https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCEM9_XHzH8&list=WL&index=5&t=73s
无作者
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is one of the biggest and most successful, movie franchises, in history,grossing over $4.5 billion over its five films spanning from 2003 to 2017,it was a box office Behemoth for over a decade.Not bad for a franchise based off a theme park ride.But despite this franchise being a continuous success financially,to say there was a notable drop off in the quality would be the understatement, of the century.
drop off
to fall into a light sleep 打盹儿；小睡
I dropped off and missed the end of the film.
我打了个盹儿，错过了影片的结尾。
to become fewer or less 减少；下降
Traffic in the town has dropped off since the bypass opened.
自从这条旁道通车后，城里来往的车辆就减少了。
Whilst the first three films, were often looked back on as, some of the greatest action adventure, movies of all time,featuring one of the most iconic movie characters of all time,the final two installments, on Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales are treated as, basically the ugly stepchild that you hide when the family comes over.Yeah, people don’t like these movies very much for various reasons.Everything from the clear abandonment of what made the franchise so great.The fun, well-written adventure had turned into formulaic franchise milking.
Major characters went missing.Johnny Depp was clearly having a rough go of things which led to an impostor, Jack Sparrow.It was just obvious this iconic franchise was past its expiry date.So, considering you guys absolutely loved my downfall of Game of Thrones video,I figured let’s do it for Pirates of the Caribbean because, I love this franchise,but I also hate it.And I want to get to the bottom of its downfall.Where did it go right?Where did it go wrong?And all things in between.Let’s revisit the downfall of Pirates of the Caribbean.I don’t think it’s a hot take, to say that the Pirates of the, Caribbean franchise is basically, split between the first three movies and the last two.You’ve got a beloved trilogy and whatever this was.This franchise kicked off with Curse of the Black Pearl,which I watched today and I just think to myself,this movie had absolutely no right being as good as it was.Think about it.This was a Disney movie based off one of their theme park rides.
It was going to be a pirate movie, which notoriously was box office poison.It was also going to be directed by Gore Vabinsky,the guy that brought us such esteemed classics as Mouse Hunt.Yeah, this movie really shouldn’t have worked.Yet,it ended up being that good that it managed to spawn a multi-billion, dollar franchise.It was critically adored.It made a ton of money,and it created one of the most iconic scores in movie history.It even landed its lead actor, Johnny Depp,an Academy Award nomination for playing Jack Sparrow.It is by very definition everything a Hollywood blockbuster should be.A stark reminder of exactly what Disney were capable of 20 years ago.These days,they’re just milking franchises, with cheap fan service to try and keep people engaged.But back then,this was just a crazy idea that sprawled into something incredible.The birth of one of the major iconic movie franchises,Curse of the Black Pearl remains, to this day probably the best, movie in the franchise.
I rewatch it now and it holds up so well.The story is simple yet fun.The scope and scale of the world is pure escapist bliss.The ensemble of characters are all great.There isn’t one character in this movie that makes me roll my eyes,which for a Disney movie is basically a common occurrence these days.The lead is charismatic, likable,funny.The supporting characters are likable.They’ve actually got an arc and are perfectly, balanced, in a way that allows them to, stand out yet not take the spotlight, away from the main draw of the, movie.That of course being Jack Sparrow.Now,the scene that really kicked this franchise off and made it so legendary, was the Jack Sparrow introduction scene.You want to know why this franchise worked?Watch this scene again.That’s all you got to do.This scene with Jack is one of the best uses of visual storytelling, in the franchise.You learn everything you need to know about the character, without a word being said.The scene begins and makes you, believe that this is some big.
time pirate with shots looking, up toward him,making him appear important,which is a smart technique filmmakers use to establish power.You’ve got the epic score in the background to pair with it.But the perspective, changes and we realize that he’s, a pirate without a proper ship, and he’s also struggling to even, keep it afloat,which completely contradicts the opening shot.You’ve got what Jack thinks he is and what he actually is.He then stops bucketing his ship to keep it afloat to honor fallen pirates,establishing that he’s got some kind of moral code that he lives by.This also serves as excellent worldb buildinging.And when he pulls into Port Royal in the iconic moment, the ship is sinking,yet the score is climaxing,and he stylishly, lands on the dock with integrity intact and in sync with the score.The fact the score matches Jack’s, actions in a moment like this, adds to the mystique of Jack.You don’t know if he’s just lucky or he makes it up as he goes to great effect.
