Amusing, but weak

Rating: 6/10 (14 August 2006)

Dead man's chest chooses a very risky road many sequels go for - take what worked in the original and move it up a notch. More is better, and yet more is even more better. Unfortunately, the action-packed plot-heavy movies don't leave enough room for the characters.
While I enjoyed the light adventurous atmosphere of "The curse", "Dead man's chest" with all it's frantic tempo felt like a big mess. Plot moves at relentless speed never pausing to take a breath, one action scene follows another but surprisingly instead of taking me into its grip and not letting go it resulted in boredom. Sure I laughed at some jokes and enjoyed the action here and there but mostly I felt like I'm watching a rushed imitation of something cool. The whole experience was like eating a re-heated gourmet meal - all the right ingredients are there yet it doesn't taste quite the same, and you want to enjoy it but find yourself in constant desire to spit out the chewy cold bits. OK, getting a bit carried away with food metaphors there, but you catch my drift.
Perhaps the thing I really didn't like is how "Pirates 2" more often misses then it hits the mark. Take the fruit ke-bob bit for example. Funny? Yes, but when Wile E. Coyote does it, for Johnny Depp it is quite embarrassing. Or how about the fact that the monster can sink a ship in a millisecond when only the extras are on board, yet conveniently takes a much more leisurely pace when our heroes happen to sail on it. Twice, for that matter. Or what the hell was with all that hatcheting and murdering? All the sword fights are basically bloodless yet prisoners freely get their throats cut and butchered up with axes? Am I the only one seeing something wrong with that picture? Or the small fact that the movie is not in any way self standing, but basically provides a convenient set-up for Pirates 3. Want to see how it turns out? Pay up, chum! They didn't even try to put up any kind of closure, you only have a weak twist (heavily advertised before the premiere so hardly a twist at all), a mid-scene cut and yay here go the credits. Cheap, cheap gimmick.
Anyway, I cannot say I didn't have fun with this flick, but remembering how overjoyed I was with the first one the sequel just left me with a "eh" feeling. Not bad, but hardly deserving it's current reputation.
6/10 - Disney, be thankful you got Depp, without him this would hardly be a 3-.