Exit poll

[cleolinda]

Okay, I'm curious--since the movie is getting such mixed reviews in the press, I'd like to get some numbers on what actual people think. Not that my journal is by any means a scientific sampling, but you go to poll with the population you've got, if you see what I mean.

[Poll #764110]

Comments

[scarlett78.livejournal.com]

It was fun! If you went in expecting an Oscar film then you might be disappointed, but if you want light hearted fun - it can't be beat! Yeah Pirates!

[godream.livejournal.com]

They definitely weren't afraid to go for the cheap, obvious laughs -- every last one -- but it was pretty awesome nonetheless.

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

Where's the button for 'Didn't think the first one was all that; may possibly catch the subsequent films on cable at some point, maybe, just for Johnny Depp amusing himself'?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm trying to see what people thought of this one, which would require seeing it (I'm sort of settling a bet, is why).

[missmp.livejournal.com]

It was good fun. Ridiculous plot, fun performances. I don't think anything will ever surpass the 1st one for me, but it wasn't a disappointing sequel at all.

You should've just called the last option "Lisa Schwartzbaum."

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Don't think I didn't consider that. Heh.

(I still maintain that the first one is sort of a classic in its own time because it basically deconstructed the wheel and then reinvented it, as the genre goes. Unless there's a way to deconstruct "pirate sequels," and I don't know that there are enough of them to really do so, they were pretty much doomed to just make a straightforward pirate movie this time.)

[silverjewel7.livejournal.com]

It was fun, I enjoyed it, but the first one was better. They tried too hard this time around, methinks. At least... it was very over-the-top at times, which took away from the film. Oh well. It's still Jack Sparrow, can't complain too much.

[hongkongaton.livejournal.com]

I agree. I felt like it was sort of obvious that they were trying way too hard to live up to the first one.

[redcoast.livejournal.com]

I hope this becomes like Spy vs. Spy. cleolinda takes on What's-Her-Name with the D+!

[guinevere33.livejournal.com]

First off, I liked it. It was entertaining, and worth my $10. Not sure I'd see it again in theaters, though, due to some of my grumbles:

> The film felt incomplete, as though its only reason for existing was to set up the next one. No plot arcs got resolved, which left the ending unsatisfying. Note to Jerry Bruckheimer: learn from JK Rowling.
> They made so many references to funny jokes in the original that they failed to make any new ones.
> All the action sequences got exhausting. How many times did we really need to fight the kraken?
> The whole first bit with the canibal tribe was extraneous. Funny, but extraneous. And LONG.

[kpachayagolobka.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with that first one-- I loved this one, it was hilarious, but I did catch myself looking at the clock towards the end wondering when they were just going to go ahead and set us up for the next one so I could go home. At least the end was "whoo!" inducing enough to make it worth it (for me, at least).

[kpachayagolobka.livejournal.com]

What happens if I liked the first and the second, but was still being held at gunpoint by Lybian terrorists? Hmmmm...

[violetsocks.livejournal.com]

Looking at what everyone else has said, I'd say that it wasn't so much that DMC was trying too hard, but that it was somewhat overwhelmed by what it had to live up to. Yes, there were a number of jokes from CotBP that were referenced uttered nervously and quickly, but overall they had a good number of new jokes too.

The tone of DMC, too, was markedly different from the first movie. Things have changed, so the situation wasn't quite as cool and linear as it had been back in CotBP. I can see why some people might find it jarring. It's a bit like comparing the tone of A New Hope - a movie that could easily stand on its own - to the darker, more desperate, chaotic tone of The Empire Strikes Back. Some people might hate it, some people might like it. For my part, I liked it a lot. I just have a difficult time getting really excited over villains who are composed mainly of pixels. The Coleridgian-undead pirates felt more real to me than pixellated-barnacle people. But the undead pirates don't have a kraken at their disposal, so that makes Davy Jones and his crew okay.

