I have a great deal of love and respect for Dr Kermode. But he needs to give the Pirates franchise a rest.
Having just watched an enormous argument he had with Jason Isaacs about why the Johnny Depp is terrible in Pirates of the Caribbean (which I totally disagree with) I feel like I want to comment on this. Regardless of my feelings, I love a good Kermodian rant and the video was pretty hilarious (see here).
I'm not possessed of this "stupid gene" of which he speaks; I "got" Inception on my first viewing. (Because we all know how hard that movie is to get.) But I like Pirates 1,2 and 3 (4 not so much). I know it's big, it's stupid, it's ridiculous and you know what? I love it. I love it for the simple reason that sometimes, when I go to the cinema, I want to be entertained. Shock horror, yeah!? The Devil's Double was shocking and hard to watch, but I can appreciate it as a shocking move. It's a movie that you wouldn't expect to be made. But when I go to the cinema I don't go for a lecture or for an artistic piece or for some piece of cinema that is avante garde. I go to watch something that entertains me. Pirates of the Caribbean may be a bit rubbish, but I love it because it is entertaining. It does what is says on the tin; they are pirates and they are in the Caribbean. You shouldn't expect much more from a movie with that title.
Don't get me wrong though; On Stranger Tides was rubbish and they should have left it at a trilogy.
I agree with all of this.
ReplyDelete