How long 'til Pirates 3 -- At the End of the World?

Rating: 9/10 (14 July 2006)

The handsome Douglas Fairbanks and roguish Errol Flynn live again in Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom! Bravo! It took four writers to create this sequel that so goes beyond the normal shoddy standard of sequels. This Pirate is worthy of "Two Jolly Roger's Up," maintaining a high level of comedy and tension so intense I was actually tense through most of the film, holding my breath during the many expertly choreographed and carried out duels and fights on land and sea. Lots of tributes to other great adventure-thrillers, from Indiana Jones to Peter Pan to Star Wars to Saturday afternoon swashbucklers.
The make-up, costumes, and sets were absolutely tops. I don't care if it was special effects or animatronics or all-things man-made... those actors earned their keep! Stellan Starsgard as Bootstrap Bill (Will Turner's father) has said he spent 4.5 hours in make-up every day. He's probably doing that now, as the third installment is currently filming.
Depp and Bloom are ably matched with an international cast -- Brits Keira Knightley and Bill Nighy, and the Swedish Skarsgard were a treat to watch. Lee Arenberg and Tim Hollander as the equivalent of Shakespeare's Rosencrantz and Guildensterne were highly entertaining... especially Hollander's delivery of pithy dialog.
This is a gorgeous period piece of eye-candy that never, never, never takes itself too seriously. Gads, I miss Saturday afternoons watching entertainments. This one is among the strongest.