Review of Spellbound (2002) by Diana S — 05 Jul 2006

Well, what to say about [b]Pirates[/b]? I wanted so badly for it to be great that maybe it was destined to fall short of my expectations. At the beginning of the movie, Will (Orlando Bloom "Elizabethtown") and Elizabeth (Keira Knightly "Domino") are arrested on their wedding day for helping a pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp "The Libertine"). But Jack has something that could buy their freedom, so Will goes to trade for it. Only it's not as simple as that. So Elizabeth escapes to help him. Meanwhile, Jack is trying to avoid his own servitude aboard the ghost ship The Flying Dutchman, captained by the inhuman Davy Jones. And this involves a very long, twisted plot and a giant monster.

This film is quite a bit darker than the first. Some scenes, especially the opening, seem almost grizzly. Depp is once again fabulous as Jack Sparrow. But as a friend mentioned to me, it's not the surprise it was with the first one, and we saw some of his best lines in the trailer. The effects are outstanding. Davy Jones' beard really blew me away. The krakken was also very impressive.

But, and here's my big problem with the film. I'm not sure if it's a spoiler or not, so just to be safe [spoiler] it's a cliff hanger. This movie does not stand alone. There's no satisfaction at the end. Loose ends are not tied up. And the twist in the last scene brings more questions. I understand that this is to now be a trilogy. I knew that going in. But I like my trilogy pieces to stand alone. I could watch the Two Towers and still feel satisfied without having to pop in The Return of the King. The Harry Potters are self contained. The X-men. Spider-man. Not so with Dead Man's Chest. I guess they wanted to make sure we all bought tickets for the third film. But because of this ploy, I'm disinclined to do so. [/spoiler].

Besides giving me Paula Abdul flashbacks, [b]Spellbound[/b] rocked. The documentary follows eight kids as they prepare for and compete in the 1999 National Spelling Bee. Director Jeffery Blitz, his first film, brings us effortlessly into the daily lives and drives of each of the subjects. It's hard to root for one because we want them all to do well. And these kids were just amazing. I can't even spell now without the help of spellcheck. I can't imagine how bad I was in middle school.