Grotesque and Tedious

Rating: 3/10 (26 May 2007)

I found Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest to be imposingly grotesque and tedious. There are a few good moments of swordplay and windmill tipping. But in general the film was entirely avoidable. In the first of the series, the Jack Sparrow character was actually vulnerable and likable beneath his cavalier swagger. In this second of the series, the swagger remains but Jack Sparrow has been reduced to the level of petulant child. This version makes Will Turner's and Elizabeth Swann's prior and current admiration of Jack Sparrow completely implausible. We are supposed to believe that these people risked their lives, their love and everything they owned to save this guy??? I don't think so. I hope that the third film in the series returns to the grandeur and style of the first. If so, I would say, skip the Pirate's Chest and go directly World's End.