I feel vindicated

The new Pirates of the Caribbean movie came out today. The reviews are largely negative. I've been dreading this movie for over a year, because it steals bits and pieces from a book I love -- On Stranger Tides, by Tim Powers. It would have been a difficult book to adapt on its own, but welding bits and pieces onto PotC seemed a recipe for disaster.

A friend, who is very young, kept insisting that I couldn't know that is was a bad movie. It could turn out to be good, right? She just couldn't wrap her head around that idea that a movie that butchers a good book is unlikely to be good. To me, it was like trying to look forward to PotC: The Tempest. After all, they both have magic, right? And they're set in the Caribbean. I think her anticipation was, partially, based on thinking Jack Sparrow was cute. And she's still young enough that disagreeing with her opinion is seen as something personal.

But, hey, I was right. The reviews are not good, so hopefully, no one will try to make me see it, further sullying a great book. Seriously, if you want good pirate adventure, go read Power's book. I suspect meeting Jack Shandy for the first time will be much more fun than yet another round with Jack Sparrow.