Not Disappointing: A Wonderful Action-Comedy and Sequel.

Rating: 6/10 (16 July 2006)

It is rare nowadays to find a sequel that is actually decent, even rarer to find one that's actually good. Fortunately, Pirates of the Caribbean has spawned off this sequel that's a fitting follow-up to it's 2003 counter-part.
The acting is much the same as it was in the first film. Johnny Depp still plays the quirky captain just as well as before, although it must be said that his performance might suffer somewhat from the audience growing more accustomed to his comedic antics. Orlando Bloom still plays the temperamental and sometimes impulsive William Turner, Jonathon Pryce still plays the comedic supporting character of Governor Swann and Lee Arenberg and David Bailie still play the comedic duo of Pintel and Cotton (although their parts suffer slightly from a little less substance than the original). The only performance that I think has actually improved from the original is Kiera Knightley's, which I attribute mostly to a larger and more noticeable role than before.
Bill Nighy comes aboard (pun intended) as the legendary Davey Jones. His performance is excellent, as the crustaceaous and stern villain. His performance has some quality to it that's quite indescribable... something just askew enough to stand out but not so much as to stand out too much. It's not a not quite stiff, not quite nasally air about him... an understated performance in an overstated role... Whatever it is, it plays itself marvelously.
The score is not nearly as impressive as the original. Before it was fresh, it was exciting, it was imaginative... In this movie it too much resembles the original, to the point where I ended up thinking "I've heard this song before (although there was once where I found it pleasingly varied from the first movie). Upon reading the credits it didn't surprise me at all that Klaus Badelt was not brought back as the composer. His original flavor in the music is gone, much like John William's flavor is gone from the later Harry Potter movies when a new composer was brought in. I'm actually a fan of Hans Zimmer's work, but not here. He showed himself off far better in Batman Begins, Gladiator, The DaVinci Code, The Lion King and around one dozen other movies that he's been a part of. His job here was sub-par.
The movie fell into a rut, especially in the beginning, of constantly self referencing itself. At times it was almost painfully obvious, from Johnny Depp becoming the chief of the island cannibals (from the first movie, "...And then they made me their chief"), from the woman in Tortuga sending Jack a slap across the face (admittedly not hitting Jack, though) to the constant jokes about the rum. There were a number of tie-ins from the first movie that were, at times, annoying, although not nearly as bad as the first category. This includes the roles of Cotton and Pintel, Barbossa and Bootstrap Bill. This, however, cleared up (mostly), after about the first half of the movie.
This movie falls into the category of action-comedies, unlike the predecessor, which was a comedic action movie. The differences are clear throughout the film, where comedic gags take center stage over the choreographed fighting. The gags that I refer to (especially on the island with the three way fight between Norington, Jack and Will) take center-stage over the action. Some of the fights could have been as memorable as were the ones in the first movie, but not enough time was spent to develop them to do that. As it is, the fights are only semi-memorable, and even then only near their ends.
The special effects were just as impressive as the first movie, only in a different way. In the first movie they bordered on subtle, almost indiscreet. In this movie they're loud and obvious. This isn't a complaint or a criticism, but a fact. The special effects are purposefully made more obvious and evident than they were before. Davey Jones and his crew are remarkably well rendered.
The film, though, runs a tad longer than it should. Several scenes might have been better taken out altogether. One case of this is where Will and his father play Davey Jones in a game of dice. In the end, Bootstrap is still on Jones' service, Will is still on the ship, and Jones is still the villain. We knew already that the key was on Jones, and it wouldn't have taken to figure out where that was. This scene added virtually nothing to the movie. The fight-scene on the island where the chest was buried ran a little too long, and could have benefited from a few minor cuts in the action. The scene where Elizabeth and Jack debate each other's moral character could, likewise, have been deleted. It foreshadows what's to come, yes, but weakens the result. Jack's decision to return could have been made more selfless and developing if he hadn't been guilted into it by Elizabeth's scolding. With those two scenes deleted, and that third scene trimmed slightly, the length of the movie would have been much improved. Also, the movie has no conclusion, it simply ends. Even then, it only does so in the technical sense of the word; there's a point where the film stops running and the credits role. However, nothing it left resolved, and the ending is a terrible cliffhanger.
In the end, this is an extremely enjoyable movie, and a sequel that can stand on its own merits as a well made action comedy. While at times too self-referencing, too long and overly comedic, this is without a doubt one of the more enjoyable experiences to be found in theaters this year. It is highly recommended for families, although it must be said that this movie is too intense for young children. Fans of the first movie should be generally pleased with the second.