a good sequel to the first, and solid entertainment

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2006)

Dead Mans Chest...this movie has high points and low points all of which combine to make this movie good, but not great. To start with the plot of the film was quite god, one that could be understood quite easily, so was fairly easy for the viewer to grasp therefore allowing them to have a pleasurable time. The acting was for the most part excellent, Johnny Depp is infallible as the superb Captain Jack Sparrow, and steals the show, delivering some hilarious lines, and allowing the audience to continue to love him. As always, his entrance is superb, not as good as the first, and a little predictable, but still superb. Keira Knightley does a better performance this time around in my opinion, as Elizabeth Swan, and works well off the other actors. In particular, the near final scene in which she kisses Jack, but then ties him to the ship so they can escape, is done very well, and i felt she did a good job of showing how the character felt doing that. Bill Nighy's performance as Davey Jones was also excellent, and the CGI work done on him rendered him unrecognizable. His performance was second only to Depp in my personal opinion, and did a great job as the villain for this installment of the trilogy, especially considering the excellent work Geoffary Rush did in the previous movie. The rest of the main cast were also very good in the portrayal of their characters, bar one in my opinion. Orlando Bloom, in my opinion, delivered the weakest performance of anyone in the movie, his performance was flawed the entire time, he was boring, and mostly un-emotive. I disliked him in the first, and hated him in the second, the character should be one that demands sympathy and reverence, yet he is simply annoying.
On to the SPECTACULAR CGI...the animation was brilliant, Davey JOnes and his soldiers were interesting to look at and were easily a focal point...the Flying Dutchman was also extremely cool looking, and most of all The Kracken...superb...the beast was horrifying, disgusting, just purely excellent. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies most certainly do not disappoint in terms of CGI.
Whilst all the above (along with locations, props, costumes etc) were great, this movie was painful to watch sometimes. It has completely changed in so many ways. Whilst the dark mood is still there, the movie has become Disney'd...the first bore practically no resemblance to any other Disney movie, yet this one was considerably more...friendly. Lame jokes (funny, but lame) extremely terrible sequences (jack after being roasted, the pole, the fruit) with unbelievable, even for a pirate movie, 'moves' just took away from it. The lack of violence in terms of pistols and sword fighting, always cutting away when someone was about to be murdered, no blood...it just ruined the experience. It felt so, empty, so, lacking. So whilst they had the storyline, actors, CGI etc going for them, i felt that the action was flawed in some respects, and the jokes were horrible (as in crap) For the Disney feel, i marked it down...i seem to remember in the special features of the first one, someone saying this was the modern pirate flick, and didn't really look or feel like a Disney movie. Unfortunately, this one did, and that ruined it for myself, and some more mature or serious adults. It was effectively turned into just a family movie, whereas before many people could enjoy it.
However, the final shock at the end was brilliant, no-one in the cinema had any idea that Barbossa would be back, and the gasping from the audience in the packed theater said it all. (unfortunately for myself, a friend told me previously...which really sucks...)
Whilst i'd like to conclude this, there's two more things i'd like to add. After walking out, i overheard someone comment that for someone who hadn't seen the first movie in a while, it may be hard to remember the characters, as many from the first made a re-appearance. After thinking on this, i thought the gentleman was correct to some degree, and whilst watching it i had to inform my girlfriend of some of the events from the first movie involving specific characters, and she was an avid fan of the first. Also, as another friend said, it is essentially a prequel...whilst most movies in trilogies have a small set up to the next, this entire movie in hindsight appeared to set up the next...introduce all the bad guys, good guys, storyline, so we can go straight into the next one. That in itself in some ways takes away from the movie, seeing as how it wasn't really self-contained to a degree...just there to bridge the gap. I believe its a fair bet that the next movie will start directly after this one ended...so two and three could essentially be considered a single (but very very long) movie. That may sound stupid, or misguided, but thats what i personally have to say. To summarize, see the film as it's a good sequel to the first, and solid entertainment, even though it is very Disney'd up.