Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t “get” this Pirates of the Caribbean phenomenon. I didn’t really care for the first and wasn’t particularly looking forward to seeing the second one. And for your sake don’t get me started on the possibility of Keith Richards being in the third installment. Come on, it’s bad enough that Johnny Depp is just doing an impression of the man, but do we all have to happily accept it. I have never seen someone get so much credit for something that gets tired after two minutes at a party. Meanwhile we’re meant to happily eat it up for two and a half hours at a time.
As they are being married Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan are arrested and sentenced to death by Lord Cutler Becket for aiding the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. Becket makes a deal with Turner to release the couple if Will can track down Jack and return with his magic compass. However, this is the least of Jack’s problems. Thirteen years ago he traded his soul to Davey Jones in exchange for raising his ship, The Black Pearl. Now, Jack is doing anything he can to squelch on the deal, including tracking down the one item that can stop Jones and his ship destroying Krakken.
I think I’ve already made it clear how I feel about Captain Jack. In Depp’s defense, at least he’s doing something, the same can’t be said for Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly. Let’s face it, they’re only in here because they’re pretty. So pretty in fact that they could switch roles and you would never even notice the difference.
That being said, one of the major strengths of these films is their villains. Geoffrey Rush was easily the best part of the first film and in my opinion his Barbosa easily trumped Depp’s Sparrow. Now in Dead Man’s Chest you have Bill Nighy as Davey Jones bringing life to a character that could have easily relied on CGI gimmickry. Instead, he’s not only menacing but easily the best tentacle faced villain to ever be on screen. You also have Bootstrap Bill’s Stellan Skarsgard, who is always interesting to watch. Not to mention all the supporting villains who are out for their own motives that adds an little undercurrent (not a pun) that helps keep this film moving when it starts to drag on too long.
Much like the first film one of Dead Man’s Chest’s biggest weaknesses is its length. Everyone is just a little too pleased with what they’re doing to cut some time that could have easily been lost. The only problem with that is what do you cut? You can’t loose anything with the villains, because they’re the best part and you can’t loose one of Captain Jack’s scenes because he’s the star.
Having said all that, this was a pretty entertaining flick. Sure it’s pretty fluffy, but that’s what it’s supposed to be, a big budget swashbuckling extravaganza. The action is a lot of fun and all of the darker aspects of this film really work, with a few laughs thrown in for good measure. Seriously, where else are you going to see a supernatural pirate movie?
The Grade
- Story: B-
- Acting: B-
- Visuals: A
- Originality: B
- Enjoyability: B
- Overall: B
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