Fun entertaining special effects fest

Rating: 10/10 (14 August 2006)

Gotta be honest, the first Pirates of the Caribbean flick didn't really do it for me. Before you start firing your cannons at me or plan on starting a mutiny, allow me to explain myself. The first Pirates of the Caribbean, was well directed and made and all that, but as far as story goes, I found it a big bore for some reason. Of course this has nothing to do with Johnny Depps masterful, memorable and Oscar nominated performance as Jack Sparrow which I loved right from the get go. So, I was one of those guys who thought that the only saving grace that the first movie had was Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Now after the enormous success of the first one here comes the bigger sequel. In other words, if Dead Mans Chest follows the rules of being the sequel to a successful film right, we should get more of everything. More effects, more action, more comedy! More Jack Sparrow! I'm glad to say the film successfully achieved all of these and then some! This time around Jack Sparrow is running away from a supernatural evil pirate called Davey Jones. You see, Jack owes Davey Jones his soul, but of course Jack being the sleaze bag trickster that he is doesn't want to pay up what he owes. Instead he chooses to run away and find a way to destroy Davey Jones and his crew of half human half fish pirates. This enrages Davey who conducts a search for Jack across the seven seas, leading us to a cannibal infested island, giant octopuses and strange half man half fish creatures.
Little did I suspect that this was going to be the best movie of the summer. I mean literally, it took me by surprise. The big anticipation this summer for me was Superman which for various reasons I wont get into here was great and at the same time disappointing. But here comes Pirates of the Caribbean blowing me away. As this film progressed I realized what a huge production it was, everything is bigger and better here. From the monsters (giant octopuses ROCK!) to the sets (loved that cannibal island!) to the villains (Gotta give props to Davey Jones, what a cool villain!) and the comedy. Yup this film had it all and it turned out to be a really entertaining film of epic proportions.
The best thing about this movie of course is having Johnny Depp return to one of his best roles. Like I said before, the thing everyone loved the most about the first flick was Depps Jack Sparrow and on this sequel we get plenty of him. Jack is funnier, trickier and in a strange way more lovable then the first since the guy finally learns that sometimes we have to do the right thing. All the supporting characters were great, I loved some of the jokes coming from some of the lesser important pirates. Orlando Bloom was in the movie, but honestly he has very little to do in this one, since most of the film focuses a whole lot more on the chemistry developing between Keira Knightly and Jack Sparrow and the action and effects.
Speaking of effects, another great bonus on this film is that the effects are truly spectacular. Getting wowed by effects is getting increasingly difficult for me, but Ill be damned if this one really had me saying wow every five seconds. The gigantic octopus known as the Kraken freaking rocked! Some of the extended effects sequences with the octopus were extremely exciting and incredible to watch. It brought back memories of scenes from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and seeing Kirk Douglas battling rubber tentacles. On this film Gore Verbinsky has orchestrated a truly memorable monster sequence. One for the books! And speaking of memorable monsters, I loved Bill Nighy as Davey Jones. Its only fair that since Jack Sparrow is such a memorable anti hero we should also get an equally formidable villain. And such is the case with Davey Jones. Aside from the fact that Mr. Jones has a striking look to him (all about the tentacled beard!) the character itself moves and talks in a very interesting and different manner. Loved the way the bad guys looked in this film! So visually speaking get ready for some cool stuff.
Of course the guys behind making this film are very smart. They know how much audiences love Jack Sparrow and they know we want to see more of him which is probably why the movie ends with a cliffhanger ending. They literally leave you gasping for more even though the movie last well more then two hours! So be ready for a Lord of the Rings type of ending where you go WHAT? No way it just ended there! So to me, this was the true spectacle of the summer. Incredible effects, great action, great characters and just plain fun. After all ain't that what summer movies are supposed to be about? Fun big budget special effect spectacles! And this one delivers in spades. So trust me on this one maties, we got ourselves a winner! Rating: 5 out of 5