Avast! Prepare Ye to Watch Some Movies ((Jim))

[losthunter]

Tonight, Hunter has his apartment decorated with a pirate theme. He had invited Jim over for a movie-watching marathon, so they could watch the four of five Pirates of the Caribbean movies that Hunter owns.

And in addition to having some pirate decorations hanging around the living room, Hunter is dressed in a pirate costume. He also has some special treats prepared for the movie night, which includes caramel popcorn, salt and vinegar chips, pretzels, peanuts and a few chilled beers.

Everything is ready for Jim to show up, so they can start the movie night.

Comments

I never got your previous one either

[boldygoing]

Jim smiles slightly. "He's a bit too superstitious for his own good, but that's true to history, to be fair."

this one showed up

[losthunter]

"You have to remember that I had my own personal witch to deal with... I can identify with someone who is a bit superstitious."

[boldygoing]

"Sure, I'm not saying he shouldn't believe in magic. I mean the first movie had zombies and everything. But if bringing a woman aboard is bad luck, I haven't seen any proof of that yet, in the movies." Jim is very much not a superstitious man, and even so, he sees a difference between superstition, which is all about luck and rituals to try to force luck in your favor, and belief in magic, which is at least a tangible force.

"Is it weird that I find Barbossa to be the most relatable so far?" he asks.

[losthunter]

"Some of his fans call Barbossa the underdog hero of the movies." Hunter notes softly. "And more of his character is shown in the next movie."

[boldygoing]

"I don't know if I'd call him a hero, but he's sympathetic, anyway. I wasn't expecting to have so much in common with him."

[losthunter]

"What sort of things are you finding to have in common?"

[boldygoing]

"Besides the whole... coming back from the dead thing... from some points of view, the first day I got to sit in the captain's chair of the Enterprise, I committed mutiny to get there," Jim admits. "Spock was in command, and I was acting first officer. I'd disagreed with Spock in front of everyone else, loudly enough that he denounced my actions as rebellious and tried to maroon me temporarily, so I'd be out of the way. I had to provoke him into showing that he was emotionally compromised by the loss of Vulcan before he gave up the chair, and I never got brought up on charges."

He pauses, uncertain if he wants to mention the other thing. But he might as well. "And then there's the apples."

[losthunter]

"The connection to food..." Hunter nods slightly. "Barbossa just wanted the simple bite of an apple."

[boldygoing]

Jim nods too, sipping at the ginger ale to settle the twisting nervousness in his stomach. He tells himself that Hunter already knows he was on Tarsus IV, so there's little to worry about. It's still tough, the words kept secret for years, buried within him. "Apples were always one of my favorites, and it's the first solid food the hospital let me have, back then."

[losthunter]

"Oh!" Hunter pauses a moment to let that sink in. "No wonder Barbossa's desire for an apple hit home for you."

[boldygoing]

"Yeah," Jim agrees quietly. "It's kind of stupid, but I'm glad he finally got to have one at the end there." The fact that Barbossa hadn't gotten even a single bite before his death in the first film was the most tragic part of the story, from Jim's point of view.

[losthunter]

"You ready to see what other adventure awaits him, and the others?"

[boldygoing]

Jim nods, a little more settled by the ginger ale - and being able to tell someone else about some of his more honest reactions to the movie. "Sure. I'm interested to find out how they end up beating Davy Jones."

[losthunter]

"I think you will be surprised about how the next one ends." Hunter returns to the living room, and turns on At World's End.

[boldygoing]

Jim joins him on the couch again, and he's got enough of his appetite back to grab a handful of pretzels to nibble at as the third movie begins.

The depiction of the Locker is nothing at all like Jim expected, and it's so far removed from his own experiences that there are no bad memories brought up this time, watching the increasingly bizarre circumstances in which Jack Sparrow finds himself. And Jim is a little amused at the pirate captain's solution for escape, deliberately rolling the Black Pearl upside-down.

