Overall Rating
  Awesome: 16.4%
Worth A Look: 31.22%
Just Average: 20.63%
Pretty Crappy: 19.58%
Sucks: 12.17%
14 reviews, 105 user ratings
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| Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest |
by Erik Childress
"Does Anyone Remember Laughter? And Fun? And Great Times At The Movies?"
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How great was that surprise back in 2003? We got a pirate movie, which seemed all but extinct after Cutthroat Island, based on a freakin’ carnival ride and it was fantastic! It had a solid screenplay filled with laughs and rousing action all wrapped around a performance by Johnny Depp which finally woke up millions of moviegoers unaware that he’s been one of the best and most creative actors out there for over a decade. $300 million later and the whole crew is back to round out the one-time fluke into a full-fledged trilogy. And I’m pleased to announce that Dead Man’s Chest, while being a classic “middle” film delivers as much excitement and ingenuity you could hope for to outclass hundreds of summer popcorn fare.Picking up not long after the original, lovers Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) have their wedding rudely interrupted by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), head of the East India Trading Co. He’s come to rectify the convenient pardon of the blacksmith-turned-pirate by offering him the choice of tracking down Jack Sparrow (Depp) or the gallows. It’s not just the rum-lovin’ sailor he wants though. He believes Jack may hold the key to finding the long-lost chest of Davy Jones, or at least know where the key is.
Sparrow, meanwhile commandeering his beloved Black Pearl, is visited by an old friend who once went under the name of “Bootstrap” (Stellan Skarsgård). Will’s father reminds Jack of the blood oath he owes to one Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), who presides over another crew of the undead; forced to years of servitude on a submerging ship where they become one with life under the sea. The key to freedom lies with whatever resides in that chest and it becomes a race for everyone to find that key, find that chest and find that for every good intention there’s a sinister one just lurking inside each character.
Dead Man’s Chest plays very much like the bridging chapter that it clearly is. There’s a lot of plot to get out of the way which may have some audiences wondering where the action is and fueling the misshapen complaints over the films’ epic running times. (Both are about ten minutes shorter than reported if you lop off the end credits.) With so many storylines competing and the various motivations of the characters, Dead Man’s Chest does demand your attention and the experience becomes its own reward and then some as it slowly comes to fruition the extraordinary potential the final chapter has going for it next summer.
Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, the team behind such fantasy favorites as Aladdin, Shrek and The Mask of Zorro, aren’t just going through the motions with the sequel (even if some of the throwback lines do produce a groan or two.) While it’s utterly impossible to capture the surprising sense of joy of the first film, the duo work internally this time out to throw our expectations of the characters on full tilt. Depp’s Sparrow is still a goof just one camp experience away from a Queer Eye episode, but his scoundrel tendencies get a makeover that any act of heroism may not be redemptive enough. It’s a fascinating choice to take such a beloved character and then remind us just how self-absorbed his intentions are. One action scene is so cleverly constructed that it somehow manages to juggle seven main characters (not to mention Davy Jones’ crew) and role reversals on top of betrayals that’s guaranteed to make your head spin along with the runaway mill wheel they stand upon.
It’s not safe to call the film “action-packed” when it goes nearly 100 minutes with only one major set piece to its credit. But those set pieces are so masterfully constructed that they feel twice as long for the amount of excitement they pack into them. A hilarious escape from cannibals, the aforementioned mill wheel and multiple encounters with a giant ocean beast don’t just recall a throwback to Errol Flynn and Disney adventures like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea but provide us with a legitimate heir to the Indiana Jones series after so many impatient (and moronic) junketeers have tried to sell us on junk like Sahara and National Treasure (coincidentally another Jerry Bruckheimer production.)
Apples and oranges they may be, but this summer is about to turn into the “Superman vs. Pirates” debate and not just at the box office. Both are two-and-a-half hour extravaganzas with celebrated protagonists (one nostalgic; one modern) and its fans are going to be very vocal in tearing down one while singing the praises of the other. Superman Returns may have aspired to emotions, relationships and characters over action yet failed to satisfy either faction. Pirates is, for lack of a better term, a ride to be certain. But a mere action spectacular has been turned into something greater by Rossio, Elliott and director Gore Verbinski who has quickly established himself into one of the most versatile and skilled directors working today after such varied projects as Mouse Hunt, The Ring (remake) and The Weather Man. Dead Man’s Chest certainly isn’t as comical as the original (despite having maybe the funniest moment between the two with a caged monkey) but it does have the characters, the relationships and maybe even an emotion or two to compliment the grandiose action and vice versa. I don’t mean to knock down Superman any more pegs than I already have, but anyone saying with a straight face that Pirates is just mindless fodder while the former achieves some grander sense of poignancy, needs to be sunk about 20,001 leagues themselves to truly discover what depth actually is.As is often the case, the filmmakers are almost in a no-win situation with their running time. At 151 minutes (really about 140), it’s considered bloated while at their desired 100 minutes would, no doubt, received criticism for non-fleshed characters and a slapped together storyline. By no means is Dead Man’s Chest a perfect film. Its plot does convolute all over itself at times and there are enough questions to distract us from the shifting objectives of characters, new and old. One particular inconsistency is liable to nag at fans of the original from nearly the very beginning (and why none of the characters pick up on it enough to ask themselves is a glaring flaw.) However, by the end, there’s enough faith that Rossio & Elliott will answer that question almost immediately during World’s End after a multi-tier cliffhanger (beginning with an image of Jack Sparrow that should live on in adventure history for centuries) that won’t frustrate and anger audiences craving conclusion but have them giddily excited for what could possibly be in store for them next Summer.
link directly to this review at http://hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=14738&reviewer=198
originally posted: 07/06/06 09:31:46
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USA
07-Jul-2006 (PG-13)
DVD: 05-Dec-2006
UK
06-Jul-2006 (12A)
Australia
06-Jul-2006 (M)
![[trailer]](/images/icon/trailericon.gif) Trailer
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