And when he lands on the dock, this has dialogue this part,sure, but it just doubles down on what the previous couple minutes did.Jack bribes his way into Port Royal and then seemingly, just gets the money back from a random bag of coins just sitting there.This just sums Jack up perfectly.This opening scene tells you everything you need to know about this character.One of the best things this scene did, though,is the music never changes despite the flips of perspective.When the shot matches what Jack thinks he is, the music is epic.When it shows us reality, it’s still epic because Jack is justing awesome.This is the character.This is why he’s so great.This character is why this franchise worked.Curse of the Black Pearl not, only perfected what a fun big, budget action adventure movie, should be,but it perfected what makes Jack Sparrow such an interesting and likable, character.Is he a good guy?Is he an anti-hero?Does he have a heart?Does he have a code?Is he selfish?Is he selfless?
The answer to all of those questions is yes.And this continues on with Dead Man’s Chest,the middle point of the Perfect Trilogy.Dead Man’s Chest expands the world and the surrounding characters,adding even more backstory to Jack that expands beyond his history with Barbosa,which of course is covered in the first movie.We meet Davy Jones who just like seriously man, how does this hold up so well?This movie came out nearly 20 years ago and this looks better still today, than 99%, of the [ __ ] Disney are putting out at the moment.I just I don’t get it.I really don’t.This character alone is insanely interesting.Interesting enough that he probably could have got spin-off movies of his own.Not to mention,there is also a strong continuation, of the excellent character work with Will and Elizabeth.Will started in the first movie as a young likable blacksmith, in love with Elizabeth, with a real classic class division love story type of deal going on.
And both Will and Elizabeth come so far as characters throughout these movies.Elizabeth goes from a governor’s daughter to a full-blown pirate lord,and it doesn’t even feel like a leap.I want to talk about Will specifically, though.Will was great in the first movie,wrestling with the fact that piracy is in his blood despite absolutely, hating pirates.But here we get to see that continue, as he starts to morph into the, very thing he despises, and embraces that identity.You see Will start to take on some of the traits you’d associate with piracy.Elizabeth does the exact same.One of the most interesting, things these movies do is essentially takes our three main characters, and highlights the separation between them.But as the movies progress, you start to see them become more like the other.Will and Elizabeth take on traits synonymous with Jack,and Jack takes on traits synonymous with Will and Elizabeth.So by the end of the trilogy,
all characters have come a long way and have become more like the other.These characters, complement, each other and grow because of each other despite being at odds quite often.Like in terms of iconic movie trios, you’ve got Luke,Han, and Leia.You’ve got Harry, Ron,and Hermione.But can we just add Jack, Will,and Elizabeth into that conversation, too.Or am I insane?And we of course see all of this incredible, character work come to fruition in At World’s End,the third installment, and if you ask me,the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie,because it’s the last one that actually feels like the first.Like going from At World’s End to Stranger Tides,it’s a night and day difference.Now,At World’s End does get a little, bit of stick because it’s a very, long movie and is a little bit, bloated.It’s got plot holes and an over reliance on knowledge of obscure law.All of those things are true, but the thing is,I just don’t care.I love every minute of this movie, and I wouldn’t change it.
There was always a consistent, throughine of the first three Pirates movies of this sense of adventure, with a sense of almost inevitable, end for pirates in their way of life.The British and Cutler Beckett, who heads the East India Trading Company,act as this looming threat for our beloved pirates across the adventure.Yet, despite this looming threat,the movies never failed to be fun.By the end, all of the characters had been treated with respect.Will ends up captain of the Dutchman, becoming a full-blown pirate himself.He’s come a long way from a blacksmith, and it actually makes sense.Elizabeth gets a bittersweet ending that also makes sense.Davy Jones and Beckett get their comeuppance.Norington redeems himself.And Jack essentially ends the trilogy, where he started on a small ship with compass in hand,ready for the next adventure, whatever that may entail.It felt like a logical end for everyone.The first three Pirates movies are excellent.
