Pirates 3
No, I did not go to see it last night, and this is not my review of it. I'm not a big opening-day crowd fighter. Maybe this weekend, though. However, since we're going to be at least a few days in on reviewing Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End, I thought I'd point you gentle readers towards a few reviews from people who did bother to see it when/before it came out. They're...mixed.
Chicago Tribune critic Michael Wilmington liked it, calling it "the most visually spectacular, action-packed and surreal of the adventures of Capt. Jack Sparrow." He lauded in for the dazzling spectacle as well as for the fine performances put in not only by Johnny Depp, but by the extensive supporting cast. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers disagrees, lambasting the film's length, confusion, and "focus on Will Turner, played by the aggressively bland Orlando Bloom, and his quest to find a personality" (I can't help but find that exceptionally funny). Travers goes on to say that the film "raises everything from the dead, except inspiration," and ends his review with a comment about it being a business proposition rather than a movie. Ouch. Other reviewers more or less split along these lines, with some loving the film's big expensive self, and some saying it's too much, gone on for too long, and has too little of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, who was the only thing worth watching in the first place. It's currently polling at exactly 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, so it could really go either way.
The interesting thing to me, of course, is that I don't see a single review that addresses sex or race in the film. The mainstream critics have lots to say about the effects, tons about the lack of Johnny Depp, confusing plot twists, lengthiness, and general overbloatedness of the film, but nothing about the integrity of the characters, particularly the female ones and the ones of color. I'm sure the blog world will continue this oversight (I know we won't here), but the first words in are pretty mute on the subject. (Note: Obviously, I haven't read every review out there, so if there's something germane I'm missing, please leave a comment, I'd love to see it.)
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I think plenty of bloggers will be analyzing it more critically, especially after the outcry on the second one. It just may take a few days, since unlike mainstream critics they don't get advance screenings.