Well, uh...I got a few nice sea shanties, I suppose?
Just as well, because I'm genuinely not sure what else I was meant to get out of this. The only thing even approaching what I'd call a character arc in this is a single disagreement that really doesn't strike me as important at all between Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, which is kind of sweet when it's resolved...only for it to come up again right at the end, making the whole thing feel pointless.
The same can be said for the plot as a whole, come to think of it. This whole film is about chasing a ship, and the ending scene makes it feel like they didn't even achieve that. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen an ending scene in a film that completely guts so much of what it seemed to be going for, and it wasn't all that exciting watching a ship full of people I don't care about chasing another ship full of people I don't even know to begin with, especially when there's quite a few pointless scenes.
Well I say I didn't care about them, but that's not entirely true. I did get a pretty impressive sense of camaraderie from the ship crew, which highlights the best thing about this: the performances are all great. I don't think any of the characters are memorable or interesting in the slightest, but at least every one of them is believable.
It's shot and edited fine, I guess (what do you MEAN this beat Return Of The King for the best cinematography Oscar), and the soundtrack is as forgettable as the average puddle, but I will give a shoutout to the production and costume design. What can I say, I think the costumes look good, and I do really applaud the decision to actually film some of this out at sea.
But other than that, this is about as exciting to me as being stuck in the doldrums.
Just as well, because I'm genuinely not sure what else I was meant to get out of this. The only thing even approaching what I'd call a character arc in this is a single disagreement that really doesn't strike me as important at all between Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, which is kind of sweet when it's resolved...only for it to come up again right at the end, making the whole thing feel pointless.
The same can be said for the plot as a whole, come to think of it. This whole film is about chasing a ship, and the ending scene makes it feel like they didn't even achieve that. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen an ending scene in a film that completely guts so much of what it seemed to be going for, and it wasn't all that exciting watching a ship full of people I don't care about chasing another ship full of people I don't even know to begin with, especially when there's quite a few pointless scenes.
Well I say I didn't care about them, but that's not entirely true. I did get a pretty impressive sense of camaraderie from the ship crew, which highlights the best thing about this: the performances are all great. I don't think any of the characters are memorable or interesting in the slightest, but at least every one of them is believable.
It's shot and edited fine, I guess (what do you MEAN this beat Return Of The King for the best cinematography Oscar), and the soundtrack is as forgettable as the average puddle, but I will give a shoutout to the production and costume design. What can I say, I think the costumes look good, and I do really applaud the decision to actually film some of this out at sea.
But other than that, this is about as exciting to me as being stuck in the doldrums.