because you can turn your brain on and get neck deep in the intricacies, of the story and characters,but you can also turn your brain off and just enjoy a fun pirate, action adventure.These movies are so balanced and easy to enjoy,but also hold a lot of objective quality that runs deeper than you’d think.And I think that’s why I love these first three movies so much.If I want to be a pretentious [ __ ] there’s plenty there for me to enjoy.But if I want to just sit down, enjoy the adventure,shove some popcorn down my throat, and not think about it too much,I can do that, too.These three movies are everything a major Disney action adventure franchise, should be.one that seems to have a clear vision.Unlike some, each film overlaps perfectly with the next.Unlike some,the characters, actions make sense and don’t contradict themselves every 5 seconds.Unlike some.I’m sorry, I just can’t help but throw strays at Star Wars.That used to be my favorite franchise ever.Now it’s barely even in my top 10.
Thanks a lot, Disney.It’s funny because the Pirates trilogy, is a far superior, trilogy in just about every single way than the Disney Star Wars sequel trilogy.And the Pirates trilogy isn’t even a freaking trilogy.And that’s because there’s still two more movies,which takes us onto The Downfall.The Downfall of Pirates of the Caribbean is by no means as frustrating as, say,The Downfall of something like Game of Thrones.even shows like The Walking Dead or Lost, which are videos we will be doing,by the way.So, subscribe,stay tuned for those.But the reason I say the downfall of Pirates of the Caribbean, isn’t overly frustrating,is because the fourth and fifth installments, which solidify the downfall,feel completely disconnected with the trilogy.The trilogy, as I said,finished in a way where in your mind you can accept that as the final end,and the next two movies are basically just DLC, that you can pretend doesn’t exist.The fourth installment on Stranger Tides had a lot of potential.
I say that because it was going to include Blackbeard,the most famous pirate of all time, of course,played by Ian McShane, who is a fantastic actor.But this didn’t save what was otherwise an awful script and realistically, a movie that should just never have been made.On Strange Retides holds a whopping 33%, on Rotten Tomatoes and 45% on Metacritic.It also costs Disney around $410 million to make which is just ridiculous, and is by far the biggest budget of the entire series.At World’s End was the previous biggest with 300 million,which is still ridiculous, by the way.But Disney really pumped nearly half a billion dollars into this absolute, slop of a movie,which is just insane.What’s even more insane is it actually worked.This movie made a billion dollars,proving that just because your movie makes a billion dollars, doesn’t make it a good movie.Stranger Tides, as I said,had potential.Jack’s, past catches up with him, which leads him toward the Queen Anne’s Revenge,
the ship of Blackbeard, as he seeks out the Fountain of Youth,whilst the Spanish and Barbosa also close in on the fountain,forming a multiple party race to the Fountain of Youth.Now, I’m sure there is a universe where this premise does work,but it’s it’s not this one.I actually had to go and rewatch this movie for this video specifically, because unlike the trilogy,which I know better than the, back of my own hand because I’ve, seen him a thousand times,I had basically ejected this movie from my memory.And speaking of ejecting,there are several franchise regular characters ejected from this movie,such as Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan.They’re gone.It was at that point they should have known to not make this movie.If you can’t have Will and Elizabeth in Pirates of the Caribbean alongside, Jack Sparrow,why make the damn movie?Oh, that’s right,money.The only real returning characters in Stranger Tides are Jack, Barbosa,and Gibbs, making this movie feel like a standalone movie,
and to be honest, a spin-off of the actual trilogy.Watching this movie,I in no way feel like it’s remotely connected to what came before.This feels like an alternate universe movie,not one that coincides with the Pirates trilogy.In my opinion,Stranger Tides is where this franchise went from excellent to parody.The opening sequence where Jack, pretends to be a judge just feels, like it doesn’t take place in, this pre-established, world.Like,we really went from the incredible, gallow sequence at the beginning of Atworld’s End,which goes so hard, by the way.And I can’t believe they actually approved this to be in a Disney movie,but we go from that to this.Yeah,it seems like they initially went for a more light-hearted, and goofier movie here.But the problem is you need to honor what came before,and this feels so disconnected with what came before, that I just can never get invested in this movie.I try, but I just can’t.Going from the darkest movie in the series to the goofiest and most lighthearted.
