It’s been 14 years since a group of British actors starred in one the most widely debated Christmas movies of all time. Love Actually starred Andrew Lincoln before he was slaying zombies, Chiwetel Ejiofor before he was leading Best Picture-winning dramas, and that cute kid (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) kids before he was helping Bran Stark on Game of Thrones. This being the reboot/reunion era where no good (or hated) thing can be left alone, Love Actually is back with a mini sequel of sorts.
Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the most popular franchises of all time, and yet only one out of its four movies are remembered in a positive light. Gore Verbinski’s The Curse of the Black Pearl was a throwback to old school popcorn blockbusters, a family-friendly adventure full of expertly choreographed action, led by a rebellious hero with some romance. The original hit led to three sequels that broke multiple box office records for the Disney property, yet the Pirates franchise only soured in the mouths of critics.
When last we saw Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow he was, I don’t know, doing pirate stuff probably? After the first Pirates of the Caribbean, 2003’s The Curse of the Black Pearl, all these movies began to blend together. Some sword fights, a mystical MacGuffin, an all-powerful bad guy, a couple battles at sea, blather, mince, repeat. Even though the latest, Dead Men Tell No Tales, comes from a new pair of directors (Kon-Tiki’s Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg), it’s basically indistinguishable from the three previous sequels, except that it’s even worse than they were.
I could pretend to be one of those Love Actually haters (read: everyone on the internet) and say a bunch of snooty things about the beloved rom-com and its upcoming reunion sequel. I could say, “Oh gosh, here we go again with the most overrated holiday romance of the century,” or drop a couple hot takes about how it’s actually a terrible or misogynistic movie. But the truth is, (oh god, I’m about to publicly out myself here…) I love Love Actually, and I don’t care what you think. So I found the new trailer for the reunion short film in honor of Red Nose Day, kind of stupidly cute? Sue me.