Faster than a speeding... wheel?

Rating: 7/10 (9 July 2006)

150 minutes? One word of advice for the producers of this series: please invest a few more days and tighten the editing, and you'll have in your hands a classic. Somewhere in between some pretty bloated dialog lies a very good action film. Other than that, we have a worthy sequel to a film that had a few problems establishing the premise behind creating an exciting tale of pirates versus pirate ghosts? I am still not sure.
Thankfully, the main cast is back, and Johnny Depp is still a marvelous Captain Sparrow, a unique character whose true nature and motivations remain as murky as the reasons behind his choice of eye makeup. In this segment, our heroes are out looking for a chest that contains a very valuable and essential "part" that will empower his possessor with absolute power over the Pirates universe. Such is the prize that we everyone literally scrambling to secure the key, the chest, and the object. During the last 45 minutes, the action pieces are integrated so seamlessly, the action and the comedy become one. It is probably the one section of the film that Depp manages not to upstage because every other element in the film, as it should, matches the intensity of his acting.
Talking about Depp's reduced time this out is particularly irksome to this member of the audience because it is his pirate creation that lifts this series above other adventures of the fantastic pirate mythology. Depp's sense of humor and ambiguous characterization make the character quite enjoyable and puzzling in an admiring way. It is fun to see a guy who has no problems making the most outrageous deals in order to get what he needs or wants. It is a pity that the producers and the directors didn't think it was important to keep him on screen longer periods of time. Imagine seeing an Indiana Jones movies with 10 minutes of Harrison Ford. We go to "Pirates" to see Johnny. It is his magnetic star persona that makes the experience quite special.
However, it must be recognized that the film is exquisitely photographed and both special effects and real life photography blend quite well. Much work has gone into designing some very impressive make up work for the new batch of bad guys, and the centerpiece of the film has us in awe of an octopus like creature that lives up to what one expects of a horrifying and powerful entity.
It is a bit unnerving and mystifying that we end up with a cliffhanger after such a long film, but maybe it is all a set up for a more exciting and better conclusion. After all Johnny will be back, and we know he certainly delivers.