Good but not great

Rating: 7/10 (12 January 2007)

I really did enjoy this movie. I actually boycotted CotBP for a long time because absolutely EVERYONE was talking about it, and I have this rebellious thing, I guess. Anyway, I finally saw it and loved it, and I went to see DMC the second day it came out. When we were walking out of the theater, my friend asked me which one I'd liked more, and we both agreed that we needed some time to absorb the second movie before we decided.
And of course this movie has good parts--I bought it, I will watch it again and again, and when we had a Chinese-food-and-DMC-watching party tonight, I packed up and was out the door in two seconds, and not just for the food.
But this movie has gotten SO MUCH HYPE, and I really don't believe it deserves it all. In typical sequel form, I don't see that it has lived up to its predecessor, mostly in that it tries too hard to live up to it. Every time you turn around there is a recycled joke, most notably the rum joke (probably because of its original success). One subtle reference might have gotten a laugh, but they totally beat you over the head with it. "Why is the rum always gone?--If it were, there'd be rum.--Hide the rum.--Then use the rum." The dog-and-keys joke, the "hello, poppet" (although that didn't seem so annoying to me as just odd when they said it), even the "Captain Jack Sparrow" line...I like it to a point, but after we know it, it's tiring to continually be reminded of it. I suppose they were trying to make a point about Elizabeth's character with her interjection at the beginning, but that was definitely an instance of overusing lines.
I don't think that Jack's line of "You will always remember this as the day..." gets old, maybe ever, since he always says it with such bravado, and because of the context of the line itself. They only use that line once, anyway, and it's a line that's been known for its changeability; Ted and Terry keep coming up with new ways to present it, so even though it's brought up again and again, it's never the same twice.
This is a great movie as far as action goes. I won't, can't, dispute that. The action starts at the beginning and goes right on through to the end--maybe without enough pauses for the more tender audiences, I guess, but it's not boring. It also mixes humor with its action, which makes it more enjoyable to watch. The big three-way-duel comes very specifically to mind here.
I won't bother too much with the cast...if you saw and liked the main cast from the first film, then you will probably like them again here. Knightley returns as a much more tomboyish figure; I'm still not entirely sold on the plausibility of this drastic change. Norrington's return really gives Jack Davenport a chance to show off his acting abilities. And Tom Hollander, a new addition but one I'm growing to like, appears as the smug Lord Beckett, an interesting change from his last film with Knightley, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
I have heard some complaints about the overall feeling of this movie, though, its sort of fantastical world. It's true, in CotBP we start out in a very reality-based setting and move into the fantasy world; here we're in the fantasy from start to finish, and the best "reality" times are in Port Royal, with Beckett--until, of course, we get to Davy Jones's heart at the end, when the two worlds meet.
In another way these action sequences do detract from the film. Without ever slowing down for a break, it's hard to step back and think about what's happened, and it's a great deal more difficult to really characterize anyone, I think. The main-main characters (Jack, Will, Elizabeth, even Norrington and the Governor, to an extent) have been fleshed out nicely, between this movie and the last, and I see that Beckett is on his way, but our villain--what happened to our villain? We got a story, albeit an interesting one which implies there will be more, but he still seems rather remote to me. There was so much to-do made over the heart, the key, and Jack's part in it all, that the motive behind it all (supposedly a woman) kind of got left out except in the convenient backstory. So if we're supposed to believe he's all bitter over a woman, it doesn't come across very well. Just a few more introspective scenes could easily solve these questions of character, but we're so busy watching ships blow up and people swashbuckling that we kind of forget about everything else. The Kraken, I do admit, is impressive to watch. Someone give Special Effects a hand for that one, especially at the last scene.
It's a fun ride (ha, didn't mean that as a joke...), so I believe you will enjoy it. I highly recommend seeing it at least once, if only to say you've seen it. Don't be like me and miss out on a good film because you feel like you're jumping on a bandwagon--even if it doesn't deserve all its hype, it does deserve a great deal of it.