[ninepointfivemm.livejournal.com]

What I will say, though, is that I'm pretty sure they did motion capture, as Davy Jones had a lot of Bill Nighy's facial expressions. He may be pixelated, but I'm pretty sure they did a good job "translating" Bill Nighy. The problem may lie with Nighy, not the CGI.

[ninepointfivemm.livejournal.com]

I tottered between "ZOMG IT WAS AWESOME" and "good times." 3 1/2 stars. Wouldn't say it was full-on awe-inspiring, but pretty damn good.

I thought it was better than the first, IMNSHO, and I was incredibly enamored with the first one (Eight times in theaters, what?) I mean, I was honestly worried it wouldn't live up to the first, and it did. I generally loathe the second film in a series, but I really enjoyed this.

I liked the character changes, the love triangle (good LORD, Jack Sparrow should just whore out his services: he has chemistry with everyone), the references to the first film. Basically, like Lord of the Rings, this film was totally for the fans. And I like how it wavers between parody and honest-to-goodness action flick. I love Jack Sparrow more than I did for the first film! (Near impossible, that.)

So yes. 3.5 stars of awesomeness.

[silverhill.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, your icon! Hilarious and altogether too clever.

[tinyplasticmeat.livejournal.com]

I greatly enjoyed it--but we saw a midnight showing that exploded into tiny gooey film chunks about 10-20 minutes from the end. So I don't actually know what happened after the kraken (the...3rd time? 2nd? I forget, it was 2:30 am).

I really liked Jack Sparrow, as I always do, and I think Jonny does an excellent job of BEING the character much more than, say, Orlando or Keira do at PLAYING the characters. The plot was a little ehhh but I didn't care because JONNY.

And the two pirate guys from the first one were hilarious, I love them so much.

[jasonbeast.livejournal.com]

Going to see it tomorrow, so I'll let you know then :)

[enid-keaner.livejournal.com]

I liked it and I had fun watching it, but I'm pleased that I didn't have to pay for it.

I've read a lot of the reivews, and I can see where the reviewers are coming from. I didn't think it was as good as the first and they were trying way too hard. Everything felt a bit forced, whereas the first felt more free-wheeling. It's not orginial - as we've seen Capt. Jack and his swagger once before.

It feels like a sequel, made to extract more money from the pockets of people who loved the first. I think it's lost it's heart and, as a result, the comedy is more stillted and not as amusing.

It is entirely possible that everything will come together with the third one, so that's what I'm waiting for.

Like I said, I thought it was good, and it was tons of fun, but it is a shadow of the orginial. I think if you enjoyed the first, you'll most likely enjoy the second, though it's possible you'll be disapointed.

[ohsobulletproof.livejournal.com]

I liked it as a movie, but not as a sequel.

[mycenae.livejournal.com]

I went with the three stars option. I felt this movie had rather limp character motivations. I was never quite clear on WHY exactly Jack had made a deal with Davy Jones, what it all meant exactly... There was a lot of running around and destruction, but there just didn't seem to be enough heart to back it up. Jack doesn't want to be forced into eternal servitude. Will wants to save Elizabeth. Elizabeth wants to save Will. Later on, Will wants to save his dad. Yet I never felt caught up in this. The only one with clear motivations and objective was Norrington. Norrington was interesting, in a way none of the other characters were. I honestly could have done with a lot less Jack and a lot more Norrington.

The self-referential recycling of jokes also started to bug me. No, guys, you're not that cute.

[jeeperstseepers.livejournal.com]

WORD to everything you said, especially the part about More Norrington, Please.

[a-hollow-year.livejournal.com]

Definitely enjoyable. Didn't surpass the first, but come ON, what would? As far as sequels go, it was excellent and fun and romp-y and the only thing that really keeps it from being **** for me is, um, the end. Because it wasn't the end, and I am impatient and can't stand the tension of waiting for the third one. GRARGH

I will probably see it again. It had old favorites and at least one new character who rocked my local sector of the space time continuum, so I am well pleased.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_stormthesea/]

I liked this one because it was as cute as the last (is cute the right word for a pirate movie? Especially when there was Kraken saliva?), but I think that some parts were a little drawn out. Too much cannibal island, not enough drunk Commodore Norrington.

