when i grow up

perhaps the best thing i can say about the third pirates of the caribbean movie is that, like the first, it left me wishing that piracy was a valid career choice in the modern world. the second movie elicited considerably more of a 'meh' response, not merely because of the preponderance of disgusting sea creatures. though this most recent movie is considerably more 'serious', insofar as that's possible, the demented sense of humor is back, and most importantly, the actors seem to be enjoying being pirates again. the first half-hour was vividly surreal, yet resolutely silly. it was too bad that the theme of the modern era bringing an end to the age of pirates wasn't put to better use; there are plenty of ways to pick apart the movie, plot threads picked up and dropped, characters killed off without much to do, orlando bloom is a terrible actor, et cetera, et cetera, but really, i have no interest in doing so. after all, what's not to love about a movie where a monkey pulls a gun on a parrot?