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In the flood of new characters with interesting, monstrous designs, it's easy for the humans of Dead Man's Chest to be overlooked. After all, a guy in a coat, no matter how cool he is, is going to have a tough time competing with the human shark.
Disgraced after allowing
Jack Sparrow to escape custody in Port Royal, Commodore Norrington became obsessed with recapturing the pirate. His obsession led him to pursue the Black Pearl into a hurricane, costing him his ship. He resigned his post and, by the time he resurfaced in Tortuga, Norrington was a wanted man.
This isn't the smooth, composed Norrington, obviously, but neither is it the crazed, drunkard Norrington, either. This particular figure seems to depict him later in his journey with Jack Sparrow and the pirates; when he's sobered up and started to get dangerous.
Admir... Commo... Cap... James Norrington is looking good in figure form. Well, as good as a sun-baked sailor who's been living for months in one set of clothes can look. The sculpt is nice, we're saying. He's wearing his long jacket, a waistcoat, a frilly shirt, respectable pantaloons and a big folded boots. He even has a removable tricorner hat, which fits on his head surprisingly well. The detailing of the various fabrics blend nicely without being repetitive, so you can tell that his entire outfit isn't made from the same kind of cloth.
The figure's likeness is up to NECA's usual high standards. He's played in all three films by Jack Davenport, whose father Nigel had a big role in 1965's A High Wind in Jamaica, one of the pirate movies that inspired Pirates. Norrington has ditched the powdered wig, so we see his brown hair falling down around his ears and tied back in a ponytail by a blue ribbon. He's sporting a beard, since he's been too drunk to shave himself safely.
Norrington stands approximately 7¼" tall, and has some decent articulation. His head,
shoulders and wrists are balljointed, while his left elbow, waist and boots are peg joints. The right elbow is an actual hinge, proving that NECA does know how to do those; now why don't more figures have them? Beats the hell out of the typical angled peg joints they usually give us. In that, you know, the hinge actually allows the figure to move. Got it, NECA? More useful joints, less pointless articulation.
The reason the figure has at least one good elbow is to serve his intended pose. Inspired by the scene in the Tortuga bar where Norrington threatens to shoot Jack,
ths figure is standing with his right arm extended, ready to fire. It's obviously not taken directly from that scene, since he was still wearing his wig in the movie, but it's close enough. In keeping with that, his accessories include a pistol and a sword. The pistol is a double-barreled flintlock, while the sword is an ugly, tarnished thing: Norrington had to surrender the sword that Will Turner made for him when he resigned his position with the British Navy. The sword can be held in either hand, of course, or hung from the sash at his side. The hand guard is soft rubber, and pops off the end of the hilt so you can fit it in the figure's hand.
A lot of Norrington's derelict looks are the result of paint rather than sculpt, which means that we might see this basic body again someday as Enlisted Norrington, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. If nothing else, it'll be a good base for customs. The paint was applied well, and actually manages to look like dirt rather than paint. The different colors of cloth and the metallic buckles on his belts are crisp. His beard could blend better, but the one thing to really watch out for are the red splotches on his face: sometimes those get too sloppy and stop looking like sunburnt patches.
While all the figures in Series 2 and 3 of the Curse of the Black Pearl line had bases that connected to form the Isla de Muerta treasure cave, the DMC figures' bases
were split between two different dioramas: the deck of the Flying Dutchman or the edge of the Isla Cruces treeline. Since Norrington was never on the Dutchman, he gets a bit of beach. It's more than just sand, mind you: we get textured dirt, stones, long grasses, a few ferns and other leafy plants. The base is 7½" wide, 4" deep and about ¼" tall. There's a peg on the right side for Norrington's foot, leaving the rest of the space to be covered by his outstretched arm.
Over the course of the films, James Norrington was a Lieutenant, a Captain, a Commodore and an Admiral. Of course, this figure represents him when he wasn't any of those, but was just a civilian. NECA did a good job, and proved that they could give their figures real articulation if they ever wanted to. Watch out for the paint on his face, but other than that? Good figure.
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