there -has been since the first movie, in fact. Elizabeth is pretty headstrong, but she's also honest and true, while Jack is only out for his own selfish desires. Elizabeth realized this and used it against Jack, despite the fact that she was undeniably attracted to him (the compass which points to whatever you desire pointed to Jack-- but Jack didn't desire Elizabeth "the most" in return, which is how he was able to find the chest). She kissed Jack --something Will saw-- and chained him to the Black Pearl. Did she know he'd escape? Probably not. Either way, she thought he'd be dead because of the Kraken. She knew about the heart and that Jack was supposed to have it, but the Kraken would still take Jack even if he DIDN'T have the heart OR the souls. Still, she deceived him, so she felt bad about it-- and bad about "forcing" him to be a good man and go down with his ship, just to save them all. Jack didn't do it by choice, but he may have had a plan B... which is why when they all went to go see Tia Dalma, she implied that Jack could be "found" and the Pearl restored-- with the help of Barbossa, who is very much "alive."

-I've seen a lot of ranting so far calling Elizabeth a slut for kissing Jack, flirting with Jack, and then betraying Jack. PUH-LEASE, people. I'll definitely go into more detail on a

hated_character rant, but let's remember some things:

* Elizabeth's true love is Will. She went all over, risking EVERYTHING including her life to find him.

* Elizabeth may have been attracted to Jack a little, and the feeling may have even been mutual (it's been incredibly subtexty, if not outright canon), but she's always acted that way to help someone else-- namely Will.

* Jack doesn't "fall in love" with anyone-- his love, like Davy Jones, is the sea. It's the Black Pearl, being a pirate, being "free" on the open waters. And even if he did have strong feelings for Elizabeth that were returned, who's to say he'd stay true to her? Elizabeth, for all her metamorphosing into a pirate WANTS to get married. And Jack isn't the marrying type. A fling, yes, but a dangerous fling. Why not make it a fling worth it for the both of them-- it gets Jack to reconsider what he SHOULD have done anyway (save everyone, never abandon the Pearl, "repay" his debt by going to Davy Jones' locker), and it causes Elizabeth to feel true guilt and sadness for once in her life. She's not only clever, beautiful, and a good fighter, but she's also very headstrong and stubborn, and she doesn't like admitting fault in herself or wrong. She's always BEEN sneaky since Day One, always been outspoken and bold-- and by "causing" Jack's death, she realizes how badly she's messed up. Jack might have ended up dead ANYWAY by his own hand (the Kraken would have followed him regardless), but Elizabeth made it happen sooner, and possibly more violently (she has no idea Jack escaped from the bonds she put on him). She's responsible for what happened, and she feels BAD about it-- guilty. She might even feel guilty for betraying Will, because that's just what she's done-- even if she doesn't know that Will saw her kiss Jack, or what reasons she had for doing it (to save everyone).

So in the next movie, we have to see Beckett get his just rewards, Governor Swann keep his position without losing his honor, Jack get the Black Pearl back and have his debt paid/settled/annulled, Bootstrap Bill Turner be set free from his curse, Will stab the heart of Davy Jones' after the Kraken has been destroyed, debts settled, and curses lifted, and Elizabeth and Jack resolve any feelings for one another (though Elizabeth will still marry Will, once she explains what she did instead of acting like Jack always meant more to her than Will. She felt SOMETHING for Jack, that's true, but her unwillingness to explain WHAT or WHY to Will only will cause him to jump to more conclusions, and he won't trust in her until she explains what she did-- to save them all. She technically betrayed both Will AND Jack, but I doubt Will will care about Jack being betrayed, when he technically betrayed them all).

Did I get them all?

All in all, a good movie. Lots of possibilities for Will/Jack (and I'm not a slasher, but even I can see possibility) and of course, Jack/Elizabeth. The Will/Elizabeth was pretty mute here-- they may have kissed only once or twice. And while I think Will's feelings for Elizabeth are true, Elizabeth's feelings for Will might be a bit muddled at this point.

And there are lots of gaps that could be filled in, to answer the smaller questions:
-What hurricane? When? Where else did it affect, beside the Isle de Muerta? What did the hurricane have to do with Commodore Norrington, other than him foolishly trying to sail through it (and why would he do that? To try and find Jack, or for something else?)

-If the Isle de Muerta was waterlogged by the hurricane, does that mean Barbossa et. al. are back to being permanently cursed?

-What does Tia Dalma know? What kinds of tricks does she have -besides "jars of dirt", lock picking rings, heart-shaped music boxes like Davy Jones' (!!!), and a connection to Barbossa? Is she the one Davy Jones' fell in love with? What about Jack? How does he knows her?

-Actually, I think Davy Jones fell in love with Calypso, goddess of the sea. When he realized he'd fallen in love with her, he wanted to cut his traitorous heart out and leave it on land, while he could continue to live somehow and pirate his days away on the sea. But he couldn't cut his heart out without "dying" in a sense -not just emotionally, but physically, as well. So Calypso cursed him for leaving her --he could never set foot on land except once every 10 years (and for how long, and what kind of land?), and she would cut out his heart (he would never truly "love" again), but the heart would also be his weakness. He would get powers over the sea, but only if he became "one OF the sea," a true pirate-- with the octopus face and all. He gets the power to mark others in the same way, hence Davy Jones' locker, and his ability to take souls and resurrect ships. He can "transport" from ship to ship (presuming they're within sight), sensing things "of the ocean" but because he lacks emotion/feeling, he can't sense anything regarding his heart if/until it's destroyed. It's hard to miss what you don't have, but he still probably has MEMORIES of the emotions he had for Calypso/whoever.

-Will Elizabeth, Will, Gibbs, et. al. actually agree to be Barbossa's crew? (rhetorical question-- it's a yes. I think Will's a bit more reluctant, and Elizabeth feels bad about what she did/has feelings for Jack she needs to resolve, and she'll do it no matter how much she hates Barbossa) If so, how will they get a ship/find Jack/find the Flying Dutchman/get Davy Jones' heart back?

-What'll happen to the doggy!?!?!?