[ninepointfivemm.livejournal.com]

OK, WORD.

I knew there was something that kept me from being totally 100% in love. And it was the STUPID CANNIBAL ISLAND.

Lolz @ the krakken saliva.

[kittenscurious.livejournal.com]

i enjoyed it a lot. it wasn't as good as i thought it'd be. the kraken was awesome! ...i think mostly it was just because it was much more comical than the first one. like there were two or three different "rum gone" quotes...which was great in the first one but a little stale in the second.

but i did enjoy it and i would see it again just so i'm not sitting on the edge of the 3rd row.

[butch-lebeau.livejournal.com]

Too many stale jokes. And waaaaaay too much of a middle movie. Hate it when trilogies have a stand-alone first episode and then make the second and third one huge two-part story that takes two years to be completed.

[fxchip.livejournal.com]

*coughMATRIXcough*

[wheresmytower.livejournal.com]

Okay. I think one of the main factors in the dissension here has more to do with how long it's been since seeing the first one. I advise you not to watch the first one in preparation. Cause there's not much better than a good reprise of a favored joke, but if I'd just heard the original ones, I might have thought it more cheap than hilarious. So, while I can totally see myself being really annoyed by all the references to the original, I've not watched it for a very long time, which made them really work for me.

[enid-keaner.livejournal.com]

But......I myself didn't watch the first one in preperation. I actually haven't watched the first since about December of last year. And I still thought the jokes were stale and forced. I did enjoy the movie, but I am not in love with it like I had hoped. It was fun, but I'm so glad I didn't pay for it.

[quenbolyn.livejournal.com]

I'm trying not to pass judgement until I've seen the movie again. It took several in-theater viewings of the first one for me to fall completely in love, so I'll give this one more of a chance.

That being said, I did enjoy DMC immensely. Norrington... the gypsy queen... Bill Nighy... fighting the urge to punch that little pip-squeak (Mr. Collins in Knightley's P&P)who was causing all the trouble... the two pirates from the first film... Davy Jones...

When you think about it, we're complaining a lot, but as far as sequels go this was a lot better than what Hollywood usually delivers. And I'm sure the film is going to grow on people over time. Right now it's just the shock of seeing something that - ZOMG! - isn't EXACTLY like the first film.

[librisia.livejournal.com]

omg, your icon made me lol

[starlights-1.livejournal.com]

I loved it, I thought it was great. Davy Jones made this little *pop* noise that was the cutest thing ever, hard to hate him right when that happened. The one thing I didn't like was Kiera's costumes, didn't like her in the pants. Ladies wear dresses, I don't care how much of a butt kicker you are.

Went to the midnight showing, and there were people dressed up like pirates. They even put a mast (2x4) on thier car and put a Pirate Flag ontop. That was pretty hardcore.

I'll see it again in theaters with my friends, and we'll bring Lamby from lambyadventures wearing an eye-patch and a bandana.

[disturbed-kiwi.livejournal.com]

Samuel L. Jackson (http://wigu.com/overcompensating/2006/07/dead-horses-on-plane.html) wearing a Snakes on a Plane T-shirt (http://topatoco.com/snakes.htm).

[lyricalnights.livejournal.com]

Meh. Too long, too many recycled self-referential jokes, too many confusing plot twists with no actual plot to back them up.

[librisia.livejournal.com]

Despite the racism, I liked this just fine. It was a pretty good action/pirate movie. The ending made me totally psyched to see the next one. But I was already psyched because hotpiratejohnnydepp+hotpirateyunfatchow=orgasm

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one bothered by the racism. 'Cause it really sort of weirded me out.