The twists and turns keep coming as the film continues, and Jim mentally cheers when Elizabeth is elected King of the Brethren Court. Not a role he would've expected she would have gotten, in a movie made in the early twenty-first century. It suits her, he feels, satisfied with the natural-seeming evolution of her character from the somewhat naive adventure-seeking noblewoman of the first film into a world-wise Pirate King.

[losthunter]

Hunter of course takes careful note of the next part of the storyline, when Calypso is revealed, set free, and then has her heart broken. It shows that hell has no fury like a woman scorned.

He is very familiar with the tone of the story.

[boldygoing]

The climactic battle scene at the end has Jim's full attention the entire time as the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman circle each other in the goddess-created maelstrom, and he laughs out loud when Will and Elizabeth convince Barbossa to marry them in the middle of the melee. Followed, of course, by the tragedy as Will is killed by Davy Jones, and the somewhat poignant moment when Jones is killed and falls into the "arms" of his lover goddess, down into the whirlpool.

And of course there is the triumphant return of Will as the captain of the Dutchman, joining forces to wipe out Beckett's flagship effortlessly. And although Will is now bound to the Dutchman, it's satisfying enough that he's not permanently separated from Elizabeth, getting a chance to consummate their marriage on dry land before he must sail away.

It's an unexpected but satisfying ending, all things considered.

[losthunter]

Hunter, being the romantic he is, has a fond spot in his heart for the after-credits setting of the third movie. When 10 years later, Elizabeth and Henry are saying their goodbye to Will. That their love is still faithful.

"The fourth movie introduces several new characters," Hunter explains, as he switches DVDs. "And a new adventure."

[boldygoing]

Jim is a bit of a romantic at heart too. While he hasn't often had such a thing in his own life, it makes him happy to see others find their other half, and the evolution of Will and Elizabeth's relationship throughout the films has been a relatively realistic and satisfying one.

"I figured as much," he says, nodding. There were hints of the new plot towards the end, after all, with Jack Sparrow stealing the chart that apparently leads to the Fountain of Youth.

[losthunter]

"But need not worry, still plenty of Barbossa to discover." Hunter hints, as he starts the On Stranger Tides movie.

[boldygoing]

Of all the things Jim had expected to happen with Barbossa, having him become a privateer with a peg leg and a big floofy wig was not really on the list, and it's almost comical to watch. The darker tone of the previous two films seems much lighter here, despite the addition of Blackbeard to the cast, and perhaps not quite as emotionally engaging as the previous films. But Jim finds it entertaining enough, settling in to watch a new adventure of Captain Jack Sparrow, this time with no plot points that bring up bad memories.

[losthunter]

The storyline that Hunter most enjoys in the film is the one about the mermaid, and how the captive missionary falls in love with her. And how the mermaid only sheds a tear after the missionary sacrifices himself for her.

He has to wipe away a tear from his own eyes.

[boldygoing]

He is not surprised that the romance between the mermaid and the missionary is the highlight for Hunter. Not as compelling as the one between Will and Elizabeth, in Jim's opinion, but believable enough to have a little tug on the heartstrings.

It comes as a slight surprise that the Spanish arrive only to destroy the Fountain, rather than exploit it in turn. It's less of a surprise that Jack's trickster nature comes out once again to defeat Blackbeard and give his life to Angelica instead. And it's entirely unsurprising, yet oddly satisfying, to see Barbossa reclaim his iconic hat and take command of the Queen Anne's Revenge, tearing up his Letters of Marque.

[losthunter]

Hunter waits until the after-credit scene, when the voodoo doll of Jack washes up on the shore of the island where Angelica was abandoned.

And then he removes the DVD. "I don't have the newest Pirates film on DVD, since it just came out in movie theatres."

"But here is the trailer of the movie..." And he uses his computer adapter to play the YouTube trailer on his TV screen.

[boldygoing]

"This series really likes the 'undead pirate' thing, doesn't it?" Jim asks, once the trailer is done.