So, just got home from seeing it. Normally I don't like movies set at sea--Waterworld was pretty dumb in the first place, had no desire to see The Perfect Storm, etc. But I really liked Master and Commander. The plot moved along well, gave us some good historical background about what it was like to be a navy sailor in Her Majesty's service without sugar-coating it.
Some parts were rather more gruesome than I would have liked. Cutting off the kid's arm--what was his name, the gentleman's son?--that was gross. And at the end, the close combat--that was very cool, but some parts were too close for comfort. I can't explain why I cringed. It's not that I thought those parts were inappropriate, but it was just that they were so
real. I mean, in a movie like LotR, there is close combat, but it's not so gory, and even though your belief is suspended, you still have part of you that knows it's not real. This seemed
so real. And that's good, but also disturbing, if that makes sense. I felt like
I was the one holding the sword, swinging in the melee for my life. Yikes.
So, despite--or maybe because of--how it pulled me in emotionally (throughout the movie, not just in the battle scenes), I'd say it's one of the best movies I've seen all year. Now, that's not saying much, as not many of the movies that have come out this year have been worth spending $11 on (no, that's not a typo, I spent $11 to get into this movie tonight Â
). But I do mark it up there on the chart.
Also, as a Jane Austen fan (movies and books), I thought it was fun to imagine that Lucky Jack was Captain Wentworth (
Persuasion) when away from home.
