Oh, i have a lot of these. Good thread, Willofthewisp!
For DMC:
1. give Tia Dalma subtitles.
2. Give Will something dashing to wear to his wedding (as opposed to a tablecloth).
3. the plot flow is majorly interrupted by the kraken attacking the greek ship with jack's hat sequence. i know they were trying to build up fear about the kraken, but its a HUGE waste of screentime.
4. It seems really out of character for Elizabeth to suggest and assure to Will that she will wait for him happily in prison while he's off. I think it would have been much more in character/ much more cinematic to say something to the effect of "If you take too long, I might have to come track you down," or "If all else fails, I'll meet you in Tortuga."
5. They ought to have kept in the line about Beckett recognizing Elizabeth from when he knew her in England. It gave them both a more credible backstory, and upped the tension.
6. It would not have been hard to play the compass off as less confusing. It was an integral plot point that pretty much failed, in my book. or at least make sure everyone involved with the film understands what it points to (what you want VS hearts desire).
7. All the scenes on the flying dutchman were difficult to watch. They were ALL at night, ALL in the rain, ALL depressing. Bootstrap had 1 good line, after following his son's habit of getting all the bad exposition.
8. The persuasion scene could have been even more fun (and more cinematic) if it had taken place in Jack's cabin. There was only 1 tiny shot of Jack's cabin in the entire film. It would have also contrasted better, as the Curiosity scene takes place in the exact same place on the deck of the ship.
9. The Beckett map thing was just wierd. I understand where they were TRYING to go with it, but it didn't do anything for me. It wasted screentime. Maybe it will be integral in AWE or something, but they were always cutting back to it and interrupting the flow.
10. Why does it seem like Beckett is coming on to Will when he tries to bargain with him? Does no one else get a really creepy sexual predator vibe from him? Is he supposed to be like that? It works in his scene with Elizabeth, but Beckett seems to look at Will's mouth a lot while speaking to him. It's kind of wierd.
11. Will's scene where he steals the key from Jones is HORRIBLE> As if, after exposing the hidden key to a free-to-move-about young buck with a clear call for vengence, Jones would fall asleep at his piano! YEAH RIGHT. The whole key thing is WIERD. Jack knows Jones has the key, but drags Will and everyone to Tia anyways. Then Will learns Jones has the key, but has to RE-LEARN about Jones having the key like 3 more times, and through a confusing dice game that wastes screentime. OF COURSE Jones would keep the key on his person. DUH.
12. I am not sure how I feel about the complete on-again, off-again nature of Jack and Elizabeth's flirting. One second they are up in each other's faces, hardly able to keep their hands off each other while sexual tension swirls around, and then suddenly they are calmly rowing in a boat with no more connection than two passengers on a train. It's wierd, I don't get it. Maybe it's just Kiera. It's like, unless she's getting to snog him, she doesnt really commit to the tension there.
13. Pintel and Ragetti got ENTIRELY TOO MUCH SCREENTIME. The comic relief was a huge waste of time in a film where the leading characters and plot supply the comic value anyways. the whole bible scene, though kind of cute, was a big waste of time. they had a lot of moments like that. Like you all said, they ought to have given some of that time to Murtogg and Mulroy.
14. It's definately the film of the epic props. between sinking wedding dresses, jars of dirt, compasses in hand, wall maps, father-to-son knives, chests, hearts, lockets/music boxes, keys (and drawings thereof), letters of marque, etc... a lot of the time, i felt all the screentime devoted to these objects had nothing to do with the plot and everything to do with the merchandising.
15. Why didn't Elizabeth drink the bloody drink at the end? (it's ambiguous things like this that had better get explained in AWE< or they will be really superfluous and irritating)
16. Beckett's sudden rise to power in Port Royal is ridiculous. He's a Lord, not a King for goodness sakes. The fuedal system is not a good explanation for him to waltz in with an army and put the governor in prison.
17. Are they trying to make us hate Will? What kind of idiot walks onto a creepy island where a ship is moored and proceeds to follow the twine string of a clearly laid trap?
18. Did the commodore need to throw up so much in the dock scene?
19. I just needed to reiterate what you all said about Kiera's extensions. dreadful. this is a summer blockbuster- it's okay to give the girl pretty hair. especially when everyone in the film falls madly in love with her.
20. I have problems with the Turkish prison scene- are they actually in Turkey? How the hell do they get around the caribbean so fast?
Okay, I'm done. I'll post my COTBP ones later, I reckon.