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Philip Was One Of The Best Characters In POTC History

posted 12 years ago by Darkon007
16 replies | jump to latest

That is because Philip is a hero.

In the other flicks we just have anti-heroes and villians. Barbossa, Jack Sparrow (an anti-hero who does kill military men who are doing their duty).

Later on in the original POTC trilogy the characters played by Bloom (becomes less heroic) and Knightly (a pirate queen bascially) become anti-heroes also.

Philip on the other hand wants to make the world a better place. And believes that anyone can be saved...a part which he eventually loses when he realizes that Blackbeard cannot be saved to which Blackbeard responds by calling him a man of former faith. Can't remember the exact quote.

Philip relies upon his belief in a good God. And he tries to imitate Christ. The Spanish might kill in God's name thinking they serve Him. But Philip only strikes out in self defense.

From a Christian viewpoint Philip does lose faith in God towards the end when that mermaid is about to die. He demands of God to bring her back. Then says followed by "Please" twice in a desperate state of mind. But plenty of movies have a crisis of faith in religion. Especially involving clergymen.

His interaction at the end with the mermaid seems to play on Christian themes such as forgiveness (for having her captured. Christ forgives), her saving him from the wound on his side (Jesus was struck on the side. Coincidence?), a serene mind. This led one movie reviewer to mention that Philip gave up his belief in God for a piece of tail.

Could be. Or the scriptwriter could have just put in some parallel themes taken from Christianity. Philip never after all denounces his God. I suppose only the scriptwriter can know for certain. And he won't be talking about it. It is a shame the movie was not better. But this character did work. And I thought worked quite well as a hero. Hopefully, if Philip returns they won't make him an anti-hero that Bloom and Knightly became.

After all Jack Sparrow is not a hero either...but a thief and a murderer. He has killed British soldiers. It is good to have a good guy who wants the world to be a better place and relies upon his faith in God.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Darkon007 12 years ago

Wow, someone is having a difficult time separating fictional characters from reality.

Well well its CarryAngels. Arent you on the Obama board fighting a losing war these days?

The last of the followers there are out of touch with reality after all.

An interesting claim you make.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] lachoy2-1 12 years ago

Wow. I thought I'd seen every opinion there is on this film. But I have to say, yours is the first to use religion to justify a dull character. You could take the Phillip character out of this film and I wouldn't notice. This isn't a religous film. It's an adventure film based on pirates.

[–] Darkon007 12 years ago

Wow. I thought I'd seen every opinion there is on this film. But I have to say, yours is the first to use religion to justify a dull character.

I know that not everyone liked him. There are people out there that do not like Johnny Depp as Sparrow either.

But the POTC is better off with a hero figure as well as villians and anti-heroes like Sparrow. In the original you had Will. Although it can be argued if he was still the hero by the third POTC flick. He certainly at least had shades of an anti-hero for sure.

Philip is the hero figure in this installment. You can't have types like Sparrow, Barbossa, Blackbeard, and that female lead running the show 100% of the time.

This isn't a religous film. It's an adventure film based on pirates.

Yes but probably all of the good pirate flicks have heroes. Even if that hero is a pirate himself. Many people like to see heroes in their movies. That is why you had Will in the first POTC. Will teams up with Sparrow an anti-hero against the other undead pirates. Will and the anti-hero win and Will gets the girl at the end. People have liked variations of this ending for centuries before I was even born.

Would the original POTC suffer with the hero being cut out of the story? Of course it will. Yeah I know not everyone likes Will either on this board either. Maybe because of the later installments. But the majority would agree that Will added to the first POTC.

Not everyone likes Will. Not everyone likes Philip. But many who have seen POTC flicks would say they were at least okay characters. And to speak the truth I have not seen a single topic on here attacking Philip so far, but I have seen two topics attacking Penelope Cruz.

No this is not a religious film. But the belief in God does exist in that time period it is portrayed. And in that regard it does add something to the film.

[–] lachoy2-1 12 years ago

I'm not attacking the character, I'm saying that it was an unnecessary character. I'm still wondering why he was in the film. Angelica was the one who believed in her father's soul being restored. I would think that would be proof enough that religion existed at the time,as if we needed proof. I also disagree that the Will character was needed in the first film. He was of course the prince in the Disney world, but the good guy at the time was the Norrington character, wasn't he? Either way, it's not necessary to carry on with it just to add a possible teen love interest. By now we already know that Jack is the anti-hero and the hero and this proves to be the case in the 4th film. Good bad guys have been around a long time. Remember Butch Cassidy & Sundance?

[–] Darkon007 12 years ago

I'm not attacking the character, I'm saying that it was an unnecessary character. I'm still wondering why he was in the film. Angelica was the one who believed in her father's soul being restored. I would think that would be proof enough that religion existed at the time,as if we needed proof. I also disagree that the Will character was needed in the first film. He was of course the prince in the Disney world, but the good guy at the time was the Norrington character, wasn't he? Either way, it's not necessary to carry on with it just to add a possible teen love interest. By now we already know that Jack is the anti-hero and the hero and this proves to be the case in the 4th film. Good bad guys have been around a long time. Remember Butch Cassidy & Sundance?

Not everyone likes a movie that is run 100% by lets say bank robbers or in this case pirates.

Norrington is a good guy, but not the hero. You needed Will for that.

I remember watching The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly a few weeks back. One of the main characters was the bad guy. The other two (Clint Eastwood included) were anti-heroes after gold and were con artists who pulled a swindle with hangings. The man with no name (Clint) would shoot the rope to free the Mexican after turning him in for a hanging and they would split the reward money. There were other things also about those two such as Clint betraying the Mexican and the Mexican taking revenge later on.

I just didn't like the man with no name in that movie at least almost till the movie was over. And only after he showed kindness to a dying soldier and sympathizing with a commander's situation about the bridge.

Considering that the version before that (unrelated storywise to the movie I mentioned) had him as a bounty hunter. I liked the second one better.

You seem the type to want pirates ruling 100% of the POTC franchise. But there are those who want a good guy as a hero having a sizable role. He does not need to overshadow Jack or Barbossa or whatever villain the next one will have.

[–] Kawada_Kira 12 years ago

I thought he just felt like a puzzle piece that you try to force into a certain spot but it just never quite fits. Frankly I found him annoying and I think the movie would have been better without him.

"The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor."
- Voltaire

[–] lachoy2-1 12 years ago

Huh? Even after that long explanation I'm still wondering why a character that had close to no impact on the story would be a great character. IMO, that character was a throw-away. He was just there for as a teen romance cut-out, as Bloom and Knightley weren't involved. And truly, who wants a Sunday sermon in a pirate film? I as glad to see those characters go. As Jack would say, they were superfluous.

[–] ScorpionTDC 12 years ago

He's one of my favorites as well :) <3 (But.... not for the same reasons as you!) I do agree he was brave and heroic though, and I thought he seemed like a genuinely good, caring person. Plus he was intelligent and very well acted <3 I can't remember tons, I've only seen it once, but he was the only knew character to TRULY stand out for me. I really hope he survived the ending :(

Elizabeth is still the best though; I absolutely love her.

Death Awaits you (Horror forum)
http://w11.zetaboards.com/Death_Awaits/index/

[–] Goggles_Bobbles 11 years ago

Personally, I thought he was the best character. A breath of fresh air from all the rest, definitely.

I gotta say... This movie was not very entertaining (quite boring actually) and what got me through it was Philip's love story with the mermaid. Not kidding.

[–] Kawada_Kira 11 years ago

The Philip-mermaid storyline was the most boring part of the movie actually. The time spent on that could have been used for better things.

"The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor."
- Voltaire

[–] knoxfan2008 11 years ago

Agreed, they were so bland and boring. Film would have been great without them. Kill him early and just get the tear and move on

[–] CrystalisK 11 years ago

No he was the worst character in the series alogn with the mermaid and their plot, it was like forced into the movie. And the jesus worshipping overtone took over the movie too much thanks to this cringe worthy character.

[–] Sometant 11 years ago

[–] h-oates 10 years ago

He has killed British soldiers.

I don't remember Jack killing any British soldiers.. In fact I can only remember him killing two people. Barbossa and Davy Jones. Who else does Jack kill?