A worthy sequel

Rating: 8/10 (18 June 2007)

It was the best of the movies I saw the summer it came out. Not hard considering the other two major releases were X3, which was pitiful, and Superman Returns which was enjoyable, but had some serious flaws. Pirates easily beat them both. I love Johnny Depp tremendously, and nine times out of ten, his movies are excellent. I was just hoping this wouldn't be the tenth time. It wasn't. If you loved the first movie, if you loved the characters, the setting, the mysticism, heck, if you love The Secret of Monkey Island, go see this film!
Oh, and for those of you who like to, there is an extra scene at the end, so do stay past the credits.
-- Spoilers past this point --
There were less references to the ride this time around, but there were enough references to the first movie to make up for the lack. All the big names are back: Jack, Will, Elizabeth, her father, even Norrington and Barbossa. Davey Jones is excellently played by Bill Nighy, who's got quite the range, and I think he did an excellent job. Will's father was also an important part, and well-played, though I would have liked them to have hired someone with a bit more likeness to Orlando Bloom, given how much they went on about Will's likeness to his father in the first film.
The new nasty in the movies does seem to be Davey Jones and his crew, but there's an underlying historical nasty as well: the East India Trading Company, whose presence is felt from the beginning of the movie to the end. One might call them the first example of true corporate greed (no, I don't need previous examples, thanks). They were so concerned with controlling the flow of goods that they really were the first example of the new capitalism that became the cornerstone of the US. If they couldn't have it their way, they found new ways to bend people to doing what they wanted anyway. The beginning of the movie shows just what lengths some would go to to get what they wanted, even if, in this case, what was wanted was mythical, it wasn't far from historical fact, either. I like that they've downplayed its significance throughout this movie, as I imagine that they will have a much larger roll in the next, given how the movie ended.
Stuff I liked:
* Racing up the cliffs in the cages
* The way they did the cannibals was much more realistic than most "savages" are portrayed in these sorts of movies: Jack was their god, therefore he needed to be released, and his flesh to become part of the tribe. Yeah, gruesome, but still...
* Davey Jones's crew were amazing. The choices of each crewmember's affectations of the sea were incredible.
* The Voodoo lady/witch/queen, however you prefer to refer to her, was excellent. So much there that was just *right*
* Elizabeth going off on her own, dressing like a boy, "haunting" a ship, all great.
* The explanation of the compass. Very cool idea.
* The three-way fight over Davey Jones's heart, particularly the part on the runaway water-wheel.
Less than perfect:
* I missed having Anamaria on the crew. Is there some sort of contract that says you're not allowed to have more than a small handful of women in speaking roles in action adventure movies?
* I was expecting, from the end of the last movie, that this one would be about the gold again. I'm not sad it's not, but it makes no sense to have that ending, and the evil monkey, if you're not going to use it in some way. Then again, it's always possible they will by the end.
* Bootstrap seemed under-used for someone that was talked about so much in the last movie. I would have liked to see more of him, really. I was pleased about his entrance into the movie, though. Great intro.
All in all, a great movie, and definitely one I will be adding to my collection the moment it's out. Go see it.