Pirates: Dead Man’s Ren Fest
Irish accents in the midwest as done by people who aren’t Irish have a tendency to sound like pirates as done by Disney, so going to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest creates the unfortunate feeling that you are going to a Renaissance Festival.
Ren Fests have nothing to do with Ireland of course, even if Kansas City’s festival has one of its weekends designated as an Irish one. Ireland did have a renaissance, but it was a literary one around the turn of the 19th century into the 20th century - and centered on the revival of Irish myths and legends. Think Yeats, Synge, O’Casey, etc. - not people you traditionally associate with kilts, swords, and in-your-face busts.
Dead Man’s Chest is a relentless assault of set-piece cinema, foregoing the humour and romance of the conversation in the first movie for physical and special effects comedy. So unless you’re too young to read this, you’re likely to remember the two minutes of dialogue Depp and Knightley share, and a couple of other minutes where people converse with wit and each other, more than any of the rest of the two and half hour long roller-coaster, which is really all coaster with no roller.
Think of it as a gay Swiss Family Robinson (not that there’s anything wrong with that) mixed in with the Jurassic island blue-screen middle-third of Jackson’s King Kong, and all the silliness of the final Indiana Jones film, together with the spectacle, humour and dialogue of The Phantom Menace featuring a camp Liam Neeson. Ya know, for kids.
The thing with that is - putting aside cheating grown-ups out of a genuinely funny film - that it will be absorbed by Ren Festivals in America. Already Ren Fests are based on movies, books, comics and jewellery - from Lord of the Rings alone - more than they are on Shakespeare or the actual history of the English Renaissance. In other words, they’re theme parks based on movies that are based on theme parks.
And unless re-enactors listen very carefully to the one line by an Irish accent in Dead Man’s Chest, you can expect Ren Fest accents to all take a turn in the Keith Richards direction.
See Also:
• The Irish Gay Icon Who Shot Michael Collins
• Review of The Wind That Shakes The Barley
• Liam Neeson is Older
• Actor who is Irish is not Irish Actor
• Loach Irish Film Opens in Ireland and Britain
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
Pirates 2 pretty much sucked compared to the first one. It had a few good parts, but I think it was just a prelude to the 3rd one. I hope number 3 is better!