is complete tonal whiplash.The previous movies managed nuance, and more mature moments with the fun swashbuckling, adventure that we came to love.This movie just never seemed to really get any of it right.When it went for the more mature moments, it falls flat.When it goes for goofy comedy, it just doesn’t feel like it belongs.Now, I know the first three Pirates movies had their goofy moments,too, but Stranger Tides just feels like it went too far into parody,but you know what?That’s okay.The movie made a billion dollars, so we get to enjoy another installment,one that would surely get the franchise, back on track with Dead Men Tell No Tales.Yeah, that didn’t happen.Dead Men Tell No Tales was the final installment, of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, still to this day.Now, despite the fact this movie reviewed even worse than Stranger Tides,I actually think this movie is slightly better.I’m not saying it’s great.I’m not even saying it’s good.
I’m saying it’s slightly better than the slop that was Stranger Tides.The villain in this movie is much better than Blackbeard.Will and Elizabeth are actually in this one,which I will get to because that’s also a part of the problem.And at worst, you get some cool action sequences.Like a ship eats another ship and there’s undead sharks and stuff.That’s that’s kind that’s kind of cool.But does that make it a good movie?Well, if you pretend the first three Pirates movies never existed,maybe.But it was glaringly, obvious with this movie that, the studio heard the backlash, regarding Will and Elizabeth, not being in Stranger Tides.And instead of paying to get them back in decent roles with a decent script,they got them back for cameo, roles that barely have anything, to do with anything.Hearing that Will and Elizabeth, came back for this movie was, the only reason I went to the, theater to watch it.Yes,I am a [ __ ], It’s funny because this movie also tried to fill the shoes of Will and Elizabeth.
with Henry and Karina, and then contrived a scenario where Henry was Will and Elizabeth’s, daughter and Karina was Barbosa’s, daughter,which was extremely unnecessary.These characters exist to fill the void of Will and Elizabeth not being there,and that is it.Now, I don’t entirely hate Henry as a character.In fact, I actually think he has some solid motives.He wants to free will from the Dutchman and uses Jack to do so.Clear motive, something we can certainly get behind.But what confuses me is how they went to the trouble of getting Orlando, Bloom in this movie despite the fact his cameo presence, actually makes the movie worse.Like Will is the captain of the Dutchman.The Dutchman, is something that was integral to Dead Man’s Chess and At World’s End.A valuable asset to have in your movie.So, we know Will is out there with the Dutchman,a beloved character on a beloved, ship that’s played a big role, in the franchise up until this, point.Yet, he’s notably absent the entire movie.
They also allude to the fact, that Will is kind of the [ __ ], on board the Dutchman,which is only a thing so the plot can unfold.But logically,shouldn’t Will be doing anything but what he’s doing in this movie?Because he’s not doing anything.This is a double-edged, sword scenario, because having a Will cameo, just raises eyebrows as to why he’s not involved more in the story.But not having him in the movie at all would have been equally as distracting.The only thing they should have done with Will was pay Orlando, Bloom his bag and get him and the Dutchman front and center in this story, and also get Kieran Nightly back instead of having her shoehorned, in right at the end.Like, was it cool knowing that Will and Elizabeth got their happy ending?Sure.But I wish they actually played a role in it.If Kieran Knly and Orlando Bloom didn’t want to repraise their roles properly,why involve the Turners in the story at all?This movie was doomed to fail before it even started.Now, the villain in this movie,
Salazar, played by Javier Bardm.Listen, I gave I actually don’t mind this villain.He’s about as good as a oneanddone villain as you’ll get out of this franchise.We get some good backstory.It ties into a younger Jack and at times as a villain, he is threatening.Nothing on the level of a Davy Jones or I’d even argue Beckett, because Beckett was never intimidating, directly,but it was more the fact that he could kill everyone without drawing a sword.Salazar, works fine as a villain and is, definitely a step up from Blackbeard, and Stranger Tides.However,now what surprised me on rewatch, is that On Stranger Tides and, Dead Men Tell No Tales are essentially, the same movie.You’ve got an end goal McGuffin, that everyone is racing to for their own reasons.You had the fountain of youth, in Stranger Tides and you have, the Trident of Poseidon, here.Now,I think this movie works better with that concept because of what the Trident, is and how it can break curses on the sea,which would benefit basically.
everyone in the movie in their own selfish yet understandable ways.But the biggest crime of this movie is its use of Jack Sparrow.If Stranger Tides was the start of the downfall of the franchise,Dead Men Tell No Tales was the destruction of Jack Sparrow.He is a secondary character in this movie, which is an absolute crime.Henry, I’d argue,is the lead character.We follow him pretty much way more than we follow Jack.And this isn’t a passing of the torch kind of deal.This is backseing an iconic character at its worst.So, although I like Dead Men Tell No Tales more than Stranger Tides,I loathe what this movie did with Jack.And that takes us onto the final part of the video.Now,it’s not exactly a leap to say, that Johnny Depp will always, be known for Jack Sparrow,and Jack Sparrow is this franchise.Therefore, Johnny Depp is this franchise.When Curse of the Black Pearl came out in 2003,it was pretty amazing what Johnny Depp was able to do with this role.
To take a character and make him so likable and iconic so quickly, was incredible.Like earning an Academy Award, nomination for playing this character, in a Disney movie, is insane.And watching the first movie again, it’s pretty easy to see why.I think he could have easily, got nominated for his roles in, Dead Man’s Chess and At World’s, End Too.But despite that, after Outworld’s End,something changed with this character.Jack Sparrow was no longer Jack Sparrow.He was an impostor,a shadow of why the character was so amazing in the first place.As I spoke about in the beginning of the video,if you want to know why Jack is so great,all you need to do is watch his introduction scene.You could write an hour-ong video, on that scene alone that dives, deep into the character.And I’m not going to bore you with recounting, what I already said about that scene.You know by this point why this character is so great.But what changed?Why is it Jack was so likable, so interesting,
and so iconic in these three movies, but in these two,something is drastically off.Well, I think there are several reasons as to why.Now,it’s the worstkept, secret in the world that Johnny, Depp was going through quite, a bit around the time the fourth, and fifth installments, of this franchise were made.you know, his MS was [ __ ] in his bed.That would probably make you want to halfass your day at work, too.I think after the trial a couple years ago,people have kind of looked back, on these two movies and are a, little more forgiving of the, fact that Jack is just different, in these movies, because of what happened.The thing is though, it’s not just Johnny Depp as to why Jack changed.The writing around the character diminished drastically.Now,I don’t think Jack’s character was really assassinated, until Dead Men Tell No Tales because on Stranger Tides,you can still kind of see the essence of Jack there.His clumsy brilliance is still there,
but it does feel a little Disneyi compared to the first three movies.Dead Men Tell No Tales, on the other hand,despite being a slightly more enjoyable movie in my opinion,absolutely ruins Jack Sparrow because this is simply not Jack Sparrow.One, he gets pushed to the background,which, as I said,is a crime.Two, he’s completely inept to the point of parody,and he’s just dumb.And three, for some reason,the writers felt the need to just make him pathetic,which I just don’t understand, because if you’re going to do that to a beloved character, because it works so well,you need to make it worthwhile.What is worthwhile about what they did to Jack in this movie?I just watched this movie and I look at Jack and I just think,look how they massacred my boy.And the thing is, if Jack isn’t Jack,this franchise cannot work.Which is also why I scoff at the headlines that say they’re rebooting, this franchise and they’re going to gender swap it because, of of course they are.It’s Hollywood.
But if you can’t do Pirates of the Caribbean without Johnny Depp,you can’t do Pirates of the Caribbean.I don’t think that is debatable.He was this franchise.Jack Sparrow was this franchise.Without him, what’s the point?You’re just milking the franchise, without shame at that point and sucking its soul out.So to say the downfall of Jack Sparrow coincides, with the downfall of Pirates of the Caribbean,I think would be an understatement of the century.So the downfall of Pirates of, the Caribbean is one of the more, interesting downfalls, of a major film franchise.The franchise just came from absolutely nowhere and surprised everybody.And it was great when it had its time in the sun.But continuing it after its logical conclusion proved to be its demise.Resuming a franchise after the ending of a trilogy, without major characters returning,the budget going up to increase spectacle at the sacrifice of substance, and the decay of one of Disney’s most iconic characters.
alongside the piss poor treatment of the actor,might I add.All resulted in the downfall of Pirates of the Caribbean.It’s by no means as horrible, as some of the other downfalls of major franchises in Hollywood,but it’s one that is still sad to see given just how great, this franchise once was.
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