Aleksei
Since: May, 2010
Sep 2nd 2011 at 2:53:46 PM
•••
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl — Jack Sparrow is given a day's lead by the Royal Navy.
- The second film shows that the head start was a really bad idea: Norrington ends up in horrible situations (including a hurricane) because he was a day behind the Black Pearl, who outran said dangers by being a day ahead. It also shows the consequences of Norrington giving him a head start and then failing to catch him; he's demoted and disgraced.
Really, can you expect any less? I mean, the Pearl was the fastest ship in the Caribbean — no ship in the Royal Navy could outrun it, especially a humongous Ship of the Line like the Dauntless. Until I saw the second movie I'd assumed Norrington's purpose in giving Jack his headstart was to not catch him at all and convince himself and his superiors that he actually was trying to.
Edited by Aleksei
Is the description of this trope slightly wrong? Or are many of the examples wrong for the trope? It seems to me that it's one thing for the villain to see the hero escaping, and say to his minions, "We can afford to give him a lead." It's another for the villain to tell the hero directly "I will give you a lead, so run now," yet many of the examples describe the latter (including one I just added, The Naked Prey, a film).
Edited by theprofessor53 Hide / Show Replies