5. Elizabeth Swann Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest
Elizabeth Swann is pretty much the poster-girl for inexplicable bad-ass transformations. Sure, she was pretty plucky in the first film, and a dab hand at swinging large, clunky objects while cracking wise about corsets, but she was quickly overwhelmed and bundled off to the Black Pearl as the token damsel in distress. Yet come (regrettable) sequel time, Elizabeth was prepared to kick some serious behind. Suddenly, she was excellent at swordplay, an inexplicable new addition to her character that the film tried to pass off with oh, my boyfriends been teaching me for the past year. I dont care how good a swordsman Will is even within a years time, I doubt Elizabeth could achieve such Sulu-esque achievements as battling pirates, never mind then up the ante to duelling undead aquatic monsters. Hell, she might be a quick learner but her rate of progression is so staggering that if it applied across the rest of the Caribbean, pirates would have been pimp-slapped back into the sea long ago. Frankly, its baffling usually, people havent even figured out the footwork after a year, so Elizabeths transformation leads us to ask awkward questions was she just faking being awesome for the past movie, or is she simply the greatest sword-fighting prodigy who ever lived? If so, how the hell did someone not spot this sooner.
Thats not to say that the whole arrangement isnt fun though Johnny Depp aside, watching Keira Knightley fight and get increasingly annoyed as all the crews men attempt to sideline her is one of the highlights of the film. Its also nice to see a kick-ass heroine competing equally amongst men, such as when she holds her own in an inventive set-piece involving the comedy pirate twosome Pintel and Ragetti, Davy Jones heart chest and a lynch mob made up of angry sea minions. Yes, shes a boring character who can ruin the film with her blandness at times, but thats only when shes not moving. When shes in full sword-fighting mode, shes actually rather watchable and though that cant quite save this misfire of a film, its still